iotman (4)in #science • 23 hours ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Sunset Solstice over Stonehenge 🪐Yesterday the Sun reached its southernmost point in planet Earth's sky. Called a solstice, many cultures mark yesterday's date as a change of seasons -- from autumn to winter in…iotman (4)in #science • 3 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: A Solstice Sun Tattoo 🪐The word solstice is from the Latin for Sun and to pause or stand still. And in the days surrounding a solstice the Sun's annual north-south drift in planet Earth's sky does slow…iotman (4)in #science • 4 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus 🪐When the Moon is at its first quarter phase, the Sun rises along the Montes Caucasus as seen from the lunar surface. The lunar mountain range casts the magnificent, spire-like…iotman (4)in #science • 5 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini 🪐Jupiter, the Solar System's ruling gas giant, is the brightest celestial beacon at the center of this composite night skyscape. The scene was constructed by selecting the 40…iotman (4)in #science • 6 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: W5: The Soul Nebula 🪐Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation…iotman (4)in #science • 7 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Andromeda and Sprites over Australia 🪐What’s happening over that tree? Two very different things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older than humanity and will last billions of years into the…iotman (4)in #science • 8 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains 🪐Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December…iotman (4)in #science • 11 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Northern Fox Fires 🪐In a Finnish myth, when an arctic fox runs so fast that its bushy tail brushes the mountains, flaming sparks are cast into the heavens creating the northern lights. In fact the…iotman (4)in #science • 12 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Galaxies in the River 🪐Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy engages in a sort of galactic cannibalism, absorbing small galaxies that are too close and are captured by the Milky…iotman (4)in #science • 13 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: The Horsehead Nebula 🪐Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this dusty interstellar molecular cloud has by chance assumed an immediately recognizable shape. Fittingly known as The Horsehead Nebula…iotman (4)in #science • 14 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: The Heart of the Soul Nebula 🪐This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the Soul Nebula. The dark and brooding dust clouds outlined by bright ridges of glowing gas are cataloged as IC 1871. About 25 light-years…iotman (4)in #science • 17 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater 🪐Fifty three years ago, in December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon exploring the Taurus-Littrow valley, while…iotman (4)in #science • 18 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: The Bipolar Jets of KX Andromedae 🪐Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae, these stunning bipolar jets are 19 light-years long. Recently discovered, they are revealed in unprecedented detail in this…iotman (4)in #science • 20 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Visualization: Near a Black Hole and Disk 🪐What would it look like to plunge into a monster black hole? This image from a supercomputer visualization shows the entire sky as seen from a simulated camera plunging toward a…iotman (4)in #science • 21 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center 🪐What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At…iotman (4)in #science • 22 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: 3I ATLAS: Tails of an Interstellar Comet 🪐How typical is our Solar System? Studying 3I/ATLAS, a comet just passing through, is providing clues. Confirmed previous interstellar visitors include an asteroid, a comet, a…iotman (4)in #science • 24 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Moon Games 🪐This is not a screen from a video game. Nestled below the tree-line, the small mountain church does look like it might be hiding from Moon though. In the well-composed telephoto…iotman (4)in #science • 25 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula 🪐NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a about 25 light-years across, a cosmic bubble blown by winds from its central, massive star. This deep telescopic image includes…iotman (4)in #science • 26 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Portrait of NGC 1055 🪐Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus.…iotman (4)in #science • 27 days ago🌌 SpacePicture of a Day: Globular Cluster M15 Deep Field 🪐Stars, like bees, swarm around the center of bright globular cluster M15. The central ball of over 100,000 stars is a relic from the early years of our Galaxy, and continues to…
