APOD Week 1
This is a picture taken last November of Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko as taken by the robotic spacecraft Rosetta. The picture taken shows the jets of ice and other gases as they are escaping from the surface of the comet.
I really think this picture is pretty incredible. I can almost imagine what it would be like
to actually be there. There a really aren’t that many pictures of a comet from this close. The detail is really cool. I can’t wait to see what we can see next.
NGC 4676 or also known as the "Mice" because they have such long tails. They lie at the distance of about 300 Million miles. Are two galaxies which are pulling each other apart, taking place over hundreds of millions of years. They are coming together to form a new galaxy.
I try to imagine the two galaxies pulling each other apart. What it might be like if sped
up, If there were life what it might be like for there. I also was amazed at the number of other galaxies in the image. There is so much going on in the universe that we don’t see or know is happening. The earth is just a tiny dot in a very large ocean
APOD Week 2
A picture taken by the Curiosity Rover of Whale Rock in the Pahrump Hills, at the base
of Mount Sharp. Scientist believe that the layered rock was formed by an ancient Martian lake that kept evaporation and refilling over 10 million years.
I’ve had a deep interest in going to Mars as an astronaut. Looking at this picture just
amazes me. That we can send a probe to mars to help us study and understand our neighbor.
On February 14th, 1990, Voyager 1 looked back on our Solar System and took one last picture of our home. The Mosaic was made from 60 pictures at a 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. The only planets not pictured were Mercury, Mars and Pluto.
This is our home, where we live, our small spot in the Universe. I think it’s really cool,
that a spacecraft we sent out, is able to look back and see our whole solar system.
APOD Week 3
This is a picture taken by the Voyager 2 unmanned spacecraft about 2 hours before
closest approach during the flyby. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft from Earth to visit Neptune. From this quick visit we learned that neptune’s atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium which is invisible, with the blue color coming from atmospheric methane. Neptune has the fastest windows in the Solar System with gusts of up to 2000 kph.
This picture and Voyager’s visit to Neptune is exciting for me. Since, I was able to
watch it on TV, and record it to video tape.
This is an image of the galaxy M106 or NGC 4258. This galaxy is relatively close being only 23.5 Million miles away. It is 60 thousand light years across and lies in the directions of the constellation of the Hunting Dogs. The center of M106 glows brightly in radio waves and Xrays.
When I saw this picture I was wow’d not only by the galaxy with it’s shape, and all of
the amazing colors. I also couldn’t be help to notice all of the other objects visible to be seen around the galaxy.
APOD Week 4
This image is of several celestial objects of Double star Rho Ophiuchi, the Red Super
giant Antares, and the Global Cluster M4. All of which are found at different distances ranging from 500 to 7,000 light years in the constellation of Scorpious. The image is covering a distance of nearly 10 degrees or 20 full moons.
I’ve always loved this image. It for me is one of the most incredible images in the night
sky. The blending and brilliance the of colors, the millions of stars that you can see and so much more.
A picture of Comet Lovejoy, as it heads away from the center of the solar system. At
the time of the image it was 190 Million miles away. Comet Lovejoy is the fifth comet discovered by Terry Lovejoy on 17 August 2014. It was discovered at apparent magnitude 15 in the southern constellation of Puppis. Comet Lovejoy has an estimated orbital period of about 8000 years.
A comet is pretty cool to see. Looking at the bright bluish \ green head and the long
wispy is quite striking. It’s hard to believe that something so beautiful can come from something so simple.