保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2021年05月30日 Aurora over Clouds Image Credit & Copyright: Daniele Boffelli Explanation: Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact the Earth’s magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral along the Earth’s magnetic field to strike atoms and molecules hi...
2021年05月26日 The Outburst Clouds of Star AG Car Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Processing: Judy Schmidt; Text: Anders Nyholm Explanation: What created these unusual clouds? At the center of this 2021 Hubble image sits AG Carinae, a supergiant star located about 20,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The star’s emitted power is ov...
2021年03月23日 Mars over Duddo Stone Circle Image Credit & Copyright: Ged Kivlehan Explanation: Why are these large stones here? One the more famous stone circles is the Duddo Five Stones of Northumberland, England. Set in the open near the top of a modest incline, a short hike across empty fields will bring you to unusual human -sized stones that are unli...
2020年11月23日 A Jupiter Vista from Juno Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill; Explanation: Why do colorful cloud bands encircle Jupiter? Jupiter’s top atmospheric layer is divided into light zones and dark belts that go all the way around the giant planet. It is high horizontal winds — in excess of 300 ...
2020 May 13 Jupiter in Infrared from Gemini Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA; M. H. Wong (UC Berkeley) & Team; Acknowledgment: Mahdi Zamani; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Reader’s History of SciFi Podcast) Explanation: In infrared, Jupiter lights up the night. Recently, astronomers at the Gemini North Observatory...
2020 March 18 Anticrepuscular Rays over Florida Image Credit & Copyright: Bryan Goff Explanation: What’s happening behind those clouds? Although the scene may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than a Sun setting on the other side of the sky. Pictured here are anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing...
2020 March 16 A Moon Dressed Like Saturn Image Credit & Copyright: Francisco Sojuel Explanation: Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn’t — what is pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon. The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible by reflected Earthlight known as ashen glow. The Su...
2020 January 15 Iridescent Clouds over Sweden Image Credit & Copyright: Goran Strand Explanation: Why would these clouds multi-colored? A relatively rare phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colors vividly or even a whole spectrum of colors simultaneously. These polar stratospheric clouds clouds, also known as nacreous and mothe...