|
Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars
27.08.2002
The largest canyon in the Solar System cuts a wide swath across the face of Mars. Named Valles Marineris, the grand valley extends over 3,000 kilometers long, spans as much as 600 kilometers across, and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep.
The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript
26.08.2002
The ancient text has no known title, no known author, and is written in no known language: what does it say and why does it have many astronomy illustrations? The mysterious book was once bought by an emperor, forgotten on a library shelf, sold for thousands of dollars, and later donated to Yale.
Nebula Nova Cygni Turns On
25.08.2002
Old photographs show no evidence of the above nebula. In 1992, a white dwarf star toward the constellation of Cygnus blew off its outer layers in a classical nova explosion: an event called Nova Cygni 1992.
Cas A Supernova Remnant in X Rays
24.08.2002
The complex shell of a star seen to explode 300 years ago is helping astronomers to understand how that star exploded. This Chandra Observatory image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) shows unprecedented detail in three x-ray colors.
Island Universe, Cosmic Sand
23.08.2002
On August 13, while counting Perseid meteors under dark, early morning Arizona skies, Rick Scott set out to photograph their fleeting but fiery trails. The equipment he used included a telephoto lens and fast color film. After 21 pictures he'd caught only two meteors, but luckily this was one of them.
Shell Game in NGC 300
22.08.2002
Featured in color in yesterday's episode, big, beautiful, face-on spiral galaxy NGC 300 is seen here through a narrow filter that transmits only the red light of hydrogen atoms. Ionized by energetic starlight, a hydrogen atom emits the characteristic red H-alpha light as its single electron is recaptured and transitions to lower energy states.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 300
21.08.2002
NGC 300 is so interesting because it is so normal. An Sc-type spiral galaxy in the nearby Sculptor group of galaxies, NGC 300 shows typical flowing blue spiral arms, an expected compact nucleus, and the requisite amount of stars, star clusters, and nebulae.
The Universe in Hot Gas
20.08.2002
Where is most of the normal matter in the Universe? Recent observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory confirm that it is in hot gas filaments strewn throughout the universe. "Normal matter" refers to known elements and familiar fundamental particles.
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
19.08.2002
Above the clouds, atop an island off the coast of Africa, a group of cutting-edge telescopes inspects the universe. Pictured above are telescopes at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain. The site is one of the premier observing locations on Earth.
Earths North Magnetic Pole
18.08.2002
A magnetic compass does not point toward the true North Pole of the Earth. Rather, it more closely points toward the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth. The North Magnetic Pole is currently located in northern Canada.
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||