Planetary Picture of the Day
Week of July 26, 2021
Fly away with us and explore Mars, Venus, Earth and the Dolphin Nebula.
Monday, July 26, 2021
Processed using ultraviolet (365nm & 283nm) filtered images.
Chasing clouds on Venus
Fabulous image of the cloud structure in the Venusian atmosphere revealed by observations in the two ultraviolet bands by Akatsuki on December 23, 2016.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Earth and Moon as Seen from Mars
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera would make a great backyard telescope for viewing Mars, and we can also use it at Mars to view other planets. This is an image of Earth and the Moon, acquired on October 3, 2007, by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
At the time the image was taken, Earth was 142 million kilometers from Mars, giving the HiRISE image a scale of 142 kilometers per pixel, an Earth diameter of about 90 pixels and a Moon diameter of 24 pixels.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Buck Moon in Chile
Full Moon (Buck Moon) over the Gran Torre Santiago in Chile on July 23, 2021.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
The Dolphin Nebula
Also designated as Sharpless 308, RCW 11, or LBN 1052, this nebula is blown by hot winds from a massive star. About 60 light-years across, it covers an area about the size of a full Moon in our skies. The nebula is about 4,530 light-years away from Earth.
Friday, July 30, 2021
Gale Crater
"Imagine standing on Mars with Curiosity rover in Gale crater. This is the view captured on 23 December 2020 at Sands of Forvie, a dark dune field. I obtained this panorama by colorizing a B&W mosaic of 18 pictures taken by Curiosity's navigation camera."
