NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 16:46:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 October 1

Eclipsed in Southern Skies
Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory)

Explanation: This stunning panorama in southern skies was recorded on the colorful night of September 27/28 from Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory. A diffuse glow and dark rifts of the central Milky Way hang over domes of the twin 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes. But most eye-catching is the deep red glow of the Moon. Immersed in Earth's shadow during the much anticipated perigee-total-lunar eclipse, the Moon's surface reflects the light of sunsets and sunrises scattered and refracted into the planet's cone-shaped umbra. Along with the dramatic hue of the eclipsed Moon, other colors of that night captured by the sensitive digital camera include the red and green shades of atmospheric airglow. Viewers can also spot the Andromeda Galaxy below the Moon, seen as a tiny smudge through the reddish airglow and lights along the horizon. The Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, join in at the far left of the full panorama frame.

Tomorrow's picture: underworld Friday

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:00:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 30

Seasonal Streaks Point to Recent Flowing Water on Mars
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, U. Arizona

Explanation: What creates these changing streaks on Mars? Called Recurring Slope Linea (RSL), these dark features start on the slopes of hills and craters but don't usually extend to the bottom. What's even more unusual is that these streaks appear to change with the season, appearing fresh and growing during warm weather and disappearing during the winter. After much study, including a recent chemical analyses, a leading hypothesis has emerged that these streaks are likely created by new occurrences of liquid salty water that evaporates as it flows. The source for the briny water is still unclear, with two possibilities being condensation from the Martian atmosphere and underground reservoirs. An exciting inference is that if these briny flows are not too salty, they may be able to support microbial life on Mars even today. The featured image of a hill inside Horowitz Crater was investigated by instruments aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that has been returning data from Mars since 2006.

Retrospective: Today in APOD History
Tomorrow's picture: open space

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:45:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 29

Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse and Lightning Storm
Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Antonio Hervás

Explanation: What's more rare than a supermoon total lunar eclipse? How about a supermoon total lunar eclipse over a lightning storm. Such an electrifying sequence was captured yesterday from Ibiza, an island in southeastern Spain. After planning the location for beauty, and the timing to capture the entire eclipse sequence, the only thing that had to cooperate for this astrophotographer to capture a memorable eclipse sequence was the weather. What looked to be a bother on the horizon, though, turned out to be a blessing. The composite picture features over 200 digitally combined images from the same location over the course of a night. The full moon is seen setting as it faded to red in Earth's shadow and then returned to normal. The fortuitous lightning is seen reflected in the Mediterranean to the right of the 400-meter tall rocky island of Es Vedra. Although the next total eclipse of a large and bright supermoon will occur in 2033, the next total eclipse of any full moon will occur in January 2018 and be best visible from eastern Asia and Australia.

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Tomorrow's picture: streaks of mars

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 04:50:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 02:47:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 28

Total Lunar Eclipse over Waterton Lake
Image Credit & Copyright: Yuichi Takasaka / TWAN / www.blue-moon.ca

Explanation: Recorded in 2014 April, this total lunar eclipse sequence looks south down icy Waterton Lake from the Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada, planet Earth. The most distant horizon includes peaks in Glacier National Park, USA. An exposure every 10 minutes captured the Moon's position and eclipse phase, as it arced, left to right, above the rugged skyline and Waterton town lights. In fact, the sequence effectively measures the roughly 80 minute duration of the total phase of the eclipse. Around 270 BC, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus also measured the duration of lunar eclipses - though probably without the benefit of digital clocks and cameras. Still, using geometry, he devised a simple and impressively accurate way to calculate the Moon's distance, in terms of the radius of planet Earth, from the eclipse duration. This modern eclipse sequence also tracks the successive positions of Mars, above and right of the Moon, bright star Spica next to the reddened lunar disk, and Saturn to the left and below.

Gallery: Last night's total supermoon eclipse
Tomorrow's picture: lightning eclipse

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 27

Tonight: A Supermoon Lunar Eclipse
Video Credit: NASA's GSFC, David Ladd (USRA) & Krystofer Kim (USRA)

Explanation: Tonight a bright full Moon will fade to red. Tonight's moon will be particularly bright because it is reaching its fully lit phase when it is relatively close to the Earth in its elliptical orbit. In fact, by some measures of size and brightness, tonight's full Moon is designated a supermoon, although perhaps the "super" is overstated because it will be only a few percent larger and brighter than the average full Moon. However, our Moon will fade to a dim red because it will also undergo a total lunar eclipse -- an episode when the Moon becomes completely engulfed in Earth's shadow. The faint red color results from blue sunlight being more strongly scattered away by the Earth's atmosphere. Tonight's moon can also be called a Harvest Moon as it is the full Moon that occurs closest to the September equinox, a time signaling crop harvest in Earth's northern hemisphere. Total eclipses of supermoons are relatively rare -- the last supermoon lunar eclipse was in 1982, and the next will be in 2033. Tonight's supermoon total eclipse will last over an hour and be best visible from eastern North America after sunset, South America in the middle of the night, and Western Europe before sunrise.

Live Feed from NASA: Supermoon Eclipse 2015
Tomorrow's picture: cool eclipse image

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 26

M31 versus M33
Image Credit & Copyright: Malcolm Park (North York Astronomical Association)

Explanation: Separated by about 14 degrees (28 Full Moons) in planet Earth's sky, spiral galaxies M31 at left, and M33 are both large members of the Local Group, along with our own Milky Way galaxy. This narrow- and wide-angle, multi-camera composite finds details of spiral structure in both, while the massive neighboring galaxies seem to be balanced in starry fields either side of bright Mirach, beta star in the constellation Andromeda. Mirach is just 200 light-years from the Sun. But M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is really 2.5 million light-years distant and M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, is also about 3 million light years away. Although they look far apart, M31 and M33 are engaged in a gravitational struggle. In fact, radio astronomers have found indications of a bridge of neutral hydrogen gas that could connect the two, evidence of a closer encounter in the past. Based on measurements, gravitational simulations currently predict that the Milky Way, M31, and M33 will all undergo mutual close encounters and potentially mergers, billions of years in the future.

Tomorrow's picture: SuperMoonSunday

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 14:41:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

2015 September 25

Pluto's Snakeskin Terrain
Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Institute

Explanation: A mountainous region informally known as Tartarus Dorsa sprawls some 530 kilometers (330 miles) across this Plutonian landscape. Recently downloaded from New Horizons, it combines blue, red, and infrared image data in an extended color view captured near the spacecraft's close approach to Pluto on July 14. Shadows near the terminator, the line between Pluto's dim day and night, emphasize a rough, scaly texture. The stunning image resolves details on the distant world about 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) across. Refering to a part of Hades in ancient Greek mythology, Tartarus Dorsa borders Tombaugh Regio to the east.

Tomorrow's picture: M31 vs. M33

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 14:26:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 15:58:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

zxn0 via YahooPipes — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 13:00:00 +0000

NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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NASA IotD and APoD

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