APOD: 2022 June 19 - Game: Super Planet Crash 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. 2022 June 19 Game: Super Planet Crash Game Credit & License: Stefano Meschiari(U. Texas at Austin)& the SAVE/Point Team Explanation: Can you create a planetary system that lasts for 1000 years?Super Planet Crash, the featured game, allows you to try. To create up to ten planets, just click anywhere near the central star. Planet types can be selected on the left in order of increasing mass: Earth, Super-Earth, Ice giant, Giant planet, Brown dwarf, orDwarf star.Each planet is gravitationally attracted not only to the central Sun-like star, but to other planets.Points are awarded, with bonus factors applied for increasingly crowded and habitable systems.The game ends after 1000 years or when a planet is gravitationally expelled.Many exoplanetary systems are being discovered in recent years, and Super Planet Crash demonstrates why some remain stable. As you might suspect after playing Super Planet Crash a few times, there is reason to believe that our own Solar System has lost planets during its formation. Tomorrow's picture: mini-spires on mars<| Archive| Submissions |...
APOD: 2022 June 18 - The Gamma Cygni Nebula 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. 2022 June 18 The Gamma Cygni Nebula Image Credit &Copyright: Min Xie,Chen Wu, Yizhou Zhang, and Benchu Tang Explanation: Supergiant starGamma Cygni is at the center of the Northern Cross.Near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, that famousasterism flieshigh in northern summer night skies in the constellationCygnus the Swan.Known by the propername Sadr,Gamma Cygni also lies just below center inthis telescopic skyscape,with colors mapped from both broadband and narrowband image data.The field of view spans about 3 degrees(six Full Moons) on the sky and includesemission nebula IC 1318 and open star cluster NGC 6910.Filling the upper part of the frame and shaped like two glowingcosmic wings divided by a long darkdust lane, IC 1318's popular name is understandably theButterfly Nebula.Right of Gamma Cygni, are the young, still tightly groupedstars of NGC 6910.The distanceto Gamma Cygni is around 560 parsecs or 1,800 light-years.Estimates for IC 1318 andNGC 6910range from 2,000 to 5,000 light-years. Tomorrow's picture: don't crash<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss|...
APOD: 2022 June 16 - Strawberry Supermoon from China 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. 2022 June 16 Strawberry Supermoon from China Image Credit &Copyright: Jeff Dai(TWAN) Explanation: There are four Full Supermoons in 2022.Usingthe definition of a supermoon asa Full Moon near perigee, that iswithin at least 90% of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit,the year's Full Supermoon dates are May 16, June 14, July 13, and August 12.Full Moonsnear perigee really are the brightestand largest in planet Earth's sky.But size and brightness differences between Full Moonsare relatively small and an actualcomparisonwith other Full Moons is difficult to make by eye alone. Two exposures are blended in this supermoon and sky view from June 14.That Full Moon was also known to northernhemisphere skygazersas the Strawberry moon.The consecutive short and long exposures allow familiar featureson the fully sunlit lunar nearside to be seen in the same image as a faint lunar coronaand an atmospheric cloudscape.They were captured in skies overChongqing, China. Tomorrow's picture: planets in space<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors &...
APOD: 2022 June 15 - In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster 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. 2022 June 15 In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster Image Credit & Copyright: Saulius Adomaitis Explanation: The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is the closest cluster of galaxies to our Milky Way Galaxy. The Virgo Cluster is so close that it spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by a full Moon.With its heart lying about 70 million light years distant, the Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over 2,000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. The cluster contains not only galaxies filled with stars but also gas so hot it glows in X-rays. Motions of galaxies in and around clusters indicate that they contain more dark matter than any visible matter we can see. Pictured here, the heart of the Virgo Cluster includes bright Messier galaxies such asMarkarian's Eyes on the upper left, M86 just to the upper...
APOD: 2022 June 14 - Satellites Behind Pinnacles 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. 2022 June 14 Satellites Behind Pinnacles Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Rozells Explanation: What are all those streaks across the background?Satellite trails.First, the foreground features picturesque rock mounds known as Pinnacles. Found in the Nambung National Park in Western Australia, these human-sized spires are made by unknown processes from ancient sea shells (limestone).Perhaps more eye-catching, though, is the sky behind.Created by low-Earth orbit satellites reflecting sunlight, all of these streaks were captured in less than two hours and digitally combined onto the single featured image, with the foreground taken consecutively by the same camera and from the same location. Most of the streaks were made by the developing Starlink constellation of communication satellites, but some are not.In general, the streaks are indicative of an increasing number of satellites nearly continuously visible above the Earth after dusk and before dawn. Understanding and removing the effects of satellite trails on images from Earth's ground-based cameras and telescopes is now important not only for elegant astrophotography, but for humanity's scientific understanding of...
APOD: 2022 June 13 - M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy from Hubble 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. 2022 June 13 M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy from Hubble Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA;Processing & Copyright: Bernard Miller Explanation: The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.At only 30 millionlight years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky. The featured imageis a digital combination of images taken in different colors by the Earth-orbitingHubble Space Telescope, highlighting many sharp features.Anyone with a good pair ofbinoculars, however, can see thisWhirlpool toward the constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici).M51 is aspiral galaxy of type Scand is the dominant member of awhole group of galaxies. Astronomers speculate that M51'sspiral structure is primarily due to its gravitational interaction with thesmaller galaxy on the image left. Tomorrow's picture: pinnacle satellites <| 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: 2022 June 12 - Find the Man in the Moon 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. 2022 June 12 Find the Man in the Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Dani Caxete Explanation: Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon?This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist.The textured surface of Earth's full Moon is home to numerous identifications of iconic objects, not only in modern western culture but in world folklore throughout history.Examples, typically dependent on the Moon's perceived orientation, include the Woman in the Moon and the Rabbit in the Moon.One facial outline commonly identified as the Man in the Moon starts by imagining the two dark circular areas -- lunar maria -- here just above the Moon's center, to be the eyes. Surprisingly, there actually is a man in this Moon image -- a close look will reveal a real person -- with a telescope -- silhouetted against the Moon.This featured well-planned image was taken in 2016 in Cadalso de los Vidrios in Madrid, Spain.Do you...
APOD: 2022 June 11 - The Road and the Milky Way 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. 2022 June 11 The Road and the Milky Way Image Credit &Copyright: David Cruz Explanation: At night you can follow this road as itpasses through the Dark Sky Alqueva reserve not toofar from Alentejo, Portugal.Or you could stop,look up,and follow the Milky Way through the sky.Both stretch fromhorizon to horizon in this180 degree panoramarecorded on June 3.Our galaxy's name, the Milky Way, doesrefer to its appearance as a milky path in the sky.The word galaxy itself derives from the Greek for milk.From our fair planetthe arc of the Milky Way is most easily visible on moonless nightsfrom dark sky areas, though not quite so bright or colorful as in this image.The glowing celestial band is due to the collective light ofmyriad stars along the galactic plane too faint to bedistinguished individually.The diffuse starlight is cut by dark swathsof the galaxy's obscuring interstellar dust clouds.Standing above the Milky Way arc near the top of thispanoramic nightscape isbright star Vega, with the galaxy'scentral bulgenear the horizon at the...
APOD: 2022 June 10 - Arp 286: Trio in Virgo 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. 2022 June 10 Arp 286: Trio in Virgo Image Credit &Copyright: Nicolas Rolland,Telescope.Live Explanation: This colorful telescopic fieldof view features a trio of interacting galaxies almost 90 millionlight-years away, toward theconstellation Virgo.On the right twospiky,foreground Milky Way stars echo the extragalactic hues,a reminder that stars in our own galaxy are like those in distantisland universes.With sweeping spiral arms and obscuring dust lanes,the dominant member of the trio,NGC 5566, is enormous, about 150,000 light-years across.Just above it lies smaller, bluish NGC 5569.Near center a third galaxy, NGC 5560,is apparentlystretched and distorted by its interaction with massive NGC 5566.The trio is also included in Halton Arp's 1966Atlasof Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 286.Of course, suchcosmic interactionsare now appreciated as part of theevolution ofgalaxies. 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& Michigan Tech. U.
APOD: 2022 June 9 - Cosmic Clouds in Cygnus 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. 2022 June 9 Cosmic Clouds in Cygnus Image Credit &Copyright: Wolfgang Zimmermann Explanation: These cosmic clouds of gas and dust driftthrough rich star fields along theplane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the high flying constellationCygnus.They're too faint to be seen with the unaided eye though, even on aclear, dark night.Image data from acamera and telephoto lensusing narrowband filterswas used to construct this 10 degree wide field of view.The deep mosaic reveals a region that includes star forming dust clouds seen in silhouette against thecharacteristic glow of atomic hydrogen and oxygen gas.NGC 6888 is the standout emission nebula near the top.Blown by winds from a massive Wolf-Rayet star it'sabout 25 light-years across and known as theCrescent Nebula.A faint bluish curl just below center in the frame is also thesignature of a Wolf-Rayet star.Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of their stellarlives, both stars will ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacularsupernova explosion.Toward the right, a massive, young O type star powers the...
APOD: 2022 June 8 - Ship Tracks over the Pacific Ocean 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. 2022 June 8 Ship Tracks over the Pacific Ocean Image Credit: NASA, Terra, MODIS; Text: Raymond Shaw (MTU) Explanation: What are those unusual streaks?Some images of planet Earth show clear bright streaks that follow the paths of ships. Known as ship tracks, these low and narrow bands are caused by theship's engine exhaust.Water vapor condenses around small bits of exhaust known as aerosols, which soon grow into floating water drops that efficiently reflect sunlight.Ship tracks were first discovered in 1965 in Earth images taken by NASA's TIROS satellites. Multiple ship tracks are visible across the featured image that was captured in 2009 over the Pacific Ocean by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.Inspired by ship-tracks, some scientists have suggested deploying a network of floating buoys in the worlds' oceans that spray salt-aerosol containing sea-water into the air so that, with the help of the wind, streams of sunlight-reflecting clouds would also form. Why do this? These human-made clouds could reflect so much sunlight they might...
APOD: 2022 June 7 - NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara 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. 2022 June 7 NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara Image Credit & Copyright: Shaun Robertson Explanation: Do dragons fight on the altar of the sky? Although it might appear that way, these dragons are illusions made of thin gas and dust.The emission nebula NGC 6188, home to the glowing clouds, is found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of alarge molecular cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southernconstellationAra (the Altar).Massive, youngstars of the embedded AraOB1 associationwere formed in that region only a few million years ago,sculpting the dark shapes andpowering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation.The recentstar formation itself was likely triggered bywinds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massivestars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas.Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas, visible toward the lower right, is rare emission nebula NGC 6164,also created by one of the region's massive O-type stars.Similar in appearance to manyplanetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking,symmetric gaseous shroud and faint halo surround its bright...
APOD: 2022 June 6 - Milky Way Galaxy Doomed: Collision with Andromeda Pending 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. 2022 June 6 Milky Way Galaxy Doomed: Collision with Andromeda Pending Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI); T. Hallas; andA. Mellinger Explanation: Will our Milky Way Galaxy collide one day with its larger neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy?Most likely, yes. Careful plotting of slight displacements of M31's stars relative to background galaxies on recent Hubble Space Telescope images indicate that the center of M31 could be on a direct collision course with the center of our home galaxy.Still, the errors in sideways velocity appear sufficiently large to admit a good chance that the central parts of the two galaxies will miss, slightly, but will become close enough for their outer halos to become gravitationally entangled.Once that happens, the two galaxies will become bound, dance around, and eventually merge to become one large elliptical galaxy -- over the next few billion years.Pictured here is a combination of images depicting the sky of a world (Earth?) in the distant future when...