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.
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...
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.
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...
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 25 Venus and the Da Vinci Glow Image Credit &Copyright:Giorgia Hofer Explanation: On March 23 early eveningskygazerscould watch Venus and a young crescent moon,both near the western horizon.On that date Earth's brilliant evening star,faint lunar night side and slender sunlit crescentwere captured in this telephoto skyscapeposing alongside a church tower fromDanta di Cadore, Dolomiti, Italy.Of course the subtle lunar illumination isearthshine,earthlight reflected from the Moon's night side.A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlightreflected by Earth's oceans illuminatingthe Moon's dark surface, was written over 500 years ago byLeonardo da Vinci.On March 24, fromsome locations the Mooncould be seen to occult or pass in front of Venus.Around the planet tonight,a waxing lunar crescent will appear nearthe Pleiades star cluster. Tomorrow's picture: wandering <| 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 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&...
APOD: 2023 March 23 - Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841 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 23 Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841 Image Credit &Copyright: Roberto Marinoni Explanation: A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841can be found in planet Earth'snight skytoward the northern constellation ofUrsa Major.Thissharp image centeredon the gorgeousisland universealso captures spiky foreground Milky Way starsand more distant background galaxies within the sametelescopic field of view.It shows off the bright nucleus of NGC 2841, along with itsinclined galactic disk, and faint outer regions. Dust lanes, small star-forming regions, and young star clustersare embedded in the galaxy's patchy, tightlywoundspiral arms.In contrast, many other spiralsexhibit broader, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 hasa diameter of over 150,000 light-years, making it even larger thanour own Milky Way.X-ray imagessuggest that extreme outflows from giant stars and stellar explosions createplumes of hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841. 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...
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 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& Michigan Tech. U.