APOD 4.8

Here is a photograph of the night sky as seen from the volcano Mauna Kea. Directly across from the volcano, lies another one in the distance, known as Mauna Loa. By far the most interesting aspect of this photo is that it appears as if Mauna Loa is erupting, but rather than lava, out is coming a magnificent band of the Milky Way Galaxy. Toward the far right of the picture, the moon is visible just above the horizon. Mars and Saturn also appear as faint star-like objects, with a relatively higher magnitude.

APOD 4.7

In this photograph, taken in Gunma, Japan, it is very easy to see the asterism known as the Summer Triangle. The triangle is made up of three stars (the brighter ones visible in the photograph which somewhat border the tree). From left to right they are Deneb of the constellation Cygnus, Vega of the constellation Lyra, and Altair of the constellation Aquila. Also visible in the photograph are smaller constellations that appear within and around the triangle, including Lacerta the lizard, Delphinus the dolphin, Vulpecula the fox, and Sagitta the arrow.

APOD 4.6

Pictured here is the spiral galaxy NGC 2841. While this galaxy is only 46 million light years away, it is humongous, with a diameter of over 150,000 light years, larger than our Milky Way Galaxy. This galaxy is found in the Northern Constellation Ursa Major, and exhibits beautiful pink arms which are star forming regions. Also visible are patches of blue, where clusters of newly formed, young stars begin their life cycle. This image was captured as a composite, merging exposure from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope.