Astronomy picture of the day - 2017 March 3 - Sivan 2 to M31

Sivan 2 to M31 
Image Credit & Copyright: MDW Sky Survey (David Mittelman, Dennis di Cicco, Sean Walker)

Explanation: From within the boundaries of the constellation Cassiopeia (left) to Andromeda (right), this telescopic mosaic spans over 10 degrees in planet Earth's skies. The celestial scene is constructed of panels that are part of a high-resolution astronomical survey of the Milky Way in hydrogen-alpha light. Processing the monochromatic image data has brought out the region's faintest structures, relatively unexplored filaments of hydrogen gas near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Large but faint and also relatively unknown nebula Sivan 2 is at the upper left in the field. The nearby Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is at center right, while the faint, pervasive hydrogen nebulosities stretch towards M31 across the foreground in the wide field of view. The broad survey image demonstrates the intriguing faint hydrogen clouds recently imaged by astronomer Rogelio Bernal Andreo really are within the Milky Way, along the line-of-sight to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Astronomy picture of the day - 2017 March 2 - Annular Eclipse After Sunrise

Annular Eclipse After Sunrise 
Image Credit & Copyright: Vincent Bouchama

Explanation: From northern Patagonia, morning skies were clear and blue on Sunday, February 26. This sweeping composite scene, overlooking Hermoso Valle, Facundo, Chubut, Argentina, follows the Sun after sunrise, capturing an annular solar eclipse. Created from a series of exposures at three minute intervals, it shows the year's first solar eclipse beginning well above the distant eastern horizon. An exposure close to mid-eclipse recorded the expected ring of fire, the silhouette of the New Moon only slightly too small to cover the bright Sun. At that location on planet Earth, the annular phase of the eclipse lasted a brief 45 seconds.

Fotografia - Lisboa nocturna - Exposição do Mundo Português, Lisboa, 1940

Estúdio Horácio Novais, Vista aérea da Exposição do Mundo Português, Lisboa, 1940 Colecções da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Portugal (Flickr Commons).

Astronomy picture of the day - 2017 March 1 - A Solar Eclipse with a Beaded Ring of Fire

A Solar Eclipse with a Beaded Ring of Fire 
Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Bedingfield

Explanation: What kind of eclipse is this? On Sunday, visible in parts of Earth's southern hemisphere, the Moon blocked part of the Sun during a partial solar eclipse. In some locations, though, the effect was a rare type of partialeclipse called an annular eclipse. There, since the Moon is too far from the Earth to block the entire Sun, sunlight streamed around the edges of the Moon creating a "ring of fire". At some times, though, the effect was a rare type ofannular eclipse. Then, an edge of the Moon nearly aligned with an edge of the Sun, allowing sunlight to stream through only low areas on the Moon. Called a "Baily's bead" or a "diamond ring", this doubly rare effect was captured Sunday in the feature photograph from Chubut, Argentina, in South America. This summer a total solar eclipse will swoop across North America.

Texto - Poemas da meia-noite - "Jorro a Deus"

Segundo Deus, o espírito pode também jorrar do nosso corpo, afim de dar à luz na sombra estonteante de uma vela moribunda, algo pálida, contrariando todo o tesão de antes apertado e ardente...

Fotografia - Lisboa nocturna - Exposição do Mundo Português

Estúdio Horácio Novais, Inauguração da Exposição do Mundo Português, Lisboa,23 de Junho de 1940 Colecções da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Portugal (Flickr Commons)

Astronomy picture of the day - 2017 February 28 - A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno

A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno 
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, MSSS; Processing: Roman Tkachenko

Explanation: This storm cloud on Jupiter is almost as large as the Earth. Known as a white oval, the swirling cloud is a high pressure system equivalent to an Earthly anticyclone. The cloud is one of a "string of pearls" ovals south of Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot. Possibly, the Great Red Spot is just a really large white oval than turned red. Surrounding clouds show interesting turbulence as they flow around and past the oval. The featured image was captured on February 2 as NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno made a new pass just above the cloud tops of the Jovian world. Over the next few years, Juno will continue to orbit and probe Jupiter, determine atmospheric water abundance, and attempt to determine if Jupiter has a solid surface beneath its thick clouds.

Imagenes de Mundo del Mundo - Ola Gigante - Inglaterra

Una ola impacta contra el faro de Newhaven en la costa sur de Inglaterra, mientras la tormenta Doris golpea al país.

GLYN KIRK AFP

Foto - Seres de que gosto - Neta - Oliana

Minha neta Oliana

12-02-2017

JoanMira

Astronomy picture of the day - 2017 February 27 - Four Quasar Images Surround a Galaxy Lens

Four Quasar Images Surround a Galaxy Lens 
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Sherry Suyu et al.

Explanation: An odd thing about the group of lights near the center is that four of them are the same distant quasar. This is because the foreground galaxy -- in the center of the quasar images and the featured image -- is acting like a choppy gravitational lens. A perhaps even odder thing is that by watching these background quasars flicker, you can estimate the expansion rate of the universe. That is because the flicker timing increases as the expansion rate increases. But to some astronomers, the oddest thing of all is that these multiply imaged quasars indicate a universe that is expanding a bit faster than has been estimated by different methods that apply to the early universe. And that is because ... well, no one is sure why. Reasons might include an unexpected distribution of dark matter, some unexpected effect of gravity, or something completely different. Perhaps future observations and analyses of this and similarly lensed quasar images will remove these oddities.