Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall.
Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planet's moons in 1877. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon. This enhanced-color image of Stickney and surroundings was recorded by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed within some six thousand kilometers of Phobos in March of 2008. Even though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than 1/1000th Earth's gravity, streaks suggest loose material slid down inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the crater's rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may be related to tidal stresses experienced by close-orbiting Phobos or the crater-forming impact itself.Tomorrow's picture: farside
Astronomy.co.uk Star Naming Service
Name a star for yourself or for that special person as the perfect gift that will sparkle for a lifetime! Ideal for any occasion, birthdays, christenings, anniversaries and memorials. Reserve a place in the heavens for your loved ones
Th Sky Tonight - May 2025
https://www.astronomy.co.uk/the-sky-tonight/
The Pinwheel Galaxy -NASA
The first Full Moon of 2022, known as the Wolf Moon, will occur tonight! Throughout cold January nights, the howling of wolves could be heard around villages in both Europe and America, so the January Full Moon became widely known as the Wolf Moon.
The exact time of the Full Wolf Moon is January 17, 2022, 23:48 GMT
The Lagoon Nebula - Hubble
This is a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast wave which appears as a delicate streak of light.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; acknowledgment: Leo Shatz
An exploding star !
Hubble
The station crew sees 16 sunrises a day, and they officially started 2022 at 12am GMT.
The Snow Angel Nebula - Hubble
Crescent Earth
The Earth as seen from the Moon on the Command Module of Apollo17 on December 16, 1972.
Credit: @NASA (image #AS17-152-23274); Processing: @JPMajor
Dolphin head nebula located near the center of the constellation Canis Major
DEM L249, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, is an unusual supernova remnant.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Y. Chou (Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
