Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... M83: A Barred Spiral Galaxy . ... M83 is a member of the Centaurus group of galaxies, a nearby group dominated by the massive galaxy Centaurus A. It takes light about 15 million years to reach us from M83. ... Bright Comet SOHO . ... Discovery Image: Comet SOHO (1998 J1) . ... Staring at the Sun from a vantage point in space (Kids, don't try this at home!), the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has enabled the discovery of much about our closest star. ...

... Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG, +44 (0)28 3752 2928 . See also images taken on November 22nd . Image taken by Andy McCrea who says, . To me the comet appears yellowish and it has gone from star-like to a . ... More images from Andy McCrea here . ... The true explanation is that a very faint comet, known as periodic comet Holmes, produced a massive outburst of material and became a million times brighter than it was just a day earlier. ... More images from Andy McCrea . ...

... Bad Astronomy . ... Bitesize Astronomy . ... Last week's Snack talked about how black holes can affect the environment around them in such a way as to be very bright . ... It's a common misconception that black holes always have matter swirling into them. ... As this matter gets closer and closer to the black hole it piles up and a large, fairly flat disk forms. This is called the accretion disk , because matter from this disk accretes (that is, falls in) on the black hole. ... 2008 Phil Plait. ...

. Pulkovo Observatory of Russian Academy of Sciences is situated . near Saint-Petersburg. It was founded in 1839. 196140, Saint-Petersburg, Pulkovskoye chaussee 65/1 . English version . Russian version . This page has been accessed times since May 1, 1999.

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... 2009 March 3 . The Helix Nebula from La Silla Observatory . ... The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula , a gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The outer gasses of the star expelled into space appear from our vantage point as if we are looking down a helix . ... A close-up of the inner edge of the Helix Nebula shows complex gas knots of unknown origin . ... About APOD | ... NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply . ...