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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Beneath Venus' Clouds
24.09.1996
If the thick clouds covering Venus were removed, how would the surface appear? Using an imaging radar technique, the Magellan spacecraft was able to lift the veil from the Face of Venus and produce this spectacular high resolution imageof the planet's surface.
Venus: Earth's Cloudy Twin
23.09.1996
If Venus weren't so cloudy it would be more similar to Earth. This picture by the Galileo spacecraft shows just how cloudy Venus is. Venus is very similar to Earth in size and mass - and so is sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet - but Venus has a quite different climate.
The Equal Night
22.09.1996
Today the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south -- marking the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of Autumn. Equinox means equal night and with the Sun on the celestial equator, Earthlings will experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
The Ecliptic Plane
21.09.1996
The Plane of the Ecliptic is illustrated in this Clementine star tracker camera image which reveals (from right to left) the Moon lit by Earthshine, the Sun's corona rising over the Moon's dark limb, and the planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury.
Hurricane Fran's Approach
20.09.1996
Two weeks ago Hurricane Fran, pictured above, struck the east coast of the United States. Hurricanes are huge swirling storms with cloud systems typically larger than a state. Tropical cyclones, called Hurricanes in Earth's Western Hemisphere and Typhoons in the Eastern Hemisphere, get their immense energy from warm evaporated ocean water.
The Moon and All the Crashes
19.09.1996
A clear blue summer sky finally grows dark and the new telescope, hastily set up in the backyard, generates excitment and anticipation. "I bought it for the kids ...", Dad assures himself as he over-anxiously supervises the two young boys' efforts to center a bright, first quarter Moon, in the finder.
Stars in the Infrared Sky
18.09.1996
What if you could see infrared light? Because this light is less absorbed by dust than visible light, you could peer into the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The stars there are normally hidden from direct view by the interstellar dust clouds which line the Galactic plane.
Comet Hale-Bopp Fades
17.09.1996
Comet Hale-Bopp has faded in the past few weeks. For Hale-Bopp, promised as the Great Comet of 1997, this was a bit of a disappointment -- but not entirely unexpected. Comet Hale-Bopp continues to approach...
The Sun Erupts
16.09.1996
The Sun is a seething ball of extremely hot gas. Above, the Sun was captured by Skylab in 1973 throwing off one the largest eruptive prominences in recorded history. The Sun has survived for about 5 billion years, and will likely survive for another 5 billion.
Tycho Brahe Measures the Sky
15.09.1996
Tycho Brahe was the most meticulous astronomical observer of his time. Brahe, who lived between 1546 and 1601, set out to solve the day's most pressing astronomical problem: to determine whether the Earth or the Sun was at the center of the Solar System.
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