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Jupiter, Venus, Moon Conjunction
image
Created for the OAE
Caption: Honorable mention in the 2023 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category of Still images taken exclusively with smartphones/mobile devices.
Captured with a smartphone in February 2023, over the skies of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA, this photograph offers a glimpse into a conjunction, an enthralling astronomical phenomenon that occurs when two or more celestial objects are seen in close proximity in the sky from our perspective, despite the objects not being physically near to each other. In this image, the brilliance of Jupiter (top), the allure of Venus (middle), and the familiar glow of our Moon (bottom) dance together against a backdrop of delicate clouds and a treeline silhouette, making it a moment worth treasuring.
Credit: Joslynn Appel/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)
Glossary Terms:
Conjunction , Jupiter , Moon , Venus
Tags:
astrophotography
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
This file on Zenodo ( image 132.00 kB)
The Pillar of Creation
image
Created for the OAE
Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.
This image shows the night sky over Tre Cime di Lavaredo, (Dolomites Natural Park), in the region of Veneto, Italy, in October 2021.
The bright spot on the left-hand side is the planet Jupiter, appearing in the constellation Capricorn. To the right of Jupiter and below the two horn stars of Capricorn is the planet Saturn. Just above Jupiter we can see parts of Aquarius, one of the largest constellations and also part of the Zodiac. North of these constellations, left of the Milky Way, there are mostly faint stars. The brighter whitish one in the top left corner is Enif, a binary star in the constellation Pegasus.
The Milky Way seems to emerge from a rock like celestial vapour. Roughly centred in the image are two bright stars left and right of the Milky Way: Altair and Vega, respectively. They seem to be separated by the galactic stream, as told in a popular Chinese folk story where they represent a loving couple. Today, in popular astronomy, the fairly bright star at the upper edge of the photograph is added to form a huge triangle with them, the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere.
Altair is the brightest star of the Babylonian constellation Aquila, the Eagle. In ancient Babylon, it was said that the Eagle was carrying king Etana up in the air so that he could see Earth from above. Next to the Babylonian Eagle was the constellation of the Corpse, that returned only in Roman times when Ptolemy put it below the Eagle as the new sub-constellation “Antinous”. It is seen as the corpse (or soul) of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s favourite who had just died in the Nile.
Vega is the bright white star to the right of the Milky Way. It forms part of the small constellation Lyra, famous for hosting the Ring Nebula, which is an impressive planetary nebula — a dying star blowing its gas into space.
At the right edge of the image, three stars in a bent row appear rather prominently. This is the handle of the Big Dipper pointing downwards to a bright star close to the horizon: Arcturus, the bright star of the constellation Bootes (Greek: the Ploughman). This kite-like constellation is probably a pagan interpretation of the Babylonian god “Enlil” whose constellation also occupied that place in the sky. The Romans re-interpreted this figure as The Ox-Driver who controlled the Seven Oxen seen in the bright stars of Ursa Major.
Directly right of Vega, there is the huge constellation Hercules and below it, directly to the left of Bootes, we find a half-circle of stars comprising the small constellation Corona Borealis, associated with Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek culture.
The lights seen in the bottom left side of the image are due to the reflection of artificial lights in the clouds.
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE
Glossary Terms:
Capricornus , Dust , Jupiter , Milky Way , Saturn , Dust Cloud , Interstellar Extinction
Categories:
Milky Way and Interstellar Medium
, Naked Eye Astronomy
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
This file on Zenodo ( image 10.71 MB)
Jupiter Moons Movie2, by Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo, and Carl Pennypacker, United States of America
video
Created for the OAE
Caption: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Galilean moons.
This sequence shows the orbit of the four Galilean moons around the planet Jupiter. Almost two entire orbits of the innermost moon, Io, can be seen, with the other moons (Europa and Ganymede, but in particular Callisto) being further away, orbiting noticeably slower. The images were obtained in 2018 with the Las Cumbres Global Observatory at different locations on Earth, allowing a continuous sequence of images over approximately half a week without gaps during the day. With clear skies and over the course of several nights, the motion of the Galilean moons can also be observed with binoculars (ideally steady your elbows on a surface).
Credit: Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo and Carl Pennypacker/IAU OAE
Glossary Terms:
Galilean Satellites , Gas Giant , Io , Jupiter , Moons , Orbit , Outer Planets , Planet
Categories:
Solar System
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
This file on Zenodo ( video 890.47 kB)
Io
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Caption: NASA's Galileo spacecraft acquired its highest resolution images of Jupiter's moon Io on 3 July 1999. Io is one of the four Jovian moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Io's colours are witness to its extensive volcanic activity as they stem from sulphuric compounds. Tidal forces from Jupiter and the neighbouring moons are the cause for Io's volcanism.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Credit Link
Glossary Terms:
Galilean Satellites , Io , Moons
Categories:
Solar System
License: Public Domain Public Domain icons
File
( image
789.81 kB)
The Callisto satellite
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Caption: Callisto is the outermost of the four large Galilean moons of Jupiter and the third largest in the whole solar system, falling behind only Ganymede and Saturn's moon Titan. It orbits Jupiter at an average distance of around 1.9 million kilometers, roughly six times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
With a diameter of nearly 5,000 kilometers, it is almost as large as Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, but has only a third of its mass as it is composed of approximately equal amounts of rock and ice.
Callisto orbits Jupiter in a tidally locked rotation, always showing the same side to Jupiter. In contrast to the other three Galilean satellites – Io, Europa, and Ganymede – it is not in orbital resonance due to its farther outward location and is thus not appreciably tidally heated. It does not show any signs of plate tectonics or volcanic activity. Its lack of geological processes means that surface features like craters remain unchanged for billions of years. It is thought to have evolved predominantly under the influence of impacts, as its surface is the oldest and most heavily cratered object in the solar system. In fact, it is so covered in craters that any new impact will likely erase a former one.
Callisto's internal structure is still subject to discussion; it may consist of a deep salty ocean. It is thought to be composed mainly of a mix of ice and rock, which are present in various states throughout the inner layers of the moon. Callisto hosts a very thin atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide and some traces of oxygen. The moon has been studied by numerous space probes, such as the Pioneer and Voyager missions and the Galileo orbiter, and will be subject to further explorations by NASA, ESA, and China’s National Space Administration (CNSA).
Credit: NASA/JPL/DLR
Credit Link
Glossary Terms:
Galilean Satellites , Moons
License: Public Domain Public Domain icons
File
( image
610.45 kB)
