by APOD Robot » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:53 am
Moonset Over Pleasant Bay
Explanation: It was a sky for the imagination. In the early evening last week, the sky illuminating the
unaided eye was perhaps even more illuminating to the mind's eye. The unaided eye saw clouds framing the
Moon setting over a calm and reflective bay,
spruce trees lining the nearby shores, the
Pleiades open star cluster (M45) glowing prominently in the center of the sky, the
Andromeda galaxy hovering just over the horizon on the right, and the
belt stars of Orion lined up on the left, just below the bright orange star
Betelgeuse. The bright star
Sirius peeked out of the trees on the far left. The
mind's eye might further imagine, however, some of the
constellations coming to life, with
Orion the Hunter taking up his sword and shield, followed into battle by his
Big Dog (
Canis Major, whose right eye is Sirius), and watched from across the sky by
Cassiopeia, the Queen of
Ethiopia, sitting on her Throne. The above image was taken over
Pleasant Bay,
Maine,
USA, and digitally merged with constellations from
Uranographicarum, drawn in the 17th century by J. Hevelius.
[/b]
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100329.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_100329.jpg[/img] [size=150]Moonset Over Pleasant Bay[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] It was a sky for the imagination. In the early evening last week, the sky illuminating the [url=http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/dav_optics/examples/eye_demo.html]unaided eye[/url] was perhaps even more illuminating to the mind's eye. The unaided eye saw clouds framing the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090128.html]Moon setting[/url] over a calm and reflective bay, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce]spruce[/url] trees lining the nearby shores, the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081209.html]Pleiades[/url] open star cluster (M45) glowing prominently in the center of the sky, the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090510.html]Andromeda[/url] galaxy hovering just over the horizon on the right, and the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090929.html]belt stars of Orion[/url] lined up on the left, just below the bright orange star [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990605.html]Betelgeuse[/url]. The bright star [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000611.html]Sirius[/url] peeked out of the trees on the far left. The [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination]mind's eye[/url] might further imagine, however, some of the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chc_Ze7XFCo]constellations[/url] coming to life, with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(mythology)]Orion the Hunter[/url] taking up his sword and shield, followed into battle by his [url=http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/hercules.asp]Big Dog[/url] ([url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Major]Canis Major[/url], whose right eye is Sirius), and watched from across the sky by [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(constellation)]Cassiopeia[/url], the Queen of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia_(Mythology)]Ethiopia[/url], sitting on her Throne. The above image was taken over [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Bay_(Maine)]Pleasant Bay[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine]Maine[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States]USA[/url], and digitally merged with constellations from [url=http://hubblesource.stsci.edu/sources/illustrations/constellations/]Uranographicarum[/url], drawn in the 17th century by J. Hevelius.
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