Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA ^ | 12/13/107 | Don Goldman

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T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman Explanation: The orange star centered in this remarkable telescopic skyview is T Tauri, prototype of the class of T Tauri variable stars. Nearby it is a dusty yellow cosmic cloud historically known as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555/1554). Over 400 light-years away, at the edge of a molecular cloud, both star and nebula are seen to vary significantly in brightness but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of the intriguing region. T Tauri stars are now generally recognized as young (less than a few million years old), sun-like stars still in the early stages of formation. To further complicate the picture, infrared observations indicate that T Tauri itself is part of a multiple system and suggest that the associated Hind's Nebula may also contain a very young stellar object. The dramatic color image spans about 4 light-years at the estimated distance of T Tauri.

[sig226]

It's really yesterday's apod, but it's a very nice one, and today's apod is a 360 degree panorama of the moon. It's a beautiful picture, but I hate threads with pictures that are 2,880 pixels wide. Here's the text, click the title for the page.

Apollo 17: Shorty Crater Panorama
Credit: Apollo 17 Crew, NASA; Panorama Assembly: Mike Constantine

Explanation: In December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This sharp panorama is digitally stitched together from pictures taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the valley floor. Starting with a view of the imposing South Massif, scrolling the panorama to the right will reveal Schmitt and the lunar rover at the edge of Shorty Crater, near the spot where geologist Schmitt discovered orange lunar soil. The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites. Now thirty five years later, Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk on the Moon.

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[america4vr]

Very nice. Thanks for posting this.

[RightWhale]

That’s also where they found the robot’s head and other mechanical debris.

[dan1123]

I thought it would be the spider eating the space shuttle...

[tet68]

Awesome, they named a crater after my dog!!

Note to NASA,
We should have never left, we should be on the moon TODAY!