Saturday, March 24, 2012

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies. It also looks at phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere.

M95 With Supernova

by Father Sky on March 23, 2012

M95 with Supernova

Barred spiral galaxy M95
is about 75,000 light-years across,
comparable in size to our own Milky Way and one of the larger
galaxies of the
Leo I
galaxy group.

In fact, it is part of a not quite so famous
trio of Leo galaxies with
neighbors M96 and M105, about 38 million light-years distant.

In this sharp and
colorful cosmic portrait,
a bright, compact ring of star formation surrounds the
galaxy's core.

Surrounding the prominent yellowish bar are tightly wound
spiral arms traced by dust lanes, young blue star clusters, and
telltale pinkish star forming regions.

As a bonus,
follow along the spiral arm
unwinding down and to the right
and you'll soon get to M95's latest supernova
SN 2012aw, discovered on March 16 and now identified
as the explosion of a
massive star.

A good target for small telescopes, the supernova stands out in
this video feature
(vimeo) comparing the recent image with
a deep image of M95 without supernova taken in 2009.

Read the full story:
M95 with Supernova

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Aurora Over Iceland

by Father Sky

If you see a sky like this -- photograph it. Three nights ago in Iceland, an adventurous photographer (pictured) chanced across a sky full of aurora and did just that. Afterwards, by stitching together five smaller photographs, the entire aurora-lit sky was recreated in this 180-degree panorama taken from Vatnajkull glacier. Auroras are sparked by [...]

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Evolution of the Moon

by Father Sky

What is the history of the Moon? The Moon was likely created from debris expelled when a Mars-sized object violently impacted the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. Just after gravitationally condensing, as imagined above, the glowing-hot surface of the Moon cooled and cracked. Rocks large and small continued to impact the surface, including a [...]

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Sunspot Group 1429 and the Distant Sun

by Father Sky

What's that on the Sun? Over the past two weeks, one of the most energetic sunspot regions of recent years crossed the face of the Sun. Active Region 1429, visible above as the group of dark spots on the Sun's upper right, blasted out several solar flares and coronal mass ejections since coming around the [...]

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Jupiter and Venus From Earth

by Father Sky

It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of Jupiter and Venus was visible last week almost no matter where you lived on Earth. Anyone on the planet with a clear western horizon at sunset could see them. This week the two are still notable, even though Jupiter has sunk below the brighter Venus. [...]

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NGC 2683 EdgeOn Spiral Galaxy

by Father Sky

This elegant island universe is cataloged as NGC 2683. It lies a mere 16 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation Lynx. A spiral galaxy comparable to our own Milky Way, NGC 2683 is seen nearly edge-on in the cosmic vista. Blended light from a large population of old, yellowish stars forms the remarkably bright [...]

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Bright Planets at McMathPierce Solar Telescope

by Father Sky

Bright planets Venus and Jupiter are framed by the National Solar Observatory's McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in this very astronomical scene. The photo was taken at Kitt Peak National Observatory on March 9. A heliostat sits atop the 100 foot high solar telescope tower to focus the Sun's rays down a long diagonal shaft that reaches [...]

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Solar Flare in the Gammaray Sky

by Father Sky

What shines in the gamma-ray sky? The answer is usually the most exotic and energetic of astrophysical environments, like active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, or incredibly dense pulsars, the spinning remnants of exploded stars. But on March 7, a powerful solar flare, one of a series of recent solar eruptions, dominated the gamma-ray [...]

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Angry Sun Erupting

by Father Sky

It's one of the baddest sunspot regions in years. Active Region 1429 may not only look, to some, like an angry bird -- it has thrown off some of the most powerful flares and coronal mass ejections of the current solar cycle. The extended plumes from these explosions have even rained particles on the Earth's [...]

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