Mark two dates on your calendar for next month: on March 3 Mars will be in opposition, and on March 13 Venus and Jupiter will be a “double planet” (separated by a mere 3 degrees in the sky).
The first otherworldly image this fortnight is actually from our home world, in Ethiopia. It’s Dallol – the world’s weirdest volcanic crater.
Surrounding the volcano are acidic hot springs, mountains of sulphur, pillars of salt, small gas geysers and pools of acid isolated by salt ridges. It makes for one of the most bizarre landscapes on planet Earth. (T)he name, in the local language of the Afar people literally means disintegrated, (and) the volcano is not mentioned in most books on the subject of volcanology.
Dallol is effectively a volcanic explosion crater. It was formed when basaltic magma intruded in to salt deposits and water. This subsequently caused a huge phreatic eruption. The rising magma made contact with the ground water. As magma is so extremely hot the water evaporated immediately. The result was a huge explosion of rock, ash, water and steam – not to mention volcanic bombs (molten rock which cools and solidifies before it hits the ground).
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(More complete descriptions can be found below the jump, by opening an image in a new tab or window.)
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- Dallol Volcano, Ethiopia
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- Enceladus, lit by reflected sunlight off Saturn, appears golden
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- Contrast in color and orientation: NGC 5965 and NGC 5963, in Draco
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- Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 2685, with bizarre perpendicular dust rings visible
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- Great Carina Nebula, seen from Atacama Desert (Chile)
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- Orion above Alborz Mountains (Iran). Yellow-tinged Betelguese at his shoulder, Sirius to the Left.
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- Deep exposure of Orion belt, with close-up of nebulae
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- The Flame Nebula (in Orion)
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- Flame Nebula, infrared revealing hidden source of red gas: young stars
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- Lunar halo with Orion, Pleiades
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- The Belt of Venus
