Starship Asterisk*

I have had APOD as my opening screen at work for over 10 years. One of the first images I remember was the Tarantula Nebula, Oct. 27, 1999. I didn't bother to buy a home computer because my employer (a university) allowed unlimited use of their system by staff, so I could just stay late. But I retir...

It was at a religious retreat! We had a campfire under the stars and discovered that several of us loved astronomy. I don't remember my exact first date, but one of my earliest images was the Tarantula Nebula, October 27, 1999. Not all religions stifle scientific inquiry. I'm a member of the Quakers...

I live in Kansas, and I'm so used to local technology problems that I thought it was a glitch in the system at our end!

No one else seems to have noticed that the words "likely had" are in italics for no clear reason. Is this possibly supposed to be a link, but the wrong code was entered? Can the link be added, please? I'd hate to think I was missing a link in such a fascinating APOD!

I've read both pages of these Gale comments, and no one has mentioned two pet peeves of mine. Are we to understand that North is 'up' in the picture? It isn't stated. Also, which direction is the Sun's rays coming from? In looking at craters and landscapes without live-forms to give a reference, it ...

Thank you, a.niwa! That is a source of great beauty!!!

The various opinions are caused by the fact that the leaf is "palmately" veined. That means that the major veins all meet at a central point at the distal end of the stem. Only a few kinds of plants have this leaf; several have been suggested here. The leaf in the photo has leaflets that a...

Oops! While I was composing my message, the definitive message was posted!

Reunion is south of the equator, but not so far that some northern constellations wouldn't be visible. In this image, we definitely see the Magellanic Clouds to the right, and what I take to be the Pleiades at the far left, just about half-way between the skyline and the top of the image. Thus, nort...

OK, I give up my idea of southern Africa (even foreshortened, the inward curve isn't the right shape) and throw in my lot with the Australian camp. The inward curve, seen behind the upper left bank of solar collectors, would be the Great Southern Bight, and the white stuff is clouds, though there is...

A lot of discussion of exactly what latitude, etc. the ISS was over seem to miss the obvious fact that the camera is aimed at a slant, not straight down toward the center of the Earth. Whatever the ISS is directly over is off the frame to the upper right. I stand by my earlier post of southern Afric...

I really think I see much of southern Africa behind the upper left bank of solar panels. The curve inward where South America once was joined is distinctive. The bottom of the picture is the icy coast of Antartica- I see at least one large ice floe that broke loose from an ice sheet? Of course, it c...

Good call on the fainter, more distant blue shell- I see it. In fact, about 3 times further out than that, I see a bumpy but even more definite yellow-orange shell, covering a significant part of the left side of the field, looking to be centered on the same apparent planetary nebula. I checked the ...

I apologize! I thought I'd gotten to the end of the string; obviously, I didn't notice that there was another page. At least I was right.

Since the moon is overexposed, could the streak just be an artifact of the camera? Obviously, it's cold (the lake is iced over) and ice crystals could form on the lens cover and reflect light in a way which would automatically be oriented toward the light source (the moon). I know that I've often se...

Centaurus A: How many black holes? (APOD 30 June 2007) First, Kudos! The explanatory material and links with this dramatic image were most enlightening. But, given the really good evidence that there are at least 2 galaxies merging (or crossing?) in this active region, and the statement in one link ...

Does anyone out there know why, in May 5th's APOD, Jupiter's poles seem to be glowing? The edges of Jupiter fade to black everywhere else, indicating full-on sunlight, but the poles come to a knife edge with strong color. There seems to be a light source that is not the sun. I've followed the link t...