ASTRONOMY - NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula

 2021 June 17

NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Joe Navara, Glenn Clouder, Russell Discombe

Explanation: NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a about 25 light-years across blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. A triumvirate of astroimagers ( Joe, Glenn, Russell) created this sharp portrait of the cosmic bubble. Their telescopic collaboration collected over 30 hours of narrow band image data isolating light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the detailed folds and filaments. Visible within the nebula, NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. The nebula's complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away.

PRATIQUE/POURQUOI - Pourquoi y a-t-il des "trous d'air" en avion ?

L'air qui nous entoure n'est pas homogène. Il y a des masses chaudes (qui ont tendance à monter) et des masses froides (qui ont tendance à descendre). Elles évoluent en permanence.

Un avion qui vole relativement vite par rapport aux masses d'air rencontre donc dans sa trajectoire des masses d'air qui montent ou qui descendent. Ses passagers ressentent donc les évolutions vers le haut ou le bas de l'appareil (communément appelées ''trous d'air'').

Ces phénomènes se rencontrent surtout près et dans les complexes orageux et c'est pourquoi il est recommandé par l'équipage d'attacher sa ceinture de sécurité alors qu'on est loin de l'arrivée afin de ne pas finir son sandwitch collé au plafond.

ASTRONOMY - Scorpius Enhanced

 2021 June 16

Scorpius Enhanced
Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Lenz

Explanation: If Scorpius looked this good to the unaided eye, humans might remember it better. Scorpius more typically appears as a few bright stars in a well-known but rarely pointed out zodiacal constellation. To get a spectacular image like this, though, one needs a good camera, a dark sky, and some sophisticated image processing. The resulting digitally-enhanced image shows many breathtaking features. Diagonal across the image right is part of the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Visible there are vast clouds of bright stars and long filaments of dark and intricate dust. Rising vertically on the image left are dark dust bands known as the Dark River. Several of the bright stars on the left are part of Scorpius' head and claws, and include the bright star Antares. Numerous red emission nebulas, blue reflection nebulas, and dark filaments became visible as the deep 17-hour expo image developed. Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.

I-PHONE ASTUCES - Désactiver l’accusé de lecture

Désactiver l’accusé de lecture « lu » dans les messages Savez-vous que tout le monde peut voir si vous avez bien reçu et lu un iMessage ? Pour désactiver l'accusé de réception et de lecture, allez sur Réglages > Messages et désactivez "Confirmation de lecture".

ASTRONOMY - Zhurong: New Rover on Mars

 2021 June 15

Zhurong: New Rover on Mars
Image Credit: China National Space Administration

Explanation: There's a new rover on Mars. In mid-May, China's Tianwen-1 mission delivered the Zhurong rover onto the red planet. As Mars means Planet of Fire in Chinese, the Zhurong rover's name means, roughly, God of Fire in Chinese mythology. Zhurong landed in northern Utopia Planitia, the largest known impact basin in the Solar System, and an area reported to have much underground ice. Among many other scientific instruments, Zhurong carries ground-penetrating radar that can detect ice buried even 100-meters deep. Car-sized Zhurong is pictured here next to its landing base. The image was snapped by a remote camera deployed by the rolling rover. Zhurong's planned 90-day mission includes studying the geology, soil, and atmosphere of Mars in Utopia Planitia.

AERONAUTIQUE - Ces merveilleux fous volants dans leur drôle de machine

AUTOMOBILE - Jaguar XJ220

"Jaguar XJ220"

ASTRONOMY - Eclipse du soleil vue depuis Montreal

ASTRONOMY - Eclipse Flyby

 2021 June 11

Eclipse Flyby
Image Credit & Copyright: Zev Hoover, Christian Lockwood, and Zoe Chakoian

Explanation: On June 10 a New Moon passed in front of the Sun. In silhouette only two days after reaching apogee, the most distant point in its elliptical orbit, the Moon's small apparent size helped create an annular solar eclipse. The brief but spectacular annular phase of the eclipse shows a bright solar disk as a ring of fire when viewed along its narrow, northerly shadow track across planet Earth. Cloudy early morning skies along the US east coast held gorgeous views of a partially eclipsed Sun though. Rising together Moon and Sun are captured in a sequence of consecutive frames near maximum eclipse in this digital composite, seen from Quincy Beach south of Boston, Massachusetts. The serendipitous sequence follows the undulating path of a bird in flight joining the Moon in silhouette with the rising Sun.

I-PHONE ASTUCES - Comment améliorer la luminosité

Augmenter la luminosité quand vous prenez une photo Savez-vous qu'il est possible d'améliorer la luminosité quand vous prenez une photo ? Cette fonction est bien pratique si vous faites une photo dans un endroit sombre avec peu de lumière. Ou si, à l'inverse, vous voulez diminuer la luminosité pour une photo prise en contre-jour. Pour cela, touchez l'écran n'importe où, puis glissez votre doigt vers le haut pour augmenter la luminosité ou vers le bas pour la baisser.