Magazine Posts

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.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Peculiar spiral galaxy Arp 78 is found within the boundaries of the head strong constellation Aries. Some 100 million light-years beyond the stars and nebulae of our Milky Way galaxy, the island universe is an enormous 200,000 light-years across. Also known as NGC 772, it sports a prominent, outer spiral arm in this detailed cosmic portrait. Tracking along sweeping dust lanes and lined with young blue star clusters, Arp 78's overdeveloped spiral arm is pumped-up by galactic-scale gravitational tides. Interactions with its brightest companion galaxy, the more compact NGC 770 seen directly below the larger spiral, are likely responsible. Embedded in faint star streams revealed in the deep telescopic exposure, NGC 770's fuzzy, elliptical appearance contrasts nicely with spiky foreground Milky Way stars.

Photo by Robert Eder

The tower of the Cathedral of Saint Domnius (Split, Croatia) as seen from the Vestibule of Diocletian's Palace.

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