2026 March 20

Spring Equinox at Teide Observatory
* Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)
https://twanight.org/profile/juan-carlos-casado/confirmed-photos/#tab-content

Explanation:
The defining astronomical moment of the equinox today is at 14:46 UTC (March 20). That's when the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving north in its yearly journey through planet Earth's sky, marking the beginning of spring for our fair planet in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. Then, day and night are nearly equal around the globe. In fact, both day and nighttime exposures from a spring equinox at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, are used in this composited skyscape. Over 1,000 images were taken with a fisheye lens, later corrected for distortion and merged for the ambitious equinox project. The apparent motion of the Sun setting along the celestial equator on the equinox date follows the bright linear, diagonal track from the sequence of daytime exposures taken over 6 hours. After sunset, nighttime exposures recorded startrails, with the celestial equator as a linear track and concentric arcs circling the north celestial pole near Polaris at upper right and the south celestial pole beyond the lower left edge (and below the Teide horizon). The foreground includes the distant Teide volcano peak and the observatory's pyramid-shaped solar laboratory building.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/embracing-the-equinox/
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11353
https://www.iac.es/en/observatorios-de-canarias/teide-observatory
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260320.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap021115.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231203.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121213.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260320.html

#space #earth #astrophotography #photography #astroart #art #science #nature #education #apod

2026 March 13

Toolondo Totality Trails
* Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Perry
https://www.pdogastrophotography.com/about-the-photographer

Explanation:
In this composited night skyscape, stacked exposures trace graceful star trails above Lake Toolondo, Victoria, Australia, planet Earth. Captured while the lunar eclipse of March 3 was in progress, the exposures used were made during the hour-long total eclipse phase. So faint star trails are easily visible along with the trail of the reddened Moon in the eclipse-darkened skies above the lake and trees. Of course, the apparent motion of Moon and stars revealed in the timelapse composite reflect the Earth's daily rotation around its axis. Dramatically punctuating the Moon's trail as totality ended, a single, separate telephoto image of the totally eclipsed Moon was scaled and blended into the scene.
https://science.nasa.gov/moon/eclipses/
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5604
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260307.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260305.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230922.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240817.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/fap/ap260313.html

#space #earth #astrophotography #photography #astroart #art #science #nature #education #apod

2025 September 13

Star Trails over One-Mile Radio Telescope
* Image Credit & Copyright: Joao Yordanov Serralheiro
https://www.joaoysphotography.com/about

Explanation:
The steerable 60 foot diameter dish antenna of the One-Mile Telescope at Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cambridge, UK, is pointing skyward in this evocative night-skyscape. To capture the dramatic scene, consecutive 30 second exposures were recorded over a period of 90 minutes. Combined, the exposures reveal a background of gracefully arcing star trails that reflect planet Earth's daily rotation on its axis. The North Celestial Pole, the extension of Earth's axis of rotation into space, points near Polaris, the North Star. That's the bright star that creates the short trail near the center of the concentric arcs. But the historic One-Mile Telescope array also relied on planet Earth's rotation to operate. Exploring the universe at radio wavelengths, it was the first radio telescope to use Earth-rotation aperture synthesis. That technique uses the rotation of the Earth to change the relative orientation of the telescope array and celestial radio sources to create radio maps of the sky at a resolution better than that of the human eye.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250913.html

#space #earth #astrophotography #photography #astroart #science #nature

2025 September 6

Sardinia Sunset
* Image Credit & Copyright: Lorenzo Busilacchi

Explanation:
When the sun sets on September 7, the Full Moon will rise. And on that date denizens around much of our fair planet, including parts of Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa can witness a total lunar eclipse, with the Moon completely immersed in Earth's shadow. As the bright Full Moon first enters Earth's shadow it will darken, finally taking on a reddish hue during the total eclipse phase. In fact, the color of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse is due to reddened light from sunrises and sunsets around planet Earth. The reddened sunlight is scattered by a dense atmosphere into the planet's otherwise dark central shadow. When the sun set on August 22, this telephoto snapshot of red skies, blue sea, and the Mangiabarche Lighthouse was captured from Sant'Antioco, Sardinia, Italy.
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/total-lunar-eclipse-september-7-2025/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250906.html

#space_related #astroart #art #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #Space_Culture_Club

2013 May 13

Partial Solar Eclipse with Airplane
* Image Credit & Copyright: Phillip Calais

Explanation:
It was just eight minutes after sunrise, last week, and already there were four things in front of the Sun. The largest and most notable was Earth's Moon, obscuring a big chunk of the Sun's lower limb as it moved across the solar disk, as viewed from Fremantle, Australia. This was expected as the image was taken during a partial solar eclipse -- an eclipse that left sunlight streaming around all sides of the Moon from some locations. Next, a band of clouds divided the Sun horizontally while showing interesting internal structure vertically. The third intervening body might be considered to be the Earth's atmosphere, as it dimmed the Sun from its higher altitude brightness while density fluctuations caused the Sun's edges to appear to shimmer. Although closest to the photographer, the least expected solar occulter was an airplane. Quite possibly, passengers on both sides of that airplane were contemplating the unusual view only visible out the eastern-facing windows.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130513.html

#space_related #astroart #art #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #Space_Culture_Club

2023 October 8

Plane, Clouds, Moon, Spots, Sun
* Image Credit & Copyright: Doyle and Shannon Slifer

Explanation:
What's that in front of the Sun? The closest object is an airplane, visible just below the Sun's center and caught purely by chance. Next out are numerous clouds in Earth's atmosphere, creating a series of darkened horizontal streaks. Farther out is Earth's Moon, seen as the large dark circular bite on the upper right. Just above the airplane and just below the Sun's surface are sunspots. The main sunspot group captured here, AR 2192, was in 2014 one of the largest ever recorded and had been crackling and bursting with flares since it came around the edge of the Sun a week before. This show of solar silhouettes was unfortunately short-lived. Within a few seconds the plane flew away. Within a few minutes the clouds drifted off. Within a few hours the partial solar eclipse of the Sun by the Moon was over. Fortunately, when it comes to the Sun, even unexpected alignments are surprisingly frequent. Perhaps one will be imaged this Saturday when a new partial solar eclipse will be visible from much of North and South America.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231008.html

#space_related #astroart #art #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #Space_Culture_Club