What is that large dark spot on Jupiter? It’s the shadow of Io, one of Jupiter’s largest moons. When Jupiter’s moons cross between the Jovian giant and the Sun, they created shadows just like when the Earth’s moon crosses between the Earth and the Sun. Also like on Earth, if you were in a dark […]
This Hubble Space Telescope image features two merging galaxies in the VV-689 system, nicknamed the Angel Wing. via NASA https://ift.tt/wsy4AOH
The world is waking up to a picturesque planet parade. Just before dawn, the eastern skies over much of planet Earth are decorated by a notable line of familiar planets. In much of Earth’s northern hemisphere, this line of planets appears most nearly horizontal, but in much of Earth’s southern hemisphere, the line appears more […]
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a batch of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifts off from Launch Complex 40. via NASA https://ift.tt/oKBiV5e
In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebulas. The Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324), the bright structure just below the image center, houses several of these massive stars. […]
Just now, before you hit the button, two future universes are possible. After pressing the button, though, you will live in only one. A real-web version of the famous Schrödinger’s cat experiment clicking the red button in the featured astronaut image should transform that image into a picture of the same astronaut holding one of […]
A gorgeous spiral galaxy, Messier 104 is famous for its nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This sharp […]
An orbital sunrise beams across Earth’s horizon revealing silhouetted clouds above the South China Sea. via NASA https://ift.tt/2c8SzUj
No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops […]
We’re celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope’s 32nd birthday with a stunning look at an unusual close-knit collection of five galaxies. via NASA https://ift.tt/1Y6wiIz