七年的哈雷尘埃

七年的哈雷尘埃

ByNASA中文

2022年10月28日 Seven Years of Halley Dust Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava Explanation: History’s first known periodic comet Halley (1P/Halley) returns to the inner Solar System every 75 years or so. The famous comet made its last appearance to the naked-eye in 1986. But dusty debris from Comet Halley can be seen raining through planet Earth’s skies twice a year during two annual meteor showers, the Eta Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October. Including meteors near the shower maximum on October 21, this composite view compiles Orionid meteors captured from years 2015 through 2022. About 47 bright meteors are registered in the panoramic night skyscape. Against a starry background extending along the Milky Way, the Orionid meteors…

日落（月落）泰姬玛哈陵

日落（月落）泰姬玛哈陵

ByNASA中文

2022年10月27日 Sunset, Moonset, Taj Mahal Image Credit & Copyright: Neelam and Ajay Talwar (TWAN) Explanation: On October 25th, Sun and New Moon set together as seen from Agra, India. Their close conjunction near the western horizon, a partial solar eclipse, was captured in this elevated view in hazy skies near the solitary dome of the Taj Mahal. Of course, the partial solar eclipse was also seen from most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and western parts of Asia. This eclipse was the last of two solar eclipses (both partial eclipses) in 2022. But the next Full Moon will slide through planet Earth’s shadow on November 7/8, in a total lunar eclipse. Tomorrow’s picture: comet’s return 日落（月落）泰姬玛哈陵 图像提供与版权: Neelam and Ajay Talwar（TWAN） 说明: 10月25日，从印度.阿格拉市看出去，太阳和新月同时西落。两者在西方地平线附近的近合，带来了悬在泰姬玛哈陵圆顶上方朦胧天空中的日偏食。当然，这次的日偏食，在大部分的欧洲地区、北非、中东、和亚洲西部也得见。而这次日食，是2022年2次日食（均为偏食）中的最后一次。不过，11月7/8日的下轮满月将滑入地球的影子里带来月全食的景观。…

大视野图像里的茧状星云

大视野图像里的茧状星云

ByNASA中文

2022年10月26日 Cocoon Nebula Wide Field Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Ermolli Explanation: When does a nebula look like a comet? In this crowded starfield, covering over two degrees within the high flying constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a nebula bright in emission and reflection on the left, with a long trail of interstellar dust clouds to the right, making the entire complex appear a bit like a comet. Cataloged as IC 5146, the central bright head of the nebula spans about 10 light years, while the dark dusty tail spans nearly 100 light years. Both are located about 2,500 light years away. The bright star near the bright…

自转的木星与旋绕的卫星

自转的木星与旋绕的卫星

ByNASA中文

2022年10月25日 Jupiter Rotates as Moons Orbit Video Credit & Copyright: Makrem Larnaout Explanation: Jupiter and its moons move like our Sun and its planets. Similarly, Jupiter spins while its moons circle around. Jupiter’s rotation can be observed by tracking circulating dark belts and light zones. The Great Red Spot, the largest storm known, rotates to become visible after about 15 seconds in the 48-second time lapse video. The video is a compilation of shorts taken over several nights last month and combined into a digital recreation of how 24-continuous hours would appear. Jupiter’s brightest moons always orbit in the plane of the planet’s rotation, even as Earth’s spin makes the whole system appear to tilt. The moons Europa, Ganymede, and Io are all visible, with…

仙女大星系周围的云气

仙女大星系周围的云气

ByNASA中文

2022年10月24日 Clouds Around Galaxy Andromeda Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Fryhover Explanation: What are those red clouds surrounding the Andromeda galaxy? This galaxy, M31, is often imaged by planet Earth-based astronomers. As the nearest large spiral galaxy, it is a familiar sight with dark dust lanes, bright yellowish core, and spiral arms traced by clouds of bright blue stars. A mosaic of well-exposed broad and narrow-band image data, this deep portrait of our neighboring island universe offers strikingly unfamiliar features though, faint reddish clouds of glowing ionized hydrogen gas in the same wide field of view. Most of the ionized hydrogen clouds surely lie in the foreground of the scene, well within our Milky Way Galaxy. They are likely associated with the pervasive, dusty interstellar…

澳大利亚尖峰石阵上空的银河与黄道光

澳大利亚尖峰石阵上空的银河与黄道光

ByNASA中文

2022年10月23日 Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Australian Pinnacles Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang Explanation: What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains a topic of research. The picturesque panorama was taken in 2017 September. A ray of zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains orbiting between the planets in the Solar System, rises from the horizon near the image center. Arching across the top is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. The planets Jupiter and Saturn, as well as several famous stars are also visible in the background night sky….

NGC 1499: 加州星云

NGC 1499: 加州星云

ByNASA中文

2022年10月22日 NGC 1499: The California Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Kennedy Explanation: Drifting through the Orion Arm of the spiral Milky Way Galaxy, this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline of California on the west coast of the United States. Our own Sun also lies within the Milky Way’s Orion Arm, only about 1,500 light-years from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. The California Nebula shines with the telltale reddish glow characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons. The electrons have been stripped away, ionized by energetic starlight. Most likely providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot star Xi Persei just to…

南天的仙女座星系

南天的仙女座星系

ByNASA中文

2022年10月21日 Andromeda in Southern Skies Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum) Explanation: Looking north from southern New Zealand, the Andromeda Galaxy never gets more than about five degrees above the horizon. As spring comes to the southern hemisphere, in late September Andromeda is highest in the sky around midnight though. In a single 30 second exposure this telephoto image tracked the stars to capture the closest large spiral galaxy from Mount John Observatory as it climbed just over the rugged peaks of the south island’s Southern Alps. In the foreground, stars are reflected in the still waters of Lake Alexandrina. Also known as M31, the Andromeda Galaxy is one of the brightest objects in the Messier catalog, usually visible to the unaided eye…

创生之柱

创生之柱

ByNASA中文

2022年10月20日 Pillars of Creation Image Credit: Science – NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam Processing – Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Explanation: A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed the Pillars of Creation. This James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image expands Hubble’s exploration of that region in greater detail and depth inside the iconic stellar nursery. Particularly stunning in Webb’s near infrared view is the telltale reddish emission from knots of material undergoing gravitational collapse to form stars within the natal clouds. The Eagle Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant. The larger bright emission nebula is itself an easy target for…

恒星、云气与尘埃后方的星系

恒星、云气与尘埃后方的星系

ByNASA中文

2022年10月19日 A Galaxy Beyond Stars, Gas, Dust Image Credit & Copyright: Howard Trottier; Text: Emily Rice Explanation: Do we dare believe our eyes? When we look at images of space, we often wonder whether they are “real”, and just as often the best answer varies. In this case, the scene appears much as our eyes would see it, because it was obtained using RGB (Red, Green, Blue) filters like the cone cells in our eyes, except collecting light for 19 hours, not a fraction of a second. The featured image was captured over six nights, using a 24-inch diameter telescope in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in California, USA. The bright spiral galaxy at the center (NGC 7497) looks like it is being grasped by an…