Andromeda1023

POST: Astronomy Vibes

🎥credit: Orhan Pergel

& Michigan Tech. U.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY February 03, 2026 Oh what a tangled web a planetary nebula can weave. The Red Spider Planetary Nebula shows the complex structure that can result when a normal star ejects its outer gases and becomes a white dwarf star. Officially tagged NGC6537, this two-lobed symmetric planetary nebula houses one of the hottest white dwarfs ever observed, probably as part of a binary star system. Internal winds flowing out from the central stars, have been measured in excess of 1,000 kilometers per second. These winds expand the nebula, flow along the nebula's walls, and cause waves of hot gas and dust to collide. Atoms caught in these colliding shocks radiate light shown in the featured false-color infrared picture by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Red Spider Nebula lies toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). Its distance is not well known but has been estimated by some to be about 4,000 light-years. Image: https://ift.tt/CBuVfLM via NASA https://ift.tt/vlU7230 APOD --> https://ift.tt/4aGUtx9

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY June 3, 2026 at 05:00PM What is happening inside this unusual nebula? Planetary nebulaTc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified in 2010. Buckminsterfullerene — as buckyballs are officially called — is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in the shape of a soccer ball. The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize. Webb’s new data reveal where the C60 molecules live in this nebula, and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell around the central star, visible here as the bright edge of the nebula’s glowing orange central region. Look closely near the nebula’s heart and a more perplexing feature emerges: a delicate structure shaped uncannily like an upside-down question mark, fitting punctuation for the many questions this nebula still poses. Image: https://ift.tt/asRNJnv via NASA https://ift.tt/qves1cR APOD --> https://ift.tt/WkTznmE

Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging well over two million downloads every year. It’s also number four in the United States. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research. It’s written, produced, and hosted by award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary. He started the show in 1995 under the name ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Gary was part of the team that set up NewsRadio and continued there as a broadcaster and journalist. He created StarStuff during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary’s always loved science. He was the archetypal dorky school kid who spent his weekends at science museums rather than going to footy matches. He went on to study astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics. However, he instead made the fateful decision to focus his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. His radio career stretches back some 34 years, including 26 at the ABC. Gary’s first gigs were spent as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a broadcast journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. When asked to put his science background to use, he developed and presented the StarStuff Astronomy show which proved extremely popular, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience -- based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth). That compares to the ABC’s overall average radio ratings of 5.6 per cent and NewsRadio’s average of 2.1 percent. As the internet grew, the ABC also began publishing StarStuff as an online podcast – quickly achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC budget cuts, and a redirection of available funding to increase coverage of sports and horse racing. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was re-branded as “SpaceTime” with the first episode broadcast in February 2016 through Bitesz.com. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. Each 30 minute SpaceTime show format (usually) includes three astronomy or space science features and three brief general science news stories, followed by either a skeptical science or technology feature.  The show is published three times a week (every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and is available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio. Gary says his greatest achievement was building an honest, factual, accurate and educational Australian based astronomy and science program that both entertains and informs the community. His greatest regret is not going for that PHD.

& Michigan Tech. U.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY July 2, 2026 at 05:00PM Some 190 million light-years away, far beyond the bright stars and nebulae of the Milky Way, these three galaxies are drawn together by gravity in a mesmerizing cosmic dance. Clearly distorted by galactic-scale gravitational interactions, large spiral galaxies NGC6769 and NGC6770 are seen face-on, with luminous galactic disks scarred by obscuring interstellar dust lanes. Their young blue star clusters along drawn out spiral arms are spawned in star forming regions that result from collisions of massive molecular clouds. Below, spiral NGC6771 presents a more edge-on perspective, its boxy central bulge due to tidal star streams. Of course, in the distant future a merger of the three galaxies is inevitable. At the estimated distance of this galaxy trio, known to some as the Devil's Mask, the sharp telescopic frame spans over 300 thousand light-years within the boundaries of the far southern constellation Pavo. Image: https://ift.tt/2Ol0Shw via NASA https://ift.tt/obVFXSJ APOD --> https://ift.tt/mAtnIBK

Credits: Lorand Fenyes

Captured During my Year-Long Winter Over at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, This Image Marks a Singular Moment - the Return of the Sun After 6 Months of Polar Night. At the Geographic South Pole, the Sun Rises Only Once a Year, Followed by a Season of Silence, Stars, & Un-Broken Darkness. The Green & Magenta Aurora Australis Along the Base Forms as Charged Solar Particles Interact With Earth’s Magnetic Field. Above, the Milky Way Sweeps Across the Southern Sky. At the Centre is the South Pole Station, a Hub for Astro-Physics, Climate & Atmospheric Research. Encircling it are the Flags of the 12 Original Signatories of the Antarctic Treaty - a Symbol of Peaceful International Scientific Cooperation. I used a custom heated, foam-insulated camera to shoot a full 360° panorama over several minutes, battling temperatures below –70°C with severe wind chill. The images were stitched & projected into a stereographic “little planet” to evoke the deep isolation of this environment - a tiny human presence dwarfed by cosmic & atmospheric forces. As an astronomer studying the early universe, I found this scene deeply resonant: a frozen horizon yielding to light, mirroring the emergence of structure in the cosmos. In this single frame, auroras, stars & sunlight converge - a fusion of Earth, sky, & space in one of the planet’s most extreme scientific frontiers. My image was shot using a Sony A7R IV camera, with a Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM lens.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260107.html

A corona mass ejection erupts from our sun on August 31, 2012 by NASA

Credits: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive, Oliver Czernetz