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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Solar Sail
21.08.2004
Could solar sailing become a future Olympic sport? Nearly 400 years ago astronomer Johannes Kepler observed comet tails blown by a solar breeze and suggested that vessels might likewise navigate through space using appropriately fashioned sails.
Raining Perseids
20.08.2004
Comet dust rained down on planet Earth last week, streaking through dark skies in the annual Perseid meteor shower. So, while enjoying the anticipated space weather, astronomer Fred Bruenjes recorded a series of many 30 second long exposures spanning about six hours on the night of August 11/12 using a wide angle lens.
Windblown N44F
19.08.2004
A fast and powerful wind from a hot young star has created this stunning bubble-shaped nebula poised on the end of a bright filament of hydrogen gas. Cataloged as N44F, the cosmic windblown bubble is seen at the left of this Hubble Space Telescope image.
Lightning on Earth
18.08.2004
Nobody knows what causes lightning. It is known that charges slowly separate in some clouds causing rapid electrical discharges (lightning), but how electrical charges get separated in clouds remains a topic of much research.
The Unusual Blueberries at Bylot Rock
17.08.2004
Why aren't these Martian rocks round? Small rocks dubbed blueberries have been found by the Opportunity rover all over Meridiani Planum on Mars, but the ones perched on Bylot rock have unusually non-spherical shapes. The strangely shaped blueberry rocks are shown above in an image taken by Opportunity's microscopic imager on August 9.
Close Up of the Lagoon Nebula
16.08.2004
Stars are battling gas and dust in the Lagoon Nebula but the photographers are winning. Also known as M8, this photogenic nebula is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colors but the chaos.
Hoags Object: A Strange Ring Galaxy
15.08.2004
Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in 1950 when astronomer Art Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are likely much older.
Messenger Launch
14.08.2004
Streaking into the early morning sky on August 3rd, a Delta II rocket launches NASA's Messenger spacecraft on an interplanetary voyage to Mercury. Scheduled to become the first probe to orbit Mercury, Messenger will begin by looping through the inner Solar System in a series of close flybys of planet Earth and Venus.
Perseid Fireball Over Japan
13.08.2004
Enjoying the bright Moon's absence from early morning skies, observers around the world reported lovely displays during this year's Perseid meteor shower. As anticipated, peak rates were about one meteor per minute.
The Spectrum of A Meteor
12.08.2004
Chasing the brief flash of a meteor trail across the sky with a very large telescope is a nearly impossible task. But on May 12, 2002, astronomers got lucky, as a bright meteor chanced across the narrow slit of their spectrograph at the Paranal Observatory.
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