Apod 2.7

 

     Recently I was looking at the APOD titled "Geminis Fireball over Mount Balang". A few days ago there was a geminid meteor shower that was visible in the night sky. During this shower this amazing picture was captured that shows a meteor descending right over Mount Balang In China. This fireball was actually just a pebble that had intercepted with earth's atmosphere and it only flashed for a fraction of a second. In the background of the picture one can see the three stars that make up Orion's belt. The star Sirius is also visible near the center of the picture as well.

APOD 2.6

     I was looking at the APOD labed Moondog Night. I had prior knowledge of sundogs but moondogs were something that I have never seen before. The picture shows what seems to be an explosion in the night sky when in reality it is actually just a moondog. These moondogs are created when the moonlight is refracted through hexagonal shaped crystals in cirrus clouds. The lower the moon the fainter the moondog. The moon dog in the picture only lasted ten minutes until it had faded into the night sky.

APOD 2.5

     Today I was looking at the APOD titled Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula. This nebula is usually very faint and hard to see, however this picture seemed to capture it perfectly. This nebula has a neuron star and the debris cloud is expanding after the explosion of a massive star. It blows my mind that such a nice picture of this nebula could be taken despite the fact that it is 5,000 light years away. I am also surprised by how much it actually looks like a jellyfish.