保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2020 March 13 Starry Night by Jean-Francois Millet Digital Reproduction Credit: Yale University Art Gallery – Text: Letty Bonnell Explanation: A dramatic nocturnal landscape from around 1850, this oil painting is the work of French artist Jean-Francois Millet. In the dark and atmospheric night sky are shooting stars, known too as meteors, above a lands...
NASA的好奇号探测器在2019年11月24日至12月1日之间拍摄到了火星表面的最高分辨率全景照片。 来源：NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 完整图片及说明 NASA的好奇号火星探测器拍摄到迄今为止火星表面的最高分辨率全景照片。这张由2019年感恩节假期拍摄的1000多张图片组成，在随后的几个月里经过精心的组合，合成出了18亿像素的火星景观。探测器的桅杆照相机（或称为Mastcam）使用远摄镜头来拍摄全景；与此同时，它还通过它的中角镜头拍摄了一个低分辨率，近6.5亿像素的全景图，包括探测器的甲板和机械臂。 除了一幅近18亿像素的全景图没有展示月球车外，NASA的好奇号还拍摄了一幅含探测器本身的6.5亿像素的全景图。 来源：NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 完整图片及说明 两幅全景画都展示了“...
The Martian ice cap is like a cake with every layer telling a story. In this case, the story is one of climate change on Mars. This image of an exposed section of the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) looks much like a delicious slice of layered tiramisu. The NPLD is made up of water-ice and dust particles stacked one on top of the other. However, instead ...
2020 March 12 Falcon 9 Boostback Image Credit & Copyright: John Kraus Explanation: Short star trails appear in this single 84 second long exposure, taken on March 6 from a rotating planet. The remarkable scene also captures the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after launch, on a resupp...
A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closet (perigee) to Earth. This supermoon is seen as it rose behind the U.S. Capitol, Monday, March 9, 2020, in Washington, DC. Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky 当月球的轨道与地球近在咫尺（近地点）时，就会出现超月。2020年3月9日，星期一，超级月亮在美国国会大厦后面升起。 图片来源:美国宇航局/乔尔·考斯基
2020 March 11 An Extreme Black Hole Outburst Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/NRL/S. Giacintucci, et al., XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRT; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Text: Michael F. Corcoran (NASA, Catholic U., HEAPOW) Explanation: Astronomers believe they have now found the most powerful example of a black hole out...
我们银河系的星系盘并不是平展的，而是在边缘的一侧向上翘，在另一侧向下弯。ESA的银河系测绘探测器盖亚给我们带来了一组数据，或许能解释银盘翘曲的原因。图片右下角两个较小的星系分别是大麦哲伦星云（Large Magellanic Cloud）和小麦哲伦星云（Small Magellanic Cloud），它们是银河系的两个卫星星系。 图片来源：斯蒂芬•佩恩•瓦德纳尔（Stefan Payne-Wardenaar），麦哲伦星云来自罗伯特•根德勒（Robert Gendler）/欧洲南方天文台（European Southern Observatory，ESO） 多年以来，天文学家一直想弄明白我们的银河系（Milky Way）为什么是翘曲状的。来自欧洲空间局（European Space Agency，ESA）的巡天观...
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft lifted off on its way to the International Space Station after launching at 11:50 p.m. EST Friday, March 6. The spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and arrived at the orbital outpost on Monday, March 9. Dragon joins three other spacecraft current...
2020 March 10 Wide Field: Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Gurdak Explanation: What do the following things have in common: a cone, the fur of a fox, and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Pictured as a star forming region and cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jum...
2020 March 9 Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Chile Image Credit & Copyright: Roman Ponča (ht: Masaryk U.) Explanation: What is the band of light connecting the ground to the Milky Way? Zodiacal light — a stream of dust that orbits the Sun in the inner Solar System. It is most easily seen just before sunrise, where it has been called a false dawn,...