Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech
The image above combines seven frames taken by the navigation camera on Spirit on 28 April 2009 or the rovers 1.891st Martian day. It covers a vista from south-southeast on the left to northeast on the right.
The site from which Spirit obtained this view has been informally named ‘Troy.’ Layers of differently hued soil uncovered by the sinking wheels became the subject of intense analysis by the instruments on Spirit’s robotic arm.
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/UIUC/Y.Chu et al., Optical: NASA/HST
Have a look at this fantastic new image of the Cat’s Eye Nebula which can be found in the constellation Draco. It was created by combining two images one from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the other from the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the first time astronomers have been able to see the intense emissions from the central star of the planetary nebula.
The nebula is 3,000 light years from us and is a 9th magnitude object, which means you need a telescope to see it and unfortunately you’re not likely to get the amount of detail shown in the image on the left.
Image taken with SLOOH telescope
Just had to share this fabulous image of M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy(NGC 5194). It’s approximately 25 million lightyears from us, so in effect we’re looking back in time (as with most astronomical objects). It’s apparent magnitude is +8.1 so you’ll need at the very least a pair of binoculars to view it and can be found in Canes Venatici.
It’s categorised as an Sbc, which is a spiral galaxy and due to its position we are able to view it face on. This was the first galaxy that the spiral structure was seen clearly in and it was observed by the Third Earl of Rosse, William Parson during 1845. He used the 72 inch reflecting telescope that he’d built in the grounds of Birr Castle, which became known as the leviathon as it was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
Why not get involved in Meteorwatch with Newbury Astronomical society. They have organised a meteor watch to take place on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 August and everyone is invited. All you need to do is follow @NewburyAs on twitter and/or #Meteorwatch.
The Twitter Meteorwatch will start at 21.30 BST on the 11th of August and will continue through to the evening of the 12th of August. Amateur and professional astronomers from the US and other countries are invited to join in and take over from the UK, when the sun comes up here, helping make the event run for over 24 hours and be truly international. The event will close in the UK, in the early hours of the 13th of August 2009.
For more information check out Newbury.