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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Clouds of stardust drift through this deep skyscape, across the Perseus molecular cloud some 850 light-years away. Dusty nebulae reflecting light from embedded young stars stand out in the nearly 4 degree wide field of view. With a characteristic bluish color reflection nebula NGC 1333 is prominent near center. Hints of contrasting red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, the jets and shocked glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars, are scattered across the dusty expanse. While many stars are forming in the molecular cloud, most are obscured at visible wavelengths by the pervasive dust. The chaotic environment surrounding NGC 1333 may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago. At the estimated distance of the Perseus molecular cloud, this cosmic scene would span about 80 light-years. Growing Gallery: Comet ATLAS (G3)

Photo by Jeff Schilling

This stained glass window from Église Sainte-Madeleine, a church in Gramond, France, depicts Saints Victor of Damascus and Paul the Apostle. Though they were not contemporaries, both men have a connection to Damascus. Moreover, legend has it that each were martyred by beheading, hence they are displayed holding swords. Today is the feast of The Conversion of St. Paul and the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in much of Western Christianity.

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

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS has made a dramatic appearance in planet Earth's skies. A visitor from the distant Oort Cloud, the comet reached its perihelion on January 13. On January 19, the bright comet was captured here from ESO Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. Sporting spectacular sweeping dust tails, this comet ATLAS is setting in the southern hemisphere twilight and was clearly visible to the unaided eye. In the foreground is the closed shell of one of the observatory's famous auxiliary telescopes. Still wowing southern hemisphere observers, the comet's bright coma has become diffuse, its icy nucleus apparently disintegrating following its close approach to the Sun. Growing Gallery: Comet ATLAS (G3)

Photo by Yuri Beletsky

A local train from Arosa to Chur crosses the Langwieser Viaduct, Langwies, Switzerland. The train is hauled by an ABe 8/12 "Allegra" EMU.

Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this cosmic expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. NGC 7814 is centered in the sharp field of view that would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive halos and central bulges cut by a thin disk with thinner dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing smaller and fainter only because it is farther away.

Photo by Mike Selby

Actress Mitzi Akaha 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Today kicks off the 41st edition of the famous festival.

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

"Roughly equal shares of U.S. men and women say they’re often lonely; women are more likely to reach out to a wider network for emotional support" More at Pew Research Center ➜

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The North America nebula on the sky can do what the North America continent on Earth cannot -- form stars. Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent, the bright part that appears as the east coast is actually a hot bed of gas, dust, and newly formed stars known as the Cygnus Wall. The featured image shows the star forming wall lit and eroded by bright young stars and partly hidden by the dark dust they have created. The part of the North America nebula (NGC 7000) shown spans about 50 light years and lies about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus). Jigsaw Challenge: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day

Photo by Dimitris Valianos

Tompot blenny (Parablennius gattorugine), Arrábida National Park, Portugal. Note: no FP of this species. It can be found in shallow, coastal waters off western Europe and northern Africa and in the Mediterranean. The tompot blenny is a relatively large blenny that can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. There is a single branched tentacle over each of its eyes. It's very territorial and its territory is centred around a crevice in the rocky reef which the fish uses for shelter. It occurs in shallow seas at depths of 3–32 metres (9.8–105.0 ft) and is crepuscular, being active mainly at dawn and at dusk. It has sharp, comb-like teeth which it uses to scrape food from the substrate. It feeds on sea anemones and other invertebrates such as prawns and other crustaceans.

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