These podcasts are my discussion of NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. These are brief (3-5 minute) audio summaries of the picture posted on NASA's Picture of the Day website: APOD. Video versions of these are available on YouTube. I use these as the introduction to each of my introductory astronomy classes. Students will be able to access them here to review what was discussed in class. I appreciate any comments or suggestions which can be sent to: [email protected].
In today's image, we see the galaxy known as NGC 1309. This galaxy is said to be useful since there have been multiple supernovae as well as Cepheid variable stars known in it. This gives us multiple…
In today's image, we see an unusual type of cloud known as an Asperitas cloud as imaged about 20 years ago, but not formally identified as a distinct cloud type until about a decade later.
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In today's image, we see an animated GIF of a Perseid meteor from this past week. We can also see the trail (persistent train) left behind as the meteor vaporized in the upper atmosphere.
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In today's image, we see a couple of meteors from he recent Perseid shower. In addition, we see the planets Jupiter and Venus which are currently visible in the morning sky.
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In today's image, we see the globular cluster known as M13. This is one of the larger and brighter clusters which is actually visible to the unaided eye under very good seeing conditions.
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In today's image, we see the central portion of the Orion Nebula, focusing on the Trapezium star cluster. The brightest of these stars emits the ultraviolet light which powers the entire nebula.
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In today's image, we see a number of Perseid meteors from the 2024 Perseid Meteor Shower. The 2025 shower is happening now, although less prominent because of the Moon which will brighten the sky.
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In today's image, we see images from the Parker Solar Probe. These are the closest images of the Sun ever obtained, only a few solar diameters from our Sun's surface.
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In today's image, we see the zodiacal light which is cause by dust within our solar system that scatters sunlight back to Earth. Recent studies have suggested that this dust comes from comets within …
In today's image, we see comet 3I/ATLAS which is currently visiting our solar system from interstellar space. It will pass about as close as the orbit of Mars before heading back out into the depths …
In today's image, we see images showing the morning sky this year in July as well as what the sky would have looked like in July of 1054. The difference is that in 1054, a supernova was visible - bri…
In today's image, we see the double open star cluster known as h & chi Persei. This is a relatively young pair of open clusters which formed from the same molecular cloud about 13 million years ago.
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In today's image, we see a meteor passing in front of the Andromeda galaxy on the sky in this image from 2016. This image was taken during the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower that year. The Perseid…
In today's image, we see an image of the planetary nebula known as NGC 6072. This nebula shows unusual complexity which may be due to the central star being in a multiple star system as well as havin…
In today's image, we see recently discovered blue arcs near the Andromeda Galaxy in the sky. These arcs have been found to be a new class of object known as a Ghost Planetary Nebula. This is an older…
In today's image, we see a meteor which explodes in the sky which was images while take the photo of our Milky Way galaxy.
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In today's image, we see our Milky Way Galaxy across the middle of the image, top to bottom. In addition, we see sever meteors and a large number of trails from fireflies.
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In today's image, we see a Bok Globule, which is a small, dark nebula in space. Within the globule, stars are in the process of forming although still hidden away from our view by the surrounding mat…
In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as NGC 7331. Wishing it, a supernova is marked which was discovered earlier this month. This is an example of a Type Ia supernova which are key distan…
In today's image, we see four images of solar prominances taken over the past year or so. These are formed with the magnetic field of the Sun lifts material of Sun's surface.
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