APOD 2.4

The Tulip Nebula

"Framing a bright emission region this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula the glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust..." This amazing nebula lies an estimated 8,000 light years away from Earth in a pocket in space where the nebula "blossoms" with all sorts of colors. I believe this nebula was given the name of the Tulip Nebula because its various blossoming colors/composition strongly resemble that of a tulip. This caught my interest because of my interest in plants ^_^ I'm glad this was one of the APOD posts, it's interesting!

Godspeed,

Melanie

APOD 2.3

The Cat's Eye Nebula

Existing in a location estimated to be around three thousand light years from Earth, the Cat's Eye Nebula has caught the attention of many (I personally chose it for this week's APOD because cats, also I just like how it looks).  The dying star in the center of the 'eye' created this pattern because it is letting layers of the star go little by little.  The image was taken by Hubble and it gives a fantastic representation of the finding.

Godspeed, 

Melanie =^-_-^= 

Observation 11/7/14

This morning while I was driving to school (and I noted this last night as well) the Moon appeared to be extra large! At one point it was not only just larger than usual, but it had a red tint to it.  I believe that was due to the early morning sunrise aspect? 

Go Moon! ^_^

Godspeed,

Melanie

Observation 10/31/14

This observation was from a week ago so let's see what I can remember.  I was in Woodland Park, Sarasota, FL and I observed from about 7:30-9:00 pm while I was trick-or-treating n_n I was able to identify Cygnus (The Swan), Polaris, Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Delphinus (The Dolphin), Scorpius (The Scorpion), the Summer Triangle, it was more difficult for me to identify Lyra and Aquila, though.  The magnitude was decent, perhaps around 5? I cannot remember the phase of the moon - and I did not use a telescope I just used my eyes (at one point I did use the StarWalker app). Overall it was a pretty good night for observing! It wasn't very cloudy and it wasn't too hot out.  

Godspeed, 

Melanie

APOD 2.2

Moon and Earth from Chang'e 5-T1 

This image shows a different perspective where Earth appears to be -much- smaller than the Moon! This is due to the camera's close proximity to the Moon when the photo was actually taken.  The camera was aboard the Chinese spacecraft, Chang'e 5-T1.  This recent image of the Earth and Moon have become particularly interesting to the public due to the uncommon perspective.  :) 

Godspeed,

Melanie

APOD 2.1

Milky Way over Devil's Tower

This photo was taken in northeast Wyoming by David Lane and it beautifully depicts two interesting astronomical finds.  One being the Devil''s Tower, which is the darker skies underneath the second astronomical find, the Milky Way Galaxy.  In order for this photo to exist, it includes sixteen combined frames. 

In honor of the date that this photo was posted on APOD (it was Halloween teehee) the editors included the sights of the following: Witches Broom Nebula, Cat's Eye Nebula, Wizard Nebula, Glowing Eye Nebula, Cats Paw Nebula, Red Spider Nebula, Little Ghost Nebula, Flaming Skull Nebula, a shooting star, Pluto, the 'ghost' of Cepheus, and the witch.  

It's truly a beautiful image and must have been ethereal to actually see it in person.  

Godspeed,

Melanie