NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day Robert M Wagner
-
- Education
These podcasts are my discussion of NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. These are brief (3-5 minute) audio summaries of the picture posted on NASA's Picture of the Day website: APOD. Video versions of these are available on YouTube. I use these as the introduction to each of my introductory astronomy classes. Students will be able to access them here to review what was discussed in class. I appreciate any comments or suggestions which can be sent to: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com.
-
2024 June 20 - Sandy and the Moon Halo
In today's image, we see the dog, Sandy by the gate off to the right. Up in the sky, we see the full moon from April. Ice crystals in the atmosphere form the halo around the Sun. There is another full moon just a day or so from now. Today is the summer solstice when the Sun reaches its highest point above the celestial equator. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
-
2024 June 19 - Dragons of Ara
In today's image, we see the Dragons of Ara. These are, in fact, bpetterns of gas and dust seen in the constellation of Ara, the altar. The patterns are sculpted by hot, young stars which have formed.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
-
2024 June 18 - Gigantic Jets over Himalayan Mountains
In today's image, we see large jets of lightning reaching upward from the storm clouds in the distance into Earth's ionosphere. The tops of these bear a resemblance to the red sprites we have looked at in previous images. This rare lightning is less understood than the more common cloud to cloud to cloud to ground lightning.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
-
2024 June 17 - Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
In today's image, we see what is known as the Giant Squid nebula. This is an emission region that we see in the blue. With the blue color from the specific wavelength of light produced by doubly-ionized oxygen atoms. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
-
2024 June 16 - Animation: Black Hole Destroys Star
In today's image, we will watch a video animation showing a black hole ripping apart a star which passes too close to it. We see it form an accretion disk around the black hole as well as a pair of jets perpendicular to this disk.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
-
2024 June 15 - Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun
In today's image, we seethe active Sun in an image taken a month ago. Here we see the Sun in the light of hydrogen. There are many filaments across the surface as well as prominences along the limb of the Sun. These are essentially the same thing, just observed from a different perspective.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWksELVw1LfYg6TiLQyjByw).This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com (mailto:wagnerastronomy@gmail.com?subject=APOD%20Podcast)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).