NASA, DOE, International Fermi LAT Collaboration - Fermi Science Finals - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 23

Fermi Science Finals 
Illustration Credit: NASA, DOE, International Fermi LAT Collaboration, Jay Friedlander (Goddard Space Flight Center)

Explanation: The Fermi Science Playoffs celebrate 10 years of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's exploration of the high-energy universe. Surviving all early rounds of voting, these two finalists in the competion square off at last. Digital illustrations from a list of 16 of Fermi's top scientific discoveries, they represent the competition's two top seeds, defeating 12th seed New Clues to Dark Matter and 14th seed Starquakes in Magnetar Storm in the semifinal round. On the left are unprecedented, unpredicted, 25,000 light-year tall Gamma-ray Bubbles above and below the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. On the right, violently merging Neutron Stars Collide to create the first gamma-ray detected gravitational wave event. Pick one now and cast your vote here to crown the most popular science result from Fermi's first decade.

Gabriel Faure - "Pavane" - Peinture de Claude Monet - Slides -Musique

"Pavane"

Hubble, NASA, ESA - Symbiotic R Aquarii - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 22

Symbiotic R Aquarii 
Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: You can see it change in brightness with just binoculars over the course of a year. Variable star R Aquarii is actually an interacting binary star system, two stars that seem to have a close, symbiotic relationship. About 710 light years away, this intriguing system consists of a cool red giant star and hot, dense white dwarf star in mutual orbit around their common center of mass. The binary system's visible light is dominated by the red giant, itself a Mira-type long period variable star. But material in the cool giant star's extended envelope is pulled by gravity onto the surface of the smaller, denser white dwarf, eventually triggering a thermonuclear explosion and blasting material into space. Thefeatured image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the still-expanding ring of debris which spans less than a light year and originated from a blast that would have been seen in the early 1770s. The evolution of less understood energetic events producing high energy emission in the R Aquarii system has been monitored since 2000 using Chandra X-ray Observatory data.

Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA - Apollo 11 Landing Site Panorama - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 21

Apollo 11 Landing Site Panorama 
Image Credit: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA

Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. The images were taken by Neil Armstrong looking out his window of the Eagle Lunar Module shortly after the July 20, 1969 landing. The frame at the far left (AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world. Toward the south, thruster nozzles can be seen in the foreground on the left, while at the right, the shadow of the Eagle is visible to the west. For scale, the large, shallow crater on the right has a diameter of about 12 meters. Frames taken from the Lunar Module windows about an hour and a half after landing, before walking on the lunar surface, were intended to initially document the landing site in case an early departure was necessary.

Le Cosmographe - Eclipse de Lune et planètes à l'oeil nu - Video - Espace

Tous les curieux du ciel, et bien sûr les astronomes amateurs, sont gâtés pour ce mois de juillet : quasiment toutes les planètes du Système solaire sont visibles au cours des douces nuits de l’été. Cinq le sont à l’œil nu. S’y ajoute l’astéroïde Vesta. Mais il n’y a pas que ça ! Événement céleste à ne pas rater : la plus longue éclipse de Lune du siècle le même jour que l’opposition de Mars ! Et en plus, ce sera la plus petite distance entre la Terre et la Planète rouge depuis 2003 ! Un beau festival de planètes.

Ce mois de juillet 2018 va combler tous les observateurs du ciel, que vous soyez simple curieux ou astronome amateur chevronné. C’est en effet un vrai défilé de planètes, du crépuscule à l’aube. Un paradis pour tous les amateurs de planètes qui souhaitent les contempler ou les photographier. Et ce n’est pas tout : la Lune se donnera en spectacle à la fin du mois pour une longue éclipse. Cerise sur la gâteau, la planète rouge sera alors visible à côté d’elle, le jour de son opposition (le 27 juillet). Et cette année, c’est un grand cru.

Notre satellite naturel a rendez-vous avec toutes ces planètes au fil de sa lunaison. Les 5 visibles à l’œil nu, auxquelles s’ajoutent les lointaines Uranus et Neptune et l’astéroïde Vesta, le deuxième plus gros corps de la Ceinture d’astéroïdes. Alors, si d’aventure vous hésitiez encore à acheter uninstrument d’observation — et/ou du matériel pour photographier le ciel —, ce mois de juillet (avec les vacances) est peut-être le bon moment. Vous pourrez ainsi admirer au cours des douces nuits d’été, le croissant de Vénus, les bandes colorées de Jupiter (et ses satellites), Saturne et ses anneaux, Vesta… ! Enfin, Pluton, une ex-planète classée maintenant comme planète naine, sera en opposition le 12 juillet. Il y a 3 ans, le 14 juillet 2015, New Horizons réalisait son survol historique de l’astre et de ses compagnons. Des images qu’on n’est pas prêt d’oublier !

Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn (Weather and Sky Photography) - The Teapot and the Milky Way - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 20

The Teapot and the Milky Way 
Image Credit & Copyright: Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn (Weather and Sky Photography)

Explanation: The recognizable stars of the Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius posed with the Milky Way over Death Valley, planet Earth on this quiet, dark night. The surreal scene was appropriately captured fromTeakettle Junction, marked by the wooden sign adorned with terrestrial teapots and kettles on the rugged road to Racetrack Playa. Shining against the luminous starlight of the central Milky Way is bright planet Saturn, just above the star at the celestial teapot's peak. But the brightest celestial beacon, high above the southern horizon, is an orange tinted Mars at upper left in the frame.

HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA - Dark Slope Streaks Split on Mars - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 19

Dark Slope Streaks Split on Mars 
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

Explanation: What is creating these dark streaks on Mars? No one is sure. Candidates include dust avalanches, evaporating dry ice sleds, and liquid water flows. What is clear is that the streaks occur through light surface dust and expose a deeper dark layer. Similar streaks have been photographed on Mars for years and are one of the few surface features that change their appearance seasonally. Particularly interesting here is that larger streaks split into smaller streaks further down the slope. The featured image was taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars-orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) several months ago. Currently, a global dust storm is encompassing much of Mars.

James W. Young - Moon and Venus over Cannon Beach - Astronomy picture of the day - 2018 July 18

Moon and Venus over Cannon Beach 
Image Credit & Copyright: James W. Young

Explanation: What's that spot next to the Moon? Venus. Two days ago, the crescent Moon slowly drifted past Venus, appearing within just one degree at its closest. This conjunction, though, was just one of several photographic adventures for our Moon this month (moon-th), because, for one, a partial solar eclipse occurred just a few days before, on July 12. Currently, the Moon appears to be brightening, as seen from the Earth, as the fraction of its face illuminated by the Sun continues to increase. In a few days, the Moon will appear more than half full, and therefore be in its gibbous phase. Next week the face of the Moon that always faces the Earth will become, as viewed from the Earth, completely illuminated by the Sun. Even this full phase will bring an adventure, though, as a total eclipse of this Thunder Moon will occur on July 27. Don't worry about our Luna getting tired, though, because she'll be new again next month (moon-th) -- August 11 to be exact -- just as she causes another partial eclipse of the Sun. Pictured, Venus and the Moon were captured from Cannon Beach above a rock formation off the Oregon (USA) coast known asthe Needles. About an hour after this image was taken, the spin of the Earth caused both Venus and the Moon to set.

G. Verdi - "Va pensiero (Nabucco)" - Musica

"Va pensiero (Nabucco)"

Jornal Sol - Alerta : Temperaturas vão chegar aos 45 graus - (Meteorologia)

Onda de calor extremo poderá atingir a Península Ibérica entre domingo e quinta-feira da próxima semana.

As temperaturas poderão chegar aos 45 graus no Centro, no Sul e em zonas do Interior Norte entre o próximo domingo e quinta-feira da semana que vem. A informação está a ser adiantada por sites de meteorologia não oficiais, portugueses e espanhóis. Contactado pelo i, o Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) confirma que o tempo deverá "estabilizar" nos próximos dias, sendo esperadas "temperaturas acima dos 30 graus" a partir da próxima semana, mas avisa que, com seis de antecedência, não é possível prever ondas de calor. 

Segundo sites como o MeteoAlerta ou o MeteoBadajoz, está previsto "um episódio de calor muito extremo em todo o Continente" de Portugal, entre domingo, dia 8 de julho, e quinta-feira, dia 12. "Uma depressão em altura vai colocar-se a Oeste do Continente e arrastar uma massa de ar muito quente do Norte de África por toda a Península Ibérica", garantem os especialistas do MeteoAlerta, ressalvando que se a "localização final dessa depressão ficar mais próxima dos Açores" o calor será maior. "Se ficar mais próximo da costa portuguesa, podemos ter um calor mais dentro do normal", acrescentam.