CIRCLE WITH A DOT

IC 2574: Coddington's Nebula https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260219.html #APOD

Orion's Cradle https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260218.html #APOD

Tails of Comet WierzchośImage Credit & Copyright: José J. Chambó;Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)Explanation: Some comets are regular guests of our solar neighborhood; others come by only once, never to return. We won’t have another chance to see Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś), which is currently making its way through the inner Solar System. The hyperbolic orbit of this comet indicates that it will likely become an interstellar traveler. Comet Wierzchoś is today near its closest approach to the Earth, passing roughly the same distance from the Earth as is the Sun. The featured 30-minute exposure was taken last week in Chile and shows a 5-degree long ion tail as well as three shorter dust tails. The green hue of the coma comes from the breakdown of dicarbon molecules by sunlight, but that process does not last long enough to also tinge the tails. On the far right lies a spiral galaxy far in the distance: NGC 300.https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260217.html #apod

Tails of Comet Wierzchoś https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260217.html #APOD

Unexplained Shocks Around a White Dwarf StarHow is RXJ0528+2838 creating such shock waves? A recently discovered white dwarf star, the farther left of the two largest white spots, RXJ0528+2838, was found 730 light-years away from Earth. Most stars, when done fusing nuclei in their cores for energy, become red giant stars, the cores of which live on as faint dense white dwarfs that slowly cool down for the rest of time. #astrophotography #WhiteDwarves #ShockWaves #APOD

Unexplained Shocks Around a White Dwarf Star https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260216.html #APOD

To Fly Free in Space https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260215.html #APOD

To Fly Free in SpaceImage Credit: NASA, STS-41BExplanation: What would it be like to fly free in space? About 100 meters from the cargo bay of a space shuttle, Bruce McCandless II was living the dream -- floating farther out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured, was floating free in space. During Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984, McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an "untethered space walk". The MMU worked by shooting jets of nitrogen and was used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was later replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260215.html #apod

Roses are Red https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260214.html #APOD

NGC 147 and NGC 185 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260213.html #APOD

NGC 147 and NGC 185Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck AyoubExplanation: Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this deep telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellite galaxies of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view toward the constellation Cassiopeia, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen much closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of small satellite galaxies.https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260213.html #apod

The Bay of Rainbows https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260212.html #APOD

A Year of Sunspots https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260211.html #APOD

@nasa that's Mt. Crumpet where the Grinch lives

In Green Company: Aurora over NorwayImage Credit & Copyright: Max RiveExplanation: Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display. Arms went high in the air, patience and experience paid off, and the creative featured image was captured as a composite from three separate exposures. The setting is a summit of the Austnesfjorden fjord close to the town of Svolvear on the Lofoten islands in northern Norway. The year was 2014. This year, our Sun is just passing solar maximum, the peak in its 11-year surface activity cycle. As expected, some spectacular aurora have recently resulted.https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260210.html #apod