2024年01月24日:远处所见的地球与月亮-（Earth and Moon from Beyond） 2024年01月24日:远处所见的地球与月亮-（Earth and Moon from Beyond）--原图下载{mtitle title="远处所见的地球与月亮"/}Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I;Processing: Andy Saunders说明: 从月亮的后方看过来，地球和月亮会是何种样貌？虽然它们经常 一起 入镜，但是在2022年底，美国航太总署 阿提米丝1号任务的猎户号太空船，旋绕到这颗地球最大卫星的后方，然后回首眺望它的故乡地球，并拍下了这对天体的不寻常视角影像。由于地球的直径大约是月球直径的4倍，是以月亮看似较大，则是因为太空船较靠近它所致。阿提米丝2号是美国航太总署阿提米丝计画的第二项任务，目前规划在2025年把人类送到月球附近，接续的阿提米丝3号任务，将于2026年底把人类送回月球表面。在上星期，来自日本JAXA（日本宇航机构）的小型无人探测器 SLIM降落在月球上，并布署了两部跳跃式的月面车。（Artemis mission 阿提米丝任务）{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="Earth and Moon from Beyond"/}Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I;Processing: Andy SaundersExplanation: What do the Earth and Moon look like from beyond the Moon?Although frequently photographed together, the familiar duo was captured with this unusual perspective in late 2022 by the robotic Orion spacecraft of NASA's Artemis I mission as it looped around Earth's most massive satellite and looked back toward its home world.Since our Earth is about four times the diameter of the Moon, the satellite’s seemingly large size was caused by the capsule being closer to the smaller body.Artemis II, the next launch in NASA’s Artemis series, is currently scheduled to take people around the Moon in 2025, while Artemis III is planned to return humans to lunar surface in late 2026.Last week, JAXA's robotic SLIM spacecraft, launched from Japan, landed on the Moon and released two hopping rovers.

2024年01月22日:山与月的影子-（Shadows of Mountain and Moon） 2024年01月22日:山与月的影子-（Shadows of Mountain and Moon）--原图下载{mtitle title="山与月的影子"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Enzo Massa Micon说明: 月亮和山会投下类似的影子吗？会的，但它们的明暗界线并不一定要对齐。上图所呈现的为2022年10月初，悬在义大利 格里沃拉山上空的上弦月。在这幅优美的主题影像里，位于右方的太阳，同时照亮了月亮及山峰的右侧。这种月相之所以有“上弦”之称，则是因为从地球看出去，被阳光照亮的月面之可见比例为4分之1。而所拍下的单曝光影像，更经过后置处理以突显影像中的这2个巨大物体。由于每天地球自转一圈，因此要拍下上弦月的明暗界线和笔直山脊几乎对齐的画面，拍照的时间点必需抓得很精准。{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="Shadows of Mountain and Moon"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Enzo Massa MiconExplanation: Can the Moon and a mountain really cast similar shadows?Yes, but the division between light and dark does not have to be aligned.Pictured, a quarter moon was captured above the mountain Grivola in Italy in early October of 2022. The Sun is to the right of the featured picturesque landscape, illuminating the right side of the Moon in a similar way that it illuminates the right side of the mountain.This lunar phase is called "quarter",in part, because the lit fraction visible from Earth is one quarter of the entire lunar surface. Digital post-processing of this single exposure gave both gigantic objects more prominence.Capturing the terminator of this quarter moon in close alignment with nearly vertical mountain ridge required careful timing because the Earth rotates once a day.

2023年12月17日:中国念湖上空的双子流星雨-（Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake） 2023年12月17日:中国念湖上空的双子流星雨-（Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake）--原图下载{mtitle title="中国念湖上空的双子流星雨"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Hongyang Luo说明: 这些流星是打那里来的？以在天空的方向来说，源头在双子座。因为这群12月的大流星雨，看似源自双子座内的辐射点，故称为双子流星雨。在三维空间上，从怪异法厄同小行星（3200 Phaethon）剥离出来的沙粒状碎片，沿着特定的轨道绕行太阳，而最靠近地球的轨道区就出现在双子座的前方。也因此，每当地球穿过这颗小行星的轨道时，那些洒落的碎片之辐射点就看似位于双子座内。上面这幅组合自多张摄于数天前的照片之主题影像，记录了超过100颗双子流星雨的明亮流星掠过中国 念湖上方的幽暗夜空。{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Hongyang LuoExplanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is theconstellationof Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as theGeminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from aradiant toward Gemini.Three dimensionally, however,sand-sized debrisexpelled from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethonfollows a well-defined orbit about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini.Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, theradiant point of falling debris appears in Gemini.Featured here is a composite of many images taken a few days ago through dark skies from Nianhu Lake in China.Over 100 bright meteorstreaks from the Geminids meteor shower are visible.

2023年10月30日:鬼魂星魂-（Reflections of the Ghost Nebula） 2023年10月30日:鬼魂星魂-（Reflections of the Ghost Nebula）--原图下载{mtitle title="鬼魂星魂"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Bogdan Jarzyna说明: 在这片恒星和尘埃里，有没有天体马上抓住你的目光？这些广袤、宝石般、内有不停反射暗淡星光云气的星云，漂流在仙王座方向的夜空中。 这些座落在地球外头约1,200光年远处的星云，位于银河盘面的仙王火焰分子云複合体的边缘。在这张主题影像底部，长超过2光年，比其他幽灵状云气要明亮的的怪物般云气，则是VdB 141（亦称Sh2-136、鬼魂星云或幽云星云）。 在这团反射星云里的緻密云核，已展现出处在恒星形成阶段的早期、正在发生塌缩的诸多特徵迹证。{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="Reflections of the Ghost Nebula"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Bogdan JarzynaExplanation: Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with faint, starlight-reflectingclouds, drifts through the night in the royal constellation of Cepheus.Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along theplane of the Milky Way at theedge of the Cepheus Flaremolecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away.Over two light-years across and brighter than the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as theGhost Nebula, seen toward the bottom of the featured image.Within the reflection nebula are the telltale signs of dense corescollapsingin the earlystages of star formation.

2023年10月09日:扭曲的日出带食-（A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse） 2023年10月09日:扭曲的日出带食-（A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse）--原图下载{mtitle title="扭曲的日出带食"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis说明: 你看过这种模样的日出吗？在当地的乌云散开之后，日偏食期间的东升太阳，看似裂成二片升起，而据摄影者之言，这是他这辈子看过最令人瞠目结舌的日出。被大气红化的太阳上缘之黝黑缺口是月亮，而下缘的圆突峰也是月亮。造成这种景观的缘由，是视线方向的地球大气恰好有逆温层，其作用酷似庞大的透镜，造就了第二重影像。对比于寻常的日出或日落，这种罕见的大气光学现象称为伊特拉斯坎花瓶效应。这幅主题影像，是于2019年12月在卡达的艾尔沃克拉所拍摄的。当时位在地球东半球一道狭窄区域内的人们，有幸见到月盘完全镶在日盘里，形成称为火之环的日环食日环食景观。下星期六对位在食带里的人们来说，即将发生的日食事件也是日环食。{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Elias ChasiotisExplanation: Yes, but have you ever seen a sunrise like this? Here, after initial cloudiness, the Sun appeared to rise in two pieces and during a partial eclipse in 2019, causing the photographer to describe it as the most stunning sunrise of his life. The dark circle near the top of the atmospherically-reddened Sun is the Moon -- but so is the dark peak just below it. This is because along the way, the Earth's atmosphere had a layer of unusually warm air over the sea which acted like a gigantic lens and created a second image. For a normal sunrise or sunset, this rare phenomenon of atmospheric optics is known as the Etruscan vase effect.The featured picture was captured in December 2019 from Al Wakrah, Qatar. Some observers in a narrow band of Earth to the east were able to see a full annular solar eclipse -- where the Moon appears completely surrounded by the background Sun in a ring of fire. The next solar eclipse, also an annular eclipse for well-placed observers, will occur this coming Saturday.

2023年10月02日:红色精灵的高解析影像-（Sprite Lightning in High Definition） 2023年10月02日:红色精灵的高解析影像-（Sprite Lightning in High Definition）--原图下载{mtitle title="红色精灵的高解析影像"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Escurat说明: 有时候闪电会出现在太空的边缘附近。红色精灵闪电就是这样的例证之一，而在过去的25年之中，它一直是地球各处人们拍摄和研究的标的。其实所有类型的闪电之起源，至今皆仍然是研究的课题，因此科学家正致力于了解为何红色精灵闪电会发生。研究已证实，在强烈的正云对地闪电之后，红色精灵可能会以80公里高空、大小约100米的电离空气球为起点，然后以10分之1光速的高速向下伸展，紧接着出现成群向上飞射的电离球。上面这幅撷取自3星期前摄于法国．多尔多涅省．卡斯泰尔诺堡的一部影片之超高解析度定格，积分时间为1/25秒，所呈现的是一群红色精灵的高解析影像。这群红色精灵转瞬即逝，下一个影片定格就只能见到微弱的光晕。{lamp/}原文：{mtitle title="Sprite Lightning in High Definition"/}Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas EscuratExplanation: Sometimes lightning occurs out near space. One such lightning type is red sprite lightning, which has only been photographed and studied on Earth over the past 25 years. The origins of all types of lightning remain topics for research, and scientists are still trying to figure out why red sprite lightning occurs at all. Research has shown that following a powerful positivecloud-to-ground lightning strike,red sprites may start as 100-meter balls ofionizedair that shoot down from about80-km high at 10 percent the speed of light.They arequickly followedby a group of upward streaking ionized balls.Featured here is an extraordinarily high-resolution image of a group of red sprites.This image is a single frame lasting only 1/25th of a second from a video taken aboveCastelnaud Castle in Dordogne, France, about three weeks ago.The sprites quickly vanished -- no sprites were visible even on the very nextvideo frame.