Astronomy Final Project

APOD:
apod.nasa.gov
Kayla Turley
Section: 5

Week 1:
January 4th-10th:

This picture was posted on January 5th. I chose to

include this picture because this star forming
region is about 2,700 light years distant and only
shows 30 of the 2,700 light years. I love the
colors in this photo along with all the blue and
white stars you can see and that you can see
how hot this region is based on all the visible

This picture was posted on January 7 th. This

region was first photographed in 1995 and looks
very similar now as to then. There are stars
forming in the huge structures. Sadly the
structures are eventually going to be destroyed
the same way they were made, by the strong
winds of all the energetic stars in M16.

Week 2:
January 11th-17th:

This picture was posted on January 13 th. I chose

to include this picture because its background
was fascinating. The nebula was found on July 6 th
of 2008 and is so new that it is not included in
most astronomical catalogs. I really like the
colors and variety that is included in this photo. It
shows how diverse space really can be.

This picture was posted on January 15 th. Taken

on January 13th in Hungary this picture shows
Mercury and Venus together along with a
beautiful sunset. I chose to include this picture
because you can see how bright the planets are
even when the sun has not fully gone down. I
also love the visual aids the photographer used.

Week 3:
January 18th-24th:

This picture was posted on January 18 th. I chose

to include this picture because it shows the Milky
Way in Infrared light. This picture shows a span
of 115 by 300 light years. The infrared shows
space in a different way then we are used to
observing it in and gives us more information

This picture was posted on January 19 th. I chose to

post this picture because of how many colors it
shows. This pictures is taken in different bands of
infrared light, however the coolest part of this
photo is that you can see it with out the aid of a
telescope or binoculars, sadly it will be gone soon.

Week 4:
January 25th-31st:

This picture was posted on January 27th. I really

enjoy this picture because of how different it is.
This picture shows our galaxy's magnetic field,
which was only recently documented. I like this
picture because its a picture of the unknown and
all the answers arent quite put together yet.

This picture was posted on January 31 st. I cannot

believe how clear the image is, you can
practically see every grain of dust, I love that. All
the yellow regions in this photo are places that
are just starting to create stars. It is mind blowing
to think this picture spans 100- light years

Week 5:
February 1st-7th:

This picture was posted on February 4 th. The red

streaks on the left side over the aurora are high
altitude lightning strikes that most probably
caused a much larger lower strike. I chose to
include this picture because I have never seen
that color green light up the sky in the way that

This picture was posted on February 7 th.These

images were taken over a two hour period. This
photo shows two peaks in the light which are
caused by sudden releases of energy in the
earths magnetosphere. I chose to include this
photo because of how different and unusual it is.

Week 6:
February 8th-14th:

This picture was posted on February 11th. This

spiral galaxy is made up of over 100 billion stars
and is 56 million light years away. I chose to
include this photo because of how similar this
galaxy looks to ours. It makes me wonder how
they ended up so similar yet so different in color.

This picture was posted on February 12 th. This

picture shows a span of 500,000 light years. The
photo is a picture of two completely different
galaxy's colliding. In the middle of these
collisions there are many new stars forming. I
chose to include this because of the dome

Week 7:
February 15th-21st:

This picture was posted on January 16 th. This is a

picture of M106. M106 is 23.5 million light years
away. I chose this picture because I thought it was
cool how huge the galaxy is and how that interacts
with how easily you can see it. I love how vivid and
visible the red dust is all over the galaxy.

This picture of a sunspot was posted on January

17th. This particular spot only lasted a few days
before the sun was visible through again. This
light is emitted by hydrogen. I chose to include
this photo because at a first glance most would
not think this could be part of the sun.

Week 8:
February 22nd-28th:

This picture was posted on February 22 nd. This

region is dusty which makes the stars hard to see
clearly. The black streaks of dust going across the
sky are called the Black River. I chose to include
this picture because of how different it is. I love
how the black contrasts with all the middle colors.

This picture was posted on February 25th. This

region is about 50 light years across and can be
see with a small telescope. It is best known cloud
of gas in the universe and is only a few million
years old. I chose to include this picture because
I love the fact that it is flower shaped dust.

Week 9:
March 1st-7th:

This picture was posted on March 1st. Each of the

spots in this picture is a galaxy of its own. This
region is the densest region found so far that
includes so many different galaxys. It fascinated
me that it takes a million years for light to go from
one side to the other of this region.

This picture was posted on March 5thand shows

an impact basin on Mercury. The basin was
caused by a large asteroid and is the largest
basin created in our early solar system history. I
chose to include this photo because of the
different colors and how small it looks but isnt.

Week 10:
March 8th-14th:

This picture was posted on March 10 th. A lot of

things had to perfectly fit together to get this shot.
The night, water, and the beautiful aurora skies
that come from our sun giving off the clouds of
plasma. I chose to include this because the
perfection behind this picture is a rare beauty.

This picture was posted on March 12th. 1,500

light years away this W shaped region is formed
from young, hot, huge stars and a lot of dust. The
region spans about 20 light years across. I chose
to include this photo because of how beautiful
the stars are, they way they shine almost looks