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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
APOD: 2025 January 20 Б Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun
19.01.2025
Why does Comet ATLAS have such colorful tails? Last week Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) passed its closest to the Sun -- well inside the orbit of Mercury -- and brightened dramatically. Unfortunately, the comet was then so angularly near the Sun that it was very hard for humans to see. But NASA's SOHO spacecraft saw it.
APOD: 2025 January 19 Б Titan Touchdown: Huygens Descent Movie
18.01.2025
What would it look like to land on Saturn's moon Titan? The European Space Agency's Huygens probe set down on the Solar System's cloudiest moon in 2005, and a time-lapse video of its descent images was created.
Full Moon, Full Mars
17.01.2025
On January 13 a Full Moon and a Full Mars were close, both bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. In fact Mars was occulted, passing behind the Moon, when viewed from some locations in North America and northwest Africa.
Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
16.01.2025
Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew.
M83: The Southern Pinwheel
15.01.2025
Beautiful and bright spiral galaxy M83 lies a some twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern tip of the very long constellation Hydra. Prominent spiral arms traced by dark dust lanes and blue star clusters lend this galaxy its popular name, The Southern Pinwheel.
APOD: 2025 January 15 Б Wolf Moon Engulfs Mars
14.01.2025
Does the Moon ever engulf Mars? Yes, but only in the sense that it moves in front, which happens on rare occasions. This happened just yesterday, though, as seen from some locations in North America and western Africa.
APOD: 2025 January 14 Б North Star: Polaris and Surrounding Dust
13.01.2025
Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth. Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve around Polaris, but Polaris itself always stays in the same northerly direction -- making it the North Star.
APOD: 2025 January 13 Б Comet ATLAS Before Sunrise
12.01.2025
Comet ATLAS is really bright now, but also really close to the Sun. Outside the glow of the Sun, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) would be one of the more remarkable comet sights of recent years, reflecting about as much sunlight to Earth as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS did in October, and now rivaling even planet Venus.
APOD: 2025 January 12 Б Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
11.01.2025
Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the largest impact craters on one of Saturn's smallest round moons. Analysis indicates that a slightly larger impact would have destroyed Mimas entirely.
An Evening Sky Full of Planets
10.01.2025
Only Mercury is missing from a Solar System parade of planets in this early evening skyscape. Rising nearly opposite the Sun, bright Mars is at the far left. The other naked-eye planets Jupiter, Saturn...
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