保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2023年12月26日 IC 443: The Jellyfish Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: David Payne Explanation: Why is this jellyfish swimming in a sea of stars? Drifting near bright star Eta Geminorum, seen at the right, the Jellyfish Nebula extends its tentacles from the bright arcing ridge of emission left of center. In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shape...
2023年12月25日 Cathedral, Mountain, Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Valerio Minato Explanation: Single shots like this require planning. The first step is to realize that such an amazing triple-alignment actually takes place. The second step is to find the best location to photograph it. But it was the third step: being there at exactly the right time ̵...
In this image from Dec. 8, 2017, four reindeer walk past the Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses, or BARREL, payload on the launch pad at Esrange Space Center near Kiruna, Sweden. BARREL primarily measured X-rays in Earth’s atmosphere near the North and South Poles. These X-rays are caused by electrons that rain down, or precipitate...
2023年12月24日 NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: H. Bond (STScI), R. Ciardullo (PSU), Forrest Hamilton (STScI) Explanation: What’s that in the center? Like a butterfly, a white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a cocoon of gas that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be...
2023年12月23日 A December Summer Night Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum) Explanation: Colours of a serene evening sky are captured in this 8 minute exposure, made near this December’s solstice from New Zealand, southern hemisphere, planet Earth. Looking south, star trails form the short concentric arcs around the rotating planet...
2023年12月22日 183 Days in the Sun Image Credit & Copyright: José Zarcos Palma Explanation: A single 183 day exposure with a pinhole camera and photographic paper resulted in this long-duration solargraph. Recorded from solstice to solstice, June 21 to December 21, in 2022, it follows the Sun’s daily arcing path through planet Earth’s skies fro...
2023年12月21日 Three Galaxies and a Comet Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett Explanation: Distant galaxies abound in this one degree wide field of view toward the southern constellation Grus (The Crane). But the three spiral galaxies at the lower right are quite striking. In fact, all three galaxies are grouped about 70 million light years away and som...
Flames burn orange through green conifers and golden aspen on the slopes of Monroe Mountain in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, sending gray and brown smoke billowing into the sky in this image from Oct. 9, 2023. This fire was intentionally set with a fire-dripping device suspended from a helicopter. The burn aimed to reintroduce fire to the Monroe Mountain ...
影像来源：X射线：NASA/CXC/SAO; 可见光：T.A. Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A. Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA); 红外线：NASA/NSF/IPAC/CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; 影像处理：NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J.Major 这张NGC 2264的新图像，也被称为“圣诞树星团”，显示了一棵带有恒星光芒的宇宙树的形状。事实上，NGC 2264是我们银河系中的一个年轻恒星群，年龄在100万到500万年之间，距离地球约2,500光年。NGC 2264中的恒星有比太阳小的，也有比太阳大的，有的质量不到太阳的十分之一，有的质量约为太阳的七倍。...
2023年12月20日 Ice Halos over Bavaria Image Credit & Copyright: Bastian Werner Explanation: What’s causing those unusual sky arcs? Ice crystals. While crossing a field of fresh snow near Füssen, Bavaria, Germany, earlier this month, the photographer noticed that he had entered an ice fog. For suspended water to freeze into an ice fog requires quite c...