Wikipedia Picture of the Day - December 29th, 2021 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes (Narrated by Matthew) Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes (29 December 1719 – 13 February 1787), was a French statesman and diplomat. He served as the French foreign minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, notably during the American Revolutionary War. This oil-on-canvas portrait, by the French painter Antoine de Favray, depicts Vergennes in Turkish attire as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The painting is in the collection of the Pera Museum in Istanbul. Painting credit: Antoine de Favray Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2021-12-29 This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyPRAAdeL_c

Wikipedia Picture of the Day - September 8th, 2021 - Ālī Qāpū (Narrated by Matthew) Ālī Qāpū is an imperial palace in Isfahan, Iran, built in the late 16th century. The palace served as the official residence of Persian emperors of the Safavid dynasty. In 1979, UNESCO inscribed the palace and the adjoining Naqsh-e Jahan Square as a World Heritage Site due to their cultural and historical importance. This panoramic photograph of Ālī Qāpū, captured using high-dynamic-range imaging during the golden hour, consists of twenty-five frames digitally merged together. Photograph credit: Amir Pashaei Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2021-09-08 This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puXS8SD0U8A

Astronomy Picture of the Day - October 2nd, 2021 - A Light and Dusty Night (Narrated by Emma) Posing as a brilliant evening star, Venus lies near the western horizon in this southern hemisphere, early spring, night skyscape. To create the composite view exposures tracking the sky and fixed for the foreground were taken on September 25 from Cascavel in southern Brazil. In view after sunset, Venus appears immersed in a cone of zodiacal light, sunlight scattered from dust along the Solar System's ecliptic plane. In fact from either hemisphere of planet Earth, zodiacal light is most visible after sunset near a spring equinox, (or before sunrise near an autumn equinox) when its luminous arc lies at steep angles to the horizon. Extending above the sunset on this night, the zodiacal light reaches toward rich starfields and immense interstellar dust clouds in the bulge of the central Milky Way. Follow along the Milky Way from the central bulge back toward the horizon and you'll spot the closest star system to the Sun, Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.37 light-years away. Image Credit & Copyright: Rodrigo Guerra Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211002.html This video was auto generated using data from NASA Open API. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IXInqWdQIg

Astronomy Picture of the Day - March 26th, 2020 - Andromeda Station (Narrated by Joanna) This surreal picture isn't from a special effects sci-fi movie. It is a digital composite of frames of the real Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, rising over a real mountain. Exposures tracking the galaxy and background stars have been digitally combined with separate exposures of the foreground terrain. All background and foreground exposures were made back to back with the same camera and telephoto lens on the same night from the same location. In the "Deepscape" combination they produce a stunning image that reveals a range of brightness and color that your eye can't quite see on its own. Still, it does look like you could ride a cable car up this mountain and get off at the station right next to Andromeda. But at 2.5 million light-years from Earth the big beautiful spiral galaxy really is a little out of reach as a destination. Don't worry, though. Just wait 5 billion years and the Andromeda Galaxy will come to you. This Andromeda Station is better known as Weisshorn, the highest peak of the ski area in Arosa, Switzerland. Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200326.html This video was auto generated using data from NASA Open API. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMOycubbd9k