APOD 4.8

 

The hour-glass figure of this planetary nebula is ironic -considering how brief this stage in the star's life will last. With the nuclear fuel exhausted, the star is ejecting its outer layers as its core cools to a white dwarf. The "red" of the gas is digitally created to represent nitrogen, the "green" is hydrogen, and the "blue" is oxygen. The clear imaging of the nebula ejection process is helping to solve mysteries of the complexity of planetary nebulas.

APOD 4.7

 

It's strange to think that when you die, the world will go on without you. Science and technology will keep innovating -maybe even to the extent that could have saved your life if it was invented earlier or you were born later. Either way, our current 2015 North Star is Polaris, however, if you were born much later, say, around 14000, your North Star would be Vega. The picture above is how an exposure picture taken in the same place will change on its own. Once a few generations die, Vega will be the "norm" for a North Star -but if you're reading this, there's a good chance you won't live to see that. The shift is caused by the Earth's axis of rotation precession period of about 26,000 years - of which it has been 14,000.

APOD 4.6

I think at one point in our childhoods, when we were all asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?", and all of us answered "An astronaut!". And this picture can do a fine job to answer the follow up question, "Well, why do you want to be an astronaut?". That little speck on the dark side of the picture is the International Space Station -where astronauts can survive for periods of time in space. The ISS gets a nice view of sights skewed by our atmosphere -as well as the ability to look down on Earth. Tools are available on-line to let you know when the ISS will be visible from your location.

APOD 4.4

Go See the Eclipse: And Take a Kid With You. All I've been hearing about in class is this book. But it's understandable, a total eclipse cutting through the center of the United States is a pretty big deal. Mr. Percival (my teacher) is getting as much attention drawn to this occurrence as possible -and I'm hooked. August 21st, 2017. August 21st, 2017. August 21st, 2017! Hopefully my college will be near enough to the path that I'll be able to take a road trip to experience it -and take friends along of course.

APOD 4.3

 

Some 20 million light-years away is the Barred Spiral Galaxy (NGC 2903). It's shine and location within the northern spring constellation Leo -right on the top of the head, make it a premier sight from amateur astronomers. Somehow, NGC 2903 is missing form the Messier catalog. The bright galaxy is filled with stars mid formation and spiral arms. This galaxy is definitely a loss from the "M" objects.

APOD 3.8

Maybe déjà vu is real... Or maybe it's just deflections off of gravitational lenses. This is the first time a supernova explosion has been split into multiple images across intervening masses. The picture above is inside a galaxy cluster, taken in November by the Hubble Space Telescope. The multiplied Supernova, Refsdal, occurred in the universe far behind the cluster. Measuring the locations and time delays between images may allows astrophysicists to understand the amount of dark matter in not just the galaxy, but the cluster too. There is hope that a fifth image presents itself in the near future.

APOD 3.6

The most famous flower in the sky: The Rosette Nebula. The "petals" of the rose are actually stellar nurseries. The nebula is located 5,000 light years away within the Monoceros constellation. The symmetric shape is a result of the winds and radiation from its central cluster of hot, young stars. The stars are a part of the energetic cluster, NGC 2244. The stars are only a few million years old. The nebula is about 50 light-years in diameter. If you have a small telescope, you can see the nebula for yourself.