Eye of God

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is that of the Helix Nebula, which is 700 light years away in the Aquarius constellation. It appears red in this photo because of dust. Looks eerie to me.

Stars Over Stuttgart

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is that of the night sky over Stuttgart, Germany. Most notable are:

• Pleiades, the blue cluster in the top center of the image
• Aldebaran, the bright star in the top left of the image
• Mira, the variable star in the bottom of the image just off-center to the right

Pillars of Creation

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is that of the Pillars of Creation and it is unreal. The pillars are huge, as in light years huge. I’ve seen this photograph plenty of times and it still amazes me that it’s a real photograph and not some painting thought up in the mind a brilliant artist.

Stereo Eros

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is a special one. Get out those red/blue glasses and check out asteroid 433 Eros in full stereo-tastic vision. This is the asteroid that NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on, a few years back.

In other asteroid news, the UN has drafted a treaty in order to figure out what to do if a near-Earth object (NEO) were to to get a little too close for comfort. I say they build a spaceship capable of launching nuclear missiles and then hold a worldwide Asteroids tournament to see who is worthy of piloting said craft.

[BBC]

Polar Ring Galaxy

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is that of NGC 2685, a polar ring galaxy. Apparently a polar ring galaxy is “a rare type of galaxy with stars, gas and dust orbiting in rings perpendicular to the plane of a flat galactic disk.” Interesting stuff.

Bow Tie Nebula

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day site is definitely worth checking out on a daily basis, in my opinion. They feature a new image everyday and today’s image is that of planetary nebula NGC 2440, or Bow Tie nebula. Apparently the white dwarf star burns at a temperature of 200,000 kelvins; talk about hot. It never ceases to amaze me that stuff like this exists.