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Astronomy Picture of the Day
INDEX
•The Toby Jug Nebula
•At the Heart Of Orion
•Nauset Light Star Trails
•Orbiting Astronaut Self-Portrait
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each
title
The Toby Jug Nebula (IC 2220) - January 5, 1996
• Made with: Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).
• Photography by: David Malin.
• Explanation: The unusual thing about this nebula it's
not only its shape. It's a reflection nebula surrounding a
normal red giant star that appears to have been created
from the current phase of mass-loss from the central
star which made the nebula shine by light reflected.
• Personal opinion: I’ve chosen this photo because it was
made the day I was born and I thought it would be
interesting. You can appreciate the differences in the
quality between the photos made sixteen years ago and
the one’s made nowadays.
At the Heart of Orion – October 6, 2012
• Made with: Hubble Space Telescope.
• Astrophotography by: Robert Gendler.
• Explanation: At the heart of the Orion Nebula, there are four
hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Gathered within
a region about 1.5 light-years in radius, they dominate the
core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster. A recent
dynamical study indicates that runaway stellar collisions at
an earlier age may have formed a black hole with more than
100 times the mass of the Sun. The presence of a black hole
within the cluster could explain the observed high velocities
of the Trapezium stars. It would be the closest known black
hole to planet Earth.
• Personal opinion: What attracted my attention about this
photo were the colours and that it was Orion. In Summer I
read a young people’s novel about the future and it’s related
to the Universe. One of the character was called Orion, the
Hunter, and I didn’t know why. It was kind of interesting.
Nauset Light Star Trails - October 10, 2012
• Made with: a camera fixed to a tripod.
• Photography by: Chris Cook.
• Explanation: This is a composite of 30 one minute
exposures, records star trails in the northern sky,
reflecting the daily rotation of planet Earth. Hidden
behind the top of the Nauset Lighthouse, the North
Celestial Pole is at the center of all the star trail arcs.
Making a complete circle, 360 degrees, in 24 hours, the
star trail arcs cover 15 degrees each hour or 7.5 degrees
in thirty minutes.
• Personal opinion: I’ve chosen this photo because I had
already seen that efect in some photos of El Teide.
->To see an example
Orbiting Astronaut Self-Portrait - September 18,
2012
• Image credit: Expedition 32 Crew, International Space
Station, NASA.
• Explanation: Space station astronaut Aki Hoshide
(Japan) recorded this striking image while helping to
augment the capabilities of the Earth-orbiting
International Space Station (ISS). This image joins other
historic self-portraits taken previously in space. The
Expedition 32 mission has already ended.
->Other Self-Portrait
• Personal opinion: In the NASA web page, someone
asks: Is it art? I think it really is. I don’t even know how
you can take a picture of yourself, the Earth and the Sun
at the same time, and in the Space! I really like it.
Apollo 12: Self-Portrait
Eloísa Frutos Moreno nº8
1ºBTO B