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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Hyakutake, Venus, Orion, and Pond
18.04.1996
Can you find Comet Hyakutake in the above picture? In this gorgeous photo, the starry night sky of April 9th is pictured with its new comet visitor. In the foreground is a pond with the lights of Kansas City, Missouri on the western horizon. On the upper left, the constellation of Orion is visible.
NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
17.04.1996
The Helix nebula (New General Catalog number 7293) is estimated to be a mere 450 light-years from the Sun, in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. At that distance it may well be the closest planetary nebula, offering a dramatic snapshot of a brief final evolutionary stage in the life of a solar-type star.
Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula
16.04.1996
Four hundred fifty light-years from Earth, the wind from a dying, sun-like star produced a planetary nebula popularly known as the Helix. While exploring the Helix's gaseous envelope with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers discovered indications of 1,000s of striking "cometary knots" like those shown above.
NASA Mission to MAP the Universe
15.04.1996
What is our universe made of? How rapidly is our universe expanding? When did galaxies form? These questions, among the most important and baffling to astronomers since the beginning of the modern astronomical era, might well be answered by a new space satellite mission.
The Rotating Jets of Comet Hyakutake
14.04.1996
Comet Hyakutake will reach its closest point to the Sun on May 1, passing well inside the orbit of Mercury. At this time, the comet's dust and ion tail will be at their greatest physical length.
The Compton Observatory Turns Five
13.04.1996
Earlier this April, NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, completed its fifth successful year in orbit, exploring the gamma ray sky. Pictured is astronaut Jay Apt perched in the shuttle payload bay below the massive observatory. Compton is the largest civilian instrument ever flown - the whole observatory is roughly the size of a school bus.
Man Enters Space
12.04.1996
Thirty five years ago today, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. On April 12, 1961, his remotely controlled Vostok 1 spacecraft lofted him to an altitude of 200 miles and carried him once around planet Earth.
Unexpected X-rays from Comet Hyakutake
11.04.1996
The first X-rays ever detected from a comet were discovered from Comet Hyakutake with the ROSAT satellite on March 27th. The discovery is particularly surprising because there was little previous indication that comets emit any significant X-radiation.
Comet Hyakutake and a Tree
10.04.1996
Comet Hyakutake is still visible as it continues its orbit around the Sun. The comet will brighten again in late April and early May. The above fascinating picture was taken with a three minute exposure. In the middle of the exposure, the photographer cleverly set off a flash, momentarily illuminating the foreground tree.
A Spiral Galaxy Gallery
9.04.1996
A progression of beautiful spiral galaxies is illustrated above with three photographs from NASA's Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). Flying above the Earth's obscuring layer of atmosphere on the Space Shuttle Columbia during...
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