Loving Astronomy

05/06/2019

05/06/2019

04/06/2019

APOD: Stephan's Quintet from Hubble (2019 Jun 03)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Daniel Nobre
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190603.html

APOD: Stephan's Quintet from Hubble (2019 Jun 03)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Daniel Nobre
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190603.html

Explanation: When did these big galaxies first begin to dance? Really only four of the five of Stephan's Quintet are locked in a cosmic tango of repeated close encounters taking place some 300 million light-years away. The odd galaxy out is easy to spot in this recently reprocessed image by the Hubble Space Telescope -- the interacting galaxies, NGC 7319, 7318B, 7318A, and 7317 (left to right), have a more dominant yellowish cast. They also tend to have distorted loops and tails, grown under the influence of disruptive gravitational tides. The mostly bluish galaxy, large NGC 7320 on the lower left, is in the foreground at about 40 million light-years distant, and so is not part of the interacting group. Data and modeling indicate that NGC 7318B is a relatively new intruder. A recently-discovered halo of old red stars surrounding Stephan's Quintet indicate that at least some of these galaxies started tangling over a billion years. Stephan's Quintet is visible with a moderate sized-telescope toward the constellation of Winged Horse (Pegasus).

https://www.nasa.gov/
https://www.esa.int/
https://www.nasa.gov/hubble
https://www.astrobin.com/users/Deep_Sky/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190603

15/05/2019

Interesante

La ciencia experimental basa uno de sus pilares en las evidencias. Dichas evidencias pueden servir para detectar civilizaciones extraterrestres

22/09/2018

APOD: Window Seat over Hudson Bay (2018 Sep 22)
Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180922.html

Explanation: On the August 18 night flight from San Francisco to Zurich, a window seat offered this tantalizing view when curtains of light draped a colorful glow across the sky over Hudson Bay. Constructed by digitally stacking six short exposures made with a hand held camera, the scene records the shimmering aurora borealis or northern lights just as the approaching high altitude sunrise illuminated the northeastern horizon. It also caught the flash of a Perseid meteor streaking beneath the handle stars of the Big Dipper of the north. A few days past the meteor shower's peak, its trail still points across the sky toward Perseus. Beautiful aurorae and shower meteors both occur in Earth's upper atmosphere at altitudes of 100 kilometers or so, far above commercial airline flights. The aurora are caused by energetic charged particles from the magnetosphere, while meteors are trails of comet dust.

https://ralf-rohner.pixels.com/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180922

25/06/2018

APOD: Galaxy in a Crystal Ball (2018 Jun 22)
Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Munoz
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180622.html

Explanation: A small crystal ball seems to hold a whole galaxy in this creative snapshot. Of course, the galaxy is our own Milky Way. Its luminous central bulge marked by rifts of interstellar dust spans thousands of light-years. On this long southern hemisphere night it filled dark Chilean skies over Paranal Observatory. The single exposure image did not require a Very Large Telescope, though. Experiments with a digital camera on a tripod and crystal ball perched on a handrail outside the Paranal Residencia produced the evocative, cosmic marble portrait of our home galaxy.

https://twitter.com/astro_jcm/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180622

22/07/2016

Loving this one!

APOD: NGC 1309: Spiral Galaxy and Friends (2016 Jul 14)
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA;
Processing - Jeff Signorelli
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160714.html

Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy some 100 million light-years distant, NGC 1309 lies on the banks of the constellation of the River (Eridanus). NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy. Bluish clusters of young stars and dust lanes are seen to trace out NGC 1309's spiral arms as they wind around an older yellowish star population at its core. Not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy, observations of NGC 1309's recent supernova and Cepheid variable stars contribute to the calibration of the expansion of the Universe. Still, after you get over this beautiful galaxy's grand design, check out the array of more distant background galaxies also recorded in this sharp, reprocessed, Hubble Space Telescope view.

http://hla.stsci.edu/
http://www.esa.int/
http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.skycrumbles.net/index.html

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=160714

18/07/2016

Anyone wishing to be able to do this?

Stargazing in

10/05/2016

Loving this one!

APOD: Aurora over Sweden (2016 May 03)
Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160503.html

Explanation: It was bright and green and stretched across the sky. This striking aurora display was captured last month just outside of Östersund, Sweden. Six photographic fields were merged to create the featured panorama spanning almost 180 degrees. Particularly striking aspects of this aurora include its sweeping arc-like shape and its stark definition. Lake Storsjön is seen in the foreground, while several familiar constellations and the star Polaris are visible through the aurora, far in the background. Coincidently, the aurora appears to avoid the Moon visible on the lower left. The aurora appeared a day after a large hole opened in the Sun's corona allowing particularly energetic particles to flow out into the Solar System. The green color of the aurora is caused by oxygen atoms recombining with ambient electrons high in the Earth's atmosphere.

Annotated: http://apod.nasa.gov/image/1605/AuroraSweden_Strand_960_Annotated.jpg

http://www.astrofotografen.se/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=160503

14/03/2016

Loving this one!

07/03/2016

Loving this one!

Voyager 1 passed Jupiter 37 years ago. Check out a time-lapse of images from the approach: bit.ly/1YmQCU8 pic.twitter.com/TAVaZ4gGL8

23/02/2016

Loving this one!

APOD: A Supernova through Galaxy Dust (2016 Feb 23)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA);
Inset Image: Howard Hedlund & Dave Jurasevich, Las Campanas Obs.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160223.html

Explanation: Telescopes around the world are tracking a bright supernova that occurred in a nearby dusty galaxy. The powerful stellar explosion was first noted earlier this month. The nearby galaxy is the photogenic Centaurus A, visible with binoculars and known for impressive filaments of light-absorbing dust that cross its center. Cen A is featured here in a high-resolution archival Hubble Space Telescope image, with an inset image featuring the supernova taken from the ground only two days after discovery. Designated SN2016adj, the supernova is highlighted with crosshairs in the inset, appearing just to the left of a bright foreground star in our Milky Way Galaxy. This supernova is currently thought to be of Type IIb, a stellar-core-collapse supernova, and is of high interest because it occurred so nearby and because it is being seen through a known dust filament. Current and future observations of this supernova may give us new clues about the fates of massive stars and how some elements found on our Earth were formed.

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
http://heritage.stsci.edu/
http://www.stsci.edu/portal/
http://www.aura-astronomy.org/
http://starimager.com/
http://www.lco.cl/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=160223

10/02/2016

river galaxy

APOD: Galaxies in the River (2016 Feb 10)
Image Credit & Copyright: CEDIC Team
Processing: Markus Blauensteiner
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160210.html

Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy practices galactic cannibalism, absorbing small galaxies that get too close and are captured by the Milky Way's gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus, The River. Located over 50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531 (right of center), a struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose. Seen edge-on, spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years. Nicely detailed in this sharp image, the NGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be similar to the well-studied system of face-on spiral and small companion known as M51.

http://www.cedic.at/
http://deeplook.astronomie.at/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=160210

01/12/2015

Loving this one!

One of my favourite pictures..taken last June. It was a fun night and excellent company...let´s see if it gets published on . Photo: Ana García - AstroLaPalma.com Visit La Palma
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=35312&p=250888 (29/11)

26/10/2015

Loving this one!

APOD: Jupiter and Venus from Earth (2015 Oct 25)
Image Copyright: Marek Nikodem (PPSAE)
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151025.html

Explanation: It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in 2012 was visible almost no matter where you lived on Earth. Anyone on the planet with a clear western horizon at sunset could see them. Pictured above in 2012, a creative photographer traveled away from the town lights of Szubin, Poland to image a near closest approach of the two planets. The bright planets were separated only by three degrees and his daughter striking a humorous pose. A faint red sunset still glowed in the background. Jupiter and Venus will be at it again this week before sunrise, passing under two degree from each other -- and even with bonus planet Mars nearby.

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=151025

11/10/2015

Loving this one!

BLOG - http://starmountainmedia.com/filmsblog/filmsblog-oct-2013-night-visions-astro-la-palma-milkyway-timelapse-film.html Update: this film has been accepted…

09/10/2015

Loving this one!

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

23/09/2015

Loving this one!

APOD: Spiral Galaxy M96 from Hubble (2015 Sep 21)
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and the LEGUS Team;
Acknowledgement: Robert Gendler
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150921.html

Explanation: Dust lanes seem to swirl around the core of Messier 96 in this colorful, detailed portrait of the center of a beautiful island universe. Of course M96 is a spiral galaxy, and counting the faint arms extending beyond the brighter central region, it spans 100 thousand light-years or so, making it about the size of our own Milky Way. M96, also known as NGC 3368, is known to be about 35 million light-years distant and a dominant member of the Leo I galaxy group. The featured image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The reason for M96's asymmetry is unclear -- it could have arisen from gravitational interactions with other Leo I group galaxies, but the lack of an intra-group diffuse glow seems to indicate few recent interactions. Galaxies far in the background can be found by examining the edges of the picture.

http://www.esa.int/
http://www.nasa.gov/
http://legus.stsci.edu/team.html
http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150921

14/09/2015

Loving this...squid?...bat?...something anyways.

APOD: A Giant Squid in the Flying Bat (2015 Sep 11)
Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Cannistra (StarryWonders)
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150911.html

Explanation: Very faint but also very large on planet Earth's sky, a giant Squid Nebula cataloged as Ou4, and Sh2-129 also known as the Flying Bat Nebula, are both caught in this scene toward the royal constellation Cepheus. Composed with a total of 20 hours of broadband and narrowband data, the telescopic field of view is almost 4 degrees or 8 Full Moons across. Discovered in 2011 by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters, the Squid Nebula's suggestive bipolar shape is distinguished here by the telltale blue-green emission from ionized oxygen atoms. Though apparently completely surrounded by the reddish hydrogen emission region Sh2-129, the true distance and nature of the Squid Nebula have been difficult to determine. Still, a recent investigation suggests Ou4 really does lie within Sh2-129 some 2,300 light-years away. Consistent with that scenario, Ou4 would represent a spectacular outflow driven by a triple system of hot, massive stars, cataloged as HR8119, seen near the center of the nebula. If so, the truly giant Squid Nebula would physically be nearly 50 light-years across.

http://www.starrywonders.com/copyright.html
http://www.starrywonders.com/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150911

10/09/2015

Loving this one!

Cities at Night is a citizen science project that invites the public to help analyze nighttime images taken from the International Space Station. This valuable information helps researchers better ...

03/09/2015

Loving this one!

APOD: Arp 159 and NGC 4725 (2015 Sep 03)
Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Leshin
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150903.html

Explanation: Pointy stars and peculiar galaxies span this cosmic snapshot, a telescopic view toward the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. Bright enough to show off diffraction spikes, the stars are in the foreground of the scene, well within our own Milky Way. But the two prominent galaxies lie far beyond our own, some 41 million light-years distant. Also known as NGC 4747, the smaller distorted galaxy at left is the 159th entry in the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, with extensive tidal tails indicative of strong gravitational interactions in its past. At about a 100,000 light-years across, its likely companion on the right is the much larger NGC 4725. At first glance NGC 4725 appears to be a normal spiral galaxy, its central region dominated by the yellowish light of cool, older stars giving way to younger hot blue star clusters along dusty spiral outskirts. Still, NGC 4725 does look a little odd with only one main spiral arm.

http://sleshin.startlogic.com/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150903

23/08/2015

Loving this one! Looking good!

22/08/2015

yummy...plannets!

Absurdly awesome planetary structural layer cakes designed by Cakecrumbs. More photos and a new tutorial at the link:

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/08/planetary-cakes

17/08/2015

Loving this one!

APOD: Andromeda Rising over the Alps (2015 Aug 17)
Image Credit & Copyright: Matteo Dunchi
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150817.html

Explanation: Have you ever seen the Andromeda galaxy? Although M31 appears as a faint and fuzzy blob to the unaided eye, the light you see will be over two million years old, making it likely the oldest light you ever will see directly. Now rising near a few hours after sunset from mid-latitude northern locations, Andromeda is rising earlier each night and will be visible to northerners all night long starting in September. The featured image captured Andromeda rising above the Italian Alps last month. As cool as it may be to see this neighboring galaxy to our Milky Way with your own eyes, long duration camera exposures can pick up many faint and breathtaking details. Recent data indicates that our Milky Way Galaxy will collide and coalesce with the slightly larger Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/md88/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150817

11/08/2015

Loving this one!

APOD: A Blue Moon Halo over Antarctica (2015 Aug 11)
Image Credit & Copyright: Li Hang
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150811.html

Explanation: Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? Such 22 degree rings around the Moon -- caused by ice crystals falling in the Earth's atmosphere -- are somewhat rare. OK, but have you ever seen a blue moon? Given the modern definition of blue moon -- the second full moon occurring in a calendar month -- these are also rare. What is featured above might therefore be considered doubly rare -- a halo surrounding a blue moon. The featured image was taken late last month near Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. Visible in the foreground are a power generating house and a snowmobile. What might seem to be stars in the background are actually illuminated snowflakes near the camera.

http://www.weibo.com/lihang999

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150811

10/08/2015

1000 fans for "Loving astronomy"

08/08/2015

seen like this...looks small, right?

APOD: Full Moon, Full Earth (2015 Aug 07)
Image Credit: NASA, NOAA/DSCOVR
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150807.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMdhQsHbWTs

Explanation: The Moon was new on July 16. Its familiar nearside was dark when viewed from the surface of planet Earth. But on that date a million miles away, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) captured this view of an apparently Full Moon crossing in front of a Full Earth. In fact, seen from the spacecraft's position beyond the Moon's orbit and between Earth and Sun, the fully illuminated lunar hemisphere is the less familiar farside. Only known since the dawn of the space age, the farside is mostly devoid of dark lunar maria that sprawl across the Moon's perpetual Earth-facing hemisphere. Only the small dark spot of the farside's Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow) is clear, at the upper left. Planet Earth's north pole is near 11 o'clock, with the North America visited by Hurricane Dolores near center. Slight color shifts are visible around the lunar edge, an artifact of the Moon's motion through the field caused by combining the camera's separate exposures taken in quick succession through different color filters. While monitoring the Earth and solar wind for space weather forcasts, about twice a year DSCOVR can capture similar images of Moon and Earth together as its crosses the orbital plane of the Moon.

http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=150807

06/08/2015

Make a wish with all these stars? only one??

Tus deseos se pueden cumplir en las . Entra en holaislascanarias.com/un-destino-con-estrella y...