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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Phaethon s Brood
12.12.2024
Based on its well-measured orbit, 3200 Phaethon (sounds like FAY-eh-thon) is recognized as the source of the meteoroid stream responsible for the annual Geminid meteor shower. Even though most meteor shower parents are comets, 3200 Phaethon is a known and closely tracked near-Earth asteroid with a 1.4 year orbital period.
APOD: 2024 December 11 Б The Shells and Jets of Galaxy Centaurus A
11.12.2024
What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, cataloged as NGC 5128, which is only 12 million light-years distant. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies...
APOD: 2024 December 10 Б The Great Meteor Storm of 1833
10.12.2024
It was a night of 100,000 meteors. The Great Meteor Storm of 1833 was perhaps the most impressive meteor event in recent history. Best visible over eastern North America during the pre-dawn hours...
APOD: 2024 December 9 Б Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
9.12.2024
Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a light-polluted city.
APOD: 2024 December 8 Б Aurora around Saturns North Pole
8.12.2024
Are Saturn's auroras like Earth's? To help answer this question, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Cassini spacecraft monitored Saturn's North Pole simultaneously during Cassini's final orbits around the gas giant in September 2017. During this time, Saturn's tilt caused its North Pole to be clearly visible from Earth.
Rocket Engine Fireplace
7.12.2024
You might not think a close up view of rocket engines producing 8.8 million pounds of thrust would be relaxing, but here it can be. In fact, you can get a warm and cozy feeling just spending a few moments watching NASA's holiday rocket engine fireplace.
Xuyi Station and the Fireball
6.12.2024
Colorful and bright, this streaking fireball meteor was captured in a single exposure taken at Purple Mountain (Tsuchinshan) ObservatoryБs Xuyi Station in 2020, during planet Earth's annual Perseid meteor shower. The dome in the foreground houses the China Near Earth Object Survey Telescope (CNEOST), the largest multi-purpose Schmidt telescope in China.
Stereo Jupiter near Opposition
5.12.2024
Jupiter looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope images. Both were captured last year on November 17 from Singapore, planet Earth, about two weeks after Jupiter's 2023 opposition. Climbing high in midnight skies the giant planet was a mere 33.4 light-minutes from Singapore. That's about 4 astronomical units away.
APOD: 2024 December 4 Б Driveway Analemma
4.12.2024
Does the Sun return to the same spot on the sky every day?б No.б A more visual answer is an analemma, a composite of sky images taken at the same time and from the same place over a year.
APOD: 2024 December 3 Б Ice Clouds over a Red Planet
3.12.2024
If you could stand on Mars -- what might you see? You might look out over a vast orange landscape covered with rocks under a dusty orange sky, with a blue-tinted Sun setting over the horizon, and odd-shaped water clouds hovering high overhead.
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