4.8 APod

In this picture you can see the sunset from two perspective one from earth the other one from mars. These images were scaled to fit side by side. As you can see in the picture the sun appears farther from mars than it does from earth. Mars is 50 percent farther from the sun that earth is. Mars sunset is more blue compared to the orange colors you see on earth. It seems to be related to scattering properties of martian dust as to why it is blue compared to orange. This was captured by Nasas Robotic curiosity rover from gale crater on mars.

4.7 apod

This picture was taken in Hawaii on top of the volcanoe Mauna Kea. From the looks of it the sky was beyond clear. You can see the green airglow above the clouds. This is caused by excited are molecules during the day caused by the sun. The bright orb to the right is the moon and the center band filled with many stars is the milky way. The way this picture brings everything together is amazing. All the colors and the person standing in the middle bringing it all together makes for one of my favorite APODs this year.

4.6 apod

The Messenger spacecraft has been orbiting mercury for the past 4 years. It has transferred its data back to earth through radio waves.  As you can see in the picture the gravitational anomalies are shown in false color.  red indicated areas of higher gravity. the center is caloris basin an feature measuring about 1500 kilometers across. Messenger completed it mission and thus crashed into mercury's' surface.

4.5 apod

 In this picture it is showing the moon rise over a volcanoe. this picture was taken in hawaii. Hawaii has some of the best observatories in the world. The moon just past the full phase giving it its look.  The moon is rising in a triangular shadow cone of the volcano, a corridor of darkness. The light is refracted through earths atmosphere making the moon appear oval shape. Also you can see the cinder cones from the eruptions of the volcanoes on the foreground .