APOD 4.5

The Antennae 

THIS IS SO COOL WE JUST LEARNED CORVUS! Some 60 million light-years away in the southernly constellation corvus, two large galaxies collided. But the stars NGC 4038 and NCG 4039 didn't collide. Instead, their large clouds of molecular gas and dust do, trigerring furious episodes of star formation near the center of the cosmic wreckage. This view spans 500 thousand light years.

APOD 4.4

Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273

The spiky stars in the foreground are well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. The two eye-catching galaxies lie far beyond the Milky Way at a distance of over 300 million light years. Their distorted appearance is due to gravitational tides as the pair engage in close encounters. From our perspective, the bright cores of the Arp may offer an analog of their far future encounter. The release of this vista celebratesthe 21st anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit!

Zooniverse

For my Zooniverse project I have been planet hunting like there's no tomorrow. It rocks when they test you for a transit feature and you correctly identify them!

APOD 4.3

Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud 

Dust clouds and embedded newborn stars glow at infrared wavelengths in this false-color composition from WISE. This features one of the closest star-forming regions , part of the Rho Ophicuhi cloud complex some 400 light years distant. After forming along a large cloud of molecular hydrogen gas, young stars heat the surrounding dust to produce the infrared glow. Stars in the process of formation, called young stellar objects, (YSOs) are embedded in the pinkish nebulae seen here . 

Observations

Last night I went out in my driveway at about 10pm. Of course I saw Orion, Betelgeuse, and Rigel. I also managed to identify Gemini, and its two main sequence stars Castor and Pollux. I spotted Sirius and perhaps Lepus, but I'm not really sure.

APOD 4.2

The Milky Way Over Tenerife 

In a clear sky from a dark location at the right time, a faint band of light, the disk of our spiral galaxy, is visible across the sky. Since we are inside this disk, the band appears to encircle the earth. The image is actually a deep digital fusion of nine photos that create a panorama fully 360 across. Also depicted is a waxing moon, Barnard's loop, and the Pleiades. 

APOD 4.1

Valles Marineris 

Valles Marineris is the largest canyon in the solar system extending over 3,000 kilometers long and spanning as much 600 kilometers across and delving as much as 8 kilometers deep. The origin remains unknown, although a hypothesis stands that it started as a crack billions of year ago as the planet cooled. This pictured was compiled from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Oribiters in the 1970s.