Cosmic Photos - A Cool Picture Every Day
Do you love astronomy?
As a kid, I remember learning the constellations and looking through a homemade telescope. I love photos of cosmic events too. So if you share this interest, you should check out this site called: Astronomy Picture of the Day
As the name suggests, every day it serves up a new image or photograph along with a brief explanation by a professional astronomer.
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
Astronomy Picture of the Day originated in 1995. It is written, coordinated, and edited by Robert Nemiroff, Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Pennsylvania and Jerry Bonnell, Astrophysicist & Staff Scientist at Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The APOD archive contains the largest collection of annotated astronomical images on the Internet.
This one caught my eye from Jan 21, 2012. It's from a pinhole camera using a six-month time-lapse exposure!
Check out the explanation from site:
From solstice to solstice, this six month long exposure compresses time from the 21st of June till the 21st of December, 2011, into a single point of view. Dubbed a solargraph, the unconventional picture was recorded with a pinhole camera made from a drink can lined with a piece of photographic paper. Fixed to a single spot for the entire exposure, the simple camera continuously records the Sun's path each day as a glowing trail burned into the photosensitive paper.
In this case, the spot was chosen to look out over the domes and radio telescope of the University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury Observatory. Dark gaps in the daily arcs are caused by cloud cover, whereas continuous bright tracks record glorious spells of sunny weather. Of course, in June, the Sun trails begin higher at the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. The trails sink lower in the sky as December's winter solstice approaches. Last year's autumn was one of the balmiest on record in the UK, as the many bright arcs in the lower part of this picture testify.
Want to submit a photo?
If you have a picture that would make a good Astronomy Picture of the Day, you can submit it. Images are most often submitted by email. Please contact Robert Nemiroff or Jerry Bonnell regarding image submissions.
Enjoy folks! Let me know what you think.
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