Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 20 The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus Image Credit &Copyright:Jeff Herman Explanation: Spanning light-years, thissuggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebulaappears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars.Seen toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus,the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Waymolecular cloud some 1,200 light-years distant.It is also listed as Barnard 150 (B150), one of 182dark markings of the skycataloged in the early 20th century by astronomerE. E. Barnard.Packs of low mass stars are formingwithin,but their collapsing cores are only visible at longinfrared wavelengths.Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to thispretty, galactic skyscape. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

APOD: 2023 April 14 - Portrait of NGC 3628 Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 14 Portrait of NGC 3628 Image Credit &Copyright:Mike Selby &Mark Hanson Explanation: Sharp telescopic views ofNGC 3628show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes.Of course,this portraitof the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomersin mind of its popular moniker,the Hamburger Galaxy.It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite ofNGC 3628, and a very faint but extensivetidal tail.The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame.NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in thelocal universe with two other large spiralsM65 andM66 in a groupingotherwise known as the Leo Triplet.Gravitationalinteractionswith itscosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail,as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk.The tantalizingisland universeitself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-yearsaway in the northern springtime constellation Leo. Tomorrow's picture: Z is for Mars <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 15 When Z is for Mars Image Credit &Copyright:Tunc Tezel(TWAN) Explanation: A composite of imagescaptured about a week apartfrom mid August 2022 through late March 2023,this series traces theretrograde motion of ruddy-colored Mars.Progressing from lower right to upper leftMars makes aZ-shaped path as it wanderspast the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters,through the constellation Taurus in planet Earth's night sky.Seen about every two years, Mars doesn'tactually reverse the direction of its orbitto trace out the Z-shape though.Instead, the apparent backwards or retrograde motion withrespect to the background stars is areflection of the orbital motion of Earth itself.Retrograde motion can be seen each time Earth overtakesand laps planets orbiting farther from the Sun, theEarth moving more rapidly through its own relatively close-in orbit. High in northern hemisphere skies theRed Planet was opposite the Sunand at its closest and brightest on December 8,near the center of the frame.Seen close to Mars,a popular visitor to the inner Solar System,comet ZTF (C/2022 E3),was also captured on two dates, February 10 and February 16. Tomorrow's picture:...

APOD: 2023 April 13 - NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 13 NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer Image Credit:ESA/Hubble,NASA,S. Larsen et al. Explanation: Stars of the globular cluster NGC 2419 are packed into thisHubble Space Telescopefield of viewtoward the mostly stealthy constellationLynx.The two brighter spiky stars near the edge of the frame arewithin our own galaxy.NGC 2419itself is remote though, some 300,000 light-years away.In comparison, the Milky Way's satellite galaxy, theLarge Magellanic Cloud, is onlyabout 160,000 light-years distant.Roughly similar to other large globular star clusters likeOmega Centauri, NGC 2419is intrinsically bright, but appears faint becauseit is so far away.Its extreme distance makes it difficult tostudyand compare its properties with otherglobular clusters that roam the halo ofour Milky Way galaxy.Sometimes called "the Intergalactic Wanderer",NGC 2419 reallydoes seem to have come from beyond the Milky Way.Measurementsof the cluster's motion through space suggestit once belonged to theSagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy,another small satellite galaxy being disrupted by repeated encounterswith the much larger Milky Way. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| >...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 14 Portrait of NGC 3628 Image Credit:Image Credit &Copyright:Mike Selby &Mark Hanson Explanation: Sharp telescopic views ofNGC 3628show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes.Of course,this portraitof the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomersin mind of its popular moniker,the Hamburger Galaxy.It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite ofNGC 3628, and a very faint but extensivetidal tail.The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame.NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in thelocal universe with two other large spiralsM65 andM66 in a groupingotherwise known as the Leo Triplet.Gravitationalinteractionswith itscosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail,as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk.The tantalizingisland universeitself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-yearsaway in the northern springtime constellation Leo. Tomorrow's picture: Z is for Mars <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy...

APOD: 2023 April 12 - NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 12 NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda Image Credit &Copyright: Howard Trottier Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged asNGC 206 isnestled within the dusty arms of the neighboringAndromeda galaxyalong with the galaxy's pinkish star-forming regions.Also known as M31,the spiral galaxy is a mere2.5 million light-years away.NGC 206 is found right of center inthis sharp and detailed close-up of the southwesternextent ofAndromeda's disk.The bright, bluestars of NGC 206indicate its youth.In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old.Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young starsin the disk of our Milky Way galaxy,NGC 206spans about 4,000 light-years.That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseriesNGC 604 in nearby spiralM33 and theTarantula Nebulain the Large Magellanic Cloud. Tomorrow's picture: intergalactic wanderer <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 13 NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer Image Credit:ESA/Hubble,NASA,S. Larsen et al. Explanation: Stars of the globular cluster NGC 2419 are packed into thisHubble Space Telescopefield of viewtoward the mostly stealthy constellationLynx.The two brighter spiky stars near the edge of the frame arewithin our own galaxy.NGC 2419itself is remote though, some 300,000 light-years away.In comparison, the Milky Way's satellite galaxy, theLarge Magellanic Cloud, is onlyabout 160,000 light-years distant.Roughly similar to other large globular star clusters likeOmega Centauri, NGC 2419is intrinsically bright, but appears faint becauseit is so far away.Its extreme distance makes it difficult tostudyand compare its properties with otherglobular clusters that roam the halo ofour Milky Way galaxy.Sometimes called "the Intergalactic Wanderer",NGC 2419 reallydoes seem to have come from beyond the Milky Way.Measurementsof the cluster's motion through space suggestit once belonged to theSagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy,another small satellite galaxy being disrupted by repeated encounterswith the much larger Milky Way. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 12 NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda Image Credit &Copyright: Howard Trottier Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged asNGC 206 isnestled within the dusty arms of the neighboringAndromeda galaxyalong with the galaxy's pinkish star-forming regions.Also known as M31,the spiral galaxy is a mere2.5 million light-years away.NGC 206 is found right of center inthis sharp and detailed close-up of the southwesternextent ofAndromeda's disk.The bright, bluestars of NGC 206indicate its youth.In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old.Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young starsin the disk of our Milky Way galaxy,NGC 206spans about 4,000 light-years.That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseriesNGC 604 in nearby spiralM33 and theTarantula Nebulain the Large Magellanic Cloud. Tomorrow's picture: intergalactic wanderer <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

Terran 1 Burns Methalox

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 7 Rigel Wide Image Credit: Rheinhold Wittich Explanation: Brilliant, blue, supergiant star Rigelmarks the foot of Orion the Hunter inplanet Earth's night.Designated Beta Orionis,it's at the center of this remarkablydeep and wide field of view. Rigel's blue color indicates that it is much hotter than itsrival supergiant in Orion the yellowishBetelgeuse (Alpha Orionis),though both stars are massive enough to eventuallyend their daysascore collapse supernovae.Some 860 light-years away, Rigel is hotter than the Sun tooand extends to about 74 times the solar radius.That's about the size of the orbit of Mercury.In the 10 degree wide frame toward the nebula richconstellation, the Orion Nebula is at the upper left.To the right of Rigel and illuminated by its brilliant blue starlightlies the dusty Witch Head Nebula.Rigel is partof a multiple star system, though its companion starsare much fainter. Tomorrow's picture: medieval times <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA...

Green or Purple? (PS: Available at https://drazi.concellation.com/ with the Concellation 2020 and 2021 logos)

APOD: 2023 April 5 - Rubin's Galaxy Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 5 Rubin's Galaxy Image Credit: NASA,ESA,B. Holwerda (University of Louisville) Explanation: Inthis Hubble Space Telescope imagethe bright, spiky starslie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellationPerseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy.In sharp focus beyond isUGC2885,a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years distant.Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way'sdiameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars.That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way.Partof an investigationto understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous sizes,UGC 2885 was also part ofAnInteresting Voyageand astronomer Vera Rubin'spioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies.Her work was the first to convincingly demonstratethe dominating presence ofdark matter in ouruniverse. Tomorrow's picture: methalox <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

Terran 1 Burns Methalox

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 5 Rubin's Galaxy Image Credit: NASA,ESA,B. Holwerda (University of Louisville) Explanation: Inthis Hubble Space Telescope imagethe bright, spiky starslie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellationPerseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy.In sharp focus beyond isUGC2885,a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years distant.Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way'sdiameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars.That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way.Partof an investigationto understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous sizes,UGC 2885 was also part ofAnInteresting Voyageand astronomer Vera Rubin'spioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies.Her work was the first to convincingly demonstratethe dominating presence ofdark matter in ouruniverse. Tomorrow's picture: methalox <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 April 1 NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans Image Credit &Copyright: Nicolas Rolland,Martin Pugh Explanation: Distorted galaxy NGC 2442can be found in the southern constellation of theflying fish,(Piscis)Volans.Located about 50 million light-years away, the galaxy's twospiral armsextending from a pronounced central bar give it ahook-shaped appearance in this deep colorful image,with spiky foreground stars scattered across the telescopic field ofview.The image also reveals the distant galaxy'sobscuring dust lanes, young blue star clusters andreddish star forming regionssurrounding a core of yellowish light from an older population of stars.But the star forming regions seem more concentrated alongthe drawn-out (upper right)spiralarm.The distorted structure is likely the result of an ancientclose encounterwith the smaller galaxy seen near the top left of the frame.The two interacting galaxies are separated by about150,000 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 2442. Tomorrow's picture: Messier 57 <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA...

APOD: 2023 March 31 - Seeing Titan Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 31 Seeing Titan Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA,NASA Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere,Saturn's largest moon Titanreally is hard to see.Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almostimpenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengthsand hiding Titan's surface features from prying eyes.But Titan'ssurface is better imaged atinfrared wavelengths wherescattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced.Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan aresome of the clearest global infrared views of thetantalizing moon so far.In false color,the sixpanels present a consistent processing of 13 years ofinfrared image data from theVisual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on boardtheCassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017.They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view.NASA's revolutionary rotorcraftmission to Titan is due to launch in 2027. Tomorrow's picture: seriously <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA...

APOD: 2023 March 30 - NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 30 NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad Image Credit &Copyright:Matias Tomasello Explanation: The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula driftsthrough southern skies,a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellationMusca, The Fly.The dusty cosmic cloudis seen against rich starfields just south of theCoalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross.Stretching for about 3 degrees across the center of this telephoto field of view, the Dark Doodadis punctuated near its southern tip (upper right) by yellowishglobular star clusterNGC 4372.Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo ofour Milky Way Galaxy,a background object some 20,000 light-years away and onlyby chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad.The Dark Doodad's well defined silhouette belongs to theMusca molecularcloud, but its better known alliterative moniker was firstcoined byastro-imager and writerDennis di Cicco in 1986 whileobserving Comet Halley from the Australian outback.The Dark Doodad is around 700 light-years distantand over 30 light-years long. Tomorrow's picture: tantalizing Titan <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 31 Seeing Titan Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA,NASA Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere,Saturn's largest moon Titanreally is hard to see.Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almostimpenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengthsand hiding Titan's surface features from prying eyes.But Titan'ssurface is better imaged atinfrared wavelengths wherescattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced.Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan aresome of the clearest global infrared views of thetantalizing moon so far.In false color,the sixpanels present a consistent processing of 13 years ofinfrared image data from theVisual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on boardtheCassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017.They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view.NASA's revolutionary rotorcraftmission to Titan is due to launch in 2027. Tomorrow's picture: seriously <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 30 NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad Image Credit &Copyright:Matias Tomasello Explanation: The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula driftsthrough southern skies,a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellationMusca, The Fly.The dusty cosmic cloudis seen against rich starfields just south of theCoalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross.Stretching for about 3 degrees across the center of this telephoto field of view, the Dark Doodadis punctuated near its southern tip (upper right) by yellowishglobular star clusterNGC 4372.Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo ofour Milky Way Galaxy,a background object some 20,000 light-years away and onlyby chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad.The Dark Doodad's well defined silhouette belongs to theMusca molecularcloud, but its better known alliterative moniker was firstcoined byastro-imager and writerDennis di Cicco in 1986 whileobserving Comet Halley from the Australian outback.The Dark Doodad is around 700 light-years distantand over 30 light-years long. Tomorrow's picture: tantalizing Titan <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights...

APOD: 2023 March 24 - Outbound Comet ZTF Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 24 Outbound Comet ZTF Image Credit &Copyright:Rolando Ligustri Explanation: Former darlingof the northern sky Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) hasfaded.During its closest approach to our fair planet inearly FebruaryComet ZTF was a mere 2.3 light-minutes distant.Then known as the green comet,this visitor from theremote Oort Cloudis now nearly 13.3 light-minutes away.In this deep image, composed of exposurescaptured on March 21,the comet still sports a broad, whitish dust tail andgreenish tinted coma though.Not far on the skyfrom Orion's bright star Rigel,Comet ZTF shares the field of viewwith faint, dusty nebulae and distant background galaxies.The telephoto frame iscrowded with Milky Way stars toward the constellation Eridanus.The influence of Jupiter's gravity on the comet's orbit as ZTFheaded for the inner solar system, may haveset the comet on an outbound journey,never to return. Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation&...