Astronomy Picture of the day

As I sit in the midst of a blizzard, This pic brightened my day!

 

I will post the best I come across in this thread.

 

They make wonderful wallpaper!

 

Enjoy!

I know I do! :thumbup:

 

1920 x 1080

 

 

The Complete Galactic Plane: Up and Down

Image Credit & Copyright: Moophz Himself (Maroun Habib)

 

 

 

 

 

Explanation: Is it possible to capture the entire plane of our galaxy in a single image? Yes, but not in one exposure -- and it took some planning to do it in two. The top part of the featured image is the night sky above Lebanon, north of the equator, taken in 2017 June. The image was taken at a time when the central band of the Milky Way Galaxy passed directly overhead. The bottom half was similarly captured six months later in latitude-opposite Chile, south of Earth's equator. Each image therefore captured the night sky in exactly the opposite direction of the other, when fully half the Galactic plane was visible. The southern half was then inverted -- car and all -- and digitally appended to the top half to show the entire central band of our Galaxy, as a circle, in a single image. Many stars and nebulas are visible, with the Large Magellanic Cloud being particularly notable inside the lower half of the complete galactic circle.

 

 

 

One of my favorites from the past

 

 

Sentinels of the Arctic

Image Credit & Copyright: Niccolò Bonfadini Explanation: Who guards the north? Judging from the above photograph, possibly giant trees covered in snow and ice. The featured picture was taken a few winters ago in Finnish Lapland where weather can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes sometimes result, where common trees become cloaked in white and so appear, to some, as watchful aliens. Far in the distance, behind this uncommon Earthly vista, is a more common sight -- a Belt of Venus that divided a darkened from sunlit sky as the Sun rose behind the photographer. Of course, in the spring, the trees thaw and Lapland looks much different.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Hawkeye60

OP didn't link it, so in case anyone is wondering:

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/

 

Which is basically some current and ex chaps at NASA doing a daily post of excellent photos/vids with explanations.

Play Saturn's Rings Like a Harp

 

 

 

You must visit for this to work.

 

Play Saturn's Rings Like a Harp

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI, Cassini; Sonification: Matt Russo Explanation: Sure, you've seen Saturn's rings -- but have you ever heard them? Well then please take this opportunity to play Saturn's rings like a harp. In the featured sonification, increasing brighter regions of Saturn's central B-ring play as increasingly higher pitched notes. With a computer browser, click anywhere on the image to begin, and pluck consecutive strings by sliding the spacecraft icon's magnetometer boom across the strings. Both manual and automatic

are possible. The featured natural-color image was taken by the late Cassini spacecraft in 2017 July as it grazed Saturn's rings and took the highest-resolution ring images ever. The reason why the mostly water-ice rings have a tan hue -- instead of white -- is currently a topic of research. Played in minor harmony, a different false-color version of the same image appears where regions with a greater abundance of water ice appears more red.

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

 

 

 

 

Eclipsed Moon and Mars over Mountains

Image Credit & Copyright: Clément Brustel Explanation: There is something unusual about this astronomically-oriented photograph. It's not obvious -- it was discovered only during post-processing. It is not the Moon, although capturing the Moon rising during a total lunar eclipse is quite an unusually interesting sight. (Other interesting images also captured during last month's eclipse can be found here.) It is not Mars, found to the lower right of the Moon, although Mars being captured near its brightest also makes for an unusually interesting sight. (Mars is visible nearly the entire night this month; other interesting images of it can be found here.) It is not the foreground mountains, although the French Alps do provide unusually spectacular perspectives on planet Earth. (Other interesting mountainous starscapes can be found here.) It is the goat.

 

 

You must visit for this to work.

 

Play Saturn's Rings Like a Harp

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI, Cassini; Sonification: Matt Russo Explanation: Sure, you've seen Saturn's rings -- but have you ever heard them? Well then please take this opportunity to play Saturn's rings like a harp. In the featured sonification, increasing brighter regions of Saturn's central B-ring play as increasingly higher pitched notes. With a computer browser, click anywhere on the image to begin, and pluck consecutive strings by sliding the spacecraft icon's magnetometer boom across the strings. Both manual and automatic

are possible. The featured natural-color image was taken by the late Cassini spacecraft in 2017 July as it grazed Saturn's rings and took the highest-resolution ring images ever. The reason why the mostly water-ice rings have a tan hue -- instead of white -- is currently a topic of research. Played in minor harmony, a different false-color version of the same image appears where regions with a greater abundance of water ice appears more red.

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

 

There are several space craft that shepherd the rings of Saturn, these craft are bigger than the Black Knight satellite(which removes pollution from Earth, over the Antarctic that is why there is a hole in the ozone layer.:smilewink:) If someone makes a mess of the rings then those ships have to go back and fix it.

Ultima Thule

 

Ultima Thule Rotation Gif

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190104.html

 

 

Yutu 2 on the Farside

 

Yutu 2 on the Farside

 

 

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190105.html

 

 

 

They should have put a very large 'Made in China' sticker on it.