Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 9
An illustration is shown which is a decision tree for identifying a
light that might be seen in the sky. The background is gray, and the
text is black in red-lined boxes. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

How to Identify that Light in the Sky
Illustration Credit & Copyright: HK (The League of Lost Causes)

Explanation: What is that light in the sky? The answer to one of
humanity's more common questions may emerge from a few quick
observations. For example -- is it moving or blinking? If so, and if
you live near a city, the answer is typically an airplane, since planes
are so numerous and so few stars and satellites are bright enough to be
seen over the glare of artificial city lights. If not, and if you live
far from a city, that bright light is likely a planet such as Venus or
Mars -- the former of which is constrained to appear near the horizon
just before dawn or after dusk. Sometimes the low apparent motion of a
distant airplane near the horizon makes it hard to tell from a bright
planet, but even this can usually be discerned by the plane's motion
over a few minutes. Still unsure? The featured chart gives a
sometimes-humorous but mostly-accurate assessment. Dedicated sky
enthusiasts will likely note -- and are encouraged to provide -- polite
corrections.

Chart translations: Italian, German, Latvian, Persian, Polish, Spanish,
and Turkish
Tomorrow's picture: big lion
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 10
A starfield is shown with a large colorful emission nebula in the
center. The outline of this emission nebula has a resemblance to a
lion. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Sh2-132: The Lion Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Imran Badr; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY
Oswego)

Explanation: Is the Lion Nebula the real ruler of the constellation
Cepheus? This powerful feline appearing nebula is powered by two
massive stars, each with a mass over 20 times greater than our Sun.
Formed from shells of ionized gas that have expanded, the nebula's
energetic matter not only glows, but is dense enough to contract
gravitationally and form stars. The angular size of the Lion Nebula,
officially named Sh2-132, is slightly greater than that of the full
moon. The gaseous iconic region resides about 10,000 light years away
in a constellation named after the King of Aethopia in Greek mythology.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: star clouds
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 11
Colorful nebula and stars fill the wide images. The yellow star Antares
is visible on the left and blue reflection nebula surround a central
nebula and the nebula on the right surrounding the Rho Ophiuchi star
system. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Colorful Stars and Clouds near Rho Ophiuchi
Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

Explanation: Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so colorful,
yet dusty? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes.
Fine dust -- illuminated by starlight -- produces blue reflection
nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet
starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block
starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the
brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the
upper right of the featured image. The Rho Ophiuchi star system lies at
the center of the blue reflection nebula on the left, while a different
reflection nebula, IC 4605, lies just below and right of the image
center. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see,
emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Open Science: Browse 3,400+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
Library
Tomorrow's picture: unexpected sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 12
Purple striped aurora cover a star filled sky. Mountain peaks are
visible on the sides, as well as a futuristic looking building on the
right side. City lights are visible in the valley down below. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Aurora over Karkonosze Mountains
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Koszela

Explanation: It was the first time ever. At least, the first time this
photographer had ever seen aurora from his home mountains. And what a
spectacular aurora it was. The Karkonosze Mountains in Poland are
usually too far south to see any auroras. But on the amazing night of
May 10 - 11, purple and green colors lit up much of the night sky, a
surprising spectacle that also appeared over many mid-latitude
locations around the Earth. The featured image is a composite of six
vertical exposures taken during the auroral peak. The futuristic
buildings on the right are part of a meteorological observatory located
on the highest peak of the Karkonosze Mountains. The purple color is
primarily due to Sun-triggered, high-energy electrons impacting
nitrogen molecules in Earth's atmosphere. Our Sun is reaching its
maximum surface activity over the next two years, and although many
more auroras are predicted, most will occur over regions closer to the
Earth's poles.

Tomorrow's picture: star swirl
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, 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, beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 66 lies a mere 35
million light-years away. The gorgeous island universe is about 100
thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way. This
Hubble Space Telescope close-up view spans a region about 30,000
light-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 black hole, obscuring dust
lanes and young, blue star clusters sweep along spiral arms dotted with
the tell-tale glow of pinkish star forming regions. Messier 66, also
known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the three galaxies in the
gravitationally interacting Leo Triplet.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, 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 of Rodgers, 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 glowing hydrogen gas and dust
is faint. But detailed structures along well-defined rims within RCW 85
are traced in this cosmic skyscape composed of 28 hours of narrow and
broadband exposures. Suggestive of dramatic shapes in other stellar
nurseries where natal clouds of gas and dust are sculpted by energetic
winds and radiation from newborn stars, the tantalizing nebula has been
called the Devil's Tower. This telescopic frame would span around 100
light-years at the estimated distance of RCW 85.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 15

Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Steen S+.ndergaard

Explanation: This colorized and sharpened image of the Sun is composed
of frames recording emission from hydrogen atoms in the solar
chromosphere on May 15. Approaching the maximum of solar cycle 25, a
multitude of active regions and twisting, snake-like solar filaments
are seen to 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 edge appear as bright solar prominences. The large
prominences seen near 4 o'clock, and just before 9 o'clock around the
solar limb are post flare loops from two powerful X-class solar flares
that both occurred on that day. In fact, the 4 o'clock prominence is
associated with the monster active region AR 3664 just rotating off the
Sun's edge.

Tomorrow's picture: How to destroy a star.
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 16

Animation: Black Hole Destroys Star
Video Illustration Credit: DESY, Science Communication Lab

Explanation: What happens if a star gets too close to a black hole? The
black hole can rip it apart -- but how? It's not the high gravitational
attraction itself that's the problem -- it's the difference in
gravitational pull across the star that creates the destruction. In the
featured animated video illustrating this disintegration, you first see
a star approaching the black hole. Increasing in orbital speed, the
star's outer atmosphere is ripped away during closest approach. Much of
the star's atmosphere disperses into deep space, but some continues to
orbit the black hole and forms an accretion disk. The animation then
takes you into the accretion disk while looking toward the black hole.
Including the strange visual effects of gravitational lensing, you can
even see the far side of the disk. Finally, you look along one of the
jets being expelled along the spin axis. Theoretical models indicate
that these jets not only expel energetic gas, but also create energetic
neutrinos -- one of which may have been seen recently on Earth.

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: big squid
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 17
A starfield has a red nebula covering much of the frame but in the
center, extending nearly vertically, is a blue nebula that appears
shaped, to some, like a squid. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Linde

Explanation: Squids on Earth aren't this big. This mysterious
squid-like cosmic cloud spans nearly three full moons on planet Earth's
sky. Discovered in 2011 by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters, the
Squid Nebula's bipolar shape is distinguished here by the telltale blue
emission from doubly ionized oxygen atoms. Though apparently surrounded
by the reddish hydrogen emission region Sh2-129, the true distance and
nature of the Squid Nebula have been difficult to determine. Still, one
investigation suggests Ou4 really does lie within Sh2-129 some 2,300
light-years away. Consistent with that scenario, the cosmic squid would
represent a spectacular outflow of material driven by a triple system
of hot, massive stars, cataloged as HR8119, seen near the center of the
nebula. If so, this truly giant squid nebula would physically be over
50 light-years across.

Tomorrow's picture: thunder jets
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 18
A landscape showing a night sky over distant mountains is shown. Lakes
dot the foreground in front of the mountains. Extending from above the
mountains into the night sky are six bright jets. The jets are violet
at the bottom but red at the top. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Gigantic Jets over Himalayan Mountains
Image Credit & Copyright: Li Xuanhua

Explanation: Yes, but can your thunderstorm do this? Pictured here are
gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm last week toward the
Himalayan Mountains in China and Bhutan. The composite image captured
four long jets that occurred only minutes apart. Gigantic jets,
documented only in this century, are a type of lightning discharge that
occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth's ionosphere high above
them. They are an unusual type of lightning that is much different from
regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. The bottoms of
gigantic jets appear similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue
jets, while the tops appear similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites.
Although the mechanism and trigger that cause gigantic jets remains a
topic of research, it is clear that the jets reduce charge imbalance
between different parts of Earth's atmosphere. A good way to look for
gigantic jets is to watch a powerful but distant thunderstorm from a
clear location.

Tomorrow's picture: dragon fight
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 19
Gas and dust are shown in a deep starfield. The gas glows blue and red,
while the dark dust is connected in filaments across the image. To
some, the filaments appear to have the shape of two dragons fighting.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

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 a large molecular
cloud, unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara
(the Altar). Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association
were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the
dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and
intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was
likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions from previous
generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the
molecular gas. This impressively detailed image spans over 2 degrees
(four full Moons), corresponding to over 150 light years at the
estimated distance of NGC 6188.

Tomorrow's picture: open solstice
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 20

Sandy and the Moon Halo
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

Explanation: Last April's Full Moon shines through high clouds near the
horizon, casting shadows in this garden-at-night skyscape. Along with
canine sentinel Sandy watching the garden gate, the wide-angle snapshot
also captured the bright Moon's 22 degree ice halo. But June's bright
Full Moon will cast shadows too. This month, the Moon's exact full
phase occurs at 01:08 UTC June 22. That's a mere 28 hours or so after
today's June solstice (at 20:51 UTC June 20), the moment when the Sun
reaches its maximum northern declination. Known to some as a Strawberry
Moon, June's Full Moon is at its southernmost declination, and of
course will create its own 22 degree halos in hazy night skies.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 21

Hubble's NGC 1546
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, David Thilker (JHU)

Explanation: Returning to science operations on June 14, the Hubble
Space Telescope used its new pointing mode to capture this sharp image
of spiral galaxy NGC 1546. A member of the Dorado galaxy group, the
island universe lies a mere 50 million light-years away. The galactic
disk of NGC 1546 is tilted to our line-of-sight, with the yellowish
light of the old stars and bluish regions of newly formed stars shining
through the galaxy's dust lanes. More distant background galaxies are
scattered throughout this Hubble view. Launched in 1990, Hubble has
been exploring the cosmos for more than three decades, recently
celebrating its 34th anniversary.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 22

Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
Image Credit & Copyright: Long Xin

Explanation: Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About
1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way
galaxy, LDN 1251 is also less appetizingly known as "The Rotten Fish
Nebula." The dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae
mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum,
astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal
energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including
the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in
the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk in the scene, almost
buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring view spans over four
full moons on the sky, or 35 light-years at the estimated distance of
LDN 1251.

Tomorrow's picture: colors of Saturn
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 23
Saturn is shown taking up most of the frame. Most of the planet appears
a banded gold. A thin line that is the rings appears dark brown and
runs diagonally from the lower left. The upper part has dark bands
which are shadows and behind the shadows the color of Saturn's
atmosphere appears blue. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

The Colors of Saturn from Cassini
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing &
License: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: What creates Saturn's colors? The featured picture of
Saturn only slightly exaggerates what a human would see if hovering
close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2005 by the
robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Here
Saturn's majestic rings appear directly only as a curved line,
appearing brown, in part from its infrared glow. The rings best show
their complex structure in the dark shadows they create across the
upper part of the planet. The northern hemisphere of Saturn can appear
partly blue for the same reason that Earth's skies can appear blue --
molecules in the cloudless portions of both planet's atmospheres are
better at scattering blue light than red. When looking deep into
Saturn's clouds, however, the natural gold hue of Saturn's clouds
becomes dominant. It is not known why southern Saturn does not show the
same blue hue -- one hypothesis holds that clouds are higher there. It
is also not known why some of Saturn's clouds are colored gold.

Tomorrow's picture: farthest galaxy
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 24
A dark field is shown filled with smudges that are distant galaxies.
One smudge is expanded in an inset box. This box shows a reddish
elongated object. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

JADES-GS-z14-0: A New Farthest Object
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B.
Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), P. Cargile (CfA)

Explanation: What if we could see back to the beginning of the
universe? We could see galaxies forming. But what did galaxies look
like back then? These questions took a step forward recently with the
release of the analysis of a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) image
that included the most distant object yet discovered. Most galaxies
formed at about 3 billion years after the Big Bang, but some formed
earlier. Pictured in the inset box is JADES-GS-z14-0, a faint smudge of
a galaxy that formed only 300 million years after the universe started.
In technical terms, this galaxy lies at the record redshift of z=14.32,
and so existed when the universe was only one fiftieth of the its
present age. Practically all of the objects in the featured photograph
are galaxies.

Tomorrow's picture: space thingy
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 25
A busy starfield is shown which an elongated brown nebula running
diagonally from the lower left to the upper right. A bright blue star
and a star cluster appear above the nebula. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

The Dark Doodad Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh & Rocco Sung

Explanation: What is that strange brown ribbon on the sky? When
observing the star cluster NGC 4372, observers frequently take note of
an unusual dark streak nearby running about three degrees in length.
The streak, actually a long molecular cloud, has become known as the
Dark Doodad Nebula. (Doodad is slang for a thingy or a
whatchamacallit.) Pictured here, the Dark Doodad Nebula sweeps across
the center of a rich and colorful starfield. Its dark color comes from
a high concentration of interstellar dust that preferentially scatters
visible light. The globular star cluster NGC 4372 is visible as the
fuzzy white spot on the far left, while the bright blue star gamma
Muscae is seen to the cluster's upper right. The Dark Doodad Nebula can
be found with strong binoculars toward the southern constellation of
the Fly (Musca).

Tomorrow's picture: sky show
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 26

Timelapse: Aurora, SAR, and the Milky Way
Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN); Music (License): Suite
bergamasque by Claude Debussy

Explanation: What's happening in the sky this unusual night? Most
striking in the featured 4.5-hour 360-degree panoramic video, perhaps,
is the pink and purple aurora. That's because this night, encompassing
May 11, was famous for its auroral skies around the world. As the night
progresses, auroral bands shimmer, the central band of our Milky Way
Galaxy rises, and stars shift as the Earth rotates beneath them.
Captured here simultaneously is a rare red band running above the
aurora: a SAR arc, seen to change only slightly. The flashing below the
horizon is caused by passing cars, while the moving spots in the sky
are satellites and airplanes. The featured video was captured from
Xinjiang, China with four separate cameras.

Tomorrow's picture: protostellar outflows
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 27

Protostellar Outflows in Serpens
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel
Green (STScI)

Explanation: Jets of material blasting from newborn stars, are captured
in this James Webb Space Telescope close-up of the Serpens Nebula. The
powerful protostellar outflows are bipolar, twin jets spewing in
opposite directions. Their directions are perpendicular to accretion
disks formed around the spinning, collapsing stellar infants. In the
NIRcam image, the reddish color represents emission from molecular
hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced as the jets collide with the
surrounding gas and dust. The sharp image shows for the first time that
individual outflows detected in the Serpens Nebula are generally
aligned along the same direction. That result was expected, but has
only now come into clear view with Webb's detailed exploration of the
active young star-forming region. Brighter foreground stars exhibit
Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes. At the Serpens Nebula's
estimated distance of 1,300 light-years, this cosmic close-up frame is
about 1 light-year across.

Tomorrow's picture: Olber's comet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 28

Comet 13P/Olbers
Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett`

Explanation: Not a paradox, Comet 13P/Olbers is returning to the inner
Solar System after 68 years. The periodic, Halley-type comet will reach
its next perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on June 30 and has
become a target for binocular viewing low in planet Earth's northern
hemisphere night skies. But this sharp telescopic image of 13P is
composed of stacked exposures made on the night of June 25. It easily
reveals shifting details in the bright comet's torn and tattered ion
tail buffeted by the wind from an active Sun, along with a broad,
fanned-out dust tail and slightly greenish coma. The frame spans over
two degrees across a background of faint stars toward the constellation
Lynx.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 29

A Solstice Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: Rising opposite the setting Sun, June's Full Moon occurred
within about 28 hours of the solstice. The Moon stays close to the
Sun's path along the ecliptic plane and so while the solstice Sun
climbed high in daytime skies, June's Full Moon remained low that night
as seen from northern latitudes. In fact, the Full Moon hugs the
horizon in this June 21 rooftop night sky view from Bursa, Turkey,
constructed from exposures made every 10 minutes between moonrise and
moonset. In 2024 the Moon also reached a major lunar standstill, an
extreme in the monthly north-south range of moonrise and moonset caused
by the precession of the Moon's orbit over an 18.6 year cycle. As a
result, this June solstice Full Moon was at its southernmost moonrise
and moonset along the horizon.

Tomorrow's picture: Earthrise
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 June 30

Earthrise: A Video Reconstruction
Video Credit: NASA, SVS, Apollo 8 Crew;
Lead Animator: Ernie Wright; (USRA); Music: C Major Prelude by Johann
Sebastian Bach

Explanation: About 12 seconds into this video, something unusual
happens. The Earth begins to rise. Never seen by humans before, the
rise of the Earth over the limb of the Moon occurred about 55.5 years
ago and surprised and amazed the crew of Apollo 8. The crew immediately
scrambled to take still images of the stunning vista caused by Apollo
8's orbit around the Moon. The featured video is a modern
reconstruction of the event as it would have looked were it recorded
with a modern movie camera. The colorful orb of our Earth stood out as
a familiar icon rising above a distant and unfamiliar moonscape, the
whole scene the conceptual reverse of a more familiar moonrise as seen
from Earth. To many, the scene also spoke about the unity of humanity:
that big blue marble -- that's us -- we all live there. The two-minute
video is not time-lapse -- this is the real speed of the Earth rising
through the windows of Apollo 8. Seven months and three missions later,
Apollo 11 astronauts would not only circle Earth's moon, but land on
it.

NASA Administrator Remembers Earthrise Photographer William Anders
Tomorrow's picture: time spiral
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 1
An illustrated spiral is shown depicting many significant events that
have occurred since the big bang. The big bang is at the center, and a
city built by humans is at the spiral's end. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

Time Spiral
Illustration Credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi via Wikipedia

Explanation: What's happened since the universe started? The time
spiral shown here features a few notable highlights. At the spiral's
center is the Big Bang, the place where time, as we know it, began
about 13.8 billion years ago. Within a few billion years atoms formed,
then stars formed from atoms, galaxies formed from stars and gas, our
Sun formed, soon followed by our Earth, about 4.6 billion years ago.
Life on Earth begins about 3.8 billion years ago, followed by cells,
then photosynthesis within a billion years. About 1.7 billion years
ago, multicellular life on Earth began to flourish. Fish began to swim
about 500 million years ago, and mammals because walking on land about
200 million years ago. Humans first appeared only about 6 million years
ago, and made the first cities only about 10,000 years ago. The time
spiral illustrated stops there, but human spaceflight might be added,
which started only 75 years ago, and useful artificial intelligence
began to take hold within only the past few years.

Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: oyster stars
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 2
A star cluster is shown in and around a gas cloud that looks like an
oyster. The rollover image shows the same cluster not only in visible
light, but X-ray and infrared too. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

NGC 602: Oyster Star Cluster
Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al;
Optical: Hubble: NASA/STScI; Infrared: Spitzer: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Explanation: The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like
pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic
Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies
this 5 million year old star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by its birth
shell of gas and dust, star cluster NGC 602 is featured in this
stunning Hubble image, augmented in a rollover by images in the X-ray
by the Chandra Observatory and in the infrared by Spitzer Telescope.
Fantastic ridges and swept back gas strongly suggest that energetic
radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have
eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation
moving away from the star cluster's center. At the estimated distance
of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200
light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are
also visible in this sharp view. The background galaxies are hundreds
of millions of light-years -- or more -- beyond NGC 602.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 3

M83: Star Streams and a Thousand Rubies
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sidonio

Explanation: Big, bright, and beautiful, spiral galaxy M83 lies a mere
twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern tip of the very
long constellation Hydra. About 40,000 light-years across, M83 is known
as the Southern Pinwheel for its pronounced spiral arms. But the wealth
of reddish star forming regions found near the edges of the arms' thick
dust lanes, also suggest another popular moniker for M83, the
Thousand-Ruby Galaxy. This new deep telescopic digital image also
records the bright galaxy's faint, extended halo. Arcing toward the
bottom of the cosmic frame lies a stellar tidal stream, debris drawn
from massive M83 by the gravitational disruption of a smaller, merging
satellite galaxy. Astronomers David Malin and Brian Hadley found the
elusive star stream in the mid 1990s by enhancing photographic plates.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 4

A Beautiful Trifid
Image Credit & Copyright: Jes+|s Carmona Guill+¬n

Explanation: The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in
contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away
toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region
in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different
types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light
from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust
reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear
in silhouette. But the red emission region, roughly separated into
three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its
popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, above and
right of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space
Telescope close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40
light-years across. Too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost
covers the area of a full moon on planet Earth's sky.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 5

Mount Etna Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino

Explanation: A glow from the summit of Mount Etna, famous active
stratovolcano of planet Earth, stands out along the horizon in this
mountain and night skyscape. Bands of diffuse light from congeries of
innumerable stars along the Milky Way galaxy stretch across the sky
above. In silhouette, the Milky Way's massive dust clouds are clumped
along the galactic plane. But also familiar to northern skygazers are
bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair, the Summer Triangle straddling
dark nebulae and luminous star clouds poised over the volcanic peak.
The deep combined exposures also reveal the light of active star
forming regions along the Milky Way, echoing Etna's ruddy hue in the
northern hemisphere summer's night.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 6

NGC 7789: Caroline's Rose
Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Di Fusco

Explanation: Found among the rich starfields of the Milky Way, star
cluster NGC 7789 lies about 8,000 light-years away toward the
constellation Cassiopeia. A late 18th century deep sky discovery of
astronomer Caroline Lucretia Herschel, the cluster is also known as
Caroline's Rose. Its visual appearance in small telescopes, created by
the cluster's complex of stars and voids, is suggestive of nested rose
petals. Now estimated to be 1.6 billion years young, the galactic or
open cluster of stars also shows its age. All the stars in the cluster
were likely born at the same time, but the brighter and more massive
ones have more rapidly exhausted the hydrogen fuel in their cores.
These have evolved from main sequence stars like the Sun into the many
red giant stars shown with a yellowish cast in this color composite.
Using measured color and brightness, astronomers can model the mass and
hence the age of the cluster stars just starting to "turn off" the main
sequence and become red giants. Over 50 light-years across, Caroline's
Rose spans about half a degree (the angular size of the Moon) near the
center of the sharp telescopic image.

Tomorrow's picture: cloudy skies
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 7
A landscape shows the sky above, shallow water in front, and hills to
the right. The sunset sky is filled with beautifully multicolored
clouds. These clouds are clearly reflected by the calm water in front.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
Image Credit: Goran Strand

Explanation: Why are these clouds multi-colored? A relatively rare
phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colors
vividly -- or even a whole spectrum of colors simultaneously. These
polar stratospheric clouds also, known as nacreous and mother-of-pearl
clouds, are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When
the Sun is in the right position and, typically, hidden from direct
view, these thin clouds can be seen significantly diffracting sunlight
in a nearly coherent manner, with different colors being deflected by
different amounts. Therefore, different colors will come to the
observer from slightly different directions. Many clouds start with
uniform regions that could show iridescence but quickly become too
thick, too mixed, or too angularly far from the Sun to exhibit striking
colors. The featured image and an accompanying video were taken late in
2019 over Ostersund, Sweden.

Tomorrow's picture: red planet, blue planet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 8
A graphic illustrates hundreds of possible exoplanets, with blue
drawings of planets in the middle, red on the right, and tan on the
left. Some exoplanets are drawn with rings. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

Exoplanet Zoo: Other Stars
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Martin Vargic, Halcyon Maps

Explanation: Do other stars have planets like our Sun? Surely they do,
and evidence includes slight star wobbles created by the gravity of
orbiting exoplanets and slight star dimmings caused by orbiting planets
moving in front. In all, there have now been over 5,500 exoplanets
discovered, including thousands by NASA's space-based Kepler and TESS
missions, and over 100 by ESO's ground-based HARPS instrument. Featured
here is an illustrated guess as to what some of these exoplanets might
look like. Neptune-type planets occupy the middle and are colored blue
because of blue-scattering atmospheric methane they might contain. On
the sides of the illustration, Jupiter-type planets are shown, colored
tan and red from the scatterings of atmospheric gases that likely
include small amounts of carbon. Interspersed are many Earth-type rocky
planets of many colors. As more exoplanets are discovered and
investigated, humanity is developing a better understanding of how
common Earth-like planets are, and how common life might be in the
universe.

Tomorrow's picture: highest clouds
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 9
A dawn sky is shown that is black at the top and brown near the
horizon. Wispy clouds converge on the right turning from a white to a
blue hue. Near the apex of this convergence is a crescent moon. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Noctilucent Clouds over Florida
Credit & Copyright: Pascal Fouquet

Explanation: These clouds are doubly unusual. First, they are rare
noctilucent clouds, meaning that they are visible at night -- but only
just before sunrise or just after sunset. Second, the source of these
noctilucent clouds is actually known. In this rare case, the source of
the sunlight-reflecting ice-crystals in the upper atmosphere can be
traced back to the launch of a nearby SpaceX rocket about 30 minutes
earlier. Known more formally as polar mesospheric clouds, the vertex of
these icy wisps happens to converge just in front of a rising crescent
Moon. The featured image -- and accompanying video -- were captured
over Orlando, Florida, USA about a week ago. The bright spot to the
right of the Moon is the planet Jupiter, while the dotted lights above
the horizon on the right are from an airplane.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 10

A Sagittarius Triplet
Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Ermolli

Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured on
telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded
starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic
tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula
above center, and colorful M20 below and left in the frame. The third
emission region includes NGC 6559, right of M8 and separated from the
larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries
about five thousand light-years or so distant. Over a hundred
light-years across the expansive M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula.
M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the
dominant red color of the emission nebulae. But for striking contrast,
blue hues in the Trifid are due to dust reflected starlight. The broad
interstellar skyscape spans almost 4 degrees or 8 full moons on the
sky.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 11

Globular Cluster Omega Centauri
Image Credit & Copyright: Juergen Stein

Explanation: Globular star cluster Omega Centauri packs about 10
million stars much older than the Sun into a volume some 150
light-years in diameter. Also known as NGC 5139, at a distance of
15,000 light-years it's the largest and brightest of 200 or so known
globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though
most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition,
the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar
populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact,
Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the
Milky Way. With a yellowish hue, Omega Centauri's red giant stars are
easy to pick out in this sharp telescopic view. A two-decade-long
exploration of the dense star cluster with the Hubble Space Telescope
has revealed evidence for a massive black hole near the center of Omega
Centauri.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 12

Jones-Emberson 1
Image Credit & Copyright: Team OURANOS,
(Jean-Baptiste Auroux, Jean Claude Mario, Mathieu Guinot & Matthieu
Tequi)

Explanation: Planetary nebula Jones-Emberson 1 is the death shroud of a
dying Sun-like star. It lies some 1,600 light-years from Earth toward
the sharp-eyed constellation Lynx. About 4 light-years across, the
expanding remnant of the dying star's atmosphere was shrugged off into
interstellar space, as the star's central supply of hydrogen and then
helium for fusion was depleted after billions of years. Visible near
the center of the planetary nebula is what remains of the stellar core,
a blue-hot white dwarf star. Also known as PK 164 +31.1, the nebula is
faint and very difficult to glimpse at a telescope's eyepiece. But this
deep image combining over 12 hours of exposure time does show it off in
exceptional detail. Stars within our own Milky Way galaxy as well as
background galaxies across the universe are scattered through the clear
field of view. Ephemeral on the cosmic stage, Jones-Emberson 1 will
fade away over the next few thousand years. Its hot, central white
dwarf star will take billions of years to cool.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 13

Solar System Family Portrait
Image Credit: Voyager Project, NASA

Explanation: In 1990, cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the
Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back to make this first ever Solar System
family portrait. The complete portrait is a 60 frame mosaic made from a
vantage point 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. In it, Voyager's
wide-angle camera frames sweep through the inner Solar System at the
left, linking up with ice giant Neptune, the Solar System's outermost
planet, at the far right. Positions for Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune are indicated by letters, while the Sun is the
bright spot near the center of the circle of frames. The inset frames
for each of the planets are from Voyager's narrow-field camera. Unseen
in the portrait are Mercury, too close to the Sun to be detected, and
Mars, unfortunately hidden by sunlight scattered in the camera's
optical system. Closer to the Sun than Neptune at the time, small,
faint Pluto's position was not covered. In 2024 Voyager 1, NASACÇÖs
longest-running and most-distant spacecraft, is some 15 billion miles
away, operating in interstellar space.

Tomorrow's picture: galaxy vs grain of sand
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 14
A distant spiral galaxy is seen in the image center. A multi-colored
streak runs diagonally across the image from the upper left to the
lower right. Parts of this streak have gas near it. The background is
dark field filled with stars. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Meteor Misses Galaxy
Credit & Copyright: Aman Chokshi

Explanation: The galaxy was never in danger. For one thing, the
Triangulum galaxy (M33), pictured, is much bigger than the tiny grain
of rock at the head of the meteor. For another, the galaxy is much
farther away -- in this instance 3 million light years as opposed to
only about 0.0003 light seconds. Even so, the meteor's path took it
angularly below the galaxy. Also the wind high in Earth's atmosphere
blew the meteor's glowing evaporative molecule train away from the
galaxy, in angular projection. Still, the astrophotographer was quite
lucky to capture both a meteor and a galaxy in a single exposure --
which was subsequently added to two other images of M33 to bring up the
spiral galaxy's colors. At the end, the meteor was gone in a second,
but the galaxy will last billions of years.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: galaxy unwound
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 15
A spiral galaxy is shown on the upper left with a really long tail of
stars and blue-glowing gas trailing to the lower left. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

The Tadpole Galaxy from Hubble
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing:
Harshwardhan Pathak

Explanation: Why does this galaxy have such a long tail? In this
stunning vista, based on image data from the Hubble Legacy Archive,
distant galaxies form a dramatic backdrop for disrupted spiral galaxy
Arp 188, the Tadpole Galaxy. The cosmic tadpole is a mere 420 million
light-years distant toward the northern constellation of the Dragon
(Draco). Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years long
and features massive, bright blue star clusters. One story goes that a
more compact intruder galaxy crossed in front of Arp 188 - from right
to left in this view - and was slung around behind the Tadpole by their
gravitational attraction. During the close encounter, tidal forces drew
out the spiral galaxy's stars, gas, and dust forming the spectacular
tail. The intruder galaxy itself, estimated to lie about 300 thousand
light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral
arms at the upper right. Following its terrestrial namesake, the
Tadpole Galaxy will likely lose its tail as it grows older, the tail's
star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy.

APOD in world languages: Arabic (IG), Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese
(Beijing), Chinese (Taiwan), Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French,
German, Hebrew, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian,
Spanish, Taiwanese, Turkish, and Ukrainian
Tomorrow's picture: interstellar mountains
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 16
A starfield is shown featuring many pillars of interstellar gas and
dust, mostly in the center. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Cometary Globules
Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, Observatorio El
Sauce

Explanation: What are these unusual interstellar structures?
Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich
starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern constellations
Pupis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and dust, the grouping of
light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 light-years distant.
Energetic ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars has molded the
globules and ionized their bright rims. The globules also stream away
from the Vela supernova remnant which may have influenced their
swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and dust are likely
collapsing to form low mass stars, whose formation will ultimately
cause the globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (on the
upper left) sports a small reddish glow near its head, a telltale sign
of energetic jets from a star in the early stages of formation.

Tomorrow's picture: volcanic sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 17

Villarrica Volcano Against the Sky
Video Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Mu+#oz; Text: Natalia Lewandowska
(SUNY Oswego)

Explanation: When Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, swings his
blacksmith's hammer, the sky is lit on fire. A recent eruption of
Chile's Villarrica volcano shows the delicate interplay between this
fire -- actually glowing steam and ash from melted rock -- and the
light from distant stars in our Milky Way galaxy and the Magellanic
Clouds galaxies. In the featured timelapse video, the Earth rotates
under the stars as Villarrica erupts. With about 1350 volcanoes, our
planet Earth rivals Jupiter's moon Io as the most geologically active
place in the Solar System. While both have magnificent beauty, the
reasons for the existence of volcanoes on both worlds are different.
Earth's volcanoes typically occur between slowly shifting outer shell
plates, while Io's volcanoes are caused by gravitational flexing
resulting from Jupiter's tidal gravitational pull.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 18

Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Freeburn

Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of
deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula.
It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a
view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky
Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or small
telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years
wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes
called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars are left
of center in this gorgeous starscape. Covering over 6 degrees or the
width of 12 full moons in the constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic
field of view includes dark markings B92 and B93 near the center of
M24, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae toward the
center of the Milky Way.

Tomorrow's picture: festival of planets
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 19

Anticrepuscular Rays at the Planet Festival
Image Credit & Copyright: Pavel Gabzdyl

Explanation: For some, these subtle bands of light and shadow stretched
across the sky as the Sun set on July 11. Known as anticrepuscular
rays, the bands are formed as a large cloud bank near the western
horizon cast long shadows through the atmosphere at sunset. Due to the
camera's perspective, the bands of light and shadow seem to converge
toward the eastern (opposite) horizon at a point seen just above a 14th
century hilltop castle near Brno, Czech Republic. In the foreground,
denizens of planet Earth are enjoying the region's annual Planet
Festival in the park below the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. And
while crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays are a relatively common
atmospheric phenomenon, this festival's 10 meter diameter inflatable
spheres representing bodies of the Solar System are less often seen on
planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: panorama on another world
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 20

Apollo 11 Landing Panorama
Image Credit: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA

Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately?
Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this
one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing
site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. The images were taken 55 years
ago by Neil Armstrong looking out his window on the Eagle Lunar Module
shortly after the July 20, 1969 landing. The frame at the far left
(AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world.
Thruster nozzles can be seen in the foreground on the left (toward the
south), while at the right (west), the shadow of the Eagle is visible.
For scale, the large, shallow crater on the right has a diameter of
about 12 meters. Frames taken from the Lunar Module windows about an
hour and a half after landing, before walking on the lunar surface,
were intended to document the landing site in case an early departure
was necessary.

Tomorrow's picture: hoodoo
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 21
The band of the Milky Way runs across a night sky filled with stars.
Colorful clouds are on the right horizon. A strange rock structure
appears in the image center with a base and an extended arm that seems
to point to the colorful horizon. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

King of Wings Hoodoo under the Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright: Wayne Pinkston (LightCrafter Photography)

Explanation: This rock structure is not only surreal -- it's real.
Perhaps the reason it's not more famous is that it is smaller than one
might guess: the capstone rock overhangs only a few meters. Even so,
the King of Wings outcrop, located in New Mexico, USA, is a fascinating
example of an unusual type of rock structure called a hoodoo. Hoodoos
may form when a layer of hard rock overlays a layer of eroding softer
rock. Figuring out the details of incorporating this hoodoo into a
night-sky photoshoot took over a year. Besides waiting for a suitably
picturesque night behind a sky with few clouds, the foreground had to
be artificially lit just right relative to the natural glow of the
background. After much planning and waiting, the final shot, featured
here, was taken in May 2016. Mimicking the horizontal bar, the
background sky features the band of our Milky Way Galaxy stretching
overhead.

Tomorrow's picture: find the galaxy
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 22
The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust
appearing brown and making a big

Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
Image Credit & Copyright: Chang Lee

Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an
angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation
of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for
blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this
36.6-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its
own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue.
Contrastingly blue, the bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on
the upper right, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially
reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the
pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one
notable exception: the white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the
galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is
mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed
into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such
as supernovas.

Tomorrow's picture: Chandra Crab (25)
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 23
A multi-colored nebula is shown that is the expanding remnant of an
exploded star. The central white and purple colors show X-ray light,
while the outer red and blue colors show visible light. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

The Crab Nebula from Visible to X-Ray
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, ASI, Hubble, Chandra, IXPE

Explanation: What powers the Crab Nebula? A city-sized magnetized
neutron star spinning around 30 times a second. Known as the Crab
Pulsar, it is the bright spot in the center of the gaseous swirl at the
nebula's core. About 10 light-years across, the spectacular picture of
the Crab Nebula (M1) frames a swirling central disk and complex
filaments of surrounding and expanding glowing gas. The picture
combines visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in red and blue
with X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory shown in white, and
diffuse X-ray emission detected by Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer
(IXPE) in diffuse purple. The central pulsar powers the Crab Nebula's
emission and expansion by slightly slowing its spin rate, which drives
out a wind of energetic electrons. The featured image released today,
the 25th Anniversary of the launch of NASA's flagship-class X-ray
Observatory: Chandra.

Many Discoveries: Chandra Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Tomorrow's picture: spikey moon
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 24
Earth's Moon is shown with the heights of surface features all greatly
exaggerated. Also, the colors of the Moon have been exaggerated so
areas of blue and red are more easily seen. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

Exaggerated Moon
Credit: Data: NASA, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter; Image & Processing:
Ildar Ibatullin

Explanation: Our Moon doesn't really have craters this big. Earth's
Moon, Luna, also doesn't naturally show this spikey texture, and its
colors are more subtle. But this digital creation is based on reality.
The featured image is a digital composite of a good Moon image and
surface height data taken from NASA's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter
(LOLA) mission -- and then exaggerated for educational understanding.
The digital enhancements, for example, accentuate lunar highlands and
show more clearly craters that illustrate the tremendous bombardment
our Moon has been through during its 4.6-billion-year history. The dark
areas, called maria, have fewer craters and were once seas of molten
lava. Additionally, the image colors, although based on the moon's real
composition, are changed and exaggerated. Here, a blue hue indicates a
region that is iron rich, while orange indicates a slight excess of
aluminum. Although the Moon has shown the same side to the Earth for
billions of years, modern technology is allowing humanity to learn much
more about it -- and how it affects the Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 25

NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Shepherd

Explanation: These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away
in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris
Nebula, NGC 7023 is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery of
flowers. Still, this deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula's
range of colors and symmetries embedded in surrounding fields of
interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material
surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter
reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting
starlight. Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with a faint
reddish photoluminescence as some dust grains effectively convert the
star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared
observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon
molecules known as PAHs. The dusty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span
about six light-years.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 26

Facing NGC 6946
Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Marinoni

Explanation: From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see NGC
6946 face-on. The big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 20
million light-years away, behind a veil of foreground dust and stars in
the high and far-off constellation Cepheus. In this sharp telescopic
portrait, from the core outward the galaxy's colors change from the
yellowish light of old stars in the center to young blue star clusters
and reddish star forming regions along the loose, fragmented spiral
arms. NGC 6946 is also bright in infrared light and rich in gas and
dust, exhibiting a high star birth and death rate. In fact, since the
early 20th century ten confirmed supernovae, the death explosions of
massive stars, were discovered in NGC 6946. Nearly 40,000 light-years
across, NGC 6946 is also known as the Fireworks Galaxy.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 27

Saturn at the Moon's Edge
Image Credit & Copyright: Chengcheng Xu

Explanation: Saturn now rises before midnight in planet Earth's sky. On
July 24, the naked-eye planet was in close conjunction, close on the
sky, to a waning gibbous Moon. But from some locations on planet Earth
the ringed gas giant was occulted, disappearing behind the Moon for
about an hour from skies over parts of Asia and Africa. Because the
Moon and bright planets wander through the sky near the ecliptic plane,
such occultation events are not uncommon, but they can be dramatic. In
this telescopic view from Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, Saturn is caught
moments before its disappearance behind the lunar disk. The snapshot
gives the illusion that Saturn hangs just above Glushko crater, a 43
kilometer diameter, young, ray crater near the Moon's western edge. Of
course, the Moon is 400 thousand kilometers away, compared to Saturn's
distance of 1.4 billion kilometers.

Tomorrow's picture: sundance
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 28

Sun Dance
Video Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing: Alan Watson via Helioviewer

Explanation: Sometimes, the surface of our Sun seems to dance. In the
middle of 2012, for example, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic
Observatory spacecraft imaged an impressive prominence that seemed to
perform a running dive roll like an acrobatic dancer. The dramatic
explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the featured time-lapse
video covering about three hours. A looping magnetic field directed the
flow of hot plasma on the Sun. The scale of the dancing prominence is
huge -- the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing arch of hot
gas. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month and may erupt
in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), expelling hot gas into the Solar
System. The energy mechanism that creates a solar prominence is still a
topic of research. Like in 2012, this year the Sun's surface is again
quite active and features many filaments and prominences.

Tomorrow's picture: milky way mound
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 29
A starry sky is shown with the busy central band of our Milky Way
Galaxy showing rising diagonally from the lower right. In the
foreground are flat grasslands leading up to a huge orange rock mound
named Uluru. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Milky Way over Uluru
Image Credit & Copyright: Max Inwood

Explanation: What's happening above Uluru? A United Nations World
Heritage Site, Uluru is an extraordinary 350-meter high mountain in
central Australia that rises sharply from nearly flat surroundings.
Composed of sandstone, Uluru has slowly formed over the past 300
million years as softer rock eroded away. The Uluru region has been a
home to humans for over 22,000 years. Recorded last month, the starry
sky above Uluru includes the central band of our Milky Way galaxy,
complete with complex dark filaments of dust, bright red emission
nebulas, and billions of stars.

Tomorrow's picture: big penguin
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 30
Two large interacting galaxies are shown. The upper galaxy, has
significant internal structure and is curved over the lower galaxy
which is a featureless oval. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Arp 142: Interacting Galaxies from Webb
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Hubble Rollover Reprocessing &
Copyright: Raul Villaverde

Explanation: To some, it looks like a penguin. But to people who study
the universe, it is an interesting example of two big galaxies
interacting. Just a few hundred million years ago, the upper NGC 2936
was likely a normal spiral galaxy: spinning, creating stars, and
minding its own business. Then it got too close to the massive
elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, below, and took a dive. Together known as
Arp 142, they are featured in this new Webb infrared image, while a
visible light Hubble image appears in comparison. NGC 2936 is not only
being deflected, but distorted, by this close gravitational
interaction. When massive galaxies pass near each other, gas is
typically condensed from which new stars form. A young group of stars
appears as the nose of the penguin toward the right of the upper
galaxy, while in the center of the spiral, bright stars together appear
as an eye. Before a billion years, the two galaxies will likely merge
into one larger galaxy.

Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: unusual spots on Mars
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 July 31
Part of a large rock on Mars is shown being mostly orange. On the rock
are several irregular light-colored areas surrounded by a dark border.
The spots are only millimeters across but might carry big implications.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Leopard Spots on Martian Rocks
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, Perseverance Rover

Explanation: What is creating these unusual spots? Light-colored spots
on Martian rocks, each surrounded by a dark border, were discovered
earlier this month by NASA's Perseverance Rover currently exploring
Mars. Dubbed leopard spots because of their seemingly similarity to
markings on famous Earth-bound predators, these curious patterns are
being studied with the possibility they were created by ancient Martian
life. The pictured spots measure only millimeters across and were
discovered on a larger rock named Cheyava Falls. The exciting but
unproven speculation is that long ago, microbes generated energy with
chemical reactions that turned rock from red to white while leaving a
dark ring, like some similarly appearing spots on Earth rocks. Although
other non-biological explanations may ultimately prevail, speculation
focusing on this potential biological origin is causing much intrigue.

New Mirror: APOD is now available from Brazil in Portuguese
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 1

Comet Olbers over Kunetice Castle
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

Explanation: A visitor to the inner solar system every 70 years or so
Comet 13P/Olbers reached its most recent perihelion, or closest
approach to the Sun, on June 30 2024. Now on a return voyage to the
distant Oort cloud the Halley-type comet is recorded here sweeping
through northern summer night skies over historic Kunetice Castle,
Czech Republic. Along with a broad dust tail, and brighter coma, this
comet's long ion tail buffeted by storms and winds from the Sun, is
revealed in the composite of tracked exposures for comet and sky, and
fixed exposures for foreground landscape recorded on July 28. The comet
is about 16 light-minutes beyond the castle and seen against faint
background stars below the northern constellation Ursa Major. The
hilltop castle dates to the 15th century, while Heinrich Olbers
discovered the comet in 1815. Captured here low in northwestern skies
just after sunset Comet Olbers, for now, offers skywatchers on planet
Earth rewarding telescopic and binocular views. Comet 13P/Olbers next
perihelion passage will be in 2094.

Tomorrow's picture: martian chronicles
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 2

Mars Passing By
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: As Mars wanders through Earth's night, it passes about 5
degrees south of the Pleiades star cluster in this composite
astrophoto. The skyview was constructed from a series of images
captured over a run of 16 consecutive clear nights beginning on July
12. Mars' march across the field of view begins at the far right, the
planet's ruddy hue. showing a nice contrast with the blue Pleiades
stars. Moving much faster across the sky against the distant stars, the
fourth planet from the Sun easily passes seventh planet Uranus, also
moving across this field of view. Red planet Mars and the ice giant
world were in close conjunction, about 1/2 degree apart, on July 16.
Continuing its rapid eastward trek, Mars has now left the sister stars
and outer planet behind though, passing north of red giant star
Aldebaran. Mars will come within about 1/3 degree of Jupiter in planet
Earth's sky on August 14.

Tomorrow's picture: road trip
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 3

Glory and Fog Bow
Image and Video Credit & Copyright: Cem +ûzkeser and Yasin -#lcebay

Explanation: On a road trip up Mount Uluda-f in Bursa province, Turkey
these motorcyclists found themselves above low clouds and fog in late
June. With the bright Sun directly behind them, the view down the side
of the great mountain revealed a beautiful, atmospheric glory and fog
bow. Known to some as the heiligenschein or the Specter of the Brocken,
a glory can also sometimes be seen from airplanes or even high
buildings. It often appears to be a dark giant surrounded by a bright
halo. Of course the dark giant is just the shadow of the observer (90MB
video) cast opposite the Sun. The clouds and fog are composed of very
small water droplets, smaller than rain drops, that refract and reflect
sunlight to create the glory's colorful halo and this more extensive
fog bow.

Tomorrow's picture: Here comes the Sun
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 4

Gaia: Here Comes the Sun
Credit: Galaxy Illustration: N. Risinger (skysurvey.org);
Star Data: Gaia Mission, ESA, A. S. Sell+¬s (U. Heidelberg) et al.

Explanation: What would it look like to return home from outside our
galaxy? Although designed to answer greater questions, data from ESA's
robotic Gaia mission is helping to provide a uniquely modern
perspective on humanity's place in the universe. Gaia orbits the Sun
near the Earth and resolves stars' positions so precisely that it can
determine a slight shift from its changing vantage point over the
course of a year, a shift that is proportionately smaller for more
distant stars -- and so determines distance. In the first sequence of
the video, an illustration of the Milky Way is shown that soon resolves
into a three-dimensional visualization of Gaia star data. A few notable
stars are labelled with their common names, while others stars are
labelled with numbers from a Gaia catalog. Eventually, the viewer
arrives in our stellar neighborhood where many stars were tracked by
Gaia, and soon at our home star Sol, the Sun. At the video's end, the
reflective glow of Sol's third planet becomes visible: Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 5
A starry sky is seen above a structure with an iconic dome. A person in
shadow stands at the entrance. Sloping down in the sky is the central
band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Just below the Milky Way is the streak of
a bright meteor. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Milky Way Over Tunisia
Image Credit & Copyright: Makrem Larnaout

Explanation: That's no moon. On the ground, that's the Lars Homestead
in Tunisia. And that's not just any galaxy. That's the central band of
our own Milky Way galaxy. Last, that's not just any meteor. It is a
bright fireball likely from last year's Perseids meteor shower. The
featured image composite combines consecutive exposures taken by the
same camera from the same location. This year's Perseids peak during
the coming weekend is expected to show the most meteors after the first
quarter moon sets, near midnight. To best experience a meteor shower,
you should have clear and dark skies, a comfortable seat, and patience.

Tomorrow's picture: wow cloud
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 6
A large storm cloud is pictured hovering over a flat landscape with
telephone poles. The background sky is blue. The cloud appears orange
at the bottom, yellow at the top, white in the middle, with dark gray
overtones all around. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Storm Cloud Over Texas
Image Credit & Copyright: Laura Rowe (Used with permission)

Explanation: What makes this storm cloud so colorful? First, the cloud
itself is composed of millions of tiny droplets of water and ice. Its
bottom is almost completely flat -- but this isn't unusual. Bottom
flatness in clouds is generally caused by air temperature dropping as
you go up, and that above a specific height, water-saturated air
condenses out water droplets. The shape of the cloud middle is caused
by a water-droplet-laden column of air being blown upward. Most
unusual, though, are the orange and yellow colors. Both colors are
caused by the cloud's water drops reflecting sunlight. The orange color
in the cloud's middle and bottom sections are reflections of a nearly
red sunset. In contrast, the yellow color of the cloud's top results
from reflection of light from a not-yet-setting Sun, where some -- but
less -- blue light is being scattered away. Appearing to float above
the plains in Texas, the featured impressive image of a dynamic
cumulonimbus cloud was captured in 2021 while investigating a tornado.

Tomorrow's picture: galaxy three
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 7
A starry sky is seen through a rectangular rock opening. Three rocky
peaks appear toward the right, while other peaks appear toward the
left. Rising above the right peaks is the central band of our Milky Way
Galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Milky Way Behind Three Merlons
Image Credit & Copyright: Donato Lioce; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY
Oswego)

Explanation: To some, they look like battlements, here protecting us
against the center of the Milky Way. The Three Merlons, also called the
Three Peaks of Lavaredo, stand tall today because they are made of
dense dolomite rock which has better resisted erosion than surrounding
softer rock. They formed about 250 million years ago and so are
comparable in age with one of the great extinctions of life on Earth. A
leading hypothesis is that this great extinction was triggered by an
asteroid about 10-km across, larger in size than Mount Everest,
impacting the Earth. Humans have gazed up at the stars in the Milky Way
and beyond for centuries, making these battlefield-like formations,
based in the Sexten Dolomites, a popular place for current and ancient
astronomers.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 8

Periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle
Image Credit & Copyright: Gerald Rhemann

Explanation: A Halley-type comet with an orbital period of about 133
years, Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is recognized as the parent of the
annual Perseid Meteor Shower. The comet's last visit to the inner Solar
System was in 1992. Then, it did not become easily visible to the naked
eye, but it did become bright enough to see from most locations with
binoculars and small telescopes. This stunning color image of
Swift-Tuttle's greenish coma, long ion tail and dust tail was recorded
using film on November 24, 1992. That was about 16 days after the large
periodic comet's closest approach to Earth. Comet Swift-Tuttle is
expected to next make an impressive appearance in night skies in 2126.
Meanwhile, dusty cometary debris left along the orbit of Swift-Tuttle
will continue to be swept up creating planet Earth's best-known July
and August meteor shower.

Tomorrow's picture: perseids in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 9

A Perseid Below
Image Credit: Ron Garan, ISS Expedition 28 Crew, NASA

Explanation: Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers by
looking up. But this remarkable view, captured on August 13, 2011 by
astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down. From
Garan's perspective on board the International Space Station orbiting
at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak
below, swept up dust from comet Swift-Tuttle. The vaporizing comet dust
grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers per second through the
denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. In this
case, the foreshortened meteor flash is near frame center, below the
curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below
bright star Arcturus. Want to look up at a meteor shower? You're in
luck, as the 2024 Perseid meteor shower is active now and predicted to
peak near August 12. With interfering bright moonlight absent, this
year you'll likely see many Perseid meteors under clear, dark skies
after midnight.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 10

The Light, Dark, and Dusty Trifid
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Edelmaier and Gabriele Gegenbauer

Explanation: Messier 20, popularly known as the Trifid Nebula, lies
about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation
Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the
Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae;
red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue
reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark
nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. The reddish
emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust
lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. The cosmic cloud
complex is over 40 light-years across and would cover the area of a
full moon on planet Earth's sky. But the Trifid Nebula is too faint to
be seen by the unaided eye. Over 75 hours of image data captured under
dark night skies was used to create this stunning telescopic view.

Watch: The Perseid Meteor Shower
Tomorrow's picture: animation in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 12
A night sky filled with stars and the band of our Milky Way galaxy is
shown also filled with many streaks. The short streaks are all
coordinated and together indicate a flow from the top of the image to
the bottom. In the foreground at the bottom of the frame is Stonehenge.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Perseid Meteors over Stonehenge
Image Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

Explanation: What's happening in the sky above Stonehenge? A meteor
shower: specifically, the Perseid meteor shower. A few nights ago,
after the sky darkened, many images of meteors from this year's
Perseids were captured separately and merged into a single frame.
Although the meteors all traveled on straight paths, these paths appear
slightly curved by the wide-angle lens of the capturing camera. The
meteor streaks can all be traced back to a single point on the sky
called the radiant, here just off the top of the frame in the
constellation of Perseus. The same camera took a deep image of the
background sky that brought up the central band of our Milky Way galaxy
running nearly vertical through the image center. The featured image
was taken from Wiltshire, England, being careful to include, at the
bottom, the famous astronomical monument of Stonehenge. Although the
Perseids peaked last night, some Perseid meteors should still be
visible for a few more nights.

Tomorrow's picture: big sky jet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 13
The edge of the Earth is seen from space at night. The curving horizon
is tinted green but a red and blue jet rises from left. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Giant Jet from the International Space Station
Image Credit: NASA, Expedition 71 Crew, JSC, ESRS, Matthew Dominick;
Processing: Simeon Schmau+f

Explanation: What's that on the horizon? When circling the Earth on the
International Space Station early last month, astronaut Matthew
Dominick saw an unusual type of lightning just beyond the Earth's edge:
a gigantic jet. The powerful jet appears on the left of the featured
image in red and blue. Giant jet lightning has only been known about
for the past 23 years. The atmospheric jets are associated with
thunderstorms and extend upwards towards Earth's ionosphere. The lower
part of the frame shows the Earth at night, with Earth's thin
atmosphere tinted green from airglow. City lights are visible,
sometimes resolved, but usually creating diffuse white glows in
intervening clouds. The top of the frame reveals distant stars in the
dark night sky. The nature of gigantic jets and their possible
association with other types of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) such
as blue jets and red sprites remains an active topic of research.

Growing Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
Tomorrow's picture: star factory
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 14
A night sky filled with stars is colored partly purple by an aurora.
Also visible are several streaks which are meteors in this image
composite. In the foreground is a field and lone tree. Part of the tree
slants at the nearly the same angle of the meteor streaks. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

Meteors and Aurora over Germany
Image Credit & Copyright: Chantal Anders

Explanation: This was an unusual night. For one thing, the night sky of
August 11 and 12, earlier this week, occurred near the peak of the
annual Perseid Meteor Shower. Therefore, meteors streaked across the
dark night as small bits cast off from Comet Swift-Tuttle came crashing
into the Earth's atmosphere. Even more unusually, for central Germany
at least, the night sky glowed purple. The red-blue hue was due to
aurora caused by an explosion of particles from the Sun a few days
before. This auroral storm was so intense that it was seen as far south
as Texas and Italy, in Earth's northern hemisphere. The featured image
composite was built from 7 exposures taken over 26 minutes from Ense,
Germany. The Perseids occur predictably every August, but auroras
visible this far south are more unusual and less predictable.

Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 15

Late Night Vallentuna
Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hed+¬n (Clear Skies, TWAN)

Explanation: Bright Mars and even brighter Jupiter are in close
conjunction just above the pine trees in this post-midnight skyscape
from Vallentuna, Sweden. Taken on August 12 during a geomagnetic storm,
the snapshot records the glow of aurora borealis or northern lights,
beaming from the left side of the frame. Of course on that date Perseid
meteors rained through planet Earth's skies, grains of dust from the
shower's parent, periodic comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteor streak at the
upper right is a Perseid plowing through the atmosphere at about 60
kilometers per second. Also well-known in in Earth's night sky, the
bright Pleides star cluster shines below the Perseid meteor streak. In
Greek myth, the Pleiades were seven daughters of the astronomical titan
Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. The Pleiades and their parents' names are
given to the cluster's nine brightest stars.

Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
Tomorrow's picture: meteor borealis
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 16

Meteor Borealis
Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Dain

Explanation: A single exposure made with a camera pointed almost due
north on August 12 recorded this bright Perseid meteor in the night sky
west of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The meteor's incandescent trace
is fleeting. It appears to cross the stars of the Big Dipper, famous
northern asterism and celestial kitchen utensil, while shimmering
curtains of aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, dance
in the night. Doubling the wow factor for night skywatchers near the
peak of this year's Perseid meteor shower auroral activity on planet
Earth was enhanced by geomagnetic storms. The intense space weather was
triggered by flares from an active Sun.

Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
Tomorrow's picture: meteor borealis
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 17

Sky Full of Arcs
Image Credit & Copyright: Rory Gannaway

Explanation: On August 11 a Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched from a
rotating planet. With a small satellite on board its mission was dubbed
A Sky Full of SARs
(Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites), departing for low Earth orbit
from Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand's north island. The fiery trace of
the Electron's graceful launch arc is toward the east in this southern
sea and skyscape, a composite of 50 consecutive frames taken over 2.5
hours. Fixed to a tripod, the camera was pointing directly at the South
Celestial Pole, the extension of planet Earth's axis of rotation in to
space. But no bright star marks that location in the southern
hemisphere's night sky. Still, the South Celestial Pole is easy to
spot. It lies at the center of the concentric star trail arcs that fill
the skyward field of view.

Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2024 and Aurorae
Tomorrow's picture: sunny day
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 18

A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/SDO AIA Team

Explanation: One of the most spectacular solar sights is an erupting
prominence. In 2011, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory
spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence erupting from the
surface. The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in
the featured time lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame
was taken every 24 seconds. The scale of the prominence is huge -- the
entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas. A
solar prominence is channeled and sometimes held above the Sun's
surface by the Sun's magnetic field. A quiescent prominence typically
lasts about a month and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)
expelling hot gas into the Solar System. The energy mechanism that
creates a solar prominence is a continuing topic of research. Our Sun
is again near solar maximum and so very active, featuring numerous
erupting prominences and CMEs, one of which resulted in picturesque
auroras just over the past week.

Tomorrow's picture: star cocoon
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 19
A red emission nebula is shown against a busy starfield with many dark
dust filaments near the nebula's center. Near the bottom of the image
is a smaller blue reflection nebula. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Luis Romero Ventura

Explanation: Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of
stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15
light-years wide. Soaring high in northern summer night skies, it's
located some 4,000 light years away toward the constellation of the
Swan (Cygnus). Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red,
glowing, hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars, and dust-reflected
starlight at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In
fact, the bright star found near the center of this nebula is likely
only a few hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it
clears out a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas.
A 48-hour long integration resulted in this exceptionally deep color
view tracing tantalizing features within and surrounding the dusty
stellar nursery.

Tomorrow's picture: high energy sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 20
A large and orange-tinted moon is pictured rising beyond the pillars of
an ancient structure. The foreground is dark and the night sky behind
the Moon appear blue. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Supermoon Beyond the Temple of Poseidon
Image Credit: Alexandros Maragos

Explanation: A supermoon occurred yesterday. And tonight's moon should
also look impressive. Supermoons appear slightly larger and brighter
than most full moons because they reach their full phase when slightly
nearer to the Earth -- closer than 90 percent of all full moons. This
supermoon was also a blue moon given the definition that it is the
third of four full moons occurring during a single season. Blue moons
are not usually blue, and a different definition holds that a blue moon
is the second full moon that occurs during a single month. The featured
image captured the blue supermoon right near its peak size yesterday as
it was rising beyond the Temple of Poseidon in Greece. This supermoon
is particularly unusual in that it is the first of four successive
supermoons, the next three occurring in September, October, and
November.

Tomorrow's picture: high energy sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 21
A blue oval is shown with a red and yellow horizontal band running
across the middle. Red and yellow spots also appear distributed inside
the oval. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Fermi's 12-year All-Sky Gamma-ray Map
Image Credit: NASA, DOE, Fermi LAT Collaboration; Text: Barb Mattson
(U. Maryland, NASA's GSFC)

Explanation: Forget X-ray vision CÇö imagine what you could see with
gamma-ray vision! The featured all-sky map shows what the universe
looks like to NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Fermi sees light
with energies about a billion times what the human eye can see, and the
map combines 12 years of Fermi observations. The colors represent the
brightness of the gamma-ray sources, with brighter sources appearing
lighter in color. The prominent stripe across the middle is the central
plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Most of the red and yellow dots
scattered above and below the Milky WayCÇÖs plane are very distant
galaxies, while most of those within the plane are nearby pulsars. The
blue background that fills the image is the diffuse glow of gamma-rays
from distant sources that are too dim to be detected individually. Some
gamma-ray sources remain unidentified and topics of research CÇö
currently no one knows what they are.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 22

The Dark Tower in Scorpius
Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

Explanation: In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail
of the arachnological constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud
evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower. In fact, monstrous
clumps of dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk
within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years
across this gorgeous telescopic portrait. A cometary globule, the
swept-back cloud is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the OB
association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper right corner
of the scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the
globule's bordering reddish glow of hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in
the dust can be seen as bluish reflection nebulae. This dark tower and
associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away.

Growing Gallery: Moon Eclipses Saturn in August 2024
Tomorrow's picture: a dark pulsar
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 23

Supernova Remnant CTA 1
Image Credit & Copyright: Thomas Lelu

Explanation: There is a quiet pulsar at the heart of CTA 1. The
supernova remnant was discovered as a source of emission at radio
wavelengths by astronomers in 1960 and since identified as the result
of the death explosion of a massive star. But no radio pulses were
detected from the expected pulsar, the rotating neutron star remnant of
the massive star's collapsed core. Seen about 10,000 years after the
initial supernova explosion, the interstellar debris cloud is faint at
optical wavelengths. CTA 1's visible wavelength emission from still
expanding shock fronts is revealed in this deep telescopic image, a
frame that spans about 2 degrees across a starfield in the northern
constellation of Cepheus. While no pulsar has since been found at radio
wavelengths, in 2008 the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected
pulsed emission from CTA 1, identifying the supernova remnant's
rotating neutron star. The source has been recognized as the first in a
growing class of pulsars that are quiet at radio wavelengths but pulse
in high-energy gamma-rays.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 24

South Pacific Shadowset
Image Credit & Copyright: Jin Wang

Explanation: The full Moon and Earth's shadow set together in this
island skyscape. The alluring scene was captured Tuesday morning,
August 20, from Fiji, South Pacific Ocean, planet Earth. For early
morning risers shadowset in the western sky is a daily apparition.
Still, the grey-blue shadow is often overlooked in favor of a brighter
eastern horizon. Extending through the dense atmosphere, Earth's
setting shadow is bounded above by a pinkish glow or anti-twilight
arch. Known as the Belt of Venus, the arch's lovely color is due to
backscattering of reddened light from the opposite horizon's rising
Sun. Of course, the setting Moon's light is reddened by the long
sight-line through the atmosphere. But on that date the full Moon could
be called a seasonal Blue Moon, the third full Moon in a season with
four full Moons. And even though the full Moon is always impressive
near the horizon, August's full Moon is considered by some the first of
four consecutive full Supermoons in 2024.

Tomorrow's picture: fresh tiger stripes
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 25
A light-colored spherical body is shown mostly illuminated against a
dark background. Many craters are visible. Unusual blue stripes meander
on the surface. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

Explanation: Do underground oceans vent through canyons on Saturn's
moon Enceladus? Long features dubbed tiger stripes are known to be
spewing ice from the moon's icy interior into space, creating a cloud
of fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and creating Saturn's
mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from the robot Cassini
spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured here, a high
resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby. The unusual
surface features dubbed tiger stripes are visible in false-color blue.
Why Enceladus is active remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon
Mimas, approximately the same size, appears quite dead. An analysis of
ejected ice grains has yielded evidence that complex organic molecules
exist inside Enceladus. These large carbon-rich molecules bolster --
but do not prove -- that oceans under Enceladus' surface could contain
life.

Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: sky wows
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 26

Perseid Meteors Over Inner Mongolia
Video Credit: Jeff Dai (TWAN); Music: Ibaotu catalog number 771024
(Used with permission)

Explanation: Did you see it? One of the more common questions during a
meteor shower occurs because the time it takes for a meteor to flash is
similar to the time it takes for a head to turn. Possibly, though, the
glory of seeing bright meteors shoot across the sky -- while knowing
that they were once small pebbles on another world -- might make it all
worthwhile, even if your observing partner(s) can't always share in
your experience. The featured video is composed of short clips taken in
Inner Mongolia, China during the 2023 Perseid Meteor Shower. Several
bright meteors were captured while live-reaction audio was being
recorded -- just as the meteors flashed. This year's 2024 Perseids also
produced many beautiful meteors. Another good meteor shower to watch
for is the Geminids which peak yearly in mid-December, this year with
relatively little competing glow from a nearly new Moon.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: half Saturn
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 27
A picture of the edge of the Earth's familiar Moon takes up the right
part of the frame, while a partial image of Saturn is visible just
behind it on the left. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Moon Eclipses Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright: Pau Montplet Sanz

Explanation: What if Saturn disappeared? Sometimes, it does. It doesn't
really go away, though, it just disappears from view when our Moon
moves in front. Such a Saturnian eclipse, more formally called an
occultation, was visible along a long swath of Earth -- from Peru,
across the Atlantic Ocean, to Italy -- only a few days ago. The
featured color image is a digital fusion of the clearest images
captured during the event and rebalanced for color and relative
brightness between the relatively dim Saturn and the comparatively
bright Moon. Saturn and the comparative bright Moon. The exposures were
all taken from Breda, Catalonia, Spain, just before occultation.
Eclipses of Saturn by our Moon will occur each month for the rest of
this year. Each time, though, the fleeting event will be visible only
to those with clear skies -- and the right location on Earth.

Gallery: Moon Eclipses Saturn in August 2024
Tomorrow's picture: hole flower
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 28
A picture of a starfield with red emission nebulae is shown. Toward the
right is a point of light that is Cygnus X-1, a nearby black hole.
Above the black hole is a blue-shaded bow shock wave in the surrounding
gas. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Tulip Nebula and Black Hole Cygnus X-1
Image Credit & Copyright: Anirudh Shastry

Explanation: When can you see a black hole, a tulip, and a swan all at
once? At night -- if the timing is right, and if your telescope is
pointed in the right direction. The complex and beautiful Tulip Nebula
blossoms about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation of
Cygnus the Swan. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at
the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018,
ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula.
Stewart Sharpless cataloged this nearly 70 light-years across reddish
glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust in 1959, as Sh2-101. Also in
the featured field of view is the black hole Cygnus X-1, which to be a
microquasar because it is one of strongest X-ray sources in planet
Earth's sky. Blasted by powerful jets from a lurking black hole, its
fainter bluish curved shock front is only faintly visible beyond the
cosmic Tulip's petals, near the right side of the frame.

Back to School? Learn Science with NASA
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 29

Star Factory Messier 17
Image Credit & Copyright: Gaetan Maxant

Explanation: A nearby star factory known as Messier 17 lies some 5,500
light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius. At that
distance, this 1.5 degree wide field-of-view would span about 150
light-years. In the sharp color composite image faint details of the
region's gas and dust clouds are highlighted with narrowband image data
against a backdrop of central Milky Way stars. The stellar winds and
energetic radiation from hot, massive stars already formed from M17's
stock of cosmic gas and dust have slowly carved away at the remaining
interstellar material, producing the nebula's cavernous appearance and
the undulating shapes within. A popular stop on telescopic tours of the
cosmos, M17 is also known as the Omega or the Swan Nebula.

Tomorrow's picture: southern moonscape
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 30

Southern Moonscape
Image Credit & Copyright: Lorand Fenyes

Explanation: The Moon's south pole is toward the top left of this
detailed telescopic moonscape. Captured on August 23, it looks across
the rugged southern lunar highlands. The view's foreshortened
perspective heightens the impression of a dense field of craters and
makes the craters themselves appear more oval shaped close to the lunar
limb. Prominent near center is 114 kilometer diameter crater Moretus.
Moretus is young for a large lunar crater and features terraced inner
walls and a 2.1 kilometer high, central peak, similar in appearance to
the more northerly young crater Tycho. Mountains visible along the
lunar limb at the top can rise about 6 kilometers or so above the
surrounding terrain. Close to the lunar south pole, permanently
shadowed crater floors with expected reservoirs of water-ice have made
the rugged south polar region of the Moon a popular target for
exploration.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 August 31

IFN and the NGC 7771 Group
Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Mandel and Bob Fera

Explanation: Galaxies of the NGC 7771 Group are featured in this
intriguing skyscape. Some 200 million light-years distant toward the
constellation Pegasus, NGC 7771 is the large, edge-on spiral near
center, about 75,000 light-years across, with two smaller galaxies
below it. Large spiral NGC 7769 is seen face-on to the right. Galaxies
of the NGC 7771 group are interacting, making repeated close passages
that will ultimately result in galaxy-galaxy mergers on a cosmic
timescale. The interactions can be traced by distortions in the shape
of the galaxies themselves and faint streams of stars created by their
mutual gravitational tides. But a clear view of this galaxy group is
difficult to come by as the deep image also reveals extensive clouds of
foreground dust sweeping across the field of view. The dim, dusty
galactic cirrus clouds are known as Integrated Flux Nebulae. The faint
IFN reflect starlight from our own Milky Way Galaxy and lie only a few
hundred light-years above the galactic plane.

Tomorrow's picture: moon dressing
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 1
The featured image shows a crescent Moon over a city and volcano with a
flat cloud running through the center that makes the Moon look a bit
like the planet Saturn. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

The Moon Dressed Like Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright: Francisco Sojuel

Explanation: Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is
pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon.
The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible
by reflected Earthlight, known as Da Vinci glow. The Sun directly
illuminates the brightly lit lunar crescent from the bottom, which
means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken
before sunrise. This double take-inducing picture was captured on 2019
December 24, two days before the Moon slid in front of the Sun to
create a solar eclipse. In the foreground, lights from small Guatemalan
towns are visible behind the huge volcano Pacaya.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: Sun hoverer
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 2
The featured image shows the surface of the Sun with a flowing texture
in red light. Above the Sun's surface an unusual triangular prominence
hovers. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

A Triangular Prominence Hovers Over the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Andrea Vanoni

Explanation: Why is there a triangle hovering over the Sun? Although
the shape is unusual, the type of structure is not: it is part of an
evolving solar prominence. Looping magnetic fields on the Sun channel
the flow of energetic particles, sometimes holding glowing gaseous
structures aloft for months. A prominence glows brightly because it
contains particularly hot, dense, or opaque solar plasma. The
surprising triangular structure occurred last week. Larger than our
Earth, the iconic prominence was imaged by several solar photographers
and documented by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory to form and
violently dissipate in about a day. The featured image was captured in
a color of red light emitted strongly by hydrogen. Below, solar fibrils
carpet the Sun's chromosphere, while the background sky is so faint in
comparison that no stars are visible. Our Sun's surface has been quite
active this year.

Tomorrow's picture: Moon sisters
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 3
The featured image shows an orange sky with clouds across the bottom
and several bright stars near the top center. Just at the top of the
cloud deck on the left is a half-lit Moon. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

Quarter Moon and Sister Stars
Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Dyer, TWAN

Explanation: Nine days ago, two quite different sky icons were imaged
rising together. Specifically, Earth's Moon shared the eastern sky with
the sister stars of the Pleiades cluster, as viewed from Alberta,
Canada. Astronomical images of the well-known Pleiades often show the
star cluster's alluring blue reflection nebulas, but here they are
washed-out by the orange moonrise sky. The half-lit Moon, known as a
quarter moon, is overexposed, although the outline of the dim lunar
night side can be seen by illuminating earthshine, light first
reflected from the Earth. The featured image is a composite of eight
successive exposures with brightnesses adjusted to match what the human
eye would see. The Moon passes nearly -- or directly -- in front of the
Pleaides once a month.

Tomorrow's picture: cosmic bat signal
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 4
The featured image shows a starfield with a two- colored nebula in the
center. The nebula is colored mostly red and blue. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 6995: The Bat Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Taivalmaa

Explanation: Can you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the
eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova
remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a
massive star. While the Veil is roughly circular in shape and covers
nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the Swan
(Cygnus), NGC 6995, known informally as the Bat Nebula, spans only 1/2
degree, about the apparent size of the Moon. That translates to 12
light-years at the Veil's estimated distance, a reassuring 1,400
light-years from planet Earth. In the composite of image data recorded
through narrow band filters, emission from hydrogen atoms in the
remnant is shown in red with strong emission from oxygen atoms shown in
hues of blue. Of course, in the western part of the Veil lies another
seasonal apparition: the Witch's Broom Nebula.

Teachers & Students: Ideas for using APOD in the classroom
Tomorrow's picture: friendly spiral
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 5

NGC 247 and Friends
Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition - Eric Benson, Processing -
Dietmar Hager

Explanation: About 70,000 light-years across, NGC 247 is a spiral
galaxy smaller than our Milky Way. Measured to be only 11 million
light-years distant it is nearby though. Tilted nearly edge-on as seen
from our perspective, it dominates this telescopic field of view toward
the southern constellation Cetus. The pronounced void on one side of
the galaxy's disk recalls for some its popular name, the Needle's Eye
galaxy. Many background galaxies are visible in this sharp galaxy
portrait, including the remarkable string of four galaxies just below
and left of NGC 247 known as Burbidge's Chain. Burbidge's Chain
galaxies are about 300 million light-years distant. NGC 247 itself is
part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies along with shiny spiral NGC 253.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 6

Ringed Ice Giant Neptune
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

Explanation: Ringed ice giant Neptune lies near the center of this
sharp near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dim
and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times
farther away than planet Earth. But in the stunning Webb view, the
planet's dark and ghostly appearance is due to atmospheric methane that
absorbs infrared light. High altitude clouds that reach above most of
Neptune's absorbing methane easily stand out in the image though.
Coated with frozen nitrogen, Neptune's largest moon Triton is brighter
than Neptune in reflected sunlight, seen at the upper left sporting the
Webb telescope's characteristic diffraction spikes. Including Triton,
seven of Neptune's 14 known moons can be identified in the field of
view. Neptune's faint rings are striking in this space-based planetary
portrait. Details of the complex ring system are seen here for the
first time since Neptune was visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in
August 1989.

Tomorrow's picture: terrorizing Mars
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 7

Small Moon Deimos
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

Explanation: Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, named for the
figures in Greek mythology Fear and Panic. Detailed surface views of
smaller moon Deimos are shown in both these panels. The images were
taken in 2009, by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter spacecraft, NASA's long-lived interplanetary internet
satellite. The outermost of the two Martian moons, Deimos is one of the
smallest known moons in the Solar System, measuring only about 15
kilometers across. Both Martian moons were discovered in 1877 by Asaph
Hall, an American astronomer working at the US Naval Observatory in
Washington D.C. But their existence was postulated around 1610 by
Johannes Kepler, the astronomer who derived the laws of planetary
motion. In this case, Kepler's prediction was not based on scientific
principles, but his writings and ideas were so influential that the two
Martian moons are discussed in works of fiction such as Jonathan
Swift's Gulliver's Travels, written in 1726, over 150 years before
their discovery.

Tomorrow's picture: large galaxy Andromeda
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 8
The featured image shows a spiral galaxy and a smaller oval galaxy in a
dark starfield. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Image Credit: Subaru (NAOJ), Hubble (NASA/ESA), Mayall (NSF);
Processing & Copyright: R. Gendler & R. Croman

Explanation: The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye
is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy. Even at some two and a half million
light-years distant, this immense spiral galaxy -- spanning over
200,000 light years -- is visible, although as a faint, nebulous cloud
in the constellation Andromeda. A bright yellow nucleus, dark winding
dust lanes, and expansive spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters
and red nebulae, are recorded in this stunning telescopic image which
combines data from orbiting Hubble with ground-based images from Subaru
and Mayall. In only about 5 billion years, the Andromeda galaxy may be
even easier to see -- as it will likely span the entire night sky --
just before it merges with, or passes right by, our Milky Way Galaxy.

Teachers & Students: Ideas for using APOD in the classroom
Tomorrow's picture: dark moon, red planet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 9
A panoramic view of the surface of Mars. Several landforms are visible
including craters and volcanos. A small dark moon is superposed in
front of part of the surface. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Mars: Moon, Craters, and Volcanos
Image Credit: ESA, DLR, FU Berlin, Mars Express; Processing & CC BY 2.0
License: Andrea Luck; h/t: Phil Plait

Explanation: If you could fly over Mars, what might you see? The
featured image shows exactly this in the form of a Mars Express vista
captured over a particularly interesting region on Mars in July. The
picture's most famous feature is Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in
the Solar System, visible on the upper right. Another large Martian
volcano is visible on the right horizon: Pavonis Mons. Several circular
impact craters can be seen on the surface of the aptly named red
planet. Impressively, this image was timed to capture the dark and
doomed Martian moon Phobos, visible just left of center. The surface
feature on the lower left, known as Orcus Patera, is unusual for its
large size and oblong shape, and mysterious because the processes that
created it still remain unknown. ESA's robotic Mars Express spacecraft
was launched in 2003 and, among many notable science discoveries,
bolstered evidence that Mars was once home to large bodies of water.

Tomorrow's picture: golden space horse
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 10
The featured image a starfield that glows gold. On the left is the dark
horsehead nebula, while on the right is the blue-glowing Orion Nebula.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Image Credit & Copyright: Antoine & Dalia Grelin

Explanation: The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula are
contrasting cosmic vistas. Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the
night sky's most recognizable constellations, they appear in opposite
corners of the above stunning mosaic. The familiar Horsehead nebula
appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette notched against the long
glow of hydrogen -- here shown in gold -- at the lower left. Alnitak is
the easternmost star in Orion's belt and is seen as the brightest star
just below and to the left of the Horsehead. To the left of Alnitak is
the Flame Nebula, with clouds of bright emission and dramatic dark dust
lanes. The magnificent emission region, the Orion Nebula (aka M42),
lies at the upper right. Immediately to its left is a prominent
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man. Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily traced throughout the region.

Astrophysicists: Browse 3,500+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
Library
Tomorrow's picture: river meets sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 11
A starry sky is shown with the busy central band of our Milky Way
Galaxy showing diagonally from the upper left. Mountains are on the
horizon, with trees and a stream running up from the foreground. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

A Night Sky over the Tatra Mountains
Image Credit: Marcin Rosadzi+äski; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY
Oswego)

Explanation: A natural border between Slovakia and Poland is the Tatra
Mountains. A prominent destination for astrophotographers, the Tatras
are the highest mountain range in the Carpathians. In the featured
image taken in May, one can see the center of our Milky Way galaxy with
two of its famous stellar nurseries, the Lagoon and Omega Nebula, just
over the top of the Tatras. Stellar nurseries are full of ionized
hydrogen, a fundamental component for the formation of Earth-abundant
water. As a fundamental ingredient in all known forms of life, water is
a crucial element in the Universe. Such water can be seen in the
foreground in the form of the Bialka River.

Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 12

Young Star Cluster NGC 1333
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, A. Scholz, K. Muzic, A. Langeveld,
R. Jayawardhana

Explanation: This spectacular mosaic of images from the James Webb
Space Telescope peers into the heart of young star cluster NGC 1333. A
mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the heroic constellation Perseus,
the nearby star cluster lies at the edge of the large Perseus molecular
cloud. Part of Webb's deep exploration of the region to identify low
mass brown dwarf stars and free floating planets, the space telescope's
combined field of view spans nearly 2 light-years across the dusty
cluster's turbulent stellar nursery. In fact, NGC 1333 is known to
harbor stars less than a million years old, though most are hidden from
optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic environment
may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion
years ago.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 13

Aurora Australis and the International Space Station
Image Credit: NASA, ISS Expedition 71

Explanation: This snapshot from the International Space Station was
taken on August 11 while orbiting about 430 kilometers above the Indian
Ocean, Southern Hemisphere, planet Earth. The spectacular view looks
south and east, down toward the planet's horizon and through red and
green curtains of aurora australis. The auroral glow is caused by
emission from excited oxygen atoms in the extremely rarefied upper
atmosphere still present at the level of the orbiting outpost. Green
emission from atomic oxygen dominates this scene at altitudes of 100 to
250 kilometers, while red emission from atomic oxygen can extend as
high as 500 kilometers altitude. Beyond the glow of these southern
lights, this view from low Earth orbit reveals the starry sky from a
southern hemisphere perspective. Stars in Orion's belt and the Orion
Nebula are near the Earth's limb just left of center. Sirius, alpha
star of Canis Major and brightest star in planet Earth's night is above
center along the right edge of the southern orbital skyscape.

Looking Up: International Observe the Moon Night
Tomorrow's picture: If the Moon could smile
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 14

The Moona Lisa
Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Sarcone and Marcella Giulia Pace

Explanation: Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky
appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a
framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times.
Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight affected by
changing atmospheric conditions and the alignment geometry of Moon,
Earth, and Sun. Here, the darkest lunar disks are the colors of
earthshine. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected
by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written
over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. But stand farther back from
your screen or just shift your gaze to the smaller versions of the
image. You might also see one of da Vinci's most famous works of art.

Tonight: International Observe the Moon Night
Tomorrow's picture: lunar pronouns
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 15
Earth's Moon is shown just beyond a rocky hill. The Moon is near full
phase. On the hill the silhouette of a person looking through a
telescope can be seen. A rollover darkens part of the Moon that looks
to some like a human face. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

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
well-planned image was taken in 2016 in Cadalso de los Vidrios in
Madrid, Spain.

Observe the Moon Night: NASA Coverage
Tomorrow's picture: near Mercury
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 16
The cratered surface of a large body is shown: Mercury. The largest
feature visible is a large impact crater with two rings, near the image
center. Arms from the BepiColumbo spacecraft that took the image are
seen extending into the image from the top and the right. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

Mercury's Vivaldi Crater from BepiColombo
Image Credit: ESA, JAXA, BepiColombo, MTM

Explanation: Why does this large crater on Mercury have two rings and a
smooth floor? No one is sure. The unusual feature called Vivaldi Crater
spans 215 kilometers and was imaged again in great detail by ESA's and
JAXA's robotic BepiColombo spacecraft on a flyby earlier this month. A
large circular feature on a rocky planet or moon is usually caused by
either an impact by a small asteroid or a comet fragment, or a volcanic
eruption. In the case of Vivaldi, it is possible that both occurred --
a heavy strike that caused a smooth internal lava flow. Double-ringed
craters are rare, and the cause of the inner rings remains a topic of
research. The speed-slowing gravity-assisted flyby of Mercury by
BepiColombo was in preparation for the spacecraft entering orbit around
the Solar System's innermost planet in 2026.

Tomorrow's picture: dusty heart
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 17
A starfield is shown with a a bright orange nebula in the center. The
nebula is filamentary and takes up much of the bottom and middle of the
frame. The top is most dark with some bright stars. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Melotte 15 in the Heart Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Richard McInnis

Explanation: Cosmic clouds form fantastic shapes in the central regions
of emission nebula IC 1805. The clouds are sculpted by stellar winds
and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula's newborn star
cluster, Melotte 15. About 1.5 million years young, the cluster stars
are scattered in this colorful skyscape, along with dark dust clouds in
silhouette against glowing atomic gas. A composite of narrowband and
broadband telescopic images, the view spans about 15 light-years and
includes emission from ionized hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms
mapped to green, red, and blue hues in the popular Hubble Palette.
Wider field images reveal that IC 1805's simpler, overall outline
suggests its popular name - the Heart Nebula. IC 1805 is located about
7,500 light years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia.

Tomorrow's picture: supernova surfer
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 18
A starfield is shown with a long blue-glowing nebula taking up much of
the frame. The nebula appears, to some, similar to a fish or a mermaid.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Neil Corke; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY
Oswego)

Explanation: New stars are born from the remnants of dead stars. The
gaseous remnant of the gravitational collapse and subsequent death of a
very massive star in our Milky Way created the G296.5+10.0 supernova
remnant, of which the featured Mermaid Nebula is part. Also known as
the Betta Fish Nebula, the Mermaid Nebula makes up part of an unusual
subclass of supernova remnants that are two-sided and nearly circular.
Originally discovered in X-rays, the filamentary nebula is a frequently
studied source also in radio and gamma-ray light. The blue color
visible here originates from doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), while the
deep red is emitted by hydrogen gas. The nebula's mermaid-like shape
has proven to be useful for measurements of the interstellar magnetic
field.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 19

The Dark Seahorse of Cepheus
Image Credit & Copyright: Davide Broise

Explanation: Spanning light-years, this suggestive shape known as the
Seahorse Nebula floats in silhouette against a rich, luminous
background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of
Cepheus, the dusty, dark nebula is part of a Milky Way molecular cloud
some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150
(B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th
century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are
forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long
infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful Milky Way stars of Cepheus
add to this stunning galactic skyscape.

Growing Gallery: This week's supermoon eclipse
Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 20

A Hazy Harvest Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

Explanation: For northern hemisphere dwellers, September's Full Moon
was the Harvest Moon. On September 17/18 the sunlit lunar nearside
passed into shadow, just grazing Earth's umbra, the planet's dark,
central shadow cone, in a partial lunar eclipse. Over the two and half
hours before dawn a camera fixed to a tripod was used to record this
series of exposures as the eclipsed Harvest Moon set behind Spi+í Castle
in the hazy morning sky over eastern Slovakia. Famed in festival,
story, and song, Harvest Moon is just the traditional name of the full
moon nearest the autumnal equinox. According to lore the name is a
fitting one. Despite the diminishing daylight hours as the growing
season drew to a close, farmers could harvest crops by the light of a
full moon shining on from dusk to dawn. This September's Harvest Moon
was also known to some as a supermoon, a term becoming a traditional
name for a full moon near perigee.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 21

Sunrise Shadows in the Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Emili Vilamala

Explanation: The defining astronomical moment of this September's
equinox is at 12:44 UTC on September 22, when the Sun crosses the
celestial equator moving south in its yearly journey through planet
Earth's sky. That marks the beginning of fall for our fair planet in
the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day
and night are nearly equal around the globe. Of course, if you
celebrate the astronomical change of seasons by watching a sunrise you
can also look for crepuscular rays. Outlined by shadows cast by clouds,
crepuscular rays can have a dramatic appearance in the twilight sky
during any sunrise (or sunset). Due to perspective, the parallel cloud
shadows will seem to point back to the rising Sun and a place due east
on your horizon on the equinox date. But in this spectacular sunrise
skyscape captured in early June, the parallel shadows and crepuscular
rays appear to converge toward an eastern horizon's more northerly
sunrise. The well-composed photo places the rising Sun just behind the
bell tower of a church in the town of Vic, province of Barcelona,
Catalonia, Spain.

Tomorrow's picture: Equinox in the City
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 22
A picture of the Sun setting at the end of a long city street is shown.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Chicagohenge: Equinox in an Aligned City
Image Credit & Copyright: Anthony Artese

Explanation: Chicago, in a way, is like a modern Stonehenge. The way is
east to west, and the time is today. Today, and every equinox, the Sun
will set exactly to the west, everywhere on Earth. Therefore, today in
Chicago, the Sun will set directly down the long equatorially-aligned
grid of streets and buildings, an event dubbed #chicagohenge. Featured
here is a Chicago Henge picture taken during the equinox in
mid-September of 2017 looking along part of Upper Wacker Drive. Many
cities, though, have streets or other features that are well-aligned to
Earth's spin axis. Therefore, quite possibly, your favorite street may
also run east - west. Tonight at sunset, with a quick glance, you can
actually find out.

Tomorrow's picture: comet approaches
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 23
A picture shows a starfield with three prominent objects. A blue spiral
galaxy is on the lower left and another blue spiral is just left of
center. Toward the upper right is a light-colored comet with a tail
fading toward in the image bottom. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Approaches
Image Credit & Copyright: Brian Valente & Greg Stein

Explanation: What will happen as this already bright comet approaches?
Optimistic predictions have Comet C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS) briefly
becoming easily visible to the unaided eye -- although the future
brightness of comets are notoriously hard to predict, and this comet
may even break up in warming sunlight. What is certain is that the
comet is now unexpectedly bright and is on track to pass its closest to
the Sun (0.39 AU) later this week and closest to the Earth (0.47 AU)
early next month. The featured image was taken in late May as Comet
TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS, discovered only last year, passed nearly in front of
two distant galaxies. The comet can now be found with binoculars in the
early morning sky rising just before the Sun, while over the next few
weeks it will brighten as it moves to the early evening sky.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: dusty baboon
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 24
A brown dusty nebula is shown in front of a star field. The nebula
looks to some like a baboon, with red emission stemming from the mouth
and blue reflection from the eyes. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

NGC 6727: The Rampaging Baboon Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Alpha Zhang & Ting Yu

Explanation: This dusty region is forming stars. Part of a sprawling
molecular cloud complex that resembles, to some, a rampaging baboon,
the region is a relatively close by 500 light-years away toward the
constellation Corona Australis. That's about one third the distance of
the more famous stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula. Mixed with
bright nebulosities, the brown dust clouds effectively block light from
more distant background stars in the Milky Way and obscure from view
embedded stars still in the process of formation. The eyes of the dust
creature in the featured image are actually blue reflection nebulas
cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, 6729, and IC 4812, while the red mouth
glows with light emitted by hydrogen gas. Just to the upper left of the
baboon's head is NGC 6723, a whole globular cluster of stars nearly
30,000 light years in the distance.

Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: comet sunrise
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 25
A sunrise sky is shown over water and trees. The horizon is orange and
the top of the image is deep blue. On the far right vertical bands are
shown becoming progressively darker. In each band a comet appears, with
the comet appearing increasingly near the top of the image on lighter
bands. The main part of the image on the left is the lightest. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Comet A3 Through an Australian Sunrise
Image Credit & Copyright: Lucy Yunxi Hu

Explanation: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is now visible in the early
morning sky. Diving into the inner Solar System at an odd angle, this
large dirty iceberg will pass its closest to the Sun -- between the
orbits of Mercury and Venus -- in just two days. Long camera exposures
are now capturing C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS), sometimes abbreviated
as just A3, and its dust tail before and during sunrise. The featured
image composite was taken four days ago and captured the comet as it
rose above Lake George, NSW, Australia. Vertical bands further left are
images of the comet as the rising Sun made the predawn sky increasingly
bright and colorful. Just how bright the comet will become over the
next month is currently unknown as it involves how much gas and dust
the comet's nucleus will expel. Optimistic skywatchers are hoping for a
great show where TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS creates dust and ion tails visible
across Earth's sky and becomes known as the Great Comet of 2024.

Survey: Color Blindness and Astronomical Images
Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 26

The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Image Credit & Copyright: Jan Beckmann, Julian Zoller, Lukas Eisert,
Wolfgang Hummel

Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is
but a little Patch, but it shows itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky
is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly
recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the
brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic
views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of
thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster
stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the
cluster core, upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3
light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is
over 4 light-years away. The deep, wide-field image also reveals
distant background galaxies including NGC 6207 at the upper left, and
faint, foreground Milky Way dust clouds known to some as integrated
flux nebulae.

Tomorrow's picture: in the local universe
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 27

Stellar Streams in the Local Universe
Image Credit: David Martinez Delgado et al.

Explanation: The twenty galaxies arrayed in these panels are part of an
ambitious astronomical survey of tidal stellar streams. Each panel
presents a composite view; a deep, inverted image taken from publicly
available imaging surveys of a field that surrounds a nearby massive
galaxy image. The inverted images reveal faint cosmic structures, star
streams hundreds of thousands of light-years across, that result from
the gravitational disruption and eventual merger of satellite galaxies
in the local universe. Such surveys of mergers and gravitational tidal
interactions between massive galaxies and their dwarf satellites are
crucial guides for current models of galaxy formation and cosmology. Of
course, the detection of stellar streams in the neighboring Andromeda
Galaxy and our own Milky Way also offers spectacular evidence for
ongoing satellite galaxy disruption within our more local galaxy group.

Tomorrow's picture: eclipse at sunset
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 28

Rocket Eclipse at Sunset
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)

Explanation: Shockwaves ripple across the glare as a launch eclipses
the setting Sun in this exciting close-up. Captured on September 17,
the roaring Falcon 9 rocket carried European Galileo L13 navigation
satellites to medium Earth orbit after a lift-off from Cape Canaveral
on Florida's space coast. The Falcon 9 booster returned safely to Earth
about 8.5 minutes later, notching the 22nd launch and landing for the
reusable workhorse launch vehicle. But where did it land? Just Read the
Instructions.

Tomorrow's picture: seven dusty sisters
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 29
A famous Pleiades star cluster is shown but showing numerous parallel
and curved filaments in different colors. The image is in several
colors of infrared light. A rollover image shows the cluster in visible
light with its familiar blue light. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Seven Dusty Sisters
Image Credit: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright : Francesco
Antonucci

Explanation: Is this really the famous Pleiades star cluster? Known for
its iconic blue stars, the Pleiades is shown here in infrared light
where the surrounding dust outshines the stars. Here, three infrared
colors have been mapped into visual colors (R=24, G=12, B=4.6 microns).
The base images were taken by NASA's orbiting Wide Field Infrared
Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Cataloged as M45 and nicknamed the
Seven Sisters, the Pleiades star cluster is by chance situated in a
passing dust cloud. The light and winds from the massive Pleiades stars
preferentially repel smaller dust particles, causing the dust to become
stratified into filaments, as seen. The featured image spans about 20
light years at the distance of the Pleiades, which lies about 450 light
years distant toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).

Tomorrow's picture: comet above clouds
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 September 30
A picture shows clouds across the bottom and a dark night sky across
the top. In the middle is a band of orange sky. City lights are visible
on the right through gaps in the clouds. In the center of the upper sky
is a comet with its tail pointing toward the upper right. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS over Mexico
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Korona

Explanation: The new comet has passed its closest to the Sun and is now
moving closer to the Earth. C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS) is currently
moving out from inside the orbit of Venus and on track to pass its
nearest to the Earth in about two weeks. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS,
pronounced "Choo-cheen-shahn At-less,", is near naked-eye visibility
and easily picked up by long-exposure cameras. The comet can also now
be found by observers in Earth's northern hemisphere as well as the
south. The featured image was captured just a few days ago above
Zacatecas, Mexico. Because clouds were obscuring much of the pre-dawn
sky, the astrophotographer released a drone to take pictures from
higher up, several of which were later merged to enhance the comet's
visibility. Although the future brightness of comets is hard to
predict, there is increasing hope that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will
further brighten as it enters the early evening sky.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: black hole jet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 1

Porphyrion: The Longest Known Black Hole Jets
Animation Credit: Science Communication Lab for Martijn Oei et al.,
Caltech

Explanation: How far can black hole jets extend? A new record was found
just recently with the discovery of a 23-million light-year long jet
pair from a black hole active billions of years ago. Dubbed Porphyrion
for a mythological Greek giant, the impressive jets were created by a
type of black hole that does not usually create long jets -- one that
is busy creating radiation from infalling gas. The featured animated
video depicts what it might look like to circle around this powerful
black hole system. Porphyrion is shown as a fast stream of energetic
particles, and the bright areas are where these particles are impacting
surrounding gas. The discovery was made using data from the Keck and
Mayall (DESI) optical observatories as well as LOFAR and the Giant
Metrewave Radio Telescope. The existence of these jets demonstrates
that black holes can affect not only their home galaxies but far out
into the surrounding universe.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
(post 1995)
Tomorrow's picture: big star cloud
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 2
An unusual looking galaxy is shown with a light bar running nearly
vertical and blue stars and red nebulas around the edges. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

The Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Ireneusz Nowak; Text: Natalia Lewandowska
(SUNY Oswego)

Explanation: It is the largest satellite galaxy of our home Milky Way
Galaxy. If you live in the south, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is
quite noticeable, spanning about 10 degrees across the night sky, which
is 20 times larger than the full moon towards the southern
constellation of the dolphinfish (Dorado). Being only about 160,000
light years away, many details of the LMC's structure can be seen, such
as its central bar and its single spiral arm. The LMC harbors numerous
stellar nurseries where new stars are being born, which appear in pink
in the featured image. It is home to the Tarantula Nebula, the
currently most active star forming region in the entire Local Group, a
small collection of nearby galaxies dominated by the massive Andromeda
and Milky Way galaxies. Studies of the LMC and the Small Magellanic
Cloud (SMC) by Henrietta Swan Leavitt led to the discovery of the
period-luminosity relationship of Cepheid variable stars that are used
to measure distances across the nearby universe.

Survey: Color Blindness and Astronomical Images
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 3

Eclipse at Sunrise
Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

Explanation: The second solar eclipse of 2024 began in the Pacific. On
October 2nd the Moon's shadow swept from west to east, with an annular
eclipse visible along a narrow antumbral shadow path tracking mostly
over ocean, crossing land near the southern tip of South America, and
ending in the southern Atlantic. The dramatic total annular eclipse
phase is known to some as a ring of fire. Still, a partial eclipse of
the Sun was experienced over a wide region. Captured at one of its
earliest moments, October's eclipsed Sun is seen just above the clouds
near sunrise in this snapshot. The partially eclipsed solar disk is
close to the maximum eclipse as seen from Mauna Kea Observatory Visitor
Center, Island of Hawaii, planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: comet at moonrise
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 4

Comet at Moonrise
Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Zaparolli

Explanation: Comet C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS) is growing brighter in
planet Earth's sky. Fondly known as comet A3, this new visitor to the
inner Solar System is traveling from the distant Oort cloud. The comet
reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on September 27
and will reach perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on October 12,
by then becoming an evening sky apparition. But comet A3 was an early
morning riser on September 30 when this image was made. Its bright coma
and already long tail share a pre-dawn skyscape from Praia Grande,
Santa Catarina in southern Brazil with the waning crescent Moon just
peeking above the eastern horizon. While the behaviour of comets is
notoriously unpredictable, TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS could become a comet
visually rivaling C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Comet NEOWISE wowed skygazers in
the summer of 2020.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: not a comet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 5

M27: Not a Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Francesco Sferlazza, Franco Sgueglia

Explanation: While hunting for comets in the skies above 18th century
France, astronomer Charles Messier diligently kept a list of the things
encountered during his telescopic expeditions that were definitely not
comets. This is number 27 on his now famous not-a-comet list. In fact,
21st century astronomers would identify it as a planetary nebula, but
it's not a planet either, even though it may appear round and
planet-like in a small telescope. Messier 27 (M27) is an excellent
example of a gaseous emission nebula created as a sun-like star runs
out of nuclear fuel in its core. The nebula forms as the star's outer
layers are expelled into space, with a visible glow generated by atoms
excited by the dying star's intense but invisible ultraviolet light.
Known by the popular name of the Dumbbell Nebula, the beautifully
symmetric interstellar gas cloud is over 2.5 light-years across and
about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. This
impressive color image highlights details within the well-studied
central region and fainter, seldom imaged features in the nebula's
outer halo.

Tomorrow's picture: a comet's tale
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 6
A starry sky is pictured just after sunset. The silhouette of plants
and a distant landscape covers the bottom of the picture. Spanning most
of the frame is a comet with an amazingly long and complex tail. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert H. McNaught

Explanation: Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a
spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent tail spread
across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern Hemisphere
observers just after sunset. The amazing ion tail showed its greatest
extent on long-duration, wide-angle camera exposures. During some
times, just the tail itself was visible just above the horizon for many
northern observers as well. Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), estimated to
have attained a peak brightness of magnitude -5 (minus five), was
caught by the comet's discoverer in the featured image just after
sunset in January 2007 from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
Comet McNaught, the brightest comet in decades, then faded as it moved
further into southern skies and away from the Sun and Earth. Over the
next month, Comet TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS, a candidate for the Great Comet of
2024, should display its most spectacular tails visible from the Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: eclipsed sunrise
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 7
A starry sky is pictured with a long bright streak running diagonally
from the lower left to the upper right. The lower left part of the sky
sky orange sprinkled with a few dark clouds. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

The Long Tails Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Santiva+#ez Mueras

Explanation: A bright comet is moving into the evening skies. C/2023 A3
(TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS) has brightened and even though it is now easily
visible to the unaided eye, it is so near to the Sun that it is still
difficult to see. Pictured, Comet TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS was captured just
before sunrise from an Andes Mountain in Peru. Braving cold weather,
this unusually high perch gave the astrophotographer such a low eastern
horizon that the comet was obvious in the pre-dawn sky. Visible in the
featured image is not only an impressively long dust tail extending
over many degrees, but an impressively long and blue ion tail, too.
This month, as the comet moves out from the Sun and passes the Earth,
evening observers should be able to see the huge dirty ice ball toward
the west just after sunset.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: circular sunspot
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 8
A person stands looking over a lake. High in a partly cloudy sky is the
Sun. A close look at the Sun will show that there is a dark spot in the
center -- the Moon during an annular eclipse. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Annular Eclipse over Patagonia
Image Credit & Copyright: Alexis Trigo

Explanation: Can you find the Sun? OK, but can you explain why thereCÇÖs
a big dark spot in the center? The spot is the Moon, and the impressive
alignment shown, where the Moon lines up inside the Sun, is called an
annular solar eclipse. Such an eclipse occurred just last week and was
visible from a thin swath mostly in Earth's southern hemisphere. The
featured image was captured from Patagonia, Chile. When the Moon is
significantly closer to the Earth and it aligns with the Sun, a total
solar eclipse is then visible from parts of the Earth. Annular eclipses
are slightly more common than total eclipses, but as the Moon moves
slowly away from the Earth, before a billion more years, the Moon's
orbit will no longer bring it close enough for a total solar eclipse to
be seen from anywhere on Earth.

Gallery: Annular Eclipse of October 2024
Tomorrow's picture: galaxy's center
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 9
A spiral galaxy with blue spiral arms and a bright center is shown. The
galaxy is surrounded by foreground stars and two smaller galaxies. In
the galaxy's center are dark brown dust and red emission filaments.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center
Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Al Obaidly

Explanation: What's happening at the center of spiral galaxy M106? A
swirling disk of stars and gas, M106's appearance is dominated by blue
spiral arms and red dust lanes near the nucleus, as shown in the
featured image taken from the Kuwaiti desert. The core of M106 glows
brightly in radio waves and X-rays where twin jets have been found
running the length of the galaxy. An unusual central glow makes M106
one of the closest examples of the Seyfert class of galaxies, where
vast amounts of glowing gas are thought to be falling into a central
massive black hole. M106, also designated NGC 4258, is a relatively
close 23.5 million light years away, spans 60 thousand light years
across, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the
constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici).

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 10

Five Bright Comets from SOHO
Image Compilation Credit: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: Five bright comets are compared in these panels, recorded
by a coronograph on board the long-lived, sun-staring SOHO spacecraft.
Arranged chronologically all are recognizable by their tails streaming
away from the Sun at the center of each field of view, where a direct
view of the overwhelmingly bright Sun is blocked by the coronagraph's
occulting disk. Each comet was memorable for earthbound skygazers,
starting at top left with Comet McNaught, the 21st century's brightest
comet (so far). C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas, approaching its perihelion
with the active Sun at bottom center, has most recently grabbed the
attention of comet watchers around the globe. By the end of October
2024, the blank 6th panel may be filled with bright sungrazer comet
C/2024 S1 Atlas. ... or not.

Tomorrow's picture: ring of fire island
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 11

Ring of Fire over Easter Island
Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
Observatory, TWAN)

Explanation: The second solar eclipse of 2024 began in the Pacific. On
October 2nd the Moon's shadow swept from west to east, with an annular
eclipse visible along a narrow antumbral shadow path tracking mostly
over ocean, making its only major landfall near the southern tip of
South America, and then ending in the southern Atlantic. The dramatic
total annular eclipse phase is known to some as a ring of fire. Also
tracking across islands in the southern Pacific, the Moon's antumbral
shadow grazed Easter Island allowing denizens to follow all phases of
the annular eclipse. Framed by palm tree leaves this clear island view
is a stack of two images, one taken with and one taken without a solar
filter near the moment of the maximum annular phase. The New Moon's
silhouette appears just off center, though still engulfed by the bright
disk of the active Sun.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 12

Northern Lights, West Virginia
Image Credit & Copyright: Jonathan Eggleston

Explanation: A gravel country lane gently winds through this colorful
rural night skyscape. Captured from Monroe County in southern West
Virginia on the evening of October 10, the starry sky above is a
familiar sight. Shimmering curtains of aurora borealis or northern
lights definitely do not make regular appearances here, though.
Surprisingly vivid auroral displays were present on that night at very
low latitudes around the globe, far from their usual northern and
southern high latitude realms. The extensive auroral activity was
evidence of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by the impact of a
coronal mass ejection (CME)
, an immense magnetized cloud of energetic plasma. The CME was launched
toward Earth from the active Sun following a powerful X-class solar
flare.

Growing Gallery: Global aurora during October 10/11, 2024
Tomorrow's picture: aurora in motion
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 13

Aurora Timelapse Over Italian Alps
Video Credit & Copyright: Cristian Bigontina

Explanation: Did you see last night's aurora? This question was
relevant around much of the world a few days ago because a powerful
auroral storm became visible unusually far from the Earth's poles. The
cause was a giant X-class solar flare on Tuesday that launched
energetic electrons and protons into the Solar System, connecting to
the Earth via our planet's magnetic field. A red glow of these
particles striking oxygen atoms high in Earth's atmosphere pervades the
frame, while vertical streaks dance. The featured video shows a
one-hour timelapse as seen from Cortina d'Ampezzo over Alps Mountain
peaks in northern Italy. Stars from our Milky Way Galaxy dot the
background while streaks from airplanes and satellites punctuate the
foreground. The high recent activity of our Sun is likely to continue
to produce picturesque auroras over Earth during the next year or so.

Gallery: Global aurora during October 10/11, 2024
Tomorrow's picture: comet tails
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 14
The Lincoln Memorial monument in Washington, DC, USA is pictured from
afar. Behind the monument is a sunset-colored pink sky. In the sky, on
the upper left, is a white streak that is a comet. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Over the Lincoln Memorial
Credit & Copyright: Brennan Gilmore

Explanation: Go outside at sunset tonight and see a comet! C/2023 A3
(TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS) has become visible in the early evening sky in
northern locations to the unaided eye. To see the comet, look west
through a sky with a low horizon. If the sky is clear and dark enough,
you will not even need binoculars -- the faint tail of the comet should
be visible just above the horizon for about an hour. Pictured, Comet
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was captured two nights ago over the Lincoln Memorial
monument in Washington, DC, USA. With each passing day at sunset, the
comet and its changing tail should be higher and higher in the sky,
although exactly how bright and how long its tails will be can only be
guessed.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: comet video
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 15

Animation: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Tails Prediction
Credit & Copyright: Nico Lefaudeux

Explanation: How bright and strange will the tails of Comet
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS become? The comet has brightened dramatically over
the few weeks as it passed its closest to the Sun and, just three days
ago, passed its closest to the Earth. C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanCÇôATLAS)
became of the brightest comets of the past century over the past few
days, but was unfortunately hard to see because it was so nearly
superposed on the Sun. As the comet appears to move away from the Sun,
it is becoming a remarkable sight -- but may soon begin to fade. The
featured animated video shows how the comet's tails have developed, as
viewed from Earth, and gives one prediction about how they might
further develop. As shown in the video, heavier parts of the dust tail
that trails the comet have begun to appear to point in nearly the
opposite direction from lighter parts of the dust tail as well as the
comet's ion tail, the blue tail that is pushed directly out from the
Sun by the solar wind.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: aurora sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 16
A night sky is shown that appears mostly red due to pervasive aurora.
In the foreground is covered by watery grasslands. Clouds are visible
above the horizon. Thin green aurora are visible toward the top of the
frame. In the background one can find the Moon, the LMC, SMC, Venus, a
meteor, and the band of our Milky Way galaxy. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Colorful Aurora over New Zealand
Image Credit & Copyright: Tristian McDonald

Explanation: Sometimes the night sky is full of surprises. Take the sky
over Lindis Pass, South Island, New Zealand one-night last week.
Instead of a typically calm night sky filled with constant stars, a
busy and dynamic night sky appeared. Suddenly visible were pervasive
red aurora, green picket-fence aurora, a red SAR arc, a STEVE, a
meteor, and the Moon. These outshone the center of our Milky Way Galaxy
and both of its two satellite galaxies: the LMC and SMC. All of these
were captured together on 28 exposures in five minutes, from which this
panorama was composed. Auroras lit up many skies last week, as a
Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun unleashed a burst of particles
toward our Earth that created colorful skies over latitudes usually too
far from the Earth's poles to see them. More generally, night skies
this month have other surprises, showing not only auroras -- but
comets.

Jigsaw Challenge: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 17

The Clipper and the Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)

Explanation: NASA's Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean world
beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload fairing
atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this photo, taken at Kennedy Space
Center the day before the mission's successful October 14 launch.
Europa Clipper's interplanetary voyage will first take it to Mars, then
back to Earth, and then on to Jupiter on gravity assist trajectories
that will allow it to enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030. Once
orbiting Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times,
exploring a Jovian moon with a global subsurface ocean that may have
conditions to support life. Posing in the background next to the
floodlit rocket is Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS, about a day after the
comet's closest approach to Earth. A current darling of evening skies,
the naked-eye comet is a vistor from the distant Oort cloud

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 18

Most of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block

Explanation: On October 14 it was hard to capture a full view of Comet
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Taken after the comet's closest approach
to our fair planet, this evening skyview almost does though. With two
telephoto frames combined, the image stretches about 26 degrees across
the sky from top to bottom, looking west from Gates Pass, Tucson,
Arizona. Comet watchers that night could even identify globular star
cluster M5 and the faint apparition of periodic comet 13P Olbers near
the long the path of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS's whitish dust tail above the
bright comet's coma. Due to perspective as the Earth is crossing the
comet's orbital plane, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS also has a pronounced
antitail. The antitail is composed of dust previously released and
fanning out away from the Sun along the comet's orbit, visible as a
needle-like extension below the bright coma toward the rugged western
horizon.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 19

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Flys Away
Image Credit & Copyright: Xingyang Cai

Explanation: These six panels follow daily apparitions of comet C/2023
A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as it moved away from our fair planet during the
past week. The images were taken with the same camera and lens at the
indicated dates and locations from California, planet Earth. At far
right on October 12 the visitor from the distant Oort cloud was near
its closest approach, some 70 million kilometers (about 4
light-minutes) away. Its bright coma and long dust tail were close on
the sky to the setting Sun but still easy to spot against a bright
western horizon. Over the following days, the outbound comet steadily
climbs above the ecliptic and north into the darker western evening
sky, but begins to fade from view. Crossing the Earth's orbital plane
around October 14, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS exhibits a noticeable antitail
extended toward the western horizon. Higher in the evening sky at
sunset by October 17 (far left) the comet has faded and reached a
distance of around 77 million kilometers from planet Earth. Hopefully
you enjoyed some of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS's bid to become the best comet of
2024. This comet's initial orbital period estimates were a mere 80,000
years, but in fact it may never return to the inner Solar System.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow's picture: a simulated universe
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2024 October 20
A complicated web of dark filaments is seen against a light background.
When many filmaments intersect, an orange spot is seen. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Tom Abel & Ralf Kaehler (KIPAC, SLAC),
AMNH

Explanation: Is our universe haunted? It might look that way on this
dark matter map. The gravity of unseen dark matter is the leading
explanation for why galaxies rotate so fast, why galaxies orbit
clusters so fast, why gravitational lenses so strongly deflect light,
and why visible matter is distributed as it is both in the local
universe and on the cosmic microwave background. The featured image
from the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium Space
Show Dark Universe highlights one example of how pervasive dark matter
might haunt our universe. In this frame from a detailed computer
simulation, complex filaments of dark matter, shown in black, are
strewn about the universe like spider webs, while the relatively rare
clumps of familiar baryonic matter are colored orange. These
simulations are good statistical matches to astronomical observations.
In what is perhaps a scarier turn of events, dark matter -- although
quite strange and in an unknown form -- is no longer thought to be the
strangest source of gravity in the universe. That honor now falls to
dark energy, a more uniform source of repulsive gravity that seems to
now dominate the expansion of the entire universe.

Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: anti-comet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)