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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Sunshine, Earthshine at the Lunar Limb
30.05.1996
This dramatic image of the Moon's edge against a background of distant stars is from a perspective impossible for groundbased telescopes. It was taken by a star tracker camera onboard the Clementine spacecraft.
The COMPTEL Gamma-Ray Sky
29.05.1996
This premier gamma-ray view of the sky was produced by the COMPTEL instrument onboard NASA's orbiting Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The entire sky is seen projected on a coordinate system centered on our Milky Way Galaxy with the plane of the Galaxy running across the middle of the picture.
The Pipe Dark Nebula
28.05.1996
The dark nebula predominant at the lower left of the above photograph is known as the Pipe Nebula. The dark clouds, suggestively shaped like smoke rising from a pipe, are caused by absorption of background starlight by dust.
Aurora Crown the Earth
27.05.1996
What do aurora look like from space? The POLAR spacecraft answered this by photographing an auroral oval surrounding the north pole of the Earth, causing displays on both the night and day side. The auroral sub-storm, pictured in false-color above, developed within 15 minutes and may have lasted as long as on hour.
Alpha Centauri: The Closest Star System
26.05.1996
The closest star system to the Sun is the Alpha Centauri system. Of the three stars in the system, the dimmest -- called Proxima Centauri -- is actually the nearest star. The bright stars Alpha Centauri...
The Shuttle Launches an Inflatable Antenna
25.05.1996
High above the Earth the Space Shuttle Endeavor launches a new type of instrument - an inflatable antenna. The officially designated Inflatable Antenna Experiment was released Monday, May 20th, as part of a Spartan satellite - which contains many scientific experiments. The antenna is roughly the size of a tennis court and is even visible from Earth.
In the Center of 30 Doradus
24.05.1996
In the center of 30 Doradus lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. The center of this cluster, known as R136, is boxed in the upper right portion of the above picture.
The Violent Star Cluster 30 Doradus
23.05.1996
The largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies lies in our neighboring galaxy the LMC. Were 30 Doradus at the distance of the Orion Nebula -- a local star forming region -- it would take up fully half the sky.
Star Cluster in the Rosette Nebula
22.05.1996
Embedded in the center of the colorful and photogenic Rosette Nebula is a bright, young open cluster. The bright blue stars in this cluster, labelled NGC 2244, emit ultraviolet light that knocks electrons away from hydrogen atoms.
The Iron Sun
21.05.1996
The ultraviolet light emitted by eleven times ionized iron at temperatures over 2 million degrees Farenheit was used to record the above picture of the Sun on May 16. The image was made by the EIT camera onboard the SOHO spacecraft, a space observatory which can continuously observe the Sun.
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