NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Dec 5 2022

Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster

Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very evident. The featured 11-hour exposure, taken from the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia, covers a sky area several times the size of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the observer's eyesight.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

>>17879762

Always a pleasure

>>17879752

Mt. Semeru erupts on Indonesia’s most densely populated island

A volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island erupted Sunday about a year after its last burst that killed more than 50 people.

Mount Semeru, the highest volcano in the country at 12,060 feet high, began oozing hot lava and sending gas clouds into the sky after monsoon rains eroded the lava dome, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

The eruption sent several hundred residents fleeing to temporary shelters and safe grounds as it shot thick ash nearly 5,000 feet into the sky. The ashes rained down on several villages nearby.

Authorities noted increased activity at Mount Semeru and widened the surrounding danger zone to 5 miles from the crater and raised the alert level Sunday afternoon.

Residents were also warned to stay away a southeastern section of the Besuk Kobokan River, where lava is flowing towards.

The volcano last erupted about a year ago in December 2021, when it killed 51 people and injured several hundred others with serious burns. The blast buried nearby villages under layers of mud and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people.

Semeru is an active volcano that has erupted several times over the last two centuries. Despite the dangers, tens of thousands of Indonesians live within its shadows.

Its eruption comes about a week after the world’s largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, spewed ash and lava over Hawaii for the first time in nearly four decades.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/05/mt-semeru-erupts-on-indonesias-most-densely-populated-island/

>>17879841

Box truck tumbles off California highway onto separate crash scene

Three people were injured after a large box truck toppled off of a freeway ramp and crash-landed on at the scene of an earlier accident on a Los Angeles County highway.

The chaotic crash occurred amid commuter traffic around 7:30 a.m. Friday on the interchange between the 14 and 5 Freeways in Santa Clarita while the roadways were soaked with rain, KABC reported.

A commuter who was filming the first crash, which involved a semi-truck and an SUV.

The semi-truck can be seen overturned on its side as a black SUV is pinned up against a wall. At least two law enforcement vehicles can be seen responding to the scene and blocking off traffic in the left lane.

Suddenly, a box truck advertising Toyo Tires traveling above the crash flips over the guardrail and violently lands upside-down right on top of the already mangled vehicles.

Tommy Dorado, who filmed the crash, told KABC he was worried that the first responders at the scene may have been hurt.

“At first I was in shock,” he said. “I was in disbelief. I honestly couldn’t believe I was witnessing something like that firsthand.”

No first responders were injured, county fire officials confirmed, but two people were transported to local hospitals after the box truck fell over and another person was taken to the hospital from the earlier crash.

Nobody was in the SUV or the semi-truck when the box-truck landed on them, officials said.

The incident was actually the third in a series of crashes at the location. The first crash occurred around 10:15 p.m. Thursday night when a semi truck jackknifed, and left its trailer hanging over the side of the road.

Around 6:30 a.m. the SUV and semi-truck, along with one or more other passenger vehicles, crashed, spilling roughly 40 gallons of fuel onto the road, officials said. Cleanup crews responded to the site.

Then at 7:24, the box-truck flew off of the upper roadway onto the second crash scene.

The CHP told KABC that weather does not appear to have been a factor in the crashes.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/03/california-box-truck-tumbles-off-highway-onto-separate-crash-scene/

https://youtu.be/NLI9N2y_RCM

>>17879925

NASA’s Artemis I Mission Return Trip Lunar Flyby

On Dec. 5, NASA will air the lunar flyby of the Orion spacecraft on its return trek toward Earth. Orion completed a burn Dec. 1 to exit a lunar orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon, where engineers have been testing systems to improve understanding of the spacecraft before future missions with astronauts. The return powered flyby burn, in which the spacecraft will harness the Moon’s gravity and accelerate back toward Earth, is expected at 11:43 a.m. (1643 UTC) The spacecraft is expected to fly about 79 miles above the lunar surface at 11:42 a.m. (16:42 UTC) just before the burn.

https://youtu.be/ppxaKK9papQ

Dave the robot dog reports for duty at Heathrow Airport

A robotic dog is helping engineers with a construction project at Heathrow Airport.

https://youtu.be/0gqXqgwKvNA