悉尼歌剧院上空的行星连珠

悉尼歌剧院上空的行星连珠

2022年4月26日 Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House Image Credit & Copyright: Prasun Agrawal Explanation: The world is waking up to a picturesque planet parade. Just before dawn, the eastern skies over much of planet Earth are decorated by a notable line of familiar planets. In much of Earth’s northern hemisphere, this line of planets appears most nearly horizontal, but in much of Earth’s southern hemisphere, the line appears more nearly vertical. Pictured over the Sydney Opera House in southern Australia, the planet line was captured nearly vertical about five days ago. From top to bottom, the morning planets are Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. As April ends, the angular distance between Venus and Jupiter will gradually pass below a degree as they switch places. Then,…

从猎户座到南十字

从猎户座到南十字

2022年1月18日 From Orion to the Southern Cross Image Credit & Copyright: Lucy Yunxi Hu Explanation: This is a sky filled with glowing icons. On the far left is the familiar constellation of Orion, divided by its iconic three-aligned belt stars and featuring the famous Orion Nebula, both partly encircled by Barnard’s Loop. Just left of center in the featured image is the brightest star in the night: Sirius. Arching across the image center is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the far right, near the top, are the two brightest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way: the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Also on the far right — just above the cloudy horizon — is the constellation…