[{"id":"7bebfc21d507edf6","title":"AR 4478: Giant Sunspot Group","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260628.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-28T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \nRight now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent history is crossing the Sun. \n\nActive Region 4478 is not only big -- it's violent, showing tangled magnetic fields capable of throwing off huge clouds of particles into the\nSolar System. \n\nSome of these CMEs might impact the Earth. \n\nAt the extreme, these \nsolar storms could cause some \nEarth-orbiting satellites to malfunction, \nthe Earth's atmosphere to slightly distort, and electrical power grids to surge. \n\nWhen impacting \nEarth's upper atmosphere, \nthese particles can produce \nbeautiful auroras.\n\nPictured here, \nAR 4478 and its dark \nsunspots \nwere captured in visible light a few days ago from \nBarcelona, \nSpain. \n\nAlmost as large as \nAR 3664 was in 2024, the \nAR 4478 sunspot group is so big that it is \nvisible just with glasses specially designed to view \nsolar eclipses. \n\nThis week, \nskygazing enthusiasts all over the globe will not only be tracking AR 4478 during the day -- but keenly watching night skies for its \ncorresponding bright auroras.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"598fd6f6f06d1d8a","title":"Mars Marathon by Perseverance","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260627.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-27T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nIn this recent HiRISE\nview from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,\nthe little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red Planet is the\nPerseverance\nMars rover.\n\nRecorded on June 13, the car-sized, six-wheeled robot was imaged\na day before completing a Martian marathon,\ntraveling a total distance of 26.218 miles\n(42.195 kilometers)\nsince it began exploring the surface of Mars.\n\nThat equivalent marathon distance was achieved by Perseverance on its\nmission sol (Martian day) 1,890, after about 5 Earth years\nand 4 Earth months of driving.\n\nPerseverance is continuing to hunt\nfor biosignatures.\n\nIn the HiRISE image, the Mars rover's tracks\ncan be seen leading to\nits location\nin an area west of its\nlanding site in Jezero crater near an\nancient river delta.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"9550e5c10030d1e5","title":"Milky Way Urban Style","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260626.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-26T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nIn a cosmic vista you can never see, the\nMilky Way\narcs through the night above Seoul, South Korea.\n\nRemarkably, this\nurban night skyscape\nreveals our galaxy's faintly luminous\ncentral region and dark obscuring dust clouds in spite of the\nbrilliant city lights.\n\nTo overcome the extreme\nlight pollution\nof the metropolitan area and record faint cosmic details,\nan infrared filter was used to capture the night scene in a single exposure.\n\nWhile the filter transmits predominately infrared light,\nit still passes some\nvisible light\nto give the scene a natural appearance.\n\nThe view is from Seoul's Ttukseom Hangang Park,\nwith the Han River and a well lit railway bridge across the foreground.\n\nThe 123 story Lotte World Tower looms in the distance,\nthe tallest building in South Korea.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"b9c71a5c607b085d","title":"Anticrepuscular Rays over Sicily","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260625.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-25T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n The Sun has just set... in the opposite side of the sky.\n\n Pictured here are anticrepuscular rays apparently converging in the east in this image of the limestone plateau in the heart of the Hyblaean Mountains of southeastern Sicily, in Italy.\n\n How were these anticrepuscular rays formed, if the Sun wasn't there?\n\n After the Sun set (in the west, as usual) its light still illuminated a cloud higher up in the sky.\n\n Partially blocked by the cloud, the sunlight produced patterns of light and shadow, crossing the sky in parallel lines.\n\n Perspective makes it look like they converge in the east, in the same way that train tracks appear to meet in the distance.\n\n This effect can also happen at sunrise, only the directions are exchanged.\n\n In rare cases, both crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays can be seen at the same time.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"37029153bc3013ba","title":"M27: The Dumbbell Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260622.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-22T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nIs this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. \n\nThe first hint of our \nSun's future \nwas discovered inadvertently in\n1764.\n\nAt that time,\nCharles Messier was compiling a list\nof diffuse objects not to be confused with comets.\n\nThe 27th object on\nMessier's list, now known as\nM27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a\nplanetary nebula,\none of the brightest\nplanetary nebulas on the sky and visible with binoculars\ntoward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula).\n\nIt takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, \nfeatured here in colors enhanced by red for \nhydrogen \nand blue for \noxygen.\n\nWe now know that in about 6 billion years, \nour Sun will \nshed its outer gases into a \nplanetary nebula like M27, \nwhile its remaining center will become an \nX-ray hot \nwhite dwarf star. \n\nUnderstanding the physics and significance of\nM27 was well beyond 18th century science, though.\n\nEven today, many things \nremain mysterious about\nplanetary nebulas, including how their \nintricate \nshapes are created.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"3f4ca1bfc53e26aa","title":"Keogram: The Sky in 2025","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260621.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-21T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"An
Explanation: \nWhat if you could see the entire sky -- all at once -- for an entire year?\n\nThat, very nearly, is what is pictured here. \n\nEvery 15 seconds during 2025, an \nall-sky camera took an image of the sky over the \nNetherlands.\n\nCentral \ncolumns from these images were then aligned \nand combined to create the featured\nkeogram, with January at the top, \nDecember at the bottom, \nand the middle of the night \nrunning vertically just left of center.\n\nWhat do we see? \n\nMost obviously, the daytime \nsky is mostly blue, while the nighttime sky is mostly black. \n\nThe twelve \nlight bands \ncrossing the night sky are caused by the \nglow of the \nMoon.\n\nThe thinnest \npart\nof the black hourglass shape occurs during the summer \nsolstice, like \ntoday, \nwhen days are the longest, while the thickest part occurs at the winter \nsolstice.\n\nEquinoxes can also be located in the keogram, for example \nthe northern-spring \nequinox from one year ago is about \nthree-quarters of the way up.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"9bc8b74c8f967c0c","title":"Daytime Moon Meets Evening Star","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260620.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-20T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nVenus is now appearing on\nthe celestial stage\nas Earth's brilliant evening star, performing with\nthe Moon, other wandering planets, and bright stars\nin western skies.\n\nFor evening sky gazers\non June 17, the celestial beacon rose after sunset close by\na young, slender, crescent Moon.\n\nBut from some locations the Moon could be seen to occult or pass in\nfront of Venus.\n\nAnd from a backyard observatory in\nsouthern British Columbia, Canada, the\nlunar occultation was played out in daylight.\n\nThis stunning telescopic snapshot captured\na scene in dramatically cloudy skies,\nfollowing Venus' hour long disappearance,\nas the evening star emerged beyond the bright lunar limb.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"8d78b0f759609bc9","title":"Starry Night II","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260619.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-19T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nDoes this scene look familiar?\n\nIt is a modern recreation of the famous painting \nStarry Night by \nVincent van Gogh. \n\nBoth \nthe image and the painting depict a tall tree on the left, \na crescent moon on the upper right, \nthe planet Venus \njust to the right of the tree, \na foreground horizon rising from left to right, \nand clouds above the horizon.\n\nDifferences include that the photograph was taken in mid-April earlier this year in \nCascavel, \nBrazil, \nwhile the painting was composed in \nSaint-Rémy-de-Provence, \nFrance, in 1889. \n\nThe original Starry Night is considered by many to be one of the three \nmost famous paintings in the world today \nand a statement about the \nwonders of the night sky.\n\nToday is (roughly) the \nanniversary of the morning that \nvan Gogh saw the sky that he later painted in \nhis version of Starry Night.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"9f630499acb4cc0a","title":"Possible Supernova Remnant in Galactic Center","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260618.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-18T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n Do you see that blue blob to the lower right of the image center?\n\n Astronomers think that it shows where a massive star exploded as a supernova whose light reached Earth 1,700 years ago.\n\n The image combines optical data from the PanSTARRS telescopes in Hawaii (background stars in red, green, and blue), radio from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa (large red cloud) and X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton (shown in blue).\n\n The large cloud is a star forming region called Sagittarius C, which is approximately 50 light-years in extent and about 26,000 light-years from Earth.\n\n It is located only about 260 light-years from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Galaxy (off to the left of the image).\n\n If the blue blob is confirmed to be a supernova remnant, it would be one of the closest ever discovered to the Galactic Center.\n\n In this dense region, the deaths of massive stars are connected to the birth of new stars through gas and magnetic fields in a complex way.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"7d73828217b322a8","title":"Longmore 8: The Hamster Wheel Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260617.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-17T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nHow did a hamster wheel get into space? The Hamster Wheel Nebula (Longmore 8) was \ndiscovered by Andrew Longmore \nin 1976 as a part of a larger survey of the southern sky. This survey employed several improvements in \nphotographic technology, \nincluding the use of \nhighly sensitive film, \nto capture deeper and fainter objects on \nplates \nthat were examined \nby eye \nand catalogued. \nThe featured image, \ntaken at Observatorio El Sauce \nin Chile, depicts an intricate wheel structure of glowing hydrogen that was thrown out into space by a \ndying star \nand ionized \nby the leftover \nwhite dwarf. \nThis structure was barely visible on the original plate, emphasizing the power of modern \ntelescopes and cameras. Two opposing clumps of red hydrogen gas encased in \nthe blue veil of ionized oxygen \nhint at the presence of a \ncompanion \nto the bright white dwarf at the wheel’s center!","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"21b8020bd989bf36","title":"Moons, Rings, Shadows, Clouds: Saturn (Cassini)","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260616.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-16T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"Saturn
Explanation: \nWhile cruising around Saturn, be on the lookout for \npicturesque arrangements of moons, rings, and shadows.\n\nOne such striking sight \noccurred in 2005 and was captured by\nthe then Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft.\n\nIn the featured image, moons \nMimas (left) \nand Tethys (right)\nare visible on either side of \nSaturn's thin rings, which are seen nearly edge-on. \n\nAcross the top of \nSaturn are dark \nshadows of the wide rings, \nexhibiting their impressive complexity.\n\nThe \nviolet-light image brings up the texture of the backdrop: \nSaturn's clouds.\n\nCassini orbited Saturn \nfrom 2004 until mid-2017, when the \nrobotic spacecraft was directed to dive into Saturn to keep it from \ncontaminating any moons.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"a32f40d9d10d0d44","title":"Triple Shockwave from Sun Crossing Rocket","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260615.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-15T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \nWhat's happening to this Sun-crossing rocket? \n\nThe SpaceX \nFalcon 9 rocket, visible on the upper left, \nlaunched only about one minute before this amazing image was captured. \n\nAs it rose to low Earth orbit from \nCape Canaveral, \nFlorida, \nUSA, \nin late May, the rocket became \nsupersonic before it \ncrossed the disk of the distant Sun -- \nfrom the perspective of the well-placed photographer. \n\nThe spacecraft's high speed caused \nbow-shaped compressed-air \nshockwaves to form across leading surfaces, \nwith at least three visible even outside \nthe Sun's disk because they \nrefract sunlight. \n\nThe \ntrailing exhaust caused \nturbulence visible on the lower right.\n\nNone of this was damaging to the robotic \nStarlink 10-53 mission, \nwhich delivered 29 communications satellites to \nlow Earth orbit as planned. \n\nAnd if that isn't \namazing enough - the Sun had \nspots!","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"ba08ef29bd1517be","title":"10 Days of Venus and Jupiter","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260614.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-14T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nVenus and Jupiter\nmay have caught your attention lately. \n\nThe \nrecent close conjunction \nof the two brightest planets in recent evening skies has been\nhard to miss.\n\nWith Jupiter at the top, starting on May 30 and ending on June 8,\ntheir close approach was \nchronicled daily, left to right, in the\nfeatured panels from \nMaharashtra, \nIndia.\n\nNear the western horizon, the \nevening sky colors \nand exposures used for each panel depend on the local conditions near sunset.\n\nAt their closest on June 9, the \ncelestial pair appeared to be only\nabout three times the width of a full moon apart.\n\nOf course, on that date, the \ntwo planets \nwere physically separated by over 600 million kilometers in their\norbits around the Sun.\n\nIn the coming days, \nJupiter \nwill slowly settle into the sunset glare, but \nVenus \nwill continue to move farther from the Sun in the\nwestern sky to excel in its current role as the\nbrilliant evening star.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"675828c2fa953613","title":"Interplanetary Earth","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260613.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-13T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nIn an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013\nEarth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds\nof the Solar System,\ninnermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn.\n\nPictured\non the left, Earth is the \npale blue dot \njust below the rings of Saturn, as captured by the robotic\nCassini spacecraft\nthen orbiting the\noutermost\ngas giant.\n\nOn that same day people across\nplanet Earth snapped many\nof their\nown pictures of Saturn.\n\nOn the right, the \nEarth-Moon system\nis seen against the dark background of space as captured by the sunward\nMESSENGER\nspacecraft,\nthen in Mercury orbit.\n\nMESSENGER took its image as part of a search for\nsmall natural satellites of Mercury, moons that would be\nexpected to be quite dim.\n\nIn the \nMESSENGER image,\nthe brighter Earth and Moon are both overexposed and\nshine brightly with reflected sunlight.\n\nDestined not to return to their home world, both\nCassini\nand\nMESSENGER\nhave since retired from their missions of Solar System exploration.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"2009f88dbf721ff7","title":"Venus and Jupiter: Conjunction from Avebury","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260612.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-12T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nTo see Venus and Jupiter\ntogether this month, you won't need binoculars or even a telescope.\n\nJust look up\nafter sunset and you'll find them\nemerging as the sky grows dark near the western horizon.\n\nIn fact, on June 9 the two brightest planets were in close conjunction,\nseparated on the sky by less than 2 degrees from our perspective.\n\nSince (brighter) inner planet Venus orbits the Sun faster than outer planet\nJupiter, it catches up with and passes the outer planet along the\necliptic roughly every 13 months.\n\nBut every three years or so their resulting conjunction can be viewed\nfar enough from the Sun to be easily seen in Earth's twilight skies.\n\nOn June 9, the two celestial beacon's\nclose \"cosmic kiss\" was captured here next to\nthe two large standing stones at the cove \nwithin a 4,000 year old\nstone circle at Avebury,\nUK.\n\nLarger than Stonehenge,\nthe\nAvebury henge and stone circle complex\nis also recognized as one of the most\nsignificant neolithic\nceremonial sites on planet Earth.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"df0482beff3a18f0","title":"The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260611.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-11T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n Could the Little Mermaid turn into stardust instead of seafoam?\n\n It would seem so in this beautiful nebula.\n\n The featured image shows the Mermaid Nebula, also known as the Betta Fish Nebula, which is part of the G296.5+10.0 Supernova Remnant.\n\n The blue color visible here originates from doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), while the deep red is emitted by hydrogen gas.\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Estimated to be located a few thousand light-years away and about 10,000 years old, this nebula was formed when a massive star exploded as a supernova.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t It left behind a peculiar pulsar, a young radio-quiet neutron star that spins around about twice every second.\n\n The bright stars shown in the image are unassociated with the nebula.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n The pulsar can be detected in the X-rays but it does not have a confirmed detection in the optical (visible light) so far.\n\n As a result, the pulsar itself is not visible in this image.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"78013e8674b350f3","title":"The Eagle Nebula and Friends","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260610.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-10T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"Gas,
Explanation: \nWhat looks as if it is going to swallow the great \nPillars of Creation? \nThe Eagle Nebula \n(M16) \nis not a bird, a plane, or \nSuperman. \nM16 is actually a combination of several celestial objects. \nNGC 6611 \nis the young star cluster that appears to peak out beneath the Eagle’s “wings”. The \nultraviolet \nlight from these stars \nionizes \nthe surrounding gas, creating the \nemission nebula \nIC 4703. The \nStellar Spire \nis seen reaching towards the Pillars of Creation from the left. Both are structures of cold gas and \ndust \nthat are optimal for \nstar formation. \nSome astronomers previously thought the Pillars of Creation had been \nevaporated away by a supernova. \nBecause M16 is 6,000 \nlight years \naway, we would not be able to see the Pillars’ destruction for thousands more years. However, there is no conclusive \nevidence of the theorized supernova, so the Pillars of Creation will likely continue to create stars for \nmillions of years.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"6d238e13b6fb2c4c","title":"Thor's Helmet","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260609.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-09T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nThor not only has \nhis own day \n(Thursday), but a helmet in the heavens. \n\nPopularly called Thor's Helmet, \nNGC 2359 \nis a hat-shaped cosmic cloud with \nwing-like appendages.\n\nHeroically sized even for a\nNorse god,\nThor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across.\n\nIn fact, the cosmic head-covering is more like\nan interstellar bubble, blown by a fast\nwind from the bright, massive \nstar \nnear the bubble's center.\n\nKnown as a\nWolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely \nhot giant thought to be in a brief,\npre-supernova stage of \nevolution.\n\nNGC 2359 is located about 15,000 \nlight-years away toward the constellation of the \nGreat Overdog.\n\nThis sharp image \nis a combination of deep images taken in light emitted by \nhydrogen (red) and \noxygen (blue). \n\nThe star in the center of Thor's Helmet is expected to \nexplode in a spectacular\nsupernova sometime within the next few thousand years.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"f42adf739eb45dc1","title":"Comet R3 PanSTARRS Through Time","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260608.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-08T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nWhat happens to a comet as it leaves our inner Solar System? \n\nNow, the arrival of a comet into the inner \nSolar System is typically heralded with great fanfare and high hopes that the comet will become \nbright and \nphotogenic.\n\nBut on the way out, the \ncomet's nucleus is less warmed by \nthe Sun, \nless gas and dust are \nexpelled, the bright \ncoma around the \nnucleus shrinks and fades, and the \ntail length drops off.\n\nMany comets will then return to the \nouter Solar System and only return in hundreds or thousands of years.\n\nIn contrast, some comets -- like Comet \nC/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) -- receive a \ngravitational kick from the planets and so will never return.\n\nPictured, \nComet R3 PanSTARRs \nwas imaged deeply many nights in early to mid-May \nnear Cerro Paranal in \nChile.\n\nLater images appear closer to the top and clearly show the shrinking \nion tail.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"0ef295bc2c82c247","title":"Jupiter and Venus from Earth","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260607.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-07T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \nIt was visible around the world.\n\nThe sunset conjunction of Jupiter (left) and Venus (right) in 2012 was visible almost \nno matter where you lived on Earth. \n\nAnyone on\nour planet with a clear western horizon at sunset could see them.\n\nThat year, a creative photographer traveled \naway from the town lights of \nSzubin, \nPoland to photograph \na near closest approach of the \ntwo planets.\n\nThe bright planets were then separated by only \nthree degrees and his daughter struck a \nhumorous pose.\n\nA faint red sunset still glowed in the background.\n\nJupiter and \nVenus are \ntogether again this week after sunset, \npassing within a degree of each other about \ntwo days from today.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"f441969a11d0229a","title":"Charon: Moon of Pluto","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260606.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-06T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nA darkened and mysterious north polar region\nknown to some as\nMordor Macula caps this premier view\nof Charon, Pluto's largest moon.\n\nThe high-resolution image\nwas captured by the\ninterplanetary space probe\nNew Horizons\nnear its closest approach to distant Pluto on July 14, 2015.\n\nThe combined blue, red, and infrared\nimage data was processed to enhance colors\nand follow variations in Charon's surface properties\nwith a resolution of about 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles).\n\nA stunning image of Charon's Pluto-facing hemisphere, it also\nfeatures a clear view of an apparently moon-girdling belt of\nfractures and canyons that seems to\nseparate smooth southern plains from varied northern terrain.\n\nCharon is 1,214 kilometers (754 miles) across.\n\nThat's about 1/10th the size of planet Earth\nbut a whopping 1/2 the diameter of\nPluto itself,\nand makes it the largest satellite relative to its\nparent body in the Solar System.\n\nStill, the moon appears as a small bump at about the 1 o'clock position\non Pluto's disk in the grainy, negative, telescopic picture inset\nat upper left.\n\nThat image was used by James Christy and Robert Harrington\nat the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff to\ndiscover Charon in June of 1978.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"83fd54d36baeab58","title":"The Hydra Cluster of Galaxies","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260605.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-05T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nWithin our own Milky Way galaxy, two bright, spiky stars stand\nlike sentinels\nin the foreground of\nthis cosmic snapshot.\n\nFar beyond them are the galaxies of\nthe Hydra Cluster.\n\nIn fact, while the spiky foreground stars are hundreds of light-years\ndistant, the Hydra Cluster\ngalaxies are well over 100 million light-years away.\n\nThree large galaxies near the cluster center, two yellow\nellipticals\n(NGC 3311, NGC 3309) and one prominent blue spiral (NGC 3312),\nare the dominant galaxies, each about 150,000 light-years in diameter.\n\nAn intriguing overlapping galaxy pair cataloged as\nNGC 3314 lies\nabove and left of NGC 3312.\n\nAlso known as Abell 1060, the Hydra galaxy cluster is one of three large\ngalaxy clusters within 200 million light-years of the Milky Way.\n\nIn the\nnearby universe,\ngalaxies are gravitationally bound into clusters which themselves are\nloosely bound\ninto superclusters.\n\nSuperclusters in turn are seen to align over even larger\nscales.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"9f4d8e578fcfb647","title":"A Planetary Nebula with Cosmic Buckyballs","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260604.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-04T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n What is happening inside this unusual nebula?\n\n Planetary nebula Tc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified in 2010.\n \n Buckminsterfullerene — as buckyballs are officially called — is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in the shape of a soccer ball.\n\n The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize.\n\n Webb’s new data reveal where the C60 molecules live in this nebula, and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell around the central star, visible here as the bright edge of the nebula’s glowing orange central region.\n\n Look closely near the nebula’s heart and a more perplexing feature emerges: a delicate structure shaped uncannily like an upside-down question mark, fitting punctuation for the many questions this nebula still poses.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"bc8807954e0e101e","title":"Andromeda Through Gas and Dust","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260603.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-03T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"Wispy
Explanation: \nOver 1000 years ago, Persian astronomer \nAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi \npublished humanity’s oldest known record of \nthe Andromeda Galaxy \nin \"The Book of Fixed Stars\" \n(Bodleian Library MS. Marsh 144 p. 167). \n800 years later, Andromeda became \nthe 31st entry \nin Charles Messier’s \n\"Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters\". \nFrom “a small cloud” to “nebula” and now known to be \nour nearest major galaxy, \nAndromeda has remained a fundamental astronomical object. \nToday’s image, \ntaken over 202 hours, shows how far we have come in our ability to observe our neighbor. \nThe diffuse red and blue clouds \nare mostly foreground ionized hydrogen and oxygen well within our \nMilky Way. \nPink-red clouds of hydrogen \nionized \nby the energetic light of young stars trace the galaxy’s \ndusty spiral arms. \nM32 and \nM110 \nare \nsatellite galaxies \npictured orbiting the larger Andromeda. Despite its long history of observation through ancient unaided eyes to modern telescopes, Andromeda still holds countless secrets that \nastronomers will continue to search for, including how galaxies \nmerge and evolve, \nas well as the nature of the \ndark matter \nthat galaxies reside in.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"c252c2e6bcfaa501","title":"The Vela Supernova Remnant","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260602.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-02T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \nThe explosion is over, but the consequences continue. \n\nAbout twelve thousand years ago, a relatively normal star in the constellation \nVela suddenly \nexploded, \ncreating a strange point of light briefly visible to \nhumans living near the beginning of \nrecorded history. \n\nThe outer layers of the star crashed into the \ninterstellar medium, driving a \nshock wave that is still visible today. \n\nThe \nfeatured image,\ntaken piecemeal over 60 hours from the \nKhomas Region of \nNamibia, \ncaptures some of that filamentary and gigantic shock in \nvisible light, with details highlighted by \nhydrogen (red) and \noxygen (blue) emissions.\n\nAs gas flies away from the detonated star, it \ndecays and reacts with the \ninterstellar medium, \nproducing light in many different colors and energy bands.\n\nRemaining at the center of the \nVela Supernova Remnant is a \npulsar, a star as dense as nuclear matter that \nspins around \nmore than ten times in a single second.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"593f428b6dc886c9","title":"Saturn at Night","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260601.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nTelescopic views of Saturn and its beautiful rings\noften make it the star of\nstar\nparties.\n\nBut this stunning view of the outer gas gaint planet's rings and night side\njust isn't possible from telescopes in the vicinity of planet Earth.\n\nPeering out from the inner Solar System they can only bring\nSaturn's day side into view.\n\nIn fact, this image of Saturn's slender sunlit crescent\nwith the planet's night shadow cast across its broad and complex ring system\nwas captured by the robot spacecraft Cassini.\n\nAfter a seven year long journey from planet Earth,\nCassini called Saturn orbit home for 13 years (from 2004 - 2017)\nbefore it was directed to dive into the atmosphere of the gas giant on\nSeptember 15, 2017.\n\nThis\nmagnificent mosaic\nis composed of frames recorded\nby Cassini's\nwide-angle camera only two days before its\ngrand final plunge.\n\nAnd Saturn's night will not be seen again until\nanother spaceship\nfrom Earth calls.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"488cb31b6e47113f","title":"Eagle Nebula Pillars in Infrared from Hubble","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260531.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-31T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nNewborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. \n\nThey are gravitationally contracting in \npillars of dense gas and dust. \n\nThe intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars \nis causing surrounding material to boil away.\n\nThis image, \ntaken with the Hubble Space Telescope in near \ninfrared light, \nallows the viewer to \nsee through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in \nvisible light. \n\nThe giant structures are \nlight years in length and dubbed informally the Pillars of Creation. \n\nAssociated with the \nopen star cluster \nM16, \nthe Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 \nlight years away. \n\nThe \nEagle Nebula is a satisfying target \nfor small telescopes in a nebula-rich part of the sky toward the \nsplit constellation \nSerpens Cauda \n(the tail of the snake).","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"6072487a9670e1f5","title":"Supermoon Versus Micromoon","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260530.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-30T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"Two
Explanation: \nWhat is so micro about tonight's blue micromoon? \n\nJust after sunset, a \nfull moon will appear \nslightly smaller and dimmer than usual. \n\nThe reason is that the \nMoon's fully illuminated phase \noccurs within a short time of \napogee - \nwhen the Moon \nis farthest from \nthe Earth in its \nelliptical orbit. \n\nIn fact, tonight's micromoon will be the \nfarthest, smallest, and dimmest Moon this year. \n\nBut tonight's micromoon is notable for yet another reason: it is also a \nblue moon, meaning that it is the second \nfull moon in the same month \n(moon-th). \n\nPictured here, \na supermoon -- \nwhen the full moon appears near its largest -- is compared to a micromoon as photographed from \nKolkata, \nIndia \nin May and December of 2021. \n\nAlthough the next micromoon occurs next month, and the \nnext blue moon at the end of 2028, the next blue micromoon will not occur \nuntil 2053.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"e1479eb7d4b7a391","title":"Messier 104","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260529.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-29T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nA gorgeous spiral galaxy,\nMessier 104 is famous\nfor its nearly edge-on\nprofile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes.\n\nSeen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars,\nthe swath of cosmic dust lends a\nbroad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting\na more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy.\n\nAlso known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen\nacross the spectrum and\nis host to a central\nsupermassive black hole.\n\nAbout 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away,\nM104 is one of the\nlargest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.\n\nStill, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view\nlie well within our own Milky Way.\n\nThis broad\nview of the well-known galaxy was processed to reveal M104's\nextended halo, as well as a faint\ntidal stellar stream.\n\nIt was captured by the \nDark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-meter telescope\nat the Cerro Tololo\nInter-American Observatory.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"43953163a9fab8b3","title":"NGC 1514: The Crystal Ball Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260528.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-28T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n What do you see in this crystal ball?\n\n The featured image shows NGC 1514, known as the Crystal Ball Nebula, observed by the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, in Hawai'i.\n\n NGC 1514 is 1,500 light-years away and was discovered by William Herschel in 1790.\n\n This planetary nebula is formed when a star becomes a red giant and ejects its outer gas layers.\n\n The ejected shell of gas is heated up by the core of the star to temperatures hotter than the surface of our Sun: that makes the gas shine, creating beautiful images like this one.\n \n The slightly asymmetrical shape of the Crystal Ball Nebula reveals a secret: the bright star in the center has a companion.\n\n As the two stars orbit each other with a period of about nine years, they shape the gas around them.\n\n In about 10,000 - 25,000 years the nebula will be dissipated by their stellar winds.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"a3ce64313918b07a","title":"PK 164 +31.1: The Headphone Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260527.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-27T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\nWhat is a pair of headphones doing in the sky? Today’s image features the Headphone Nebula, also known as \nPK 164 +31.1 or \nJones-Emberson 1. \nThis \nplanetary nebula, \nthe remnant of a \ndying \nSun-like star, \nfaintly \noccupies an \nangular \nregion of \nthe Lynx constellation \nabout 1/5th the diameter of the full moon. The red and blue-ish green colors trace hydrogen and oxygen atoms, \nrespectively, that have been \nexcited and ionized \nby the nebula's central \nwhite dwarf. \nThe headphone shape, where two lobes of hydrogen puncture the inner region of oxygen, adds this object to a long list of \noddly shaped nebulae. \nThe morphology of such strange nebulae hint at the presence of \na stellar or planetary companion, \nwhich can stir the material flowing out from the dying star. You can listen to \nHubble \nand \nJWST \nsonifications \nof planetary nebulae through your very own headphones!","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"5d2fe1b38939de5a","title":"NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260526.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-26T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nThe upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. \n\nThe galaxy up top is \nNGC 3660, \na spiral galaxy similar to our own \nMilky Way galaxy in \nthat it has several bright blue \nspiral arms and a \ncentral bar of stars, dust, and gas.\n\nCaptured by chance in the \nfeatured deep and colorful image, \nsurprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a \nsupernova found just to the right of the central bar. \n\nFarther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, \nknown informally as Burçin’s galaxy, \nbut formally cataloged as \nLEDA 1000714.\n\nThe center of this galaxy appears to be an old \nelliptical galaxy, but it is \nstrangely surrounded by not one but two \nrings of stars. \n\nWhat created \nBurçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, \nbut it likely involves the \naccretion of one or more \nsmaller galaxies.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"0c7a925102aca5b4","title":"Thackeray's Globules","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260525.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-25T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nWhat are these strange space globs? \n\nSituated in \nrich star fields\nand glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of \ninterstellar dust \nand gas are so large they might be able to form stars.\n\nTheir home is known as \nIC 2944, \na bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light years away toward the \nconstellation of the Centaur \n(Centaurus).\n\nThe largest of these \ndark globules,\nfirst spotted by \nA. D. Thackeray in 1950\nusing a telescope in \nSouth Africa,\nis likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one\nlight-year wide.\n\nAlong with other data, the \nfeatured Hubble palette image from the \nEl Sauce Observatory in Chile, indicates that\n\nThackeray's globules are fractured and churning as a result\nof intense \nultraviolet radiation from young, hot stars already\nenergizing and heating the bright \nemission nebula.\n\nThese and similar \ndark globules known to be associated with other \nstar forming \nregions may ultimately be dissipated by their hostile environment --\nlike cosmic lumps of \nbutter in a hot frying pan.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"63571b9badec8cd7","title":"Messier 2","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260523.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-23T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nAfter the Crab Nebula,\nthis giant star cluster is the second entry in\n18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous list of\nthings that are not comets.\n\nM2 is one of the largest globular star clusters now known to\nroam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy.\n\nThough Messier originally described it as a nebula without stars, this\nstunning\nHubble image resolves stars across the cluster's central 40\nlight-years.\n\nIts population\nof stars numbers close to 150,000, concentrated\nwithin a total diameter of around 175 light-years.\n\nAbout 55,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Aquarius,\nthis ancient denizen of the Milky Way, also\nknown as NGC 7089,\nis 13 billion years old.\n\nAn extended stellar debris stream, a\nsignature of\npast gravitational tidal disruption, was recently found to be\nassociated with Messier 2.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"d015285fa185b54d","title":"The Nebulous Realm of WR 134","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260522.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-22T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nThis cosmic snapshot\ncovers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within the\nboundaries of the high-flying constellation Cygnus.\n\nMade using astronomical narrowband filters, the image\nhighlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the\nglow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas.\n\nEmbedded in\nthe region's expanse of interstellar clouds,\nthe complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of material\nswept up by the wind from\nWolf-Rayet star WR 134,\nthe brightest star near image center.\n\nDistance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making\nthis telescopic frame over 100 light-years across.\n\nShedding\ntheir outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds,\nmassive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a\nprodigious\nrate\nand end their final phase of massive star evolution in\na spectacular supernova.\n\nTheir stellar winds and final supernova explosion\nenrich the interstellar material with\nheavy elements\nto be incorporated in\nfuture generations of\nstars.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"ecb1bc12fb761f17","title":"A Collision of Galaxy Clusters","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260521.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-21T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"On
Explanation: \n\n This big beautiful spiral shines in X-ray light. It is about 20 times larger than our Galaxy.\n\n It belongs to Abell 2029, a galaxy cluster one billion light-years away.\n\n (To see only the galaxies, hover your cursor over the image, or follow this link.) \n \n Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe that are supported by gravity.\n \n Abell 2029 is formed by thousands of galaxies, surrounded by a huge cloud of hot gas and the equivalent of hundreds of trillions times the mass of the Sun in dark matter.\n \n The spiral is made of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, heated to tens of millions of degrees.\n \n It was found in a recent study that used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to show that Abell 2029 had a collision with a smaller cluster four billion years ago.\n \n The collision affected the gravitational field and caused the intracluster gas to slosh, like wine moving in a wine glass, shaping the spiral.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"aac8aeef965dfe40","title":"The Dark Wolf Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260520.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-20T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\nA dark wolf lies in gum. No, this isn’t a riddle! \nToday's image \nfeatures \nthe Dark Wolf Nebula \n(Sandqvist–Lindroos 17), \na spooky dust cloud embedded within the \nGum 55 \n(RCW 113) Nebula in \nthe Scorpius constellation. \nWhile \ndust \nis a pest to us, it serves a vital role in creating the necessary conditions for \nstars to be born. \nThe Dark Wolf absorbs the intense \nultraviolet and \nvisible \nlight emitted by young stars in Gum 55 and re-emits it at longer, mainly \ninfrared, \nwavelengths. This prevents the higher energy light from heating up the gas in the region. When a region of gas \nis cool enough, gravity takes over and causes the gas to collapse into a star. Not only does \ndust \nact as an interstellar thermostat, but it is also \nthe meet-cute \nfor single hydrogen atoms forming molecular hydrogen, the building block for stars. \nThe seemingly sinister Dark Wolf is actually a harbinger of cosmic life.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"266d86589cea5c1f","title":"NGC 2170: The Angel Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260519.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-19T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nIs this a painting or a photograph?\n\nIn this celestial\nabstract art \ncomposed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula\nNGC 2170,\nalso known as the \nAngel Nebula, shines just above the image center.\n\nReflecting the light of nearby hot stars, \nNGC 2170 is joined\nby other bluish reflection nebulae, a \nred emission region, many dark \nabsorption nebulae, \nand a backdrop of \ncolorful stars.\n\nLike the common household items that \nabstract painters \noften choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot \nstars featured \nhere \nare also commonly found in a setting like this one -- \na massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the \nconstellation of the \nUnicorn \n(Monoceros).\n\nThe giant\nmolecular cloud \nMon R2, \nis impressively close, estimated\nto be only 2,400 \nlight-years or so away.\n\nAt that distance, this \ncanvas would be over 60 \nlight-years across.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"2a8a7d062ab6e209","title":"Unraveling NGC 3169","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260518.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-18T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nSpiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball of cosmic\nyarn.\n\nIt lies some 70 million light-years away,\nsouth of\nbright star Regulus toward the faint constellation Sextans.\n\nWound up spiral arms are pulled out into sweeping tidal\ntails as NGC 3169 (left) and neighboring NGC 3166\ninteract\ngravitationally.\n\nEventually the galaxies will merge into one,\na common fate even for bright galaxies in\nthe local universe.\n\nDrawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear\nindications of the ongoing gravitational interactions\nacross the deep and colorful\ngalaxy group photo.\n\nThe telescopic frame\nspans about 20 arc minutes or about 400,000 light-years\nat the group's estimated distance, and includes smaller,\nbluish NGC 3165 to the right.\n\nNGC 3169 is also known to shine across the spectrum from\nradio to X-rays,\nharboring\nan active galactic nucleus that is the\nsite of a supermassive black hole.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"26587d1e30569290","title":"NGC 1300: Barred Spiral Galaxy","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260517.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-17T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \nAcross the center of this spiral galaxy is a \nbar. \n\nAnd at the center of this bar is smaller \nspiral. \n\nAnd at the center of that spiral is a \nsupermassive black hole. \n\nThis all happens in the big, beautiful, \nbarred spiral galaxy \ncataloged as NGC 1300, a galaxy that lies some \n70 million light-years away toward the \nconstellation of the river Eridanus.\n\nThis Hubble Space Telescope composite \nview of the gorgeous \nisland universe is one of the \nmost detailed \nHubble images ever made of a complete galaxy. \n\nNGC 1300 \nspans over 100,000 \nlight-years and the Hubble image reveals \nstriking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms.\n\nHow the giant bar formed, how it remains, and how it affects \nstar formation remains an \nactive topic of research.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"74d3a8b6955bfe27","title":"Aurora Slathers Up the Sky","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-16T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nLike salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green\naurora\nslathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the\nInternational Space Station.\n\nAbout 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself\nwithin the upper realm\nof the auroral displays.\n\nAurorae have the\nsignature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes.\n\nEmission from atomic oxygen dominates this view.\n\nThe tantalizing glow\nis green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish\nbands extend above the space station's horizon.\n\nThe orbital scene\nwas captured while passing over a point\nsouth and east of Australia, with\nstars above the horizon at the right belonging to\nthe constellation\nCanis Major,\nOrion's big dog.\n\nSirius,\nalpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near\nthe Earth's limb.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"3b4979feb59089d0","title":"R3 PanSTARRS: An Orion Comet","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260515.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-15T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nComet R3 PanSTARRS might be best remembered as an Orion comet. \n\nA key reason is because Comet \nC/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was near its most spectacular -- \nin terms of tail visibility -- when passing in front of the \niconic constellation. \n\nAlthough rare, other bright \ncomets, too, \nhave ventured across Orion, including \nLovejoy in 2015, \nHale-Bopp in 1997, \nand the Great Comet of 1264. \n\nBest visible in long duration exposures, the \nfeatured image was captured last week from the \nCraigieburn Mountain Range \nin New Zealand. \n\nVisible in the deep background image are the \nOrion Nebula, \nBarnard's Loop, and through R3's tail, the bright star \nSaiph, the sixth brightest \nstar in the \nconstellation of Orion.\n\nComet R3 PanSTARRS \ncontinues to fade as it moves further south, \npassing into the constellation of the Unicorn \n(Monoceros) in the next few days.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"eb733ab95035d7f2","title":"Messier Catalog at Uniform Scale","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260514.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-14T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \n\n What are some of the most interesting astronomical objects you can see in the night sky?\n\n Armed with a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can look for the very popular objects in the Messier Catalog.\n\n Most of them, but not all, are also visible from the southern half of the Earth.\n\n The featured image shows all 110 objects in the catalog at uniform scale -- the same magnification.\n\n Charles Messier created the catalog in the 18th century.\n\n He was interested in comets, and his catalog was a list of known comet-like \"objects to avoid\" in the sky when observing or hunting for comets.\n\n The deep sky objects in the catalog include a supernova remnant (the Crab Nebula, M1), other galaxies (such as Andromeda, M31), nebulae (e.g. the Orion Nebula, M42, a star-forming region) and stellar clusters (such as the Pleiades, M45, a bright young open cluster).","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"18f74a3ff4c6957b","title":"NGC 188: Old Cluster in the New General Catalog","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260513.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-13T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nThe New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae really isn't so new.\n\nIn fact, it was published in 1888 - an effort by\nJ. L. E. Dreyer\nto consolidate the work of astronomers\nWilliam,\nCaroline, and\nJohn Herschel\nalong with others into a useful single, complete catalog of\nastronomical discoveries and measurements.\n\nDreyer's work was largely successful and is still important today, as\nthis famous catalog continues\nto lend its \"NGC\" to bright clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.\n\nTake for example the star cluster known as NGC 188\n(item number 188 in the NGC compilation).\n\nIt lies about 6,000 light-years distant in the northern constellation\nCepheus and represents a galactic or\nopen star cluster.\n\nWith an age of about 7 billion years,\nNGC 188 is old for\nan open cluster.\n\nIts old, evolved red giant stars\nhave yellowish hues in\nthis colorful, deep sky view.\n\nNGC 188 also enjoys the designation\nCaldwell 1\nin a modern compilation of deep sky objects.\n\nLocated well above the plane of the Milky Way \nand seen in the direction of planet Earth's north celestial pole,\nthe ancient stellar group is known to some as the\nPolarissima Cluster.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"e144501555986459","title":"The Conjunction of Comet R3 PanSTARRS and the Orion Nebula","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260512.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-12T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \n\nToday’s composite image \nfeatures \nsomething old, \nsomething new, something borrowed, and something blue! \nComet R3 PanSTARRS, \nstreaking across the right of the image, likely originated from \nthe Oort Cloud, \nmeaning it is an old Solar System relic from billions of years ago. It’s bright extended \nion tail \nglows blue as the gas escaping the comet’s core is ionized by sunlight. Astronomers are fascinated by \ncomets \nfor all sorts of reasons: comet compositions are untouched time capsules containing the building blocks of Solar System planets; comets may have \ndelivered water \nto the young Earth; the behavior of cometary tails shed light on solar wind and radiation interactions. The background mosaic, featuring \nthe Orion Nebula \n(M42), \nwas taken over two nights of observation with the comet captured on the third night. \nThe Orion Nebula \nis our nearest stellar nursery and, at \nabout 2 million years old, \nis our something (relatively) new! Now at around \n127.5 million kilometers from Earth, \nwe wave goodbye to the borrowed Comet R3 PanSTARRS as it leaves the Solar System.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"631966513cf512af","title":"Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260511.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-11T11:00:00+00:00","content":"
Explanation: \nThese people are not in danger.\n\nWhat is coming down from the left is just the Moon, far in the distance.\n\nLuna appears so large here because she is being \nphotographed through a telescopic lens. \n\nWhat is moving is mostly \nthe Earth, whose spin causes \nthe Moon to slowly disappear behind \nMount Teide, a volcano in the \nCanary Islands \nof \nSpain \noff the northwest coast of \nAfrica.\n\nThe people pictured are \n16 kilometers away and \nmany are facing the camera because they are watching \nthe Sun \nrise behind the photographer.\n\nIt is not a coincidence that a \nfull moon sets just when the \nSun rises because the Sun is always on the \nopposite side of the sky from a full moon.\n\nThe featured video \nwas made in 2018 during a full \nMilk Moon. \n\nThe video is not time-lapse -- \nthis was really how fast the Moon was setting.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"a8363ead3dc9aa9c","title":"Comet R3 PanSTARRS and Orion","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260510.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-10T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nOrion never had a sword like this.\n\nAs Comet \nC/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) heads out of the inner Solar System, \nit is putting on quite a \nshow for long exposure cameras. \n\nCurrently \nseen toward the \nconstellation of \nOrion the Hunter, the distant \nOrion Nebula \nis visible on the upper right.\n\nComet R3 PanSTARRS \nis now showing \ntwo distinct tails: a short \ndust tail pointing toward the top of the image \nand a long and \nwavy ion tail \ntrailing off toward the upper left. \n\nThe ion tail points away from the \nSun and \nglows blue from excited \ncarbon monoxide. \n\nLarge particles in the dust tail somewhat \nresist the radiation pressure that push them away from the Sun and so retain a bit of the comet's orbit. \n\nThe dust tail shines by \nreflected sunlight.\n\nThe featured image was taken a few days ago from \nFrance's \nReunion Island \nin the southern \nIndian Ocean.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"cbb5bc735d44dd48","title":"Messier Craters in Stereo","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260509.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-09T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"See
Explanation: \n\nMany bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky\nare associated with the name of\nastronomer Charles Messier\nfrom his famous 18th century catalog.\n\nHis name is also given to these two large and remarkable craters\non the Moon.\n\nStandouts in the dark,\nsmooth lunar Sea of Fertility or Mare\nFecunditatis, Messier (left) and Messier A have dimensions of 15 by 8\nand 16 by 11 kilometers respectively.\n\nTheir elongated shapes are explained by the\nextremely shallow-angle trajectory followed by\nan impactor, moving left to right, that gouged out the craters.\n\nThe shallow impact also resulted in two\nbright rays of material\nextending along the surface to the right, beyond the picture.\n\nIntended to be viewed with\nred/blue glasses\n(red for the left eye), this striking stereo picture\nof the crater pair was recently created\nfrom high resolution scans of two images\n(AS11-42-6304,\nAS11-42-6305)\ntaken during the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"e107693851f789fc","title":"Comet R3 PanSTARRS Before Rigel","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260508.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-08T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"A
Explanation: \nWhich way is \nComet R3 PanSTARRS going?\n\nNot towards the star at the top of the image, because that is \nRigel, which, being far in the background, \nis \nunrelated to the comet.\n\nNot through the nebula in the image middle, because that is the \nWitch Head Nebula \nand it, too, is far in the distance -- but \nnot far from Rigel. \n\nNot into northern skies because over the past week Comet \nC/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) has moved into \nsouthern skies and is now best visible in \nEarth's \nSouthern Hemisphere toward the west after sunset. \n\nAngularly, \nComet R3 PanSTARRS \nis slowly moving toward the upper right, night by night, \nand will soon be in the constellation Orion.\n\nSpatially, the comet is now headed out of our \nSolar System but should remain \nvisible to cameras \nin southern skies for about a week. \n\nThe \nfeatured image was captured last week near \nCerro Paranal in \nChile.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}},{"id":"c22fc625c2c72d4e","title":"The Retrograde Dance of Saturn and Neptune","link":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260506.html","author":"Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)","published_at":"2026-05-06T11:00:00+00:00","content":"\"The
Explanation: \n\nWhat does it mean for \nSaturn and \nNeptune to be in retrograde? \nFeatured is a composite of images taken over 34 nights from May 2025 to February \n2026 tracing Saturn (brighter, foreground) and Neptune (dimmer, background). Over \nthat time, the two planets exhibited \nretrograde motion, \nmeaning they appeared to move backward in the sky. This \napparent backwards motion \noccurs when Earth overtakes the slower outer planets as they orbit the Sun. Imagine the Solar System \nis a running track. Earth \"runs\" faster along the inside of the track compared to the outer planets. \nAs Earth approaches, aligns, and then \"laps\" the outer planets, they change position from ahead to behind from \nthe Earth's perspective. This perspective shift is what causes the outer planets to change position in the \nnight sky.\nAn animation \ncorresponding to today’s image shows Saturn and Neptune’s months-long dance across \nthe northern night sky. Saturn stepped from \nthe Pisces constellation \ninto Aquarius \nand back again while Neptune remained in Pisces. This is the closest Saturn and Neptune have been \nin the sky since their last conjunction in 1989.","metadata":{"score":null,"source_feed_id":"nasa-apod","source_feed_type":"rss"}}]