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A Cauldron of Stars at the G …
Title A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center
Description This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours.
A Cauldron of Stars at the G …
Title A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center
Description This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours.
The Milky Way Center Aglow w …
Title The Milky Way Center Aglow with Dust
Description Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty, in fact, that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. But when NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on the galactic center, it captured this spectacular view. Taken with just one of Spitzer's cameras (at a wavelength of 8 microns), the image highlights the region's exceptionally bright and dusty clouds, lit up by young massive stars. Individual stars can also be seen as tiny dots scattered throughout the dust. The top mosaic shows a portion of the galactic center that stretches across a distance of 760 light-years. Thanks to Spitzer's excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center are seen in unprecedented detail. Four examples are shown in the magnified insets at the bottom. The farthest left box shows a pair of star-forming regions resembling owl-like cosmic eyes. To the left of the "eyes," dark lanes of dust can be seen. This object is probably located in a spiral arm between Earth and the galactic center, in contrast to the following examples, which are all located at the galactic center. The next inset to the right includes the extremely luminous "Quintuplet" stars, a set of five massive stars believed to have buried themselves in cocoons of dust. Just below and to the right of the Quintuplet is the "Pistol" nebula, a bubble of ejected material from the central, massive Pistol star. The finger-like pillars to the left are part of a structure known as "Sickle." They are similar in size and shape to those in the famous picture of the Eagle Nebula taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Pillars like these are sculpted out of dense dust clouds by radiation and winds from hot stars. The pillars in the Sickle were likely to have been formed by a cluster of hot stars located to their right but not readily visible here. The third inset highlights a system of long, stringy structures that are seen for the first time near the base of a region known as the "Arched Filaments." These long filaments are about 10 light-years long and less than 1 light-year wide. The bright star-forming regions to the right are some of the brightest in the infrared sky. The final inset to the right shows the center of our galaxy, which is the brightest spot in the entire mosaic. The brightness is a result of dust being heated up by a compact cluster of hot stars. The bright spot also marks the location of a supermassive black hole, around which a rotating ring of gas and dust known as the circumnuclear disk can be seen. This image was taken with Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), using its 8-micron detector. It shows emissions from heated-up molecules in dust clouds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The Milky Way Center Aglow w …
Title The Milky Way Center Aglow with Dust
Description Our Milky Way is a dusty place. So dusty, in fact, that we cannot see the center of the galaxy in visible light. But when NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on the galactic center, it captured this spectacular view. Taken with just one of Spitzer's cameras (at a wavelength of 8 microns), the image highlights the region's exceptionally bright and dusty clouds, lit up by young massive stars. Individual stars can also be seen as tiny dots scattered throughout the dust. The top mosaic shows a portion of the galactic center that stretches across a distance of 760 light-years. Thanks to Spitzer's excellent resolution, the dusty features within the galactic center are seen in unprecedented detail. Four examples are shown in the magnified insets at the bottom. The farthest left box shows a pair of star-forming regions resembling owl-like cosmic eyes. To the left of the "eyes," dark lanes of dust can be seen. This object is probably located in a spiral arm between Earth and the galactic center, in contrast to the following examples, which are all located at the galactic center. The next inset to the right includes the extremely luminous "Quintuplet" stars, a set of five massive stars believed to have buried themselves in cocoons of dust. Just below and to the right of the Quintuplet is the "Pistol" nebula, a bubble of ejected material from the central, massive Pistol star. The finger-like pillars to the left are part of a structure known as "Sickle." They are similar in size and shape to those in the famous picture of the Eagle Nebula taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Pillars like these are sculpted out of dense dust clouds by radiation and winds from hot stars. The pillars in the Sickle were likely to have been formed by a cluster of hot stars located to their right but not readily visible here. The third inset highlights a system of long, stringy structures that are seen for the first time near the base of a region known as the "Arched Filaments." These long filaments are about 10 light-years long and less than 1 light-year wide. The bright star-forming regions to the right are some of the brightest in the infrared sky. The final inset to the right shows the center of our galaxy, which is the brightest spot in the entire mosaic. The brightness is a result of dust being heated up by a compact cluster of hot stars. The bright spot also marks the location of a supermassive black hole, around which a rotating ring of gas and dust known as the circumnuclear disk can be seen. This image was taken with Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), using its 8-micron detector. It shows emissions from heated-up molecules in dust clouds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
SOHO Watches Saturn and Cass …
Description SOHO Watches Saturn and Cassini Pass Behind the Sun
Full Description In this SOHO image taken July 21, 2005, the Sun is represented by the white circle in the center. Saturn is the bright object to the left of the Sun. Interestingly, the streak accompanying Saturn is not the rings but a distortion caused by Saturn's brightness. Saturn is approaching "superior conjunction," that is, it will be almost directly behind the Sun from Earth -- thus the Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn, will not be able to send or receive transmissions normally. Regular science data collection has been temporarily suspended. As Cassini passes closest by the limb (edge) of the Sun on July 24 PDT, communications will be impossible because of the Sun's radio noise. The spacecraft will regain full communication with Earth on July 27, once again returning Saturn science data. In the meantime, controllers are sending approximately 100 commands per day to test communication status. Cassini radio scientists are taking advantage of this opportunity to study the Sun's corona from its effects on the radio signals that reach Earth. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite) orbits the Sun parked in one of the five gravitational-neutral spots, called Lagrange Points. This specific spot, called L1, stays in the same place relative to the Sun and the Earth, offering a continuously uninterrupted view of the Sun. Saturn is not in sight again until the evening of July 24. After that date, it will be to the RIGHT of the sun. For more information on "superior conjunction," visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf1-2.html#conj . For more information on the Lagrange Points, visit: http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/ob_techorbit1.html For more information on SOHO, visit: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ . Finally, the latest SOHO images are available at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/1024/latest.gif . Credit: SOHO -- http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Date July 22, 2005
SOHO Watches Saturn and Cass …
Description SOHO Watches Saturn and Cassini Pass Behind the Sun
Full Description In this SOHO image taken July 21, 2005, the Sun is represented by the white circle in the center. Saturn is the bright object to the left of the Sun. Interestingly, the streak accompanying Saturn is not the rings but a distortion caused by Saturn's brightness. Saturn is approaching "superior conjunction," that is, it will be almost directly behind the Sun from Earth -- thus the Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn, will not be able to send or receive transmissions normally. Regular science data collection has been temporarily suspended. As Cassini passes closest by the limb (edge) of the Sun on July 24 PDT, communications will be impossible because of the Sun's radio noise. The spacecraft will regain full communication with Earth on July 27, once again returning Saturn science data. In the meantime, controllers are sending approximately 100 commands per day to test communication status. Cassini radio scientists are taking advantage of this opportunity to study the Sun's corona from its effects on the radio signals that reach Earth. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite) orbits the Sun parked in one of the five gravitational-neutral spots, called Lagrange Points. This specific spot, called L1, stays in the same place relative to the Sun and the Earth, offering a continuously uninterrupted view of the Sun. Saturn is not in sight again until the evening of July 24. After that date, it will be to the RIGHT of the sun. For more information on "superior conjunction," visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf1-2.html#conj . For more information on the Lagrange Points, visit: http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/ob_techorbit1.html For more information on SOHO, visit: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ . Finally, the latest SOHO images are available at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/1024/latest.gif . Credit: SOHO -- http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Date July 22, 2005
Warm Fractures on Enceladus
Description Warm Fractures on Enceladus
Full Description This image shows the warmest places in the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The unexpected temperatures were discovered by Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer during a close flyby on July 14, 2005. The image shows how these temperatures correspond to the prominent, bluish fractures dubbed "tiger stripes," first imaged by Cassini's imaging science subsystem cameras. Working together the two teams were able to pinpoint the exact location of the warmest regions on Enceladus. The composite infrared spectrometer instrument measured the infrared heat radiation from the surface at wavelengths between 9 and 16.5 microns within each of the 10 squares shown here. Each square is 6 kilometers (4 miles) across. The color of each square, and the number shown above it, describe the composite infrared spectrometer's measurement of the approximate average temperature of the surface within that square. The warmest temperature squares, at 91 and 89 degrees Kelvin (minus 296 and minus 299 degrees Fahrenheit), are located over one of the "tiger stripe" fractures. They contrast sharply with the surrounding temperatures, which are in the range 74 to 81 degrees Kelvin (minus 326 to minus 313 degrees Fahrenheit). The detailed composite infrared spectrometer data suggest that small areas near the fracture are at substantially higher temperatures, well over 100 degrees Kelvin (minus 279 degrees Fahrenheit). Such "warm" temperatures are unlikely to be due to heating of the surface by the feeble sunlight striking Enceladus' south pole. They are a strong indication that internal heat is leaking out of Enceladus and warming the surface along these fractures. Evaporation of this relatively warm ice probably generates the cloud of water vapor detected above Enceladus' south pole by several other Cassini instruments. Scientists are unsure how the internal heat reaches the surface. The process might involve liquid water, slushy brine, or soft but solid ice. The imaging science subsystem image is an enhanced color view with a pixel scale of 122 meters (400 feet) that was acquired at the same time as the composite infrared spectrometer data. It covers a region 125 kilometers (75 miles) across. The spacecraft's distance from Enceladus was 21,000 kilometers (13,000 miles). The broad bluer fractures that can be seen running from the upper left to the lower right of the image are 1 to 2 kilometers (0.6 to 1.2 miles) wide and more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) long. The fractures are thought to be bluer than the surrounding surface because coarser-grained ice (which has a blue color just as thick masses of ice, like glaciers and icebergs, do on Earth) has been exposed in the fractures. The color image was constructed using an ultraviolet filter (centered at 338 nanometers) in the blue channel, a clear filter in the green channel, and an infrared filter (centered at 930 nanometers) in the red channel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA,, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The composite infrared spectrometer team is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The composite infrared spectrometer team homepage is http://cirs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ . The imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/Space Science Institute
Date July 29, 2005
Enceladus Temperature Map
Description Enceladus Temperature Map
Full Description This image shows the surprise that startled Cassini scientists on the composite infrared spectrometer team when they got their first look at the infrared (heat) radiation from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. There is a dramatic warm spot centered on the pole that is probably a sign of internal heat leaking out of the icy moon. The data were taken during the spacecraft's third flyby of this intriguing moon on July 14, 2005. Based on data from previous flybys, which did not show the south pole well, team members expected that the south pole would be very cold, as shown in the left panel. Enceladus is one of the coldest places in the Saturn system because its extremely bright surface reflects 80 percent of the sunlight that hits it, so only 20 percent is available to heat the surface. As on Earth, the poles should be even colder than the equator because the sun shines at such an oblique angle there. The right hand panel shows a global temperature image made from measurements of Enceladus' heat radiation at wavelengths between 9 and 16.5 microns. Cassini made the observation from a distance of 84,000 kilometers (52,000 miles) on the approach to Enceladus, and the image shows details as small as 25 kilometers (16 miles). Equatorial temperatures are much as expected, topping out at about 80 degrees Kelvin (-315 degrees Fahrenheit), but the south pole is occupied by a well-defined warm region reaching 85 Kelvin (-305 degrees Fahrenheit). That is 15 degrees Kelvin (27 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than expected. The composite infrared spectrometer data further suggest that small areas of the pole are at even higher temperatures, well over 110 degrees Kelvin (-261 degrees Fahrenheit). Evaporation of this relatively warm ice probably generates the cloud of water vapor detected above Enceladus' south pole by several other Cassini instruments. The south polar temperatures are very difficult to explain if sunlight is the only energy source heating the surface, though exotic sunlight-trapping mechanisms have not yet been completely ruled out. It therefore seems likely that portions of the polar region are warmed by heat escaping from the interior of the moon. This would make Enceladus only the third solid body in the solar system, after Earth and Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, where hot spots powered by internal heat have been detected. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The composite infrared spectrometer team is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The composite infrared spectrometer team homepage is, http://cirs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ . Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC
Date July 29, 2005
Home Reef Reborn
title Home Reef Reborn
description In the South Pacific, south of Late Island along the Tofua volcanic arc in Tonga, the volcanic island Home Reef is being re-born. The island is thought to have emerged after a volcanic eruption in mid-August that also spewed large amounts of floating pumice into Tongan waters and swept across to Fiji about 350 km (220 miles) to the west of where the new island formed. In 2004, a similar eruption created an ephemeral island about 0.5 by 1.5 km (0.3 by 0.9 miles) in size, it was no longer visible in an ASTER image acquired November 2005. This simulated natural color image shows the vegetation-covered stratovolcanic island of Late Island in the upper right. Home Reef is found in the lower left. The two bluish plumes are hot seawater that is laden with volcanic ash and chemicals, the larger one can be traced for more than 14 km (8.4 miles) to the east. The image was acquired Oct. 10, 2006 and covers an area of 24.3 by 30.2 km. It is located at 18.9 degrees south latitude, 174.7 degrees west longitude. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitors the changing surface of our planet. It is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Earth Aurora: Chandra Looks …
Name Earth Aurora: Chandra Looks Back At Earth
Category Solar System
Release Date December 28, 2005
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA Space Observatories Gli …
Title NASA Space Observatories Glimpse Faint Afterglow of Nearby Stellar Explosion
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
The Carina Nebula: Star Birt …
Title The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth &#151, and death &#151, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
The Carina Nebula: Star Birt …
Title The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth &#151, and death &#151, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
The Carina Nebula: Star Birt …
Title The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth &#151, and death &#151, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
The Carina Nebula: Star Birt …
Title The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth &#151, and death &#151, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
Elusive Planet Reshapes a Ri …
Title Elusive Planet Reshapes a Ring Around Neighboring Star
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss …
Title NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
Hubble Finds that Earth is S …
Title Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS …
Title 2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Greenland in Foreground
Abstract Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The 2007 Arctic summer sea ice has reached the lowest extent of perennial ice cover on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. Such a dramatic loss has implications for ecology, climate and industry. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor which is not so sensitive to atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfall. This animation progresses at a rate of six frames per day from January 1, 2007 through the minimum extent which occurred on September 14, 2007. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature, highlights the fissures or divergence areas in the sea ice cover by warm brightness temperatures (in blue) while cold brightness temperatures, shown in brighter white, represent consolidated sea ice. The sea ice edge is defined by the 15% ice concentration contour in the three-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration data while ice extent is the sum of all pixels with at least 15% ice.
Completed 2007-09-25
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS …
Title 2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Greenland in Foreground
Abstract Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The 2007 Arctic summer sea ice has reached the lowest extent of perennial ice cover on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. Such a dramatic loss has implications for ecology, climate and industry. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor which is not so sensitive to atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfall. This animation progresses at a rate of six frames per day from January 1, 2007 through the minimum extent which occurred on September 14, 2007. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature, highlights the fissures or divergence areas in the sea ice cover by warm brightness temperatures (in blue) while cold brightness temperatures, shown in brighter white, represent consolidated sea ice. The sea ice edge is defined by the 15% ice concentration contour in the three-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration data while ice extent is the sum of all pixels with at least 15% ice.
Completed 2007-09-25
Global Large-scale Precipita …
Title Global Large-scale Precipitation during Hurricane Frances (WMS)
Abstract Water vapor is a small but significant constituent of the atmosphere, warming the planet due to the greenhouse effect and condensing to form clouds. As moisture-laden air rises, the relative humidity increases until it saturates the air, at which time precipitation occurs. If the uplift of air is due to large-scale atmospheric motion, then the precipitation is called large-scale, or dynamic. This animation shows the large-scale precipitation for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. Large-scale precipitation tends to be continuous and to come from decks of stratus clouds rather than from thunderstorms.
Completed 2005-07-28
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Conce …
Title Arctic Sea Ice Maximum Concentrations 1979-2006
Abstract This visualization shows the annual maximum amount of winter Arctic ice from 1979 to 2006. In 2005 and 2006, the winter ice maximum was about 6% smaller than the average winter ice over the 26 year period. The expected winter ice retreat is 1.5 to 2% loss per decade. The same data is also shown with a yellow region representing the cumulative or maximum extent of winter ice observed from 1979 to 2006.
Completed 2006-09-06
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