Month: September 2016

NGC 3576: The Statue of Liberty Nebula

What’s happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. The complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57. This image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, bright...

/ September 29, 2016

Jupiters Europa from Spacecraft Galileo

What mysteries might be solved by peering into this crystal ball? In this case, the ball is actually a moon of Jupiter, the crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked beyond repair. Nevertheless, speculation is...

/ September 28, 2016

Saturn from Above

This image of Saturn could not have been taken from Earth. No Earth based picture could possibly view the night side of Saturn and the corresponding shadow cast across Saturn’s rings. Since Earth is much closer to the Sun than...

/ September 26, 2016

The Helix Nebula in Infrared

What makes this cosmic eye look so red? Dust. The featured image from the robotic Spitzer Space Telescope shows infrared light from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation of the Water Carrier...

/ September 21, 2016

50000 Kilometers over the Sun

What’s happening at the edge of the Sun? Although it may look like a monster is rampaging, what is pictured is actually only a monster prominence — a sheath of thin gas held above the surface by the Sun’s magnetic...

/ September 20, 2016

All the Water on Planet Earth

How much of planet Earth is made of water? Very little, actually. Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth’s surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth’s radius. The featured illustration shows what would happen if...

/ September 12, 2016

The Wide and Deep Lagoon

Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds inhabit the turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula. Also known as M8, the bright star forming region is about 5,000 light-years distant. But it still makes for a popular stop...

/ September 10, 2016

The Whirlpool Galaxy and Beyond

Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper’s bowl, until you get to the handle’s last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting...

/ September 7, 2016

Io over Jupiter from Voyager 1

Back in 1979, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft flew past Jupiter and its moons. The images in this mosaic, featuring the moon Io against a background of gas giant Jupiter’s diffuse swirling cloud bands, were recorded by Voyager’s camera from a...

/ September 5, 2016

Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico

What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far...

/ September 1, 2016