Starship Asterisk*

I liked it.

This picture has no reference or proven relationship to astronomy. Why is it the Astronomy Picture of the Day? There are ample other forums to discuss biological anomalies without putting them in unrelated fields of study. Occasionally having non-astronomy pictures was recently addressed in some de...

What image are you referring to? I would assume http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080421.html . APOD: 2008 April 21 - Bacteriophages: The Most Common Life-Like Form on Earth. Yeah, I know. I was just trying prompt the OP to identify the image so we don't have multiple threads, which happened in th...

What image are you referring to?

I have absolutely no problem with composite pictures, or with other photo manipulation and enhancement techniques properly identified*. As Dan said, it helps overcome the limits of technology to present a better image. Nice image, Dan! Makes me want to move to Flagstaff. :) * 'Properly identified', ...

APOD is great to visit every day. Thank You. Today's image should be identified as a composite image. That way it's accurately defined, and does not insinuate that the viewer can see this exact scene by simply looking up. THANKS FOR APOD ! Dean Drumheller Which image - April 15 or April 16? The tim...

So obvious it's already been mentioned.

http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... hp?t=13239

As to the dark material that 'spots' the tops of the dunes, a previous APOD seems to suggest the dune sand itself is dark and what we're seeing is the initial points of thawing at the top of the dunes. Or something like that.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040831.html

Well of course "item 5" is a join - it is a composite picture - but I really don't see how, or why, you would suggest this about "1b". There is a linear feature at the left side of "1b", but it seems to die out towards the right. Either it is a natural (or alien war-ca...

I've read that it is because the crust is thicker on the far side, allowing less mare volcanism after an impact occurs. Why it is thicker on that side, I'm less sure. The differential crust thickness is a result of tidal forces, particularly when the moon formed.

a "photo joint" perhaps, but terribly offset. Some of those "rays" will point to the crater better when realigned. It's definitely a photo-joint, but I don't see it as being offset that much, particularly near the center of the image. Many of the troughs just do not point at the...

Here we are presented with a stunning, detailed, interesting, albeit rather poorly stitched panorama of the surface of another planet, and the first response on this board is from a conspiracy theorist. Okay, the inset is intended to get non-scientific folks' attention, I'll give it that. But it's ...

I fear that APOD's cultural enthusiasm outran their usual good use of English. "Many facts about our astronomical universe that are taken for granted today have been known -- or accurately recorded -- only during the last millennium." I think 'century' was meant. After all, 1706, 1724 AND...

I don't mind the non-astronomy pictures. APOD consistently puts up the coolest pictures and if a few stretch the limits of 'astronomy', that's ok. As stated, perhaps they serve to draw in a few non-astronomy buffs. That would be a bonus.

chromian wrote:It seems that there are a substantial number of craters shown in the images that have a raised "mound" in the exact center of the crater. I am not aware of these features in images of lunar craters.
Chromian

Lots of lunar craters show that feature. Take a look at Tycho, for example.

It's pretty cool. 2015 seems so far off. I can't wait.

There are no volcanic rocks in this picture!!! These buttes are composed of sandstone and mudstone. Buttes are often capped with harder rock of volcanic origin, which is why they erode the way they do. While that is true in other regions, it is not the case in Monument Valley. The capstone rock is ...

CuDubh wrote:There are no volcanic rocks in this picture!!!
...

Very true. Perhaps the photographer thought these buttes were of similar origin to Shiprock, which is volcanic.

Not sure about the pink star phenomenon. What struck me about this APOD is that I had to look several times to make out Orion, which perhaps more than any other northern constellation stands out like a sore thumb. Betegeuse and Rigel are not prominent at all in this image. Funny the way photography ...

Minority opinion indeed. I received a geology degree in the '90s and I don't recall much discussion at all of an abiogenic hypothesis for oil formation. The evidence sure seems to be mounting for Mars having been a very water-rich planet at one time. The silica soil is just the latest. We need more ...

I can't quite figure out what the reference to the "right side" of the image is about in the writeup for that APoD, since unless I'm completely off-base, Baade's Window comprises the area within about half a degree around NGC 6522. It's basically just a low-density region in the gas cloud...

I must be dense. I'm still not sure where the window is, even after visiting the site Qev linked.