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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Carving Ma adim Vallis
27.06.2002
Just as erosion from the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon on Earth, a river of flood water may have carved Ma'adim Vallis, one of the largest canyons on Mars. Researchers have presented...
In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
26.06.2002
Clouds of glowing gas mingle with lanes of dark dust in the Trifid Nebula, a star forming region toward the constellation of Sagittarius. In the center, the three huge dark dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together.
Venus and Jupiter Over Belfast
25.06.2002
Venus and Jupiter appeared to glide right past each other earlier this month. In a slow day-by-day march, Jupiter sank into the sunset horizon while Venus remained high and bright. The conjunction ended the five-planet party visible over the last two months.
The Suns Heliosphere and Heliopause
24.06.2002
Where does the Sun's influence end? Nobody is sure. Out past the orbits of Neptune and Pluto extends a region named the heliosphere where the Sun's magnetic field and particles from the Solar Wind continue to dominate.
Asteroids in the Distance
23.06.2002
Rocks from space hit Earth every day. The larger the rock, though, the less often Earth is struck. Many kilograms of space dust pitter to Earth daily. Larger bits appear initially as a bright meteor. Baseball-sized rocks and ice-balls streak through our atmosphere daily, most evaporating quickly to nothing.
Io: The Prometheus Plume
22.06.2002
Two sulfurous eruptions are visible on Jupiter's volcanic moon Io in this color composite Galileo image. On the left, over Io's limb, a new bluish plume rises about 86 miles above the surface of a volcanic caldera known as Pillan Patera.
Zimbabwe Sunset
21.06.2002
Today's scheduled geocentric astronomical event is the Solstice, with the Sun reaching its northernmost declination at 13 hours 24 minutes Universal Time. For denizens of planet Earth this Solstice marks the begining of Summer in the northern hemisphere and Winter in the south.
Bright Galaxy M81
20.06.2002
Big and beautiful spiral galaxy M81, in the northern constellation Ursa Major, is one of the brightest galaxies visible in the skies of planet Earth. This superbly detailed view reveals its bright nucleus, grand spiral arms and sweeping cosmic dust lanes with a scale comparable to the Milky Way.
The Moon and Venus Over Geneva
19.06.2002
The Moon, fresh from a biting encounter with the Sun last week, appeared next to threaten Venus. The waxing Moon appeared to glide right past, however, just a few degrees away. Venus, of course, is much further away from the Earth than the Moon, so the passing was really just an angular illusion.
IC 4406: A Seemingly Square Nebula
18.06.2002
How can a round star make a square nebula? This conundrum comes to light when studying planetary nebulae like IC 4406. Evidence indicates that IC 4406 is likely a hollow cylinder, with its square appearance the result of our vantage point in viewing the cylinder from the side.
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