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Earth and Moon and moon of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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Earth, Moon, Hubble
| Title |
Earth, Moon, Hubble |
| Explanation |
The Space Shuttle Discovery Crew [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-103/crew/ ] was fortunate enough to witness one of the brighter full moon's from orbit two weeks ago during their mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ ]. Pictured on the left [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-103/html/s103e5252.html ], the horizon of the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990619.html ] is visible below this full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ], which is below the edge of the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970306.html ]. The full Moon on this day, last December 22 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991222.html ], was a few percent brighter than average [ http://www.skypub.com/news/pr_991217brightmoon.html ] because it was full at nearly the same time it was at its closest to the Earth, which comes at a time when the Earth is relatively close to the Sun. The Shuttle Crew successfully showered [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts103/STS-103-13.html ] Hubble with needed holiday gifts, including six new gyroscopes [ http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/sm3a_fact_sheets.html#gyroscopes ], a new computer [ http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/sm3a_fact_sheets.html#advanced ], and new batteries [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/battery.htm ]. |
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A Skygazer's Full Moon
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A Skygazer's Full Moon |
| Explanation |
This dramatically sharp picture [ http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/6432/ Einstein.html ] of the full moon was recorded on 22 December, 1999 by astroimager Rob Gendler [ http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/6432/homepage.html ]. Big, beautiful, bright, and evocative [ http://205.121.65.141/Millville/teachers/carles/carles96_97/ writing/moonpoems.htm ], it was the last full moon of the Y1.9Ks, pleasing and inspiring even casual skygazers. December's moon was special [ http://www.magna.com.au/~prfbrown/i_asimov.html ] for another reason, as the full phase [ http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/phases.html ] occurred on the day of the winter solstice and within hours of lunar perigee [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991222.html ]. The first full moon of the year 2000 will bring a special treat [ http://www.bibliography.com/moon/ ] as well, presenting denizens of planet Earth with a total lunar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEextra/TLE2000Jan20.html ]. On Thursday evening, January 20, the moon will encounter the dark edge of Earth's shadow at 10:01 PM Eastern Time [ http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/zones.html ] with the total eclipse phase beginning at 11:05 PM and lasting for 77 minutes. This lunar eclipse will be visible from North and South America and Western Europe (total phase begins at 4:05 AM GMT January 21). |
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Venus, Moon, and Neighbors
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Venus, Moon, and Neighbors |
| Explanation |
Rising before the Sun on February 2nd, astrophotographer [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/JoeGallery.html ] Joe Orman anticipated [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/JoeAlmanac2000.html ] this apparition of the bright morning star [ http://ispec.scibernet.com/station/morn_star.html ] Venus near a lovely crescent Moon above a neighbor's house in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Fortunately, the alignment of bright planets and the Moon is one of the most inspiring sights in the night sky [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0004skyevents.html ] and one that is often easy to enjoy and share without any special equipment. Take tonight [ http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm ], for example. Those blessed with clear skies can simply step outside near sunset and view a young crescent Moon very near three bright planets in the west Jupiter [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/ ], Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ ], and Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/ ]. Jupiter will be the unmistakable brightest star near the Moon with a reddish Mars just to Jupiter's north and pale yellow Saturn directly above. Of course, these sky shows [ http://drumright.ossm.edu/astronomy/conjunctions.html ] create an evocative picture [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000310.html ] but the planets and Moon just appear to be near each other -- they are actually only approximately lined up and lie in widely separated orbits. Unfortunately, next month's highly publicized alignment of planets [ http://www.griffithobs.org/SkyAlignments.html ] on May 5th will be lost from view in the Sun's glare but such planetary alignments [ http://www.skypub.com/news/special/whypanic.html ] occur repeatedly and pose no danger [ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planets.html ] to planet Earth. |
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The Last Moon Shot
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The Last Moon Shot |
| Explanation |
In 1865 Jules Verne [ http://www.interlog.com/~anash/najvs.html ] predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon" [ http://JV.Gilead.org.il/pg/moon/ ], he outlined his vision of a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal109/NEWHTF/ITM6201.HTM ] carrying three adventurers to the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ ap11ann/eagle.html ]. Over 100 years later, NASA [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/history.html ], guided by Wernher Von Braun [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html ]'s vision, produced the Saturn V rocket [ http://www.apollosaturn.com/ ]. From a spaceport in Florida [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html ], this rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact, launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ]. Pictured [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075937.htm ] is the last moon shot, Apollo 17 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo17info.html ], awaiting a night launch in December of 1972. Spotlights play on the rocket and launch pad while the full Moon looms [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/moon.html ] in the background. Humans have not walked on [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ apollo.epilog.html ] on the lunar surface since. [ http://ilewg.jsc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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A Continuous Eruption on Jup
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A Continuous Eruption on Jupiter's Moon Io |
| Explanation |
A volcano on Jupiter's moon Io [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/io.html ] has been photographed recently during an ongoing eruption. Hot glowing lava is visible on the left on this representative-color image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02550 ]. A glowing landscape of plateaus and valleys covered in sulfur [ http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/16.html ] and silicate rock [ http://windows.ivv.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/tour_def/glossary/silicate_rock.html ] surrounds the active volcano [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/Io/Overview.html ]. Many features including several of the dark spots [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971110.html ] have evolved between February 2000, when the robot spacecraft Galileo [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/spacecraft.html ] currently orbiting Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html ] took this picture, and November 1999. Io [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/research/outerp/io.html ] is slightly larger than Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ] and is the closest large moon to Jupiter [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiter/jupiter.html ]. The above image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02550 ] shows a region about 250 kilometers across. How the internal structure of Io [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1990Icar...85..309R ] creates these active volcanoes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961027.html ] remains under investigation. |
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Ultraviolet Earth from the M
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Ultraviolet Earth from the Moon |
| Explanation |
Here's a switch: the above picture is of the " Earth " taken from a " lunar " observatory! [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960608.html ] This false color picture [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS16/10075878.htm ] shows how the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/earth.html ] glows in ultraviolet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#uv ] (UV) light. UV light is so blue humans can't see it. Very little UV light [ http://titan.srrb.noaa.gov/UV/ ] is transmitted through the Earth's atmosphere but what sunlight does make it through can cause a sunburn [ http://uhs.bsd.uchicago.edu/uhs/infoline/sunburn.htm ]. The Far UV Camera / Spectrograph [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo16/A16_Experiments_UVC.html ] deployed and left on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 16 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000319.html ] took the above picture. The part of the Earth facing the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ] reflects much UV light, but perhaps more interesting is the side facing away from the Sun. Here bands of UV emission [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/emspectrum.html ] are also apparent. These bands [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970402.html ] are the result of aurorae [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_ts?aurora ] and are caused by charged particles [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Intro.html ] expelled by the Sun. |
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Eclipsed Moon Rising Over En
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Eclipsed Moon Rising Over England |
| Explanation |
Last Thursday, part of our Moon turned dark. The cause, this time, was not a partial lunar phase [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051113.html ] -- the Moon was full -- but rather that part of the Moon went into Earth's shadow. The resulting partial lunar eclipse [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041103.html ] was visible from the eastern Atlantic Ocean [ https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zh.html ] through Europe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051207.html ], Africa [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa ], and Asia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia ] and into the western Pacific Ocean [ https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zn.html ]. The darkest part of the lunar eclipse, when part of the Moon was completely shielded from sunlight [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060909.html ], lasted about 90 minutes. Pictured above, a partially eclipsed Moon is seen rising over an estate in Huddersfield [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huddersfield_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29 ], England [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_%28terminology%29 ]. The above image was taken far away from the house in the foreground, as only this would allow it to appear as angularly small as the half-degree Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031011.html ] far in the background. A setting twilight Sun lit the foreground. The next eclipse [ http://mreclipse.com/Special/LEnext.html ] of the Moon will occur in March 2007. |
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Sirius, Sun, Moon, and South
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Sirius, Sun, Moon, and Southern Cross |
| Explanation |
From left to right are the enclosures of Yepun ("ye-poon", Sirius [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000611.html ]), Antu ("an-too", Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000621.html ]), Kueyen ("qua-yen", Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991222.html ]), and Melipal ("me-li-pal", Southern Cross [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000618.html ]), pictured here as night falls at Paranal Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ phot-15B-00.html ] in northern Chile. These are the four 8.2 meter wide telescope units of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ phot-15-00.html ] (VLT). ESO astronomers and engineers plan to combine the light [ http://www.eso.org/projects/vlt/ ] of the individual units, achieving an equivalent aperture [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ] of 16.4 meters which will, for a while [ http://nastol.astro.lu.se/~torben/50m/50m.html ], constitue the biggest [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/1299engineering/ 1299musserbox2.html ] telescope on planet Earth [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/1299engineering/ 1299musser.html ]. Of course, the individual telescopes also function independently. Antu, Kueyen, and Melipal have already achieved first light with Yepun expected to operate in 2001. The telescope names [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/names.html ] come from the Mapuche [ http://www.uchile.cl/cultura/mapa/ artesamapuche/ingles/index.htm ] language [ http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/~arnold/mapuche/ mapudungun.html ]. They were unanimously chosen based on the winning "name-the-telescopes" essay by 17-year old Jorssy Albanez Castilla from Chuquicamata near the city of Calama. |
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Crescent Venus and Moon
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Crescent Venus and Moon |
| Explanation |
There's something behind these clouds. Those faint graceful arcs, upon inspection, are actually far, far in the distance. They are the Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060907.html ] and the planet Venus [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Venus ]. Both the Moon and Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050913.html ] are bright enough to be seen during the day, and both are quite capable of showing a crescent phase [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060618.html ]. To see Venus, which appears quite small, in a crescent phase [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060110.html ] requires binoculars [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binoculars ] or a telescope. In the above dramatic daytime image [ http://eder.csillagaszat.hu/digital/venus_fedes/Ven_fed.html ] taken from Budapest [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest ], Hungary [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary ], the Moon and Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060723.html ] shared a similar crescent phase a few minutes before the Moon eclipsed [ http://www.astronomy.no/venus080604/venusocc/images.html ] the larger but more distant world. About an hour later, Venus reappeared. |
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Full Moon Crossing
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Full Moon Crossing |
| Explanation |
On October 6th, a nearly full perigee [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041021.html ] Moon shone in Earth's night sky. The bright moonlight [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/ 28sep_strangemoonlight.htm ], accurate planning, and proper equipment resulted in this amazing composite [ http://pictures.ed-morana.com/ISSTransits/ ] featuring sharp silhouettes of the International Space Station (ISS) as it rapidly crossed (right to left) in front [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060921.html ] of the lunar disk. The picture was constructed using six video frames recorded from a site just outside Tracy, California, USA. Sporting newly deployed solar arrays, the ISS [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060920.html ] was at a range of about 260 miles from the telescope/video camera setup. In the background, about a thousand times more distant than the ISS, lies bright lunar ray crater Tycho [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050305.html ]. |
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Eclipse Moon Trail
| Title |
Eclipse Moon Trail |
| Explanation |
Tonight, Friday the 13th, October's big, bright, beautiful full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000113.html ] will be in the sky, rising as the sun sets. A time exposure of this evening's full Moon would show a brilliant circular arc or Moon trail tracing its celestial path. In fact, this single [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/joemoon/ MoonPlanets_000120_2.html ], four hour long exposure from the evening of January 20 shows a full Moon trailing through hazy skies above [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/ JoeGallery.html ] Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Of course, the picture also shows something you won't see tonight -- a total lunar eclipse [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html ]. A lunar eclipse is caused when the full moon enters Earth's shadow [ http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/q2806.html ] and as the eclipsed Moon's light grows steadily fainter, the Moon trail becomes narrow and dim. The total eclipse phase, when the Moon passes completely within Earth's shadow [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=3&vbody=103& month=1&day=21¢ury=20&decade=0&year=0&hour=04&minute=0& rfov=30&fovmul=-1&bfov=30 ], occurs near the middle of this Moon trail arc [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000905.html ]. But even during totality, the Moon trail is visible and noticeably red. Normally illuminated by sunlight which falls directly on its surface, during a total lunar eclipse the Moon is still illuminated [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ] by sunlight filtered and refracted through Earth's atmosphere. The refracted light lends the eclipsed Moon [ http://www.mreclipse.com/ ] a dim and reddish appearance. |
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The Averted Side Of The Moon
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The Averted Side Of The Moon |
| Explanation |
This vintage 60-kopek stamp celebrates a dramatic achievement. On the 7th of October, 1959 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunartimeline.html ] (7/X/1959), the Soviet interplanetary station which has come to be called "Luna 3" [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/database/www-nmc?59-008A ] successfully photographed the far side [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981008.html ] of the moon giving denizens of planet Earth their first ever view [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950914.html ] of this hidden [ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/dark_side.html ] hemisphere [ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/moon_spin.html ]. Lacking the digital image technology [ http://willmclaughlin.astrodigitals.com/ ] familiar now, Luna 3 took the pictures on 35mm film which was automatically developed on board. The pictures were then scanned and the signal transmitted [ http://www.users.wineasy.se/svengrahn/trackind/ jodrell/jodrole1.htm#luna3fars ] to Earth days later in what was perhaps also the first interplanetary fax. In all, seventeen pictures [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/database/www-nmc?59-008A-01 ] were received providing enough coverage and resolution to construct a far side map and identify a few major features. Depicted on [ http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/stamps.html ] the stamp are regions dubbed the Sea of Moscow, the Soviet Mountains, the Bay of Astronauts, and the Sea of Dreams. |
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Moon Over Andromeda
| Title |
Moon Over Andromeda |
| Explanation |
The Great Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051222.html ] (aka M31), a mere 2.5 million light-years distant [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511045 ], is the closest large spiral to our own Milky Way. Andromeda is visible to the unaided eye as a small, faint, fuzzy patch, but because its surface brightness is so low, casual skygazers [ http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~huffman/m31.html ] can't appreciate the galaxy's impressive extent in planet Earth's sky. This entertaining composite image compares the angular size [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale.html ] of the nearby galaxy to a brighter, more familiar celestial sight. In it, a deep exposure of Andromeda [ http://www.caelumobservatory.com/gallery/m31abtp.shtml ], tracing beautiful blue star clusters in spiral arms far beyond the bright yellow core, is combined with a typical view of a nearly full Moon. Shown at the same angular scale, the Moon covers about 1/2 degree on the sky, while the galaxy is clearly [ http://www.regulusastro.com/regulus/papers/ m31/ ] several times that size. The deep Andromeda exposure also includes two bright satellite galaxies, M32 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991103.html ] and M110 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060908.html ] (bottom). |
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Solar Eclipse from the Moon
| Title |
Solar Eclipse from the Moon |
| Explanation |
Parts of Saturday's (March 3) lunar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2007.html ] will be widely visible. For example, skywatchers [ http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/maaneclips2007/ leclips2007.html ] in Europe, Africa, and western Asia will be able to see the entire spectacle of the Moon gliding through Earth's shadow, but in eastern North America the Moon will rise already in its total eclipse phase [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html ]. Of course if you traveled to the Moon's near side [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/ 12feb_lunareclipse.htm ], you could see the same event as a solar eclipse, with the disk of our fair planet Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/ ] completely blocking out the Sun. For a moon-based observer's view, graphic artist Hana Gartstein (Haifa, Israel [ http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=haifa,+israel &layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=7&ll=33.027088,34.865112 &spn=6.83228,13.886719&t=k ]) offers this composite illustration. In the cropped version of her picture, an Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051210.html ] image of Earth is surrounded with a red-tinted haze as sunlight streams [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031121.html ] through the planet's dusty atmosphere. Earth's night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050611.html ] side remains faintly visible, still illuminated by the dark, reddened Moon, but the disk of the Earth would appear almost four times the size of the Sun's disk, so the faint corona surrounding the Sun would be largely obscured. At the upper left, the Sun itself [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060330.html ] is just disappearing [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=301 &month=3&day=3&year=2007&hour=22&minute=05&rfov=2 &fovmul=-1&bfov=30&porbs=1&showsc=1 ] behind the Earth's limb. |
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Oceans Under Jupiter's Moon
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| Title |
Oceans Under Jupiter's Moon Ganymede? |
| Explanation |
The search for extraterrestrial [ http://www.seti.org/ ] life came back into our own Solar System [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/overview.html ] last week with the announcement [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/aguganymederoundup.html ] that there may be liquid oceans under the surface of Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/jupiter.html ]'s moon Ganymede [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/ganymede.html ]. Ganymede [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000620.html ] now joins Callisto [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/news32.html ] and Europa [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/europa.html ] as moons of Jupiter [ http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm ] that may harbor seas of liquid water under layers of surface ice [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980722.html ]. The ocean hypothesis surfaced as an explanation for Ganymede's unusually strong magnetic field [ http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/galileo/doc/n384/text.htm ]. Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, also has the largest measured magnetic field [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html ] of any moon. Some exobiologists [ http://exobiology.nasa.gov/ssx/exobiology.html ] hypothesize that life may be able to emerge [ http://www.etext.org/Zines/Quanta/life.html ] in such an ocean, much as it did in the oceans of ancient Earth [ http://wwwcatsic.ucsc.edu/~eart1/Notes/Lec1.html ]. Above [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02583 ], a frame from a computer simulation [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenDownloadOpts.pl?PIA02583 ] shows what it would look like to fly over [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961025.html ] the surface of Ganymede, as extrapolated from photographs of the grooved moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960711.html ] taken by the robot spacecraft Galileo [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/mission.html ] currently orbiting Jupiter. |
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The Far Side of the Moon
| Title |
The Far Side of the Moon |
| Explanation |
Does this moon look familiar? Possibly not, even though it is Earth's Moon. Locked in synchronous rotation, the Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ] always presents its well-known near side to Earth. But from lunar orbit, Apollo astronauts [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html ] also grew to know the Moon's far side. This sharp picture [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/a16_m_3021.html ] from Apollo 16 [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16 ]'s mapping camera shows the eastern edge of the familiar near side [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040829.html ] (top) and the strange and heavily cratered far side [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Far_Side ] of the Moon. Surprisingly, the rough and battered surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061210.html ] of the far side looks very different [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_side_of_the_Moon ] from the near side which is covered with smooth dark lunar maria [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/lunar/mare/mlm.html ]. The likely explanation is that the far side [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070225.html ap950914.html ] crust is thicker, making it harder for molten material from the interior to flow to the surface and form the smooth maria [ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=800 ]. |
|
Eclipsed Moon and Stars
| Title |
Eclipsed Moon and Stars |
| Explanation |
This dramatic image [ http://panther-observatory.com/gallery/moon/doc/ Mofi_03032007_cass.htm ] features a dark red Moon during a total lunar eclipse -- celestial shadow play [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060909.html ] enjoyed by many denizens of planet Earth [ http://spaceweather.com/eclipses/gallery_03mar07.htm ] last Saturday. Recorded near Wildon, Austria, the picture is a composite of two exposures, a relatively short exposure to feature the lunar surface and a longer exposure to capture background stars in the constellation Leo [ http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/leo.html ]. Completely immersed in Earth's cone-shaped shadow during the total eclipse [ http://www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_ecl1.htm ] phase, the lunar surface is still illuminated by sunlight, reddened and [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031121.html ] refracted into the dark shadow region by a dusty atmosphere. As a result, familiar [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031212.html ] details of the Moon's nearside are easy to pick out, including the smooth lunar mare and the large ray crater Tycho [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050305.html ]. In this telescopic view, the background stars are faint and most would be invisible to the naked eye. |
|
Moon Mare and Montes
| Title |
Moon Mare and Montes |
| Explanation |
This arresting [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ] image of the third quarter moon in the excellent skies above the Pine Crest Farm Observatory, Dell Prairie, Wisconsin, was recorded [ http://www.scancam.com/ ] with a 24 inch telescope and digital camera on October 19. Marvelously detailed [ http://www.seds.org/billa/psc/lunam.html ], especially along the terminator or shadow line between lunar night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960919.html ] and day, this cropped version of the full mosaicked image shows the cratered north polar region (top) and the broad smooth Mare Imbrium [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/lunar/ mare/mlm.html ]. Notable at the northern edge [ http://www.arval.org.ve/MoonMapen.htm ] of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) is the 95 kilometer wide dark crater Plato, while the dramatic straight "cut" to the right of Plato, (toward the terminator) is the Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley). The long, graceful arc of the lunar [ http://www.tiac.net/users/richarde/ ] Montes Apenninus (Apennine Mountains) in the lower portion of the image sweeps southward along the boundary of the mare toward the left and ends near the bright ray crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001216.html ] Copernicus [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/expmoon/orbiter/ orbiter-craters.html#COPER ] at the picture's edge. In 1971, Apollo 15 [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15j.html ] landed near the gap beyond the opposite (northern) end of the Montes Apenninus arc. |
|
A Blue Crescent Moon from Sp
…
| Title |
A Blue Crescent Moon from Space |
| Explanation |
What's happening to the Moon? Drifting around the Earth in 2006 July, astronauts from the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060920.html ] (ISS) captured a crescent Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060618.html ] floating far beyond the horizon. The captured above image [ http://eobadmin.gsfc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17542 ] is interesting because part of the Moon appears blue [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040731.html ], and because part of the moon appears missing. Both effects are created by the Earth's atmosphere [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html ]. Air molecules [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecules ] more efficiently scatter increasingly blue light, making the clear day sky blue [ http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blue_sky.html ] for ground observers, and the horizon blue for astronauts. Besides reflecting sunlight, these atmospheric molecules [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air ] also deflect moonlight, making the lower part of the moon appear to fade away. As one looks higher in the photograph [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS013&roll=E&frame=54329 ], the increasingly thin atmosphere appears to fade to black [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000913.html ]. |
|
Shuttle Plume Shadow Points
…
| Title |
Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to Moon |
| Explanation |
Why would the shadow of a space shuttle [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/EAO/FactSheets/ShuttlesFACTS.html ] launch plume point toward the Moon? Two weeks ago during the launch of Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ], the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ], Earth, Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ], and rocket were all properly aligned for this photogenic coincidence. First, for the space shuttle [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-98/index.htm ]'s plume to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990817.html ] or sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980526.html ]. Next, just at sunset, the shadow [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001225.html ] is the longest and extends all the way to the horizon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990619.html ]. Finally, during a Full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000113.html ], the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010129.html ] and Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/moon.html ] are on opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991110.html ], for example, the Sun is slightly below the horizon [ http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=horizon ], and, in the other direction, the Moon is slightly above the horizon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000320.html ]. Therefore, as Atlantis [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950812.html ] blasted off, just after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990726.html ], its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the opposite horizon, where the Full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010104.html ] just happened to be. |
|
Pantheon Earth and Moon
| Title |
Pantheon Earth and Moon |
| Explanation |
Could this be a picture of the Earth and Moon from space [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030526.html ]? It certainly looks like it at first glance, with a cratered Moon standing off from planet Earth's lovely blue disk surrounded by a nurturing atmosphere [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Topics/ atmosphere.html ]. In fact, this view looks [ http://www.arounder.eu/pantheon/pantheon.html ] up into the dome of the ancient Pantheon [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome ] in Rome. The Earth's blue disk is really the daytime sky with clouds seen through a nine meter diameter central opening in the dome. The circular opening, or oculus, was intended as the source of light for the building's interior. The Moon is actually direct sunlight streaming through the oculus onto the dome's inner ribbed structure. Historian Soeren Dalsgaard snapped the evocative picture [ http://www.dalsgaard.eu/Pantheon/index.html ] in February and comments that for almost two thousand years the rays of the Sun have traced a steady path on the inside of the Pantheon's [ http://www.dalsgaard.eu/Pantheon/Pantheon2.html ] cupola. A testament to Roman architecture and engineering, the Pantheon's [ http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/2005/12/ imperium_in_the_pantheon_in_ro.html ] dome is said to symbolize the vault of the heavens. |
|
Young Moon and Sister Stars
| Title |
Young Moon and Sister Stars |
| Explanation |
A young [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050513.html ] crescent Moon shared the western sky with thin clouds and the sister stars [ http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/pleiades_myth.html ] of the Pleiades cluster in this early evening skyscape recorded on April 19th. Astronomical images of the well-known Pleiades [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060109.html ] often show the star cluster's alluring blue reflection nebulae, but they are washed-out here in the clouds and bright moonlight. While the 3-day old Moon is overexposed, surface features can be seen on the dim lunar night side, illuminated by earthshine [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020419.html ] - light from sunlit planet Earth. Only a week earlier [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070414.html ], brilliant Venus also posed near the sister stars. Of course, Venus has not yet wandered too far from the Pleiades and still rules western skies as the evening star [ http://www.baltastro.org/AstroPoetry.html#EveningStar ]. |
|
A Spherule from the Earth's
…
| Title |
A Spherule from the Earth's Moon |
| Explanation |
How did this spherule come to be on the Moon? When a meteorite [ http://www.nineplanets.org/meteorites.html ] strikes the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/moon.html ], the energy of the impact [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30nov_1.htm ] melts some of the splattering rock [ http://www.teachersource.com/micrometeorites.htm ], a fraction of which might cool into tiny glass beads [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html ]. Many of these glass beads [ http://www.geocities.com/ladysveva/BeadHistory.html ] were present in lunar soil samples [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_sampact.html ] returned to Earth by the Apollo missions [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm ]. Pictured above [ http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/lunar-spherule.html ] is one such glass spherule [ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spherule ] that measures only a quarter of a millimeter [ http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/everyday.htm ] across. This spherule [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040210.html ] is particularly interesting because it has been victim to an even smaller impact. A miniature crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990711.html ] is visible on the upper left, surrounded by a fragmented area caused by the shockwaves [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010623.html ] of the small impact. By dating [ http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm ] many of these impacts [ http://www.sciencenews.org/20000311/fob3.asp ], astronomers can estimate [ http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/lunar-spherule.html ] the history of cratering [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010428.html ] on our Moon. |
|
Venus Near the Moon
| Title |
Venus Near the Moon |
| Explanation |
The two brightest objects in the night sky appeared to go right past each other last week. On the night of May 19, Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051113.html ] and the planet Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070501.html ] were visible in the same part of the sky, and at closest approach were less than one degree apart. The conjunction was captured in the above image taken from near Quebec City [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City ], Quebec [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec ], Canada [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada ]. Venus appears on the lower left of the above photo. The spires [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010415.html ] that appear to emanate from Venus [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus ] are diffraction spikes [ http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/kaspar/obs_mishaps/images/int_reflection2.html ] caused by the camera itself. The image is so clear that craters on the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060530.html ] are resolved. Of course, the real physical distance between the two heavenly bodies was not unusually small -- the apparent conjunction [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_%28astronomy_and_astrology%29 ] was really just an illusion [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvY7NGncCgU ] of perspective [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050913.html ]. Although Earth's Moon passes Venus once each month, such a close passing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061030.html ] visible in the evening sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020524.html ] is more rare. |
|
Io: Moon Over Jupiter
| Title |
Io: Moon Over Jupiter |
| Explanation |
How big is the Jovian moon Io [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/ nineplanets/io.html ]? The most volcanic body [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/ other_worlds.html ] in the Solar System, Io (usually pronounced "EYE-oh") is 3,600 kilometers in diameter, about the size of planet Earth's single large natural satellite [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010127.html ]. Gliding past Jupiter [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby/ ] at the turn of the millennium, the Cassini spacecraft captured this awe inspiring view [ http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/ciclops/images_jupiter.html ] of active Io [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/io.html ] with the largest [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ datamax.html ] gas giant as a backdrop, offering a stunning demonstration of the ruling planet's relative size [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ jupiterfact.html ]. Although in the picture Io [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02879 ] appears to be located just in front of the swirling Jovian clouds, Io hurtles around its orbit once every 42 hours at a distance of 420,000 kilometers or so from the center of Jupiter [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ joviansatfact.html ]. That puts it nearly 350,000 kilometers above Jupiter's cloud tops [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010215.html ], roughly equivalent to the distance between Earth and Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980904.html ]. The Cassini spacecraft [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/spacecraft/ ] itself was about 10 million kilometers from Jupiter when recording the image data. |
|
Shuttle Plume Shadow Points
…
| Title |
Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to Moon |
| Explanation |
Why would the shadow of a space shuttle [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html ] launch plume point toward the Moon? In early 2001 during a launch of Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ], the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ], Earth, Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ], and rocket were all properly aligned for this photogenic coincidence [ http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?vev1id=7574 ]. First, for the space shuttle [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-98/index.htm ]'s plume to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990817.html ] or sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980526.html ]. Next, just at sunset, the shadow [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001225.html ] is the longest and extends all the way to the horizon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990619.html ]. Finally, during a Full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000113.html ], the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010129.html ] and Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/moon.html ] are on opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060723.html ], for example, the Sun is slightly below the horizon [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon ], and, in the other direction, the Moon is slightly above the horizon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000320.html ]. Therefore, as Atlantis [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950812.html ] blasted off, just after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990726.html ], its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the opposite horizon, where the Full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010104.html ] just happened to be. |
|
Strange Orange Soil on the M
…
| Title |
Strange Orange Soil on the Moon |
| Explanation |
How did orange soil appear on the Moon? This mystery began [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] when astronaut Harrison Schmidt [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#jackbio ] noticed the off-color patch near Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001209.html ]'s Taurus-Littrow [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_lsite.html ] landing site in 1972. Schmidt and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#genebio ] scooped up some of the unusual orange soil [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] for detailed inspection back on Earth. Pictured above [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10076006.htm ] is a return sample shown greatly magnified, with its discovery location shown in the inset [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075960.htm ]. The orange soil [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_sampact.html ] contains particles less than 0.1 millimeter across, some of the smallest particles yet found on the Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/wl.so.1.html ]. Lunar geologists now think that the orange soil [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/moon/moondust.htm ] was created during an ancient fire-fountain [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/volc/fountain.htm ]. Detailed chemical and dating analyses indicate [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996LPI....27..303D ] that during an explosive volcanic eruption 3.64 billion years ago, small drops [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000322.html ] of molten rock cooled rapidly into the nearly spherical colored grains. The origin of some of the unusual elements found in the soil [ http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/lunar/lunar.htm ], however, remains unknown. |
|
Astronomer's Moon
| Title |
Astronomer's Moon |
| Explanation |
Jupiter is [ http://www.nineplanets.org/jupiter.html ] an astronomer's planet -- its large size and contrasting global cloud belts and zones [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030906.html ] allow detailed studies with a range of earthbound telescopes [ http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/alpo/ ]. On the other hand, most telescopic views of Jupiter's moons [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030227.html ] usually show only featureless, tantalizing points of light hovering near the ruling gas giant. But this impressive picture from a small, ground-based telescope reveals a stunning amount of detail [ http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/ Number/1752001/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 ] on Ganymede, a jovian moon about the same size as Earth's moon but at least 1,500 times farther away. The image was carefully constructed by combining and processing only the 409 sharpest frames from a total of 10,000 recorded at 30 frames per second by a digital camera. Ganymede's [ http://www.nineplanets.org/ganymede.html ] radius is about 2,600 kilometers indicating that the surface markings [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=503&vbody=399 &month=6&day=30&year=2007&hour=20&minute=05&rfov=2&fovmul=-1&bfov=30 &porbs=1&showsc=1 ] visible are as small as around 900 kilometers across. |
|
Welcome to the Moon Hotel
| Title |
Welcome to the Moon Hotel |
| Explanation |
The most detailed proposal [ http://www.rombaut.nl/ ] so far for a hotel and resort [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001209.html ] destination on the Moon [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/ luna.html ] (!) has been prepared by Dutch [ http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/maanhotel/lunatic.html ] architect Hans-Jurgen Rombaut. The harsh lunar environment [ http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/lri/Luna/report/ des_approach.html#REF61557 ] posed serious design challenges [ http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/ explore.htm ] but the Moon's low, one-sixth-Earth gravity [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/tour_def/earth/ moons_and_rings.html ], and the absence of wind were an architectural boon allowing a much more slender and fragile-looking building than would have been possible on Earth [ http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/ contents_europe.html ]. Illustrated here, the structure's two 160 meter high needle-like towers soar over [ http://www.rombaut.nl/engindex2.htm ] the rim of a deep canyon as planet Earth hangs in the lunar sky [ http://snoopy.gsfc.nasa.gov/~lunartel/ ]. To shield the interior, Rombaut designed 50 centimeter thick walls with two outer layers of Moon rock and a 35 centimeter layer of water [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html ] held between glass planes. The water absorbs energetic cosmic rays [ http://www.hps.org/ publicinformation/ate/q753.html ] and along with the rock helps keep the temperature constant. Windows are framed as holes in the rock layers. Construction materials [ http://www.seds.org/~rme/lunar.html ] are intended to be manufactured on the Moon [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ] itself. This Moon Hotel design is welcomed by the international Lunar Explorers Society, LUNEX [ http://www.lunarexplorers.org ], who hope to construct a robotic Moon base [ http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/ ] by 2015, ultimately [ http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/explore.htm ] supporting a lunar village by 2040. |
|
Bright Planets, Crescent Moo
…
| Title |
Bright Planets, Crescent Moon |
| Explanation |
Early risers are currently enjoying the sight [ http://stardate.org/nightsky/planets/ ] of dazzling Venus [ http://www.nineplanets.org/venus.html ], near the eastern horizon as the morning star [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/venus/ morning_star.html&edu=high ]. Recorded on October 7, this predawn skyview [ http://www.usno.navy.mil/pao/sky/sky_week.shtml ] does feature Venus at the upper right. It also includes a crescent Moon and Saturn (lower left). In fact, holding your fist at arms length would have easily covered [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale.html ] both planets and the Moon in this 5 degree wide field. Earthshine [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020419.html ], sunlight reflected from planet Earth's dayside, illuminates features on the lunar nightside. A close inspection of Saturn itself reveals a nearby pinpoint of light corresponding to Saturn's [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/moons/index.cfm ] large moon Titan. Though the Moon has moved on, the tight triangle [ http://www.spaceweather.com/images2007/12oct07/ skymap_north.gif ] formed by Venus, Saturn, and Regulus (top), alpha star in the constellation Leo, will continue to look impressive in early morning skies over the next few days. Early bird astrophotographer Jay Ouellet also described Mars as [ http://www.spaceweather.com/images2007/11oct07/ skymap_north_mars.gif ] a "brilliant red diode" in his dark country sky east of Quebec City, Canada. Count the Stars: The Great World Wide Star Count [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/ ] |
|
Moon AND Sun
| Title |
Moon AND Sun |
| Explanation |
Today's composite image was made from 22 separate pictures of the Moon and Sun all taken from Chisamba, Zambia [ http://www.MrEclipse.com/TSE01reports/ TSE01Espenak.html ] during the total phase of the 2001 June 21 solar eclipse [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010622.html ]. The multiple exposures [ http://www.MrEclipse.com/TSE01reports/ TSE01reports.html#T01composite2 ] were digitally processed and combined to simultaneously show a wealth of detail which no single camera exposure or naked-eye observation could easily reveal. Most striking are the incredible flowing streamers of the Sun's outer atmosphere or solar corona [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/ corona.html ], notoriously difficult to see except when the new Moon blocks [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html ] the bright solar disk. Features on the darkened near side of the Moon [ http://www.inconstantmoon.com/ ] can also be made out, illuminated by sunlight [ http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html ] reflected from a full Earth [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=3&vbody=103&month=6&day=21¢ury=20&decade=0&year=1&hour=12&minute=0&rfov=30&fovmul=-1&bfov=30 ]. A giant solar prominence seems to hang [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010726.html ] just beyond the Moon's eastern (left) edge while about one diameter farther east of the eclipsed Sun is the relatively [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2001/TSE2001fig/ TSE2001fig15.GIF ] faint (4th magnitude) star 1 Geminorum [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/ 2134.html ]. |
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Eclipsed Moon in Infrared
| Title |
Eclipsed Moon in Infrared |
| Explanation |
The total lunar eclipse of September 1996 [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/ LEplot/LEplot1951/LE1996Sep27T.gif ] disappointed many observers in North America who were cursed with cloudy skies. However, the Midcourse Space Experiment [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/ipac/msx/msx.html ] (MSX) satellite had a spectacular view from Earth orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001129.html ] and SPIRIT III [ http://www.sdl.usu.edu/programs/spirit3/index ], an onboard infrared telescope, was used to repeatedly image the moon during the eclipse [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010104.html ]. Above is one of the images taken during the 70 minute totality, the Moon completely immersed in the Earth's shadow [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000726.html ]. Infrared light has wavelengths [ http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/waves3.html ] longer than visible light - human's can not see it but feel it as heat. The bright spots correspond to the warm areas on the lunar surface, dark areas are cooler. The brightest spot below and left of center is the crater Tycho [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010809.html ], the dark region at the upper right is the Mare Crisium [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/ lunar/mare/mlm.html ]. The series of SPIRIT III images allow the determination of cooling rates for geologically different areas, exploring the physical properties of the Moon's surface [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ]. |
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Earthrise from Moon-Orbiting
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| Title |
Earthrise from Moon-Orbiting Kaguya |
| Explanation |
What does the Earth look like from the Moon? A new version of this space age perspective [ http://www.abc.net.au/science/moon/earthrise.htm ] was captured by the robotic Kaguya spacecraft [ http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/greeting/greeting_e.htm ] currently in orbit around Earth's Moon. Launched two months ago by Japan, the scientific mission [ http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/science/of_moon_e.htm ] of the Selenological [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenology ] and Engineering Explorer (SELENE), nicknamed Kaguya, is to study the origin [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/origins.html ] and evolution of the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010809.html ]. Last month Kaguya [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELENE ] reached lunar orbit and starting transmitting data and images. This frame [ http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/ 20071113_kaguya_e.html ] is from [ http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/ 20071107_kaguya_movie_e.html ] Kaguya's onboard HDTV [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV ] camera. An astronaut standing on the lunar surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030920.html ] would never actually see the Earth rise, since the Moon always keeps the same side toward the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051113.html ]. This Earthrise as well as the famous Earthrise captured 40 years ago [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051224.html ] by the crew of Apollo 8 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ apollo8info.html ], only occurs for observers in lunar orbit. |
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The Earth and Moon Planetary
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| Title |
The Earth and Moon Planetary System |
| Explanation |
How similar in size are the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010204.html ] and the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000113.html ]? A dramatic visual answer [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02441 ] to this question is found by combining photographs taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1973-085A.html ] that headed out toward Venus [ http://www.nineplanets.org/venus.html ] and Mercury [ http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm ] in 1973. The Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ] can be seen to have a diameter over one quarter that of Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/earth.html ], relatively large compared to its planetary companion [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991231.html ]. In our Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ], only Pluto and Charon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980708.html ] are closer together in size. Striking features of the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html ] visible to the passing spacecraft include blue oceans [ http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html ] and white clouds [ http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html ], showing the Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ ] to be truly a water world [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980530.html ]. |
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Moon and Mars Tonight
| Title |
Moon and Mars Tonight |
| Explanation |
The Full Moon and a brilliant, ruddy Mars will share the sky [ http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sky_calendar.html ] tonight. Skygazers can easily enjoy the celestial [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/ 20dec_christmaseve.htm ] pairing as the two are separated by [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale.html ] a degree or even less. In fact, seen from parts of northern North America and Europe, the Moon will actually occult [ http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/ 1224mars.htm ] (pass in front of) the Red Planet. Mars is so [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071206.html ] bright because it is near opposition, opposite the Sun in Earth's sky and near its closest approach to planet Earth. But Mars is not nearly as bright as the Moon, also opposite [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/ MoonPhase.html ] the Sun tonight. In this striking preview of tonight's sky show, backyard astronomer John Harms was able to photograph an almost Full Moon near Mars last month. His simple, single exposure relied on clouds to block some of the overwhelming moonlight [ http://www.stargazing.net/kevin/poetry.html ]. |
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The Earth-Moon System
| Title |
The Earth-Moon System |
| Explanation |
A double planet? From 4 million miles away on December 16, 1992, NASA's robot spacecraft Galileo [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/galileo.html ] took this picture of the Earth-moon system. The bright, sunlit half of the Earth contrasts strongly with the darker subdued colors of the moon. Our moon is one of the largest moons in the solar system. It is even larger than the planet Pluto. In this picture, the Earth-moon system actually appears to be a double planet. For more information see NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release. [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/caption/gal_earth_moon.txt ] |
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