APOD: 2021-10-21 - SH2-308: The Dolphin-Head Nebula (Narrated by Joanna)
Astronomy Picture of the Day - October 21st, 2021 - SH2-308: The Dolphin-Head Nebula (Narrated by Joanna)
Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic bubble is huge. Cataloged as Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova phase of massive star evolution. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution. The windblown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years. Relatively faint emission captured by narrowband filters in the deep image is dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atoms mapped to a blue hue. Presenting a mostly harmless outline, SH2-308 is also known as The Dolphin-head Nebula.
Astronomy Picture of the Day - March 20th, 2020 - Morning, Planets, Moon and Montreal (Narrated by Brian)
Dawn's early light came to Montreal, northern planet Earth, on March 18, the day before the vernal equinox. At the end of that nearly equal night the Moon stands above a dense constellation of urban lights in this serene city and skyscape. Of course the Moon's waning crescent faces toward the rising Sun. Skygazers could easily spot bright Jupiter just above the Moon, close on the sky to a fainter Mars. Saturn, a telescopic favorite, is just a pinprick of light below and farther left of the closer conjunction of Moon, Jupiter and Mars. Near the ecliptic, even Mercury is rising along a line extended to the horizon from Jupiter and Saturn. The elusive inner planet is very close to the horizon though, and not quite visible in this morning's sky.
Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat
Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200320.html
This video was auto generated using data from NASA Open API.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMGGZbmdPEU
Astronomy Picture of the Day - September 5th, 2021 - Earth and Moon (Narrated by Brian)
The Earth and Moon are rarely photographed together. One of most spectacular times this occurred was about 30 years ago when the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft zoomed past our home planetary system. Then, robotic Galileo watched from about 15-times the Earth-Moon separation as our only natural satellite glided past our home world. The featured video combines 52 historic color-enhanced images. Although our Moon may appear small next to the Earth, no other planet in our Solar System has a satellite so comparable in size . The Sun, far off to the right, illuminated about half of each sphere, and shows the spinning Earth's white clouds, blue oceans, and tan continents.
Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210905.html
This video was auto generated using data from NASA Open API.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX8JysWj8PE
Wikipedia Picture of the Day - May 22nd, 2022 - Mars (Narrated by Emma)
This is a high-resolution topographic map of the surface of Mars, colored according to elevation, based on research led by Maria Zuber and David Smith on data collected by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, an instrument on board the NASA space probe Mars Global Surveyor. North is at the top of the main map, accompanied by two insets for the northern and southern polar regions. Highlands (red and orange) dominate the southern hemisphere of Mars, while lowlands (blue) predominate in the north – a feature known as the Martian dichotomy. Notable large surface features visible on the map include Olympus Mons (the highest mountain on Mars) and the volcanoes of Tharsis in the west, the Valles Marineris to the east of Tharsis, and the Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere.
Map credit: NASA/JPL/USGS; edited by WolfmanSF
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2022-05-22
This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wzmTkKsQ08
Wikipedia Picture of the Day - August 25th, 2023 - Pénélope (Narrated by Brian)
Pénélope is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The French-language libretto, by René Fauchois, is based on Homer's Odyssey. Dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns, the opera was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo, in March 1913. This lithograph poster was designed by Georges Rochegrosse for the 1913 Paris premiere of Pénélope at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
Poster credit: Georges Rochegrosse; restored by Adam Cuerden
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2023-08-25
This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Emo77aLKc
Beautiful News Daily - May 27th, 2020 - Electric Vehicle Sales Are Soaring in Europe (Narrated by Emma)
Improved infrastructure for charging electric vehicles. Government funded research into battery technology. Lower taxes, free parking and other incentives to buy.
As efficient electric cars replace the existing fleet, we’ll cut emissions, air pollution, noise, and our dependence on oil.
Credits: David McCandless, InformationIsBeautiful.net.
License: Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Source: https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/221-electric-vehicle-sales
This video was auto generated using data and media from InformationIsBeautiful.net.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lIj3uay7AE
Wikipedia Picture of the Day - February 13th, 2021 - White-throated kingfisher (Narrated by Amy)
The white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai Peninsula east through the Indian subcontinent to the Philippines. Seen here in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, it perches conspicuously on wires or other exposed perches within its territory, and is a frequent sight in southern Asia. This species mainly hunts large crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, snakes, fish and frogs; it bathes in water but rarely drinks.
Photograph credit: John Harrison
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2021-02-13
This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6O2NfiIGcY
Wikipedia Picture of the Day - August 31st, 2020 - Bank myna (Narrated by Brian)
The bank myna (Acridotheres ginginianus) is a passerine bird found in flocks on the plains of northern and central India. Its usual habitat is cultivated farmland, usually in the vicinity of open water, but flocks will often live within cities, in markets and railway stations. Its common name comes from its propensity to nest in large colonies in holes excavated in the banks of rivers, although other sites are sometimes chosen. It feeds on grain, insects and fruits, and sometimes follows grazing animals, picking up disturbed insects or even ticks off the animals' backs. In towns, it makes use of food dropped by humans, even following catering vehicles at airports. This bank myna was photographed in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:POTD/2020-08-31
This video was auto generated using data and media from Wikipedia.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA-25dF1Y60
Beautiful News Daily - July 18th, 2020 - After 23 Months, the 2018 Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Has Ended (Narrated by Amy) The 2018 ebola outbreak in the Demo...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZY4Laeqf6w