APOD: 2024 June 14 - RCW 85 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. 2024 June 14 RCW 85 Image Credit &Copyright: Martin Pugh Explanation: From the 1960 astronomical catalog ofRodgers, Campbell and Whiteoak,emission region RCW 85 shines in southern night skies between bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri.About 5,000 light years distant, the hazy interstellar cloud of glowinghydrogen gas and dust is faint.But detailed structures along well-defined rimswithin RCW 85 are traced inthis cosmic skyscape composedof 28 hours of narrow and broadband exposures.Suggestive of dramatic shapes in otherstellar nurserieswhere natalclouds of gas and dust are sculpted by energetic winds and radiationfrom newborn stars, the tantalizing nebula has been called the Devil's Tower.This telescopic frame would span around 100 light-yearsat the estimated distanceof RCW 85. 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: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility 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. 2024 June 15 Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun Image Credit &Copyright: Steen Søndergaard Explanation: This colorized and sharpened image of the Sun is composed offrames recording emission from hydrogen atoms in the solar chromosphereon May 15.Approaching the maximum ofsolar cycle 25,a multitude of active regionsand twisting, snake-like solar filaments are seento sprawl across the surface of the active Sun. Suspend in the active regions' strong magnetic fields,the filaments of plasma lofted above the Sun's edgeappear as bright solar prominences.The large prominences seen near 4 o'clock,and just before 9 o'clock around the solar limbare post flare loops from two powerfulX-class solar flaresthat bothoccurred on that day.In fact, the 4 o'clock prominence is associated with themonster active region AR 3664just rotating off the Sun's edge. Tomorrow's picture: How to destroy a star. <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility 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. 2024 June 14 RCW 85 Image Credit &Copyright: Martin Pugh Explanation: From the 1960 astronomical catalog ofRodgers, Campbell and Whiteoak,emission region RCW 85 shines in southern night skies between bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri.About 5,000 light years distant, the hazy interstellar cloud of glowinghydrogen gas and dust is faint.But detailed structures along well-defined rimswithin RCW 85 are traced inthis cosmic skyscape composedof 28 hours of narrow and broadband exposures.Suggestive of dramatic shapes in otherstellar nurserieswhere natalclouds of gas and dust are sculpted by energetic winds and radiationfrom newborn stars, the tantalizing nebula has been called the Devil's Tower.This telescopic frame would span around 100 light-yearsat the estimated distanceof RCW 85. 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: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

APOD: 2024 June 13 - Messier 66 Close Up 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. 2024 June 13 Messier 66 Close Up Image Credit:NASA, ESA,Hubble Heritage(STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration.Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin and Robert Gendler Explanation: Big, beautifulspiralgalaxy Messier 66lies a mere 35 million light-years away.Thegorgeous island universeis about 100 thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way.ThisHubble Space Telescopeclose-up view spans a region about 30,000light-years wide around the galactic core.It shows the galaxy's disk dramatically inclined to our line-of-sight.Surrounding its bright core, the likely home of a supermassive blackhole, obscuring dust lanes and young, blue star clusters sweepalong spiral armsdotted with the tell-tale glow of pinkish star forming regions.Messier 66, also known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the threegalaxies in the gravitationally interactingLeo Triplet. 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: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility 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. 2024 June 13 Messier 66 Close Up Image Credit:NASA, ESA,Hubble Heritage(STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration.Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin and Robert Gendler Explanation: Big, beautifulspiralgalaxy Messier 66lies a mere 35 million light-years away.Thegorgeous island universeis about 100 thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way.ThisHubble Space Telescopeclose-up view spans a region about 30,000light-years wide around the galactic core.It shows the galaxy's disk dramatically inclined to our line-of-sight.Surrounding its bright core, the likely home of a supermassive blackhole, obscuring dust lanes and young, blue star clusters sweepalong spiral armsdotted with the tell-tale glow of pinkish star forming regions.Messier 66, also known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the threegalaxies in the gravitationally interactingLeo Triplet. 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: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

APOD: 2024 June 7 - Sharpless 308: The Dolphin Head 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. 2024 June 7 SH2-308: The Dolphin Head Nebula Image Credit &Copyright: Prabhu Kutti Explanation: Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star,this cosmic bubble is huge.Cataloged asSharpless 2-308it lies some 5,000 light-years away toward the well-trained constellationCanis Major andcovers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon.Thatcorrespondsto a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance.The massive star that created the bubble, aWolf-Rayet star,is the bright onenear the centerof the nebula.Wolf-Rayet starshave over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief,pre-supernova phaseof massive star evolution.Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet starcreate the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution.The windblown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years.Relatively faint emission captured by narrowband filtersin the deep imageis dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atomsmapped to a blue hue.Presenting amostly harmlessoutline, SH2-308 is also known as The Dolphin-head Nebula. Tomorrow's picture: pandora's galaxies <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar|...

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. 2024 June 8 Pandora's Cluster of Galaxies Image Credit:NASA,ESA,CSA,Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh),Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Explanation: This deep field mosaicked imagepresents a stunning view of galaxy cluster Abell 2744 recorded bythe James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam.Also dubbed Pandora's Cluster, Abell 2744 itselfappears to be a ponderous merger of three different massive galaxyclusters.It lies some 3.5 billion light-years away, toward the constellationSculptor.Dominated bydark matter,the mega-cluster warps and distortsthe fabric of spacetime,gravitationally lensingeven more distant objects.Redder than the Pandora cluster galaxiesmany of the lensed sources are very distant galaxies in the earlyUniverse, their lensed images stretched and distorted into arcs.Of course distinctivediffraction spikes mark foreground Milky Waystars.At the Pandora Cluster's estimateddistance this cosmic box spans about 6 million light-years.But don't panic.You can explore the tantalizing region in a2 minute video tour. Tomorrow's picture: what's that? <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation&...

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. 2024 June 7 SH2-308: The Dolphin Head Nebula Image Credit &Copyright: Prabhu Kutti Explanation: Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star,this cosmic bubble is huge.Cataloged asSharpless 2-308it lies some 5,000 light-years away toward the well-trained constellationCanis Major andcovers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon.Thatcorrespondsto a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance.The massive star that created the bubble, aWolf-Rayet star,is the bright onenear the centerof the nebula.Wolf-Rayet starshave over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief,pre-supernova phaseof massive star evolution.Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet starcreate the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution.The windblown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years.Relatively faint emission captured by narrowband filtersin the deep imageis dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atomsmapped to a blue hue.Presenting amostly harmlessoutline, SH2-308 is also known as The Dolphin-head Nebula. Tomorrow's picture: pandora's galaxies <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| >...

APOD: 2024 June 6 - NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge 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. 2024 June 6 NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge Image Credit &Copyright: Lóránd Fényes Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxyNGC 4565is viewed edge-on from planet Earth.Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile,bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky,in the faint but well-groomed constellationComa Berenices.This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy'sboxy, bulgingcentral core cut byobscuring dust lanes that laceNGC 4565's thin galactic plane.NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spanssome 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes,skyenthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestialmasterpiece Messier missed. Tomorrow's picture: sky dolphin <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility 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. 2024 June 6 NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge Image Credit &Copyright: Lóránd Fényes Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxyNGC 4565is viewed edge-on from planet Earth.Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile,bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky,in the faint but well-groomed constellationComa Berenices.This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy'sboxy, bulgingcentral core cut byobscuring dust lanes that laceNGC 4565's thin galactic plane.NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spanssome 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes,skyenthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestialmasterpiece Messier missed. Tomorrow's picture: sky dolphin <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility 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. 2024 June 3 NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis Image Credit &Copyright: (Team F.A.C.T.) Lilian Lbt - Cyrille Malo - Maxime Martin - ClémentDaniel - Paul Grasset - Louis Leroux-Géré Explanation: Magnificent island universeNGC 2403stands within the boundaries of the long-necked constellationCamelopardalis.Some 10 million light-years distant and about 50,000 light-yearsacross, the spiral galaxy also seems to have morethan its fair share of giant star formingHII regions,marked by the telltale reddish glow of atomic hydrogen gas.The giant HII regions are energized by clusters of hot, massive starsthat explode asbright supernovaeat the end of their short and furious lives.A member of the M81 group of galaxies,NGC 2403 closely resembles a galaxy in our own local galaxy group with anabundance of star forming regions,M33, the Triangulum Galaxy.Spiky in appearance,bright stars inthis portrait of NGC 2403are in the foreground, within our own Milky Way.Also in the foreground of the deep, wide-field, telescopicimage are the Milky Way's dim and dustyinterstellar clouds also known asgalactic cirrus or integrated flux nebulae.But faint features that seem to extend fromNGC 2403 itselfare likely...

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. 2024 June 1 Stereo Helene Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team,ISS,JPL,ESA,NASA;Stereo Image byRoberto Beltramini Explanation: Get out yourred/blue glasses and float next to Helene,small, icy moon of Saturn.Appropriately named, Heleneis a Trojan moon, so called because it orbits at aLagrange point.A Lagrange point is a gravitationally stable positionnear two massive bodies, in this caseSaturnand larger moon Dione.In fact, irregularly shaped ( about 36 by 32 by 30 kilometers)Helene orbits at Dione's leading Lagrange point whilebrotherly ice moon Polydeuces follows at Dione's trailing Lagrangepoint.The sharp stereoanaglyph was constructed from twoCassini images captured duringaclose flyby in 2011.It shows part of the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Helenemottled with craters and gully-like features. Tomorrow's picture: both sides of Earth's Moon <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.

APOD: 2024 May 31 - The Nebulous Realm of WR 134 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. 2024 May 31 The Nebulous Realm of WR 134 Image Credit &Copyright: Xin Long Explanation: Made with narrowband filters,this cosmic snapshotcovers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within theboundaries of the constellation Cygnus.It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by theglow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas.Embedded inthe region's expanse of interstellar clouds,the complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of materialswept up by the wind fromWolf-Rayet star WR 134,brightest star near the center of the frame.Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, makingthe frame over 100 light-years across.Sheddingtheir outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds,massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at aprodigious rateand end this final phase of massive star evolution ina spectacular supernova explosion.The stellar winds and final supernova enrich the interstellarmaterial with heavy elementsto be incorporated infuture generations of stars. Tomorrow's picture: stereo moon <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors:...

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. 2024 May 31 The Nebulous Realm of WR 134 Image Credit &Copyright: Xin Long Explanation: Made with narrowband filters,this cosmic snapshotcovers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within theboundaries of the constellation Cygnus.It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by theglow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas.Embedded inthe region's expanse of interstellar clouds,the complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of materialswept up by the wind fromWolf-Rayet star WR 134,brightest star near the center of the frame.Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, makingthe frame over 100 light-years across.Sheddingtheir outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds,massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at aprodigious rateand end this final phase of massive star evolution ina spectacular supernova explosion.The stellar winds and final supernova enrich the interstellarmaterial with heavy elementsto be incorporated infuture generations of stars. Tomorrow's picture: stereo moon <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official:...

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. 2024 May 27 Chamaeleon I Molecular Cloud Image Credit &Copyright:Amiel Contuliano Explanation: Dark markingsand bright nebulae in this telescopic southern sky vieware telltale signs of young stars andactivestarformation.They lie a mere 650 light-years away,at the boundaryof thelocal bubbleand the Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex.Regions with young stars identified as dusty reflection nebulaefrom the 1946Cederblad cataloginclude the C-shaped Ced 110 just above and right of center,and bluish Ced 111 below it.Also a standout in the frame, the orange tinted V-shape of theChamaeleonInfrared Nebula(Cha IRN) was carved by material streaming from a newly formed low-massstar. The well-composed imagespans 1.5 degrees.That's about 17 light-years at the estimated distance of the nearbyChamaeleon I molecular cloud. Tomorrow's picture: stairway to <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Amber StraughnSpecific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy,Accessibility NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC,NASA Science Activation& Michigan Tech. U.