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Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 18 Sunspot Region 30 Credit: MDI, SOHO, ESA, NASA Explanation: The solar active region designated number 10030 (or simply region 30) is now appearing on the visible hemisphere of the closest star. Dwarfed by the Sun's disk, the group of sunspots which make up region 30 actually cover an enormous area -- nearly 10 times the size of Earth. The panels above were recorded July 15,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 26 In the Center of the Trifid Nebula Credit: GMOS, Gemini Observatory Explanation: Clouds of glowing gas mingle with lanes of dark dust in the Trifid Nebula, a star forming region toward the constellation of Sagittarius. In the center, the three huge dark dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together. Mountains of opaque dust appear on the lower left, while filaments of...

Asteroid detected in a close call with Earth Thu Jun 20, 4:22 PM ETBy THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer LONDON - An asteroid the size of a soccer field narrowly missed the Earth by 75,000 miles (120,000 kms) last week, in the closest known approach by objects of this size in decades, scientists said Thursday. "In the unlikely event the asteroid had struck Earth in a populated area, it would have caused considerable loss of life," said Grant Stokes, the principal investigator for the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research Project, whose New Mexico observatory spotted the object. "The energy...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 17 NGC 4697: X-Rays from an Elliptical Galaxy Credit : C. Sarazin (UVa), et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: The many bright, point-like sources in this Chandra Observatory x-ray image lie within NGC 4697, an elliptical galaxy some 40 million light-years away towards Virgo. Like other normal elliptical galaxies, NGC 4697 is a spherical ensemble of mainly older, fainter, low mass stars, with little star forming gas...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 May 23 N132D and the Color of X-Rays Credit: SAO, CXC, NASA Explanation: Supernova remnant N132D shows off complex structures in this sharp, color x-ray image. Still, overall this cosmic debris from a massive star's explosive death has a strikingly simple horseshoe shape. While N132D lies 180,000 light-years distant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the expanding remnant appears here about 80 light-years across. Light from the supernova...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 March 28 Centaurus Galaxy Cluster in X-RaysCredit: J. Sanders, A. Fabian, (IoA Cambridge), NASA Explanation: The Centaurus Cluster is a swarm of hundreds of galaxies a mere 170 million light-years away. Like other immense galaxy clusters, the Centaurus Cluster is filled with gas at temperatures of 10 million degrees or more, making the cluster a luminous source of cosmic x-rays. While individual galaxies are not seen here,...