#APOD

[spacewonder19]

The Helix Nebula © 1/2/3/4

[silvereyedowl]

[source]

The Perseus Cluster Waves

Credits: NASA, CXC, GSFC, Stephen Walker, et al.

[without-ado]

Storm cloud over Texas l Laura Rowe NASA APOD

[thefirststarr]

Why are these clouds multi-coloured? A relatively rare phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colours, or even a whole spectrum of colours simultaneously. These polar stratospheric clouds also, known as mother-of-pearl clouds, are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When the Sun is in the right position and, typically, hidden from direct view, these thin clouds can be seen significantly diffracting sunlight in a nearly coherent manner, with different colours being deflected by different amounts. Therefore, different colours will come to the observer from slightly different directions. Many clouds start with uniform regions that could show iridescence but quickly become too thick, too mixed, or too far from the Sun to exhibit striking colours. The featured image and an accompanying video were taken late in 2019 over Ostersund, Sweden.

Image Copyright: Image Credit: Goran Strand

[lisamarieblair]

The Seagull Nebula

[silvereyedowl]

[source]

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3628 Edge On - November 1st, 1996.

"This is what a spiral galaxy looks like sideways. This view of NGC 3628 resembles our own Milky Way galaxy, which is also known to be a spiral. The dark band across the center is absorbed starlight caused by the galaxy's interstellar dust. NGC 3628 is the faintest member of the Leo Triplet, a group of galaxies dominated by M65 and M66. The Leo Triplet lies about 35 million light years distant. The center of NGC 3628 emits variable X-ray radiation, perhaps indicating the presence of a massive black hole."

[aeontriad]

The Dark Tower in Scorpius

[nightskystories]

Dancing in the moonlight

[vibrantestvixen]

From NASA (Astronomy Picture of the Day - March 11, 2024)

What glows in the night? This night featured a combination of usual and unusual glows. Perhaps the most usual glow was from the Moon, a potentially familiar object. The full Moon's nearly vertical descent results from the observer being near Earth's equator. As the Moon sets, air and aerosols in Earth's atmosphere preferentially scatter out blue light, making the Sun-reflecting satellite appear reddish when near the horizon. Perhaps the most unusual glow was from the bioluminescent plankton, likely less familiar objects. These microscopic creatures glow blue, it is thought, primarily to surprise and deter predators. In this case, the glow was caused primarily by plankton-containing waves crashing onto the beach. The image was taken on Soneva Fushi Island, Maldives just over one year ago. Photographer credit: Petr Horalek

[sayxit]

Hula Hoop

[mizelaneus]

[spacewonder19]

Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus ©

[silvereyedowl]

[source]

Bright Spiral Galaxy M81

Credits: Ken Crawford, Rancho Del SolObservatory

[coopergriggs]

[without-ado]

Full Plankton Moon over Maldives l Petr Horálek via NASA APOD

[thefirststarr]

Sometimes, massive stars can blow bubbles. This image shows perhaps the most famous star-bubbles of all, NGC 7635, also known simply as The Bubble Nebula. Although it looks delicate, the 7-light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at work. To the top left of the Bubble's center is a hot, O-type star, several hundred thousand times more luminous and 45-times more massive than the Sun. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from that star has blasted out the structure of glowing gas in a surrounding molecular cloud. The intriguing Bubble Nebula and associated cloud complex lie 7,100 light-years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp, tantalizing view of the cosmic bubble is a reprocessed composite of previously acquired Hubble Space Telescope image data.

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/ESA/HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE