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2015-03-09

Astronomy picture of the day - 09-03-2015 - A Sun Halo Over Cambodia

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A Sun Halo Over Cambodia
Credit & Copyright: Nagy Attila Explanation: Have you ever seen a halo around the Sun? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal acts like a miniature lens. Because most of the crystals have a similar elongated hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through the opposing face refracts 22 degrees, which corresponds to the radius of the Sun halo. A similar Moon halo may be visible during the night. Pictured above, a nearly complete sun halo was photographed high above the ancient Bayon temple in Angkor, Cambodia. Exactly how ice-crystals form in clouds remains under investigation.

Pintura - "Um beijo" - Toulouse - 09-03-2015

"Um beijo"

Toulouse, 09-03-2015

2015-03-08

Fotografia - Amigo Paulo Santos nas tintas! - Toulouse - France - 07-03-2015

"Amigo Paulo Santos nas tintas!"

Toulouse, 07-03-2015

JoanMira

Astronomy picture of the day - 08-03-2015 - Stars at the Galactic Center

Stars at the Galactic Center
Image Credit: Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al., JPL-Caltech, NASA

Explanation: The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The very center of the Milky Way was only recently found capable of forming newborn stars. The galactic center lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years.

2015-03-07

Astronomy picture of the day - 07-03-2015 - NGC 602 in the Flying Lizard Nebula

NGC 602 in the Flying Lizard Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman

Explanation: Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is just below center in this telescopic field of view with the angular size of the Full Moon on the sky. The cluster itself is about 200 light-years in diameter. Glowing interior ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. Of course, the more extended wings of emission in the region suggest a popular name for the complex cosmic environment, The Flying Lizard Nebula.