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. 2022 October 4 Star-Forming Eagle Nebula without Stars Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar Explanation: The whole thing looks like an eagle. A closer look at the Eagle Nebula's center,however, shows thebrightregion is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this window, a brightly-lit workshop appearswhere a whole open cluster of stars is being formed. In this cavity tall pillars and round globules of dark dust and cold molecular gasremain where stars are still forming. Paradoxically, it is perhaps easier to appreciate this impressive factory of star formation by seeing it without its stars -- which have been digitally removed in the featured image.The Eagle emission nebula,tagged M16, lies about 6500light years away, spans about 20 light-years, and is visible withbinoculars towardthe constellation of the Serpent(Serpens). Creating this picture involved over 22 hours of imaging and combining colors emitted specifically by hydrogen (red), and oxygen (blue). Tomorrow's picture: space dart debris <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors...

APOD: 2022 October 3 - Jupiters Europa from Spacecraft Juno 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 October 3 Jupiter's Europa from Spacecraft Juno Image Credit & License: NASA,JPL-Caltech,SwRI,MSSS;Processing: Andrea Luck Explanation: What mysteries might be solved by peering into this crystal ball? In this case, the ball is actually a moon of Jupiter, the crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked beyond repair. Nevertheless, speculation is rampant that oceans exist under Europa's fractured ice-plains that could support life. Europa, roughly the size of Earth's Moon, is pictured here in an image taken a few days ago when the Jupiter-orbiting robotic spacecraft Juno passed within 325 kilometers of its streaked and shifting surface.Underground oceans are thought likely because Europa undergoes global flexing due to its changing gravitational attraction with Jupiter during its slightly elliptical orbit, and this flexing heats the interior.Studying Juno's close-upimages may further humanity's understanding not only of Europa and the early Solar System but also of the possibility that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Tomorrow's picture: big eagle <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search|...

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. 2022 October 3 Jupiter's Europa from Spacecraft Juno Image Credit & License: NASA,JPL-Caltech,SwRI,MSSS;Processing: Andrea Luck Explanation: What mysteries might be solved by peering into this crystal ball? In this case, the ball is actually a moon of Jupiter, the crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked beyond repair. Nevertheless, speculation is rampant that oceans exist under Europa's fractured ice-plains that could support life. Europa, roughly the size of Earth's Moon, is pictured here in an image taken a few days ago when the Jupiter-orbiting robotic spacecraft Juno passed within 325 kilometers of its streaked and shifting surface.Underground oceans are thought likely because Europa undergoes global flexing due to its changing gravitational attraction with Jupiter during its slightly elliptical orbit, and this flexing heats the interior.Studying Juno's close-upimages may further humanity's understanding not only of Europa and the early Solar System but also of the possibility that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Tomorrow's picture: big eagle <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD|...

APOD: 2022 October 2 - Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002 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 October 2 Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002 Image Credit: F. Schinzel et al. (NRAO, NSF), Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (DRAO),NASA (IRAS); Composition: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba) Explanation: What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball?A supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star but blasted its newly formed neutron star core -- a pulsar -- out into the Milky Way Galaxy. The pulsar, spinning 8.7 times a second, was discovered using downloadable software Einstein@Home searching through data taken by NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-Ray Observatory. Traveling over 1,000 kilometers per second, the pulsar PSR J0002+6216 (J0002 for short) has already left the supernova remnant CTB 1, and is even fast enough to leave our Galaxy.Pictured, the trail of the pulsar is visible extending to the lower left of the supernova remnant. The featured image is a combination of radio images from the VLA and DRAO radio observatories, as well as data archived...

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. 2022 October 2 Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002 Image Credit: F. Schinzel et al. (NRAO, NSF), Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (DRAO),NASA (IRAS); Composition: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba) Explanation: What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball?A supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star but blasted its newly formed neutron star core -- a pulsar -- out into the Milky Way Galaxy. The pulsar, spinning 8.7 times a second, was discovered using downloadable software Einstein@Home searching through data taken by NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-Ray Observatory. Traveling over 1,000 kilometers per second, the pulsar PSR J0002+6216 (J0002 for short) has already left the supernova remnant CTB 1, and is even fast enough to leave our Galaxy.Pictured, the trail of the pulsar is visible extending to the lower left of the supernova remnant. The featured image is a combination of radio images from the VLA and DRAO radio observatories, as well as data archived from NASA's orbiting IRAS infrared...

APOD: 2022 October 1 - Lunation Matrix 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 October 1 Lunation Matrix Image Credit &Copyright: Tunc Tezel(TWAN) Explanation: Observe the Moonevery night and you'll see its visible sunlit portion gradually change.In phases progressingfrom New Moon to Full Moon to New Moon again,a lunar cycle or lunation is completed in about 29.5 days.Top left to bottom right, this 7x4 matrix of telescopicimages captures the range of lunar phases for 28 consecutive nights,from the evening of July 29 to the morning of August 26,following analmost complete lunation.No image was taken 24 hours or so just after and just beforeNew Moon,when the lunar phase is at best a narrow crescent, close to the Sunand really hard to see.Finding mostly clear Mediterranean skies required an occasionalroad trip to complete this lunar cycle project,imaging in early evening for the first half andlate evening and early morning for the second half of the lunation.Since all the images are registered at the same scaleyou can use this matrix to track thechange in the Moon's apparent size during the single lunation.For extra credit, find the...

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. 2022 October 1 Lunation Matrix Image Credit &Copyright: Tunc Tezel(TWAN) Explanation: Observe the Moonevery night and you'll see its visible sunlit portion gradually change.In phases progressingfrom New Moon to Full Moon to New Moon again,a lunar cycle or lunation is completed in about 29.5 days.Top left to bottom right, this 7x4 matrix of telescopicimages captures the range of lunar phases for 28 consecutive nights,from the evening of July 29 to the morning of August 26,following analmost complete lunation.No image was taken 24 hours or so just after and just beforeNew Moon,when the lunar phase is at best a narrow crescent, close to the Sunand really hard to see.Finding mostly clear Mediterranean skies required an occasionalroad trip to complete this lunar cycle project,imaging in early evening for the first half andlate evening and early morning for the second half of the lunation.Since all the images are registered at the same scaleyou can use this matrix to track thechange in the Moon's apparent size during the single lunation.For extra credit, find the lunar phase...

APOD: 2022 September 30 - Equinox Sunrise Around the World 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 September 30 Equinox Sunrise Around the World Collage Image Copyright:Luca Vanzella Explanation: A planet-wide collaborationresulted in this remarkable array ofsunrise photographs taken around theSeptember 2022 equinox.The images were contributed by 24 photographers, one in each of24 nautical time zones around the world.Unlike more complicated civil time zone boundaries,the 24 nautical time zones are simply15 degree longitude bands corresponding to 1 hour stepsthat span the globe.Start at the upper right for the first to experience a sunrise inthe nautical time zone corresponding to Coordinated Universal Time(UTC) + 12 hours.In that time zone, the photographer waslocated in Christchurch, New Zealand.Travel to the west by looking down the columnand then moving to the column toward the left forlater sunrises as the time zone offset in hours from UTC decreases.Or,you can watch a video ofSeptember 2022 equinox sunrisesaround planet Earth. Tomorrow's picture: Observe the Moon<| 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...

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. 2022 September 30 Equinox Sunrise Around the World Collage Image Copyright:Luca Vanzella Explanation: A planet-wide collaborationresulted in this remarkable array ofsunrise photographs taken around theSeptember 2022 equinox.The images were contributed by 24 photographers, one in each of24 nautical time zones around the world.Unlike more complicated civil time zone boundaries,the 24 nautical time zones are simply15 degree longitude bands corresponding to 1 hour stepsthat span the globe.Start at the upper right for the first to experience a sunrise inthe nautical time zone corresponding to Coordinated Universal Time(UTC) + 12 hours.In that time zone, the photographer waslocated in Christchurch, New Zealand.Travel to the west by looking down the columnand then moving to the column toward the left forlater sunrises as the time zone offset in hours from UTC decreases.Or, you can watch a video ofSeptember 2022 equinox sunrisesaround planet Earth. Tomorrow's picture: Observe the Moon<| 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...

APOD: 2022 September 29 - DART Asteroid Impact from Space 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 September 29 DART Asteroid Impact from Space Image Credit: ASI /NASA Explanation: Fifteen daysbefore impact,the DART spacecraft deployed a small companion satelliteto document its historicplanetary defense technologydemonstration.Provided by the Italian Space Agency, the Light Italian CubeSat forImaging Asteroids, aka LICIACube,recorded this image of the event'saftermath.A cloud of ejecta is seen near the right edge of the framecaptured only minutesfollowing DART's impact withtarget asteroid Dimorphos while LICIACube was about 80kilometers away.Presently about 11 million kilometers from Earth, 160 meter diameter Dimorphos is a moonlet orbiting 780 meter diameterasteroid Didymos.Didymos is seen off center in the LICIACube image.Over the coming weeks, ground-based telescopic observations will look for asmall change in Dimorphos' orbitaround Didymostoevaluatehow effectively the DART impact deflected its target. Tomorrow's picture: 24 sunrises<| 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 ScienceActivation& 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. 2022 September 29 DART Asteroid Impact from Space Image Credit: ASI /NASA Explanation: Fifteen daysbefore impact,the DART spacecraft deployed a small companion satelliteto document its historicplanetary defense technologydemonstration.Provided by the Italian Space Agency, the Light Italian CubeSat forImaging Asteroids, aka LICIACube,recorded this image of the event'saftermath.A cloud of ejecta is seen near the right edge of the framecaptured only minutesfollowing DART's impact withtarget asteroid Dimorphos while LICIACube was about 80kilometers away.Presently about 11 million kilometers from Earth, 160 meter diameter Dimorphos is a moonlet orbiting 780 meter diameterasteroid Didymos.Didymos is seen off center in the LICIACube image.Over the coming weeks, ground-based telescopic observations will look for asmall change in Dimorphos' orbitaround Didymostoevaluatehow effectively the DART impact deflected its target. Tomorrow's picture: 24 sunrises<| 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 ScienceActivation& Michigan Tech. U.

APOD: 2022 September 28 - A Furious Sky over Mount Shasta 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 September 28 A Furious Sky over Mount Shasta Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner Explanation: Is the sky angry with Mount Shasta?According to some ancient legends, the spirits of above and below worlds fight there, sometimes quite actively during eruptions of this enormous volcano in California, USA. Such drama can well be imagined in this deep sky image taken in late June.Evident above the snow-covered peak is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, on the left, and a picturesque sky toward the modern constellations of Scorpius and Ophiuchus, above and to the right. The bright orange star Antares and the colorful rho Ophiuchi cloud complex are visible just to the right of Mount Shasta, while the red emission nebula surrounding the star zeta Ophiuchi appears on the top right. The static earth image in the featured composite was taken during the blue hour, while a two-panel panorama tracking the background sky was taken later that night with the same camera and from the...

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. 2022 September 28 A Furious Sky over Mount Shasta Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner Explanation: Is the sky angry with Mount Shasta?According to some ancient legends, the spirits of above and below worlds fight there, sometimes quite actively during eruptions of this enormous volcano in California, USA. Such drama can well be imagined in this deep sky image taken in late June.Evident above the snow-covered peak is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, on the left, and a picturesque sky toward the modern constellations of Scorpius and Ophiuchus, above and to the right. The bright orange star Antares and the colorful rho Ophiuchi cloud complex are visible just to the right of Mount Shasta, while the red emission nebula surrounding the star zeta Ophiuchi appears on the top right. The static earth image in the featured composite was taken during the blue hour, while a two-panel panorama tracking the background sky was taken later that night with the same camera and from the same location.Within a few million years,...

APOD: 2022 September 27 - DART: Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos 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. DART: Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, DART Explanation: Could humanity deflect an asteroid headed for Earth?Yes. Deadly impacts from large asteroids have happened before in Earth's past, sometimes causing mass extinctions of life.To help protect our Earth from some potential future impacts, NASA tested a new planetary defense mechanism yesterday by crashing the robotic Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into Dimorphos, a small asteroid spanning about 170-meters across.As shown in the featured video, the impact was a success.Ideally, if impacted early enough, even the kick from a small spacecraft can deflect a large asteroid enough to miss the Earth. In the video, DART is seen in a time-lapse video first passing larger Didymos, on the left, and then approaching the smaller Dimorphos.Although the video ends abruptly with DART's crash, observations monitoring the changed orbit of Dimorphos -- from spacecraft and telescopes around the world -- have just begun. Tomorrow's picture: furious sky <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD|...

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. DART: Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, DART Explanation: Could humanity deflect an asteroid headed for Earth?Yes. Deadly impacts from large asteroids have happened before in Earth's past, sometimes causing mass extinctions of life.To help protect our Earth from some potential future impacts, NASA tested a new planetary defense mechanism yesterday by crashing the robotic Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into Dimorphos, a small asteroid spanning about 170-meters across.As shown in the featured video, the impact was a success.Ideally, if impacted early enough, even the kick from a small spacecraft can deflect a large asteroid enough to miss the Earth. In the video, DART is seen in a time-lapse video first passing larger Didymos, on the left, and then approaching the smaller Dimorphos.Although the video ends abruptly with DART's crash, observations monitoring the changed orbit of Dimorphos -- from spacecraft and telescopes around the world -- have just begun. Tomorrow's picture: furious sky <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors:...

APOD: 2022 September 26 - All the Water on Planet Earth 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 September 26 All the Water on Planet Earth Illustration Credit: Jack Cook, Adam Nieman, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;Data source: Igor Shiklomanov Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water?Very little, actually.Althoughoceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface, these oceans areshallow compared to the Earth's radius.The featured illustration shows what would happen if all ofthe water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball.The radius of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the radius of theEarth's Moon, but slightly larger than Saturn's moonRhea which, like many moons in our outer Solar System, is mostly water ice.The next smallest ball depicts all of Earth's liquid fresh water, while the tiniest ball shows the volume of all of Earth's fresh-water lakes and rivers.How any of this water came to be onthe Earth and whether any significant amount istrapped farbeneath Earth's surface remain topics of research. Tomorrow's picture: DARTing an asteroid <| Archive|...

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. 2022 September 26 All the Water on Planet Earth Illustration Credit: Jack Cook, Adam Nieman, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;Data source: Igor Shiklomanov Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water?Very little, actually.Althoughoceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface, these oceans areshallow compared to the Earth's radius.The featured illustration shows what would happen if all ofthe water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball.The radius of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the radius of theEarth's Moon, but slightly larger than Saturn's moonRhea which, like many moons in our outer Solar System, is mostly water ice.The next smallest ball depicts all of Earth's liquid fresh water, while the tiniest ball shows the volume of all of Earth's fresh-water lakes and rivers.How any of this water came to be onthe Earth and whether any significant amount istrapped farbeneath Earth's surface remain topics of research. Tomorrow's picture: furious sky <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education|...

APOD: 2022 September 25 - The Fairy of Eagle 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 September 25 The Fairy of Eagle Nebula Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating. As powerful starlight whittles away thesecool cosmic mountains, thestatuesque pillars that remainmight be imagined as mythical beasts. Featured here is one of several strikingdust pillars of theEagle Nebulathat might be described as a gigantic alienfairy. This fairy, however, is tenlight years tall and spews radiation much hotter thancommon fire.The greater Eagle Nebula, M16,is actually a giant evaporating shell of gas anddust inside of which is a growingcavity filled with a spectacular stellar nursery currently forming anopen cluster of stars. This great pillar, which is about 7,000 light years away, will likely evaporate away in about 100,000 years. The featured image is in scientifically re-assigned colors andwas taken by the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. Tomorrow's picture: earth without water <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell...

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. 2022 September 25 The Fairy of Eagle Nebula Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating. As powerful starlight whittles away thesecool cosmic mountains, thestatuesque pillars that remainmight be imagined as mythical beasts. Featured here is one of several strikingdust pillars of theEagle Nebulathat might be described as a gigantic alienfairy. This fairy, however, is tenlight years tall and spews radiation much hotter thancommon fire.The greater Eagle Nebula, M16,is actually a giant evaporating shell of gas anddust inside of which is a growingcavity filled with a spectacular stellar nursery currently forming anopen cluster of stars. This great pillar, which is about 7,000 light years away, will likely evaporate away in about 100,000 years. The featured image is in scientifically re-assigned colors andwas taken by the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. Tomorrow's picture: earth without water <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights...

APOD: 2022 September 24 - September Sunrise Shadows 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 September 24 September Sunrise Shadows Image Credit &Copyright: Donato Lioce Explanation: The defining astronomical momentfor this September's equinox was onFriday, September 23, 2022 at 01:03 UTC,when the Sun crossed the celestial equator moving south in itsyearly journey through planet Earth's sky.That marked the beginning offall for our fair planetin the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere,when day and night are nearly equal around the globe. Of course, if you celebrate theastronomical change of seasonsby watching a sunrise you can also look for crepuscular rays.The shadows cast by clouds can have a dramatic appearance in thetwilight sky during any sunrise or sunset.Due to perspective,the parallel shadows will seem to point back to the rising Sunand a placedue east on your horizon near the equinox date.Taken on September 15, this sunrise sea and skyscape capturedcrepuscular rays in the sky and wateryspecular reflectionsfrom the Mediterranean coast near the village of Petacciato, Italy. Tomorrow's picture: shadows of cosmic dust<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss|...