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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
APOD: 2023 December 25 Б Cathedral, Mountain, Moon
25.12.2023
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 -- and when the sky was clear -- that was the hardest.
APOD: 2023 December 24 Б NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
24.12.2023
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 a caterpillar and the ejected shell of gas would become the prettiest cocoon of all.
A December Summer Night
23.12.2023
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's south celestial pole positioned just off the top of the frame.
183 Days in the Sun
22.12.2023
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 from Mertola, Portugal.
APOD: 2023 December 20 Б Ice Halos over Bavaria
20.12.2023
What's causing those unusual sky arcs? Ice crystals. While crossing a field of fresh snow near Fцssen, Bavaria, Germany, earlier this month, the photographer noticed that he had entered an ice fog.
APOD: 2023 December 19 Б NGC 1499: The California Nebula
19.12.2023
Could Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years from the California Nebula.
APOD: 2023 December 18 Б The Same Color Illusion
18.12.2023
Are squares A and B the same color? They are! To verify this, either run your cursor over the image or click here to see them connected. The featured illusion, an example...
APOD: 2023 December 17 Б Geminids over Chinas Nianhu Lake
17.12.2023
Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward Gemini.
Crescent Enceladus
16.12.2023
Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of tantalizing inner moon Enceladus poses in this Cassini spacecraft image. North is up in the dramatic scene captured during November 2016 as Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward direction about 130,000 kilometers from the moon's bright crescent.
Betelgeuse Eclipsed
15.12.2023
Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to see everyone's favorite red giant star fade this time...
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