Comet and nebula encounter

Sina Science and Technology News According to relevant media reports on January 4, in the past year, astronomical research has experienced ups and downs as before. While it has brought endless joy, there have also been many heart-wrenching discoveries. A moment of crushing failure. Despite this, some beautiful moments are still unforgettable for us and may be forever fixed in the memory of history. Here are the top ten astronomical photos of 2006 that brought us countless memories: Comet and Nebula Encounter 10. Comet and Nebula Encounter Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) is a member of the solar system Periodic comets were first discovered in 1930 by German astronomers Arnold Schwarzmann and Arnold Arthur Watzmann. In 1995, they were discovered to have broken into multiple fragments. The fragments formed after the comet disintegrated flew by the Earth in May 2006. This was the closest encounter between a comet and the Earth in twenty years. Two astronomers, Paul Martinez and Philipp Brunz, captured this spectacular image as Comet Schwarzmann-Watzmann 3 passed close to a gas cloud called the Ring Nebula. Lunar eclipse 9. Lunar eclipse Lunar eclipses are not uncommon, occurring once or twice a year on average. We see countless photos of lunar eclipses because the moon is so bright in the night sky and easy to photograph. However, it is somewhat rare to photograph the moon in this mode. In order to get the ideal shot, photographer Lauren Ravider had to press the shutter just as the moon began to be slowly swallowed up by the round edge of the Earth's shadow. As a result, he did it and successfully captured this breathtakingly beautiful photo. Tarantula Nebula 8. "Spider Nebula" The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is about 160,000 light-years away from the earth. It is located at the junction of the two constellations Doradus and Montenegro, spanning the two constellations. Through astronomical telescopes, we can see that the Large Magellanic Cloud is completely occupied by a gas cloud called the "Spider Nebula". The spider-like shape of the Tarantula Nebula is the reason for its name. Although it is 160,000 light-years away from Earth, it appears as bright as the Orion Nebula, which is 1,500 light-years away from Earth. This is because its area is Orion. Fifty times that of Nebula. If the Tarantula Nebula were 1,500 light-years away from Earth, it would occupy half of the Milky Way. Face of Mars 7. "Face of Mars" The "Mars Express" probe launched by the European Space Agency in 2003 to orbit Mars took this photo at the Sedonia Planitia on Mars. Previously, NASA's "Viking 1" spacecraft took photos of the "Mars face". The huge rock in the center of the photo looked like a human face. Scientists said this was due to the light and shadow that caused it to have eyes. , nose and mouth illusion. But the Mars Express probe took the images from different angles, at different brightnesses, and with a higher-definition camera, producing a three-dimensional photo. This photo is indeed very spectacular and fascinating. It not only allows space fans to see this very familiar area more clearly, but also allows planetary geologists to conduct more detailed research on this area. Mars Probe 6. Mars Probe In the past few decades, humans have launched multiple probes to Mars to conduct in-depth exploration of the red planet. Despite many failures, scientists are learning more and more about Mars. In 2006, NASA's "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter" turned on its ultra-high-definition camera HiRISE and captured many photos of scientific value. This set of photos sent back by the detector made scientists extremely happy. One was taken from Victoria Crater on Mars, showing only part of the crater rim. To the right of the crater rim is the Opportunity Mars rover launched by NASA in 2003. From this photo, you can clearly see the shadow of the camera antenna and even the trace of the Opportunity rover passing by. Solar Egg Tart 5. "Solar Egg Tart" This is actually a photo of the space shuttle and the International Space Station passing by the solar disk. Occasionally, it seems to be an "egg tart", but with two more small black spots. The photo was taken by astronomy enthusiast Thierry Legault on September 17, 2006. The two black spots were the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station. At that time, Less than an hour has passed since Atlantis separated from the International Space Station. Given that the shuttle was hundreds of kilometers away from Leggett, the image is certainly stunning. Direct evidence of dark matter 4. Direct evidence of dark matter For decades, astronomers have believed that the main body of the universe is composed of an invisible dark matter and another unknown dark energy. We can see their effect on the way galaxies rotate, and how they behave in galaxy clusters. Despite this, dark matter has not been discovered. However, this year astronomers discovered that dark matter does exist by observing the collision and fusion of two galaxy clusters. Observations show that the two galaxy clusters are moving toward each other at high speed. When they collide, the hot gases that make up the main body of the galaxy cluster repel each other, forming a gas cluster that looks like a bullet. But the dark matter of the two major galaxy clusters remained unmoved and continued to move at its original speed. Thus, hot gas and dark matter were distinguished in this extremely rare case.

Solar shock wave 3. Solar shock wave On December 6, 2006, a big explosion occurred on the sun. The energy released by the explosion roared and expanded rapidly outside the sun's surface, showing a circle. Astronomers from the Solar Observatory (NSO) captured this peculiar sight: the fuzzy white halo is the expanding solar shock wave. At this time, the diameter of the sun reaches 1.7 million kilometers, so the diameter of this halo will also Reaching hundreds of thousands of kilometers, it is far wider than the earth. Evidence of the existence of liquid water on Mars 2. Evidence of the existence of liquid water on Mars This photo may be direct evidence of the largest discovery ever made on Mars: there has been recent liquid water activity on the surface of Mars! We know that there is water on Mars, but it is just frozen water. In addition, we have seen evidence of liquid water flowing across the surface of Mars billions of years ago: valleys, river beds, and eroded flow patterns. Scientists previously estimated that even if there were traces of water near the surface of Mars, it would just be frozen water hidden underneath. However, the latest photos taken by NASA's "Mars Global Explorer" spacecraft show that liquid water does exist on the surface of Mars, although it does not last long and the amount of water is not large. The photo on the left was taken in 1999, and the photo on the right was taken in September 2006. The difference between the two photos is obvious: the former photo has a gully with traces of fast-flowing liquid water flowing down the pit wall. . The perfect combination of light and shadow on Saturn 1. The perfect combination of light and shadow on Saturn This photo was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft when it passed over Saturn. The photo shows the entire planet. Although there are few details, the definition is extremely high. . The black dot in the center of the photo is the Earth. When this image was taken, the Cassini spacecraft was orbiting the gaseous planet nearly a billion miles above Earth. Seen from such a distance, the entire Earth becomes just a bright spot. While the shadow cast by Saturn itself is breathtaking, the rings provide a symmetrical geometry that also looks very attractive.

(Yang Xiaowen)