Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 September 8 - Mars in the Clouds

Mars in the Clouds 
Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

Explanation: Wandering through this stunning field of view, Mars really is in front of these colorful cosmic clouds. The mosaic contructed from telescopic images is about 5 degrees (10 full moons) across. It captures the planet's position on August 26, over 7 light-minutes from Earth and very near the line-of-sight to bright star Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. In the exposure yellow-hued Mars, above and left, is almost matched by Antares, also known as Alpha Scorpii, below center. Globular star cluster M4 shines just right of Antares, but M4 lies some 7,000 light-years away compared to Antares' 500 light-year distance. Slightly closer than Antares, Rho Ophiuchi's bluish starlight is reflected by the dusty molecular clouds near the top of the frame.

Imagens de Lisboa - Palacios - Palacio de Mafra

It’s one of the world’s biggest palaces, and its construction almost bankrupted the nation at a time when there was no IMF to bail a country out of debt. The gold found in Brazil paid for everything, a grandiose baroque building that doubled as a convent and royal palace. The story of its construction is the background of the classic “Baltasar and Blimunda” by Portugal’s Nobel Prize author José Saramago.

É um dos maiores palácios do mundo, e a sua construção quase levou à falência da nação, num tempo em que ainda não existia FMI para a salvação das finanças de um país. O ouro encontrado no Brasil acabou por pagar por tudo -- um grandioso edifício barroco para servir de convento e de palácio real. A história da sua construção é contada em “Memorial do Convento”, uma das obras clássicas do Nobel português José Saramago.

Imagens do Rio de Janeiro - Palacios cariocas - Palacio Universitario

No Palácio Universitário, localizado na Praia Vermelha, está a Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), também chamada de Universidade do Brasil, a maior universidade federal do país.

O prédio fora construído em 1842, em estilo neoclássico, para ser um hospício, o Hospício de Pedro II, que funcionou entre 1852 e 1944. Em 1949 foi reinaugurado pelo Presidente Eurico Gaspar Dutra para ser a sede da reitoria da Universidade do Brasil.

Andarilhos - "O bravo" - Video - Musica - Ao vivo

"O bravo"

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 September 7 - Eclipse to Sunset

Eclipse to Sunset 
Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)

Explanation: September's eclipse of the Sun is documented in the 68 frames of this timelapse composite. Starting at 1pm local time a frame every 4 minutes follow's the progress of the New Moon across the solar disk. Taken near the centerline of the narrow eclipse path, the series of exposures ends with a golden sunset. Balanced rock cairns in the foreground line a beach on the southern side of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, near the village of Etang-Salé. Of course, the close balance in apparent size creates drama in eclipses of the Sun by the Moon as seen from planet Earth. In an annular eclipse, the Moon's silhouette is just small enough to show the solar disk as a narrow ring-of-fire at maximum eclipse phase.

Imagens de Lisboa - Palacios - Palácio Nacional de Sintra

The two gigantic cones rising from this palace (one of the country’s oldest and once home to Prince Henry the Navigator) are chimneys of a kitchen where banquets (that apparently were authentic food orgies) were prepared. The rest of the interior presents beautifully-painted ceilings and extraordinary tile panels.

As duas gigantescas chaminés deste palácio (um dos mais antigos do país, e durante algum tempo residência do Infante D. Henrique), pertencem a uma cozinha onde eram preparados banquetes que aparentemente eram autênticas orgias. O resto do interior apresenta belas pinturas nos tetos e painéis de azulejos extraordinários.

Imagens do Rio de Janeiro - Palacios - Larangeiras

Localizado no bairro de Laranjeiras, a dois quarteirões do Palácio Guanabara, esse palácio foi construído em 1913 para ser residência da Família Guinle.

Em 1947 o Presidente Dutra adquiriu o palacete para destiná-lo a hospedagem de visitantes ilustres e chefes de estado em visita ao Brasil, entre 1956 e 1961 foi a residência oficial da presidência, no governo Juscelino Kubitschek.

Hoje em dia é a residência oficial do governador do estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 September 6 - The Whirlpool Galaxy and Beyond

The Whirlpool Galaxy and Beyond 
Image Credit & Copyright: Álvaro Ibáñez Pérez

Explanation: Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl, until you get to the handle's last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier's famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (left), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the human eye, the above long-exposure, deep-field image taken earlier this year shows much of the faint complexity that actually surrounds the smaller galaxy. Thousands of the faint dots in background of the featured image are actually galaxies far across the universe.

Now, it's time to say goodbye - Ciao, ciao, ciao...

CIAO, CIAO, CIAO...

Astronomy picture of the day - 2016 September 5 - Spiral Meteor through the Heart Nebula

Spiral Meteor through the Heart Nebula 
Image Credit & Copyright: Roger N. Clark

Explanation: What is this meteor doing? Dynamically, the unusually short and asymmetric train may indicate that the sand-sized grain at the center of the glow is momentarily spinning as it ablates, causing its path to be slightly spiral. Geographically, the meteor appears to be going through the Heart Nebula, although really it is in Earth's atmosphere and so is about one quadrillion times closer. Taken last month on the night of the peak, this meteor is likely from thePerseid meteor shower. The Perseids radiant, in the constellation of Perseus, is off the frame to the upper right, toward the direction that the meteor streak is pointing. The Heart Nebula was imaged in 18 one-minute exposures, of which the unusual meteor streak appeared on just one. The meteor train is multicolored as its glow emanates from different elements in the heated gas.