Astronomy Picture of the Day
116 •
@nasa_apod
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU).
Astronomy Picture of the Day
5
© Ogetay Kayali (Michigan Tech U.) Text: Ogetay Kayali (Michigan Tech U.)
Pleiades_Kayali_2560.jpg
jpg
505,947 Кб
Astronomy Picture of the Day
3
🌌The Pleiades in Red and Blue
If you have looked at the sky and seen a group of stars about the size of the full Moon, that's the Pleiades (M45). Perhaps the most famous star cluster in the sky, its brightest stars can be seen even from the light-polluted cities. But your unaided eye can also see its nebulosity -- the gas and dust surrounding it -- under dark skies. However, telescopes can catch ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
8
Interstellar3I_nasa_2913.jpg
jpg
393,55 Кб
Astronomy Picture of the Day
4
🌌Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
It came from outer space. An object from outside our Solar System is now passing through at high speed. Classified as a comet because of its gaseous coma, 3I/ATLAS is only the third identified macroscopic object as being so alien. The comet's trajectory is shown in white on the featured map, where the orbits of Jupiter, Mars, and Earth are shown in gold, red, and blu ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
9
MarsNorthPole_MarsExpress_960.jpg
jpg
104,295 Кб
Astronomy Picture of the Day
7
🌌The Spiral North Pole of Mars
Why is there a spiral around the North Pole of Mars? Each winter this pole develops a new outer layer about one meter thick composed of carbon dioxide frozen out of the thin Martian atmosphere. This fresh layer is deposited on a water-ice layer that exists year round. Strong winds blow down from above the cap's center and swirl due to the spin of the red planet -- ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
6
🌌Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
Difficult to capture, this mysterious, squid-shaped interstellar cloud spans nearly three full moons in 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 regio ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
8
🌌NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 and open star cluster NGC 6939 share this cosmic snapshot, composed with over 68 hours of image data captured with a small telescope on planet Earth. The field of view spans spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons on the sky toward the northern constellation Cepheus. Seen through faint interstellar dust couds near the plane of our Milky Way gala ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
7
🌌Nova V462 Lupi Now Visible
If you know where to look, you can see a thermonuclear explosion from a white dwarf star. Possibly two. Such explosions are known as novas and the detonations are currently faintly visible with the unaided eye in Earth's southern hemisphere -- but are more easily seen with binoculars. Pictured, Nova Lupi 2025 (V462 Lupi) was captured toward the southern constellation ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
10
© Kavan Chay; Text: Ogetay Kayali (Michigan Tech U.)
MwSpires_Chay_1874.jpg
jpg
1,42 Мб
Astronomy Picture of the Day
7
🌌Milky Way Through Otago Spires
Does the Milky Way always rise between these two rocks? No. Capturing this stunning alignment took careful planning: being in the right place at the right time. In the featured image taken in June 2024 from Otago, New Zealand, the bright central core of our Milky Way Galaxy, home to the many of our Galaxy's 400 billion stars, can be seen between two picturesque ro ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
11
🌌Eye Sky a Dragon
What do you see when you look into this sky? In the center, in the dark, do you see a night sky filled with stars? Do you see a sunset to the left? Clouds all around? Do you see the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy running down the middle? Do you see the ruins of an abandoned outpost on a hill? (The outpost is on Askold Island, Russia.) Do you see a photographer with a head ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
11
UmbrellaGal_Alkuwari_3843.png
png
3,72 Мб