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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Hale-Bopp Brightest Comet This Century
25.03.1997
A comet as bright as Comet Hale-Bopp is very rare indeed. No comet has emitted or reflected this much light since possibly the Great Comet of 1811. However, since Comet Hale-Bopp is across the inner Solar System from us, it does not appear as bright as Comet West did in 1975.
The Weather on Mars
24.03.1997
Would Mars be a nice place to visit? Sometimes. Much of Mars undergoes severe changes in climate during its orbit around the Sun, ranging from extreme cold to temperatures enjoyable by humans. But Mars...
A String Of Pearls
23.03.1997
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, named after its co-discoverers, was often referred to as the "string of pearls" comet. It is famous for its unusual appearance as well as its collision with the planet Jupiter!
M64: The Sleeping Beauty Galaxy
22.03.1997
The Sleeping Beauty galaxy may appear peaceful at first sight but it is actually tossing and turning. In an unexpected twist, recent observations have shown that the center of this photogenic galaxy is rotating in the opposite direction than the outer regions!
Io's Surface: Under Construction
21.03.1997
Like the downtown area of your favorite city, the roads you drive to work on, and any self-respecting Web site ... Io's surface is constantly under construction. This moon of Jupiter holds the distinction of being the Solar System's most volcanically active body -- its bizarre looking surface continuously formed and reformed by lava flows.
Springtime Comet Fever
20.03.1997
Today marks the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring for planet Earth's northern hemisphere. Despite recent attempts by other spectacular and dramatic celestial events to take center stage, Comet Hale-Bopp remains the most popular object in the sky (according to APOD access logs!) and is likely to make this spring memorable for many.
Gamma-Ray Burster
19.03.1997
What and where are the Gamma-Ray Bursters? Since their discovery in the early 1970s, nobody has been able to explain the cause of mysterious flashes of gamma rays that come from seemingly random directions on the sky.
X-Ray Pleiades
18.03.1997
The Pleiades star cluster is one of the jewels of the northern sky. To the unaided eye it appears as a lovely and tantalizing grouping of stars in the constellation of Taurus, while telescopic views reveal cluster stars surrounded by delicate blue wisps of dust-reflected starlight.
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
17.03.1997
Comet Hale-Bopp is now much brighter than any surrounding stars. It can be seen even over bright city lights. Out away from city lights, however, it is putting on quite a spectacular show. Here Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed last week above Val Parola Pass in the Dolomite mountains surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Water World
16.03.1997
Water (Dihydrogen Oxide, H2O) is a truly remarkable chemical compound, fundamental to life on Earth. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System where the surface temperature and pressure allow the three forms of water, solid (ice), liquid (ocean), and gas (water vapor condensing in clouds) to exist simultaneously on its surface.
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