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A More Spectacular Sombrero …
Title A More Spectacular Sombrero (Widescreen Version)
Description This movie shifts from the well-known visible-light picture of Messier 104 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." Viewed from Earth, the spiral galaxy is seen nearly edge-on, just six degrees away from its equatorial plane. 50,000 light-years across, the Sombrero galaxy is considered one of the most massive objects at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It is located 28 million light-years away, hosts a rich system of nearly 2,000 globular clusters and may harbor a super-massive black hole. In Hubble's visible light image, only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, pierced through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Spitzer Spies Spectacular So …
Title Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero
Description NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." In Hubble's visible light image (lower left panel), only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera (lower right panel) uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, piercing through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Spitzer Spies Spectacular So …
Title Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero
Description NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." In Hubble's visible light image (lower left panel), only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera (lower right panel) uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, piercing through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Spitzer Spies Spectacular So …
Title Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero
Description NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." In Hubble's visible light image (lower left panel), only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera (lower right panel) uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, piercing through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Spitzer Spies Spectacular So …
Title Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero
Description NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." In Hubble's visible light image (lower left panel), only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera (lower right panel) uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, piercing through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
A More Spectacular Sombrero
Title A More Spectacular Sombrero
Description This movie shifts from the well-known visible-light picture of Messier 104 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to infrared views from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." Viewed from Earth, the spiral galaxy is seen nearly edge-on, just six degrees away from its equatorial plane. 50,000 light-years across, the Sombrero galaxy is considered one of the most massive objects at the southern edge of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It is located 28 million light-years away, hosts a rich system of nearly 2,000 globular clusters and may harbor a super-massive black hole. In Hubble's visible light image, only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, pierced through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Red Giant Plunging Through S …
Title Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Description This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae (R Hya) in the constellation Hydra. Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star. R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 AU from the star to the apex and 6,188 AU thick. 1 AU is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth. The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir …
title 'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven'
description This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in approximately true color. Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past, six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere.
Spirit's Race Against Winter
title Spirit's Race Against Winter
date 11.29.2007
description While struggling to reach a winter outpost necessary for survival on Mars, Spirit has been slowed by sand in the bottom of a shallow, bowl-like depression. Spirit's goal is to reach a slope on the north edge of "Home Plate" that will keep its solar panels trained on the Sun. If the rover can collect enough sunlight to survive, Spirit will continue to study terrain near "Home Plate," which the rover reached after crossing the floor of Gusev Crater and scaling the "Columbia Hills." This map shows the rover's progress from July 2004 to November 2007. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/UNM/High-Resolution Science Imaging Experiment
Hubble Space Telescope Finds …
Title Hubble Space Telescope Finds Stellar Graveyard
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Discovers Black Holes …
Title Hubble Discovers Black Holes in Unexpected Places
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Uncovers Oldest "Cloc …
Title Hubble Uncovers Oldest "Clocks" in Space to Read Age of Universe
General Information What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. Back to top [ #top ]
Celestial Fireworks
Title Celestial Fireworks
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
Astronomers Measure Mass of …
Title Astronomers Measure Mass of a Single Star ? First Since the Sun
Astronomers Measure Mass of …
Title Astronomers Measure Mass of a Single Star ? First Since the Sun
Astronomers Measure Mass of …
Title Astronomers Measure Mass of a Single Star ? First Since the Sun
Astronomers Measure Mass of …
Title Astronomers Measure Mass of a Single Star ? First Since the Sun
Hubble Sees Faintest Stars i …
Title Hubble Sees Faintest Stars in a Globular Cluster
Connections: Terrestrial Gam …
Title Connections: Terrestrial Gamma Flashes and Lightning?
Abstract The RHESSI instrument not only views the Sun but can detect gamma-rays from sources on Earth as well.
Completed 2005-02-10
Connections: Terrestrial Gam …
Title Connections: Terrestrial Gamma Flashes and Lightning?
Abstract The RHESSI instrument not only views the Sun but can detect gamma-rays from sources on Earth as well.
Completed 2005-02-10
Connections: Terrestrial Gam …
Title Connections: Terrestrial Gamma Flashes and Lightning?
Abstract The RHESSI instrument not only views the Sun but can detect gamma-rays from sources on Earth as well.
Completed 2005-02-10
Connections: Terrestrial Gam …
Title Connections: Terrestrial Gamma Flashes and Lightning?
Abstract The RHESSI instrument not only views the Sun but can detect gamma-rays from sources on Earth as well.
Completed 2005-02-10
Apollo 11 Launch Spectators
Name of Image Apollo 11 Launch Spectators
Date of Image 1969-07-16
Full Description The early morning sun found hundreds of spectators on the beaches and roadways near the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) where they had camped the night before to witness history by watching the epic beginning of the journey of Apollo 11. The first manned lunar landing mission launched from KSC via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, ?Columbia?, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
STS-40 Mission Insignia
Name of Image STS-40 Mission Insignia
Date of Image 1990-07-08
Full Description The STS-40 patch makes a contemporary statement focusing on human beings living and working in space. Against a background of the universe, seven silver stars, interspersed about the orbital path of Columbia, represent the seven crew members. The orbiter's flight path forms a double-helix, designed to represent the DNA molecule common to all living creatures. In the words of a crew spokesman, ...(the helix) affirms the ceaseless expansion of human life and American involvement in space while simultaneously emphasizing the medical and biological studies to which this flight is dedicated. Above Columbia, the phrase Spacelab Life Sciences 1 defines both the Shuttle mission and its payload. Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian man, silhouetted against the blue darkness of the heavens, is in the upper center portion of the patch. With one foot on Earth and arms extended to touch Shuttle's orbit, the crew feels, he serves as a powerful embodiment of the extension of human inquiry from the boundaries of Earth to the limitless laboratory of space. Sturdily poised amid the stars, he serves to link scentists on Earth to the scientists in space asserting the harmony of efforts which produce meaningful scientific spaceflight missions. A brilliant red and yellow Earth limb (center) links Earth to space as it radiates from a native American symbol for the sun. At the frontier of space, the traditional symbol for the sun vividly links America's past to America's future, the crew states. Beneath the orbiting Shuttle, darkness of night rests peacefully over the United States. Drawn by artist Sean Collins, the STS 40 Space Shuttle patch was designed by the crewmembers for the flight.
STS-58 Mission Insignia
Name of Image STS-58 Mission Insignia
Date of Image 1993-05-01
Full Description Designed by members of the flight crew, the STS-58 insignia depicts the Space Shuttle Columbia with a Spacelab module in its payload bay in orbit around Earth. The Spacelab and the lettering Spacelab Life Sciences ll highlight the primary mission of the second Space Shuttle flight dedicated to life sciences research. An Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) support pallet is shown in the aft payload bay, stressing the scheduled two-week duration of the longest Space Shuttle mission to date. The hexagonal shape of the patch depicts the carbon ring, a molecule common to all living organisms. Encircling the inner border of the patch is the double helix of DNA, representing the genetic basis of life. Its yellow background represents the sun, energy source for all life on Earth. Both medical and veterinary caducei are shown to represent the STS- 58 life sciences experiments. The position of the spacecraft in orbit about Earth with the United States in the background symbolizes the ongoing support of the American people for scientific research intended to benefit all mankind.
Columbia (STS-62) launch
Name of Image Columbia (STS-62) launch
Date of Image 1994-03-04
Full Description Clear skies, tranquil winds, and a brilliant morning sun mark the ontime liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-62) from Launch Pad 39B. Columbia began the 61st Space Shuttle flight, which was a 14-day extended duration flight. On board, five veteran crew members performed materials processing experiments on the United States Microgravity Payload 2 (USMP-2), and also conducted experiments designed to enable or extend space flight technology aboard the Office of Aeornautics and Space Technology 2 payload (OAST-2).
STS-73 Onboard Photo: United …
Name of Image STS-73 Onboard Photo: United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2)
Date of Image 1995-10-20
Full Description Crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-73) capture a photograph of the Orbiter's cargo bay holding the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2), shaded from the Sun's contact. A mostly clear Earth-view is in the background.
STS-87 Mission Insignia
Name of Image STS-87 Mission Insignia
Date of Image 1997-08-01
Full Description The STS-87 patch is shaped like a space helmet symbolizing the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the mission in support of testing of tools for the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS). Earth is shown reflected on the backside of the helmet. The Space Shuttle Columbia forms the interface between the Earth and the heavens, the back and front sides of the helmet in profile. The three red lines emerging from Columbia represent the astronaut symbol as well as the robot arm, which was used to deploy and retrieve the Spartan satellite. The letters 'ug' represent the payloads studying microgravity science in space on this United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4) mission. Gold flames outlining the helmet visor represent the corona of the Sun, which will be studied by Spartan. The flag of Ukraine is next to the name of the payload specialist who is the first person from that nation to fly on the Space Shuttle.
Space Shuttle STS-87 Columbi …
Name of Image Space Shuttle STS-87 Columbia launch
Date of Image 1997-11-19
Full Description Like a rising sun lighting up the afternoon sky, the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-87) soared from Launch Pad 39B on the fourth flight of the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4) and Spartan-201 satellite which were managed by scientists and engineers from the Marshall Space Flight Center. During the 16-day mission, the crew oversaw experiments in microgravity, deployed and retrieved a solar satellite, and tested a new experimental camera, the AERCam Sprint. Two crew members, Dr. Takao Doi and Winston Scott also performed a spacewalk to practice International Space Station maneuvers.
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discov …
Name of Image STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Landed on Runway
Date of Image 2005-08-08
Full Description The sun rises on the Space Shuttle Discovery as it rests on the runway at Edward?s Air Force Base in California after a safe landing at 5:11 am (PDT) on August 9, 2005. The STS-114 landing concluded a historic 14 day return to flight mission to the International Space Station (ISS) after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003. Three successful space walks performed during the mission included a demonstration of repair techniques to the Shuttle?s thermal tiles known as the Thermal Protection System, the replacement of a failed Control Moment Gyroscope which helps keep the station oriented properly, and the installation of the External Stowage Platform, a space ?shelf? for holding spare parts during Station construction. The shuttle?s heat shield repair was a first for Shuttle repair while still in space.
Where a Black Hole Roams
Title Where a Black Hole Roams
Explanation Black hole candidate XTE [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/ learning_center/ ] J1118+480 is known to roam the halo of our Milky Way [ http://www.star.le.ac.uk/edu/mway/ ] Galaxy. This exotic system [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/highvblackhole/ ] - thought to be a stellar mass black hole [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/ blackholes_stellar.html ] consuming matter from a companion star - was discovered only last year as a flaring celestial x-ray [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010511.html ] source. Suggestively termed a microquasar [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/superlum.html ], recent radio and archival optical observations of its motion through [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2001/29/index.html ] the sky have now allowed its orbit to be calculated [ http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/?0109098 ]. Illustrated above, the black hole's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001210.html ] present galactic location is indicated by the purple dot, with the Sun's position [ http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/Graphics/animations/ sightlines.html ] in yellow. A mere 6,000 light-years from the Sun now, XTE J1118+480's orbit is traced by the orange line, backtracked for some 230 million years into the past based on models of the Galaxy [ http://iuniverse.gsfc.nasa.gov/ iuniverse/galaxy/ ]. Astronomers note this black hole's orbit about the galactic center, looping high above and below the Galaxy's [ http://home.arcor-online.de/axel.mellinger/ ] plane of gas, dust,and stars, is similar to orbits of globular star clusters [ http://www.seds.org/messier/cluster.html ], ancient denizens [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/ globclus.txt ] of our Galaxy. It seems likely that XTE J1118+480 [ http://cba.phys.columbia.edu/results/ xte1118+48/ ] too has its origins in the early history and [ http://ngst.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/DRMTheme3.html ] halo of the Milky Way.
A Spiral Galaxy Gallery
Title A Spiral Galaxy Gallery
Explanation A progression of beautiful spiral galaxies is illustrated above with three photographs from NASA's Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope [ http://fondue.gsfc.nasa.gov/UIT/Astro1/Astro1_pictures.html ] (UIT). Flying above the Earth's obscuring layer of atmosphere on the Space Shuttle Columbia [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950806.html ] during the Astro-1 mission in 1990 [ http://fondue.gsfc.nasa.gov/UIT/UIT_HomePage.html#Astro1 ], UIT's cameras were able to image these distant spirals in the ultraviolet light produced by hot, young stars. These bright stars, newly condensed from gas and dust clouds, give away the location of the spiral arms they are born in. Because they are massive (many times the mass of the Sun), they are shortlived [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951027.html ]. Dying and fading before they move too far from their birth place they make excellent tracers of spiral structure. From left to right the galaxies are known as M33, M74, and M81 and have progressively more tightly wound spiral arms. Astronomers would classify these [ http://sousun1.phys.soton.ac.uk/PH308/galaxies/classification.html ] as Scd, Sc, and Sb type spirals using a galaxy classification scheme [ http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/k12/hubble/hubble.html ] first worked out by Edwin Hubble [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/ d_1996/sandage_hubble.html ].
Launch of the Sun Pillar
Title Launch of the Sun Pillar
Explanation On January 16, NASA's space shuttle Columbia roared [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011115.html ] into blue morning skies above Kennedy Space Center on STS-107 [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ ], the first shuttle mission of 2003. But this is not a picture of that launch [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-107/ html/03pd0113.html ]! It was taken on the morning of January 16 though, at sunrise, looking eastward toward Lake Ontario from just outside of Caledon, Ontario, Canada. In the picture a sun pillar [ http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/ guides/mtr/opt/ice/sp.rxml ], sunlight reflecting from ice crystals [ http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/pillar.htm ] gently falling through the cold air, seems to shoot above the fiery Sun still low [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020902.html ] on the horizon. By chance, fog [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021122.html ] and clouds forming over the relatively warm lake look like billowing smoke from a rocket's exhaust plume [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020308.html ] and complete the launch illusion. Amateur photographer Lauri Kangas stopped on his way to work to record the eye-catching [ http://www.photon-echoes.com ] sun pillar launch.
Aristarchus' Unbelievable Di …
Title Aristarchus' Unbelievable Discoveries
Explanation Here lived one of the greatest thinkers in human history. Aristarchus [ http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristarchus.html ] lived on the Greek island of Samos, a small island in the center of the above picture [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/STS58/10083809.htm ] that can be identified with a good map [ http://www.cruiseair.com/bigmap.gif ]. Aristarchus, who lived from 310 BC to 230 BC, postulated that the planets orbited the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960521.html ] - not the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950830.html ] -- over a thousand years before Copernicus [ http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.html ] and Galileo [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960830.html ] made similar arguments. Aristarchus used clear logic to estimate the size of the Earth, the size and distance to our Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/moon.html ], the size and distance to our Sun, the the even deduced that the points of light we see at night are not dots painted on some celestial sphere but stars like our Sun at enormous distances. Aristarchus' discoveries [ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/GreekScience/Students/Kristen/Aristarchus.html ] remained truly unbelievable to the people of his time but stand today as pillars of deductive reasoning.
Vega Credit: D. Moffatt (DOA …
Title Vega Credit: D. Moffatt (DOA [ http://www.dao.nrc.ca/ ]), ScienceWeb [ http://scienceweb.dao.nrc.ca/ ], Starry Messenger Communications
Explanation Vega is a bright blue star 25 light years away. Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=06/15/1996&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ] is the brightest star in the Summer Triangle [ http://eagle.online.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/world/starshack/starshack080796/starshack.html ], a group of stars easily visible summer evenings in the northern hemisphere. The name Vega [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/7001.html ] derives from Arabic origins, and means "stone eagle." 4,000 years ago, however, Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=05/20/1995&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ] was known by some as "Ma'at" - one example of ancient human astronomical knowledge and language. 14,000 years ago, Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=07/10/1994&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ], not Polaris [ http://www.arcorp.com/polaris.html ], was the north star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961201.html ]. Vega [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ%2E%2E%2E450%2E%2E364G&db_key=AST&nosetcookie=1 ] is the fifth brightest star in the night sky, and has a diameter almost three times that of our Sun. Life [ http://www.seti-inst.edu/phoenix/contact.html ] bearing planets, rich in liquid water, could possibly exist around Vega [ http://lsnt7.lightspeed.net/~astronomy/lifezones/lifezones.html ]. The above picture [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/moffatt1.html ], taken in January, finds Vega, the Summer Triangle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961212.html ], and Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970610.html ] high above Victoria [ http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/ ], British Columbia [ http://www.gov.bc.ca/ ], Canada.
Young Star, Dark Cloud
Title Young Star, Dark Cloud
Explanation High-speed outflows of molecular gas from a young stellar object glow in infrared light, revealing themselves in this recent false-color image from the Spitzer Space Telescope [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2003-06/ ssc2003-06f.shtml ]. Cataloged as [ http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/catalogs/HHcat/ HHintro.html ] HH (Herbig-Haro) 46/47 the infrared source [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/ ir_zoo/horse.html ] is lodged within a dark nebula or Bok globule - near the lower right corner of the dark nebula in the optical inset - that is largely opaque when viewed [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ multiwavelength_astronomy/multiwavelength_astronomy/ index.html ] in visible light. The energetic outflow [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/1995/24/image/a ] features extend for nearly a light-year, burrowing into the dark interstellar material, and are attributed to [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04940 ] early stages in the life of a sun-like star. They may well represent a phase of our own Sun's evolution [ http://www.columbia.edu/~ah297/unesa/sun/ sun-chapter5.html ] which took place some 4.5 billion years ago, along with the formation of our solar system from a circumstellar disk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030208.html ]. A tantalizing [ http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] object to explore with Spitzer's infrared [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/science/whyir/ index.shtml ] capabilities, this young star system [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0304258 ] is relatively nearby, located only some 1,140 light-years distant in the nautical constellation Vela [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/vel/index.html ].
STS-58 Crew Insignia
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi …
The STS-58 crew insignia dep …
STS058-S-001
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
creator NASA
identifier STS058-S-001
STS-40 Columbia, Orbiter Veh …
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi …
The STS-40 patch makes a con …
s40-s-001
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
creator NASA
identifier s40-s-001
New York City Temperature an …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
As many urbanites know, summ …
newyork_etm_2002226
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2002-08-14
creator NASA -- Maps by Robert Simmon, using data from the landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Landsat Program.
identifier newyork_etm_2002226
Gulf of Alaska Warmer Than U …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Since early October 2002, se …
GulfAlaska_TMO2002308
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2002-11-04
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Jesse Allen, NASA's Earth Observatory
identifier GulfAlaska_TMO2002308
Covered Ground
PIA05441
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title Covered Ground
Original Caption Released with Image This image is a traverse map, illustrating Spirit's path over the last 45 sols. When the rover reached the point called "Laguna Hollow," it had driven 131 meters (430 feet) from Columbia Memorial Station. The rover heading is 45 degrees to the northeast. On the horizon behind the lander looms the landmark informally named "Grissom Hill." Over the relatively flat traverse, Spirit has made observations of rocks such as "Adirondack" and utilized the tools on its arm to investigate soil in several locations. Spirit stayed at "Laguna Hollow" for 3 sols, dug a trench and observed the floor and wall of it with three of the instruments on its arm: the Moessbauer spectrometer, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and the microscopic imager. Spirit is about halfway to the edge of the crater dubbed "Bonneville.
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