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A Spectacular Sky Over the G
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| Title |
A Spectacular Sky Over the Grand Tetons |
| Explanation |
Behold the breathtaking beauty of Earth and sky together. In the foreground is the Teton Mountain Range [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070814.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tetons ] of Wyoming [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming ], USA [ http://www.infoplease.com/states.html ]. The Grand Tetons are a relatively isolated set of high peaks that are part of the Rocky Mountains [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains ]. On the far left, vast clouds of bright stars and dark dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070430.html ] are visible in the nearly vertical plane of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html ]. Our Galactic Plane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050605.html ] appears to crash [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070508.html ] into the Tetons, but is actually far more distant. On the left, just to the left of the southernmost Teton [ http://www.nps.gov/grte/ ] peak, the planet Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050913.html ] is visible. Near the image center is the bright star Arcturus [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcturus ]. Scroll [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls ]ing to the far right will bring over the familiar asterism [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/Maps/Const/asterism.html ] of the Big Dipper [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070108.html ]. Last month it took five images, later digitally fused, to capture the majesty of this panoramic view. |
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Comet Hyakutake and the Milk
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Comet Hyakutake and the Milky Way |
| Explanation |
Two years ago, the Great Comet of 1996 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960208.html ], Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/hyakutake/ ], inched across our northern sky during its long orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960314.html ] around the Sun [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html ]. Visible above as the bright spot with the faint tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960326.html ] near the picture [ http://www.psiaz.com/polakis/gco/gco.html ]'s center, Comet Hyakutake [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/comets_long/96B2.html ] shares the stage with part of the central band of the Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970517.html ], prominent in the picture's upper right. Also visible are Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980726.html ], the bright orange star in the upper right, Arcturus [ http://www.windows.umich.edu/the_universe/Arcturus.html ], the bright star on the lower left, and the Pipe Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970621.html ], which is perhaps harder to find. Comet Hyakutake [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/index/Hyakutake.html ]'s unusually close approach [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960325.html ] to the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980204.html ] allowed astronomers to learn many things, including that comets can emit much X-ray light [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960411.html ]. |
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