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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Discovery in Motion
8.07.2006
On July 4th, the space shuttle orbiter Discovery rocketed into space on mission STS-121. Now docked with the International Space Station, Discovery orbits planet Earth at about 27 thousand kilometers per hour.
Bright Galaxy M81
7.07.2006
Big and beautiful spiral galaxy M81 lies in the northern constellation Ursa Major. One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth's sky, M81 is also home to the second brightest supernova seen in modern times.
NGC 6888: A Tricolor Starfield
6.07.2006
NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. Near the center of this intriguing widefield view of interstellar gas clouds and rich star fields of the constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 2403 from Subaru
5.07.2006
Sprawling spiral arms dotted with bright red emission nebulas highlight this new and detailed image of nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Also visible in the photogenic spiral galaxy are blue open clusters, dark dust lanes, and a bright but relatively small central nucleus.
Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A from CFHT
4.07.2006
Why is peculiar galaxy Centaurus A so dusty? Dramatic dust lanes that run across the galaxy's center mark Cen A. These dust lanes are so thick they almost completely obscure the galaxy's center in visible light.
The View toward Husband Hill on Mars
3.07.2006
This Martian vista is only part of one of the greatest panoramic views of Mars that has ever attempted. The expansive mosaic is helping to keep the robotic Spirit rover busy over the energy draining winter in the southern hemisphere of Mars.
Tornado and Rainbow Over Kansas
2.07.2006
The scene might have been considered serene if it weren't for the tornado. Last June in Kansas, storm chaser Eric Nguyen photographed this budding twister in a different light -- the light of a rainbow. Pictured above, a white tornado cloud descends from a dark storm cloud.
Wind from a Black Hole
1.07.2006
Binary star system GRO J1655-40 consists of a relatively normal star about twice as massive as the Sun co-orbiting with a black hole of about seven solar masses. This striking artist's vision of the exotic binary system helps visualize matter drawn from the normal star by gravity and swirling toward the black hole.
The Antennae
30.06.2006
Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus, two large galaxies have collided. But stars in the two galaxies - NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 - don't collide in the course of the ponderous, billion year or so long event.
Old Moon and Sister Stars
29.06.2006
An old crescent Moon shares the eastern sky over Menton, France with the sister stars of the Pleiades cluster in this early morning skyscape recorded just last Friday, June 23rd. (Bright Venus was also...
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