Starship Asterisk*

I've only been away from Colorado for 6 months, and now this picture is telling me that there are no green trees left in the Rocky Mountains. Did I miss something?

A perspective question. 70 Kilometers per sec works out to 252,000 kilometers per hour. Thus this meteor could have been passing the moon and hour before this image was taken? Just trying to get a handle on these speeds and distances. 1.5 hours earlier and the meteoroid would have been passing the ...

1 12mm fixed focal length lens for my amateur DSLR. $500 - 1200$
1 Remote switch with timelaps capabilities. $20+
1 Solar telescope $250+
1 12in reflector $2000+
Move away from city lights and watch meteor showers: priceless.

Fascinating ,but how come the clouds don't seem to be moving ? One would think that over the duration of the video there would be some change in the cloud shapes. The clouds are moving from the top of the screen to the bottom, parallel to the roof overhang. Very interesting explanation/hypothesis. ...

Beautiful picture. Amazing detial.

Looking at these nebulae everyday, it's easy to forget that they are less dense than the best vacuum we can draw in a lab. Nonetheless, our stellar viewing distance rewards us with these magnificent views.

Wonderful APOD!

This is such a wonderful exposure that you can easily identify some interesting features in the foreground stars: In the bottom left of the image, the two bright stars appear to be binary systems, having white dwarf companions at 1 O'clock and 8 O'clock; In the center of the nebula is possibly anoth...

Let me know if you like it more like this : Yes, I do like this version more. I put both in alternate tabs and flipped back and forth...very noticable difference. I especially like Ann's description of a rose and dark stem. I must retire now, it's 11pm here...so good night... :? ...or good morning?...

I love this exposure; it really contrasts the dark nebula against the rest of the image. I wonder if the dark nebula has a depth as long as it's apparent width, does anyone know the answer to this? Also, why do all the stars appear blue and orange in this visible light image? does this have somethin...

Seagulls transit the setting sun on sept. 27
above and below sunspot AR 1302

I have had my web browser homepage set to apod for a year now. I love the anticipation when I start my browser -- will it be a galaxy? A nebula? A moon? Maybe a really beautiful landscape astrophoto, or perhaps something less aesthetic but much more scientific. Today I was graced with this...this......

do stars actually form in strings accross space? Short answer, yes. Longer answer: GMC's (Giant Molecular clouds) are the dark nebulae like M42 in Orion. These are considered stellar nurseries from which stars are born. They may exist somewhat stably for a while, but then a dying star in the neighb...

Neat to see such a deep exposer of M45.
Compare that to an earlier APOD by Rob Gendler back in 2003:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031227.html
Another nice view of the Pleiades, but not nearly as long of an exposure as this one!

Very cool APOD. This weekend, big sunspot AR1289 is approaching the sun's western limb where it will soon disappear from view. Jesús Carmona de Argila of Madrid, Spain, captured these parting shots on Sept. 17th, 2011: http://spaceweather.com/submissions/pics/j/JesAos-Carmona-de-Argila-sol170911_131...

I love the string of young stars dotting the dark crease on the left. I've never seen M42 quite like this. I can't wait to see what kind of IR images the James Webb Space Telescope will bring! Also, check out this new Vesta video I found from spaceweather.com today. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/ind...

How much of this photograph do you think was luck? Obviously the bird was luck, but there seems to be an element of careful planning. This photographer is quite a ways away and the Basilica is perfectly centered in the moon. Do you think he/she calculated this position in advance? If so, I say "...

Although the false color images are stunning, why do they never seem to have a color key? Which color represents sulfur? Which one oxygen? etc.