Magazine Posts

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

On sol 1943 of its journey of exploration across the surface of Mars, the Curiosity Rover recorded this selfie at the south rim of Vera Rubin Ridge. Of course a sol is a Martian solar day, about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. Curiosity's sol 1943 corresponds to Earth date January 23, 2018. Also composed as an interactive 360 degree VR, the mosaicked panorama combines 61 exposures taken by the small car-sized rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). Frames containing the imager's arm have been edited out while the extended background used was taken by the rover's Mastcam on sol 1903. At the top of the rover's mast, sitting above the Mastcam, the laser-firing ChemCam housing blocks out the distant, 5 kilometer high peak of Mount Sharp. On Earth date August 26, 2026, Curiosity marked an total elevation gain of 1 kilometer in its trek from the floor of Gale Crater up the slope of Mount Sharp.

Photo by NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS - Panorama: Andrew Bodrov

Welcome to Kudos365 Weekly History Challenge. Test your history  knowledge and see how many of the history questions you can answer correctly. A new updated History Challenge is released every Saturday.

Brown booby (Sula leucogaster plotus) male in flight over Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.

Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What does it take to image hundreds of nebulas? Today’s image contains the entire Sharpless Catalog of H II Regions, totaling 313 objects. Zoom in and explore! You may spot fan favorites like the Eagle (Sh2-49), Heart (Sh2-190), and Orion (Sh2-281) Nebulas. Despite its name, this catalog contains more than the glow of ionized hydrogen that makes up H II regions. There are planetary nebulas (the Medusa Nebula, Sh2-274) and supernova remnants (the Spaghetti Nebula, Sh2-240) as well. Astrophotographer Bing Xin traversed the dark skies of Eastern China and Inner Mongolia to catch them all. Narrowband filters that primarily capture light from ionized hydrogen and oxygen as well as red-green-blue filters were used. Each object took 2 to 6 hours to capture, with the entire catalog taking around 800 hours to complete! Which object is your favorite?

Photo by Bing Xin

Gene Autry in 1942. Autry died on this date in 1998.

Harry Warnecke / Robert F. Cranston, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Mahatma Gandhi - (October 2, 1869 - January 30, 1948); Indian political leader, social reformer, and advocate of nonviolent resistance. Biography

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Have you ever seen the full moon rise? This colorful image was photographed last weekend in Sicily, just outside the town of Nicosia, in Italy. It is a composite photograph that shows the Moon rising as the sky turns darker. Lower clouds are reflecting the colors of antitwilight, while ash and gas from Mount Etna are seen higher in the background. The pink band lower in the sky is called the Belt of Venus. During a full moon, the Moon and the Sun are in opposition in the sky: the moon rises as the sun sets. The lunar phase cycle lasts approximately 29.5 days (but the Moon takes approximately 27 days to orbit the Earth). In some cultures of the Northern Hemisphere, the September full moon is called the Harvest Moon. Does your culture have a special name for it? (A full moon by any other name would shine as bright.)

Photo by Dario Giannobile

Choir of the Málaga Cathedral, Andalusia, Spain. The Roman Catholic church was built in the Renaissance architectural tradition between 1528 and 1782 following the plans drawn by Diego de Siloe. The temple is considered one of the Renaissance jewels in all Andalusia.

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.