保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2024年1月7日 The Cat’s Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Chandra X-ray Obs.; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl Explanation: To some it looks like a cat’s eye. To others, perhaps like a giant cosmic conch shell. It is actually one of the brightest and most highly detailed planetary nebula known, compo...
2024年1月6日 The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko Images Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS; UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA; Animation: Jacint Roger Perez Explanation: You couldn’t really be caught in this blizzard while standing by a cliff on periodic comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Orbiting the comet in June of 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft’s narr...
2024年1月5日 Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Zimmer, Telescope Live Explanation: Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius, they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star C...
2024年1月4日 Zeta Oph: Runaway Star Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, li...
2024年1月3日 A SAR Arc from New Zealand Image Credit & Copyright: Tristian McDonald; Text: Tiffany Lewis (Michigan Tech U.) Explanation: What is that unusual red halo surrounding this aurora? It is a Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc. SAR arcs are rare and have only been acknowledged and studied since 1954. The featured wide-angle photograph, capturing nearly an...
2024年1月2日 Rocket Transits Rippling Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Madow Explanation: Can a rocket make the Moon ripple? No, but it can make a background moon appear wavy. The rocket, in this case, was a SpaceX Falcon Heavy that blasted off from NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center last week. In the featured launch picture, the rocket’s exhaust ...
2024年1月1日 NGC 1232: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy Image Credit: FORS, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO Explanation: Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232, captured in detail by one of the Very Large Telescopes, is a good example. The visible is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust,...
2023年12月31日 Illustris: A Simulation of the Universe Video Credit: Illustris Collaboration, NASA, PRACE, XSEDE, MIT, Harvard CfA; Music: The Poisoned Princess (Media Right Productions) Explanation: How did we get here? Click play, sit back, and watch. A computer simulation of the evolution of the universe provides insight into how galaxies formed and perspect...
2023年12月30日 The Last Full Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Giacomo Venturin Explanation: Known to some in the northern hemisphere as December’s Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon, the last full moon of 2023 is rising in this surreal mountain and skyscape. The Daliesque scene was captured in a single exposure with a camera and long telephoto lens near M...
2023年12月29日 Shakespeare in Space Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Explanation: In 1986, Voyager 2 became the only spacecraft to explore ice giant planet Uranus close up. Still, this newly released image from the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on the James Webb Space Telescope offers a detailed look at the distant world. The tilted outer planet rotates on i...