Browse All : Sun and Earth of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and California

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

Description	Phoebe Temperature Maps
Full Description	A montage of maps of Saturn's moon Phoebe shows surface temperatures at various times of day as determined by the composite infrared spectrometer onboard Cassini during the June 11, 2004, Phoebe flyby. The asterisk on each map shows the location of the subsolar point, where the Sun is directly overhead. This point moves across the surface as Phoebe rotates. It is morning in regions to the left of the subsolar point, and afternoon in regions to the right. Like a newspaper weather map, different colors indicate different temperatures, though Phoebe's temperatures are distinctly cooler than even the coldest January day on Earth. Equatorial temperatures peak in the early afternoon near 112 Kelvin (-257 Fahrenheit), plunging to 78 Kelvin (-319 Fahrenheit) before dawn, and are even colder at higher latitudes. The large day/night temperature contrasts imply that Phoebe's surface is covered in loose dust or ice particles that store little heat and thus cool off rapidly at night. Regions of Phoebe's surface that were not observed are shown in black. Most of the maps show the effect on surface temperatures of the large crater-like depression seen in Cassini's visible-wavelength images of Phoebe, which is located just left of center in these maps. Crater walls that are shadowed and cold in the early morning in the first map are sunlit and warm in the late afternoon in the final map. 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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, 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 and the Cassini composite infrared spectrometer home page at http://cirs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Space Observatories Glimpse Faint Afterglow of Nearby Stellar Explosion

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 ]

Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter's "Red Spot Jr.

Title	Hubble Snaps Baby Pictures of Jupiter's "Red Spot Jr.

The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme

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 Ring Around Neighboring Star

Title	Elusive Planet Reshapes a Ring Around Neighboring Star

Dusty Planetary Disks Around Two Nearby Stars Resemble Our Kuiper Belt

Title	Dusty Planetary Disks Around Two Nearby Stars Resemble Our Kuiper Belt
General Information	What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. These two bright debris disks of ice and dust appear to be the equivalent of our own solar system's Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy rocks outside the orbit of Neptune and the source of short-period comets. The disks encircle the types of stars around which there could be habitable zones and planets for life to develop. The disks seem to have a central area cleared of debris, perhaps by planets.

TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare

Title	TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	TRACE Ultraviolet View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Completed	2005-05-19

SAMPEX - A Synoptic View of Earth's Electron Radiation Belts: North Pole Energetic Fluxes from PET

Title	SAMPEX - A Synoptic View of Earth's Electron Radiation Belts: North Pole Energetic Fluxes from PET
Abstract	The Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer, SAMPEX, measures fluxes of energetic particles from the sun, the Earth's magnetosphere, and cosmic ray sources over a broad range of energies. The four instruments aboard SAMPEX are the Low-Energy Ion Analyzer (LEICA), The Heavy Ion Large Telescope (HILT), The Mass Spectrometer Telescope (MAST), and the Proton-Electron Telescope (PET).
Completed	1995-01-01

RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	January 2005 Solar Flares from SOHO/EIT
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	January 2005 Solar Flares from SOHO/EIT
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	January 2005 Solar Flares from SOHO/EIT
Completed	2005-05-19

RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times
Abstract	Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

RHESSI and TRACE View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare

Title	RHESSI and TRACE View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Abstract	RHESSI spacecraft images of gamma-rays (blue) and X-rays (red) thrown off by the hottest part of the flare are shown with UV images from the TRACE spacecraft. The gamma rays are made by energetic protons at the Sun. Scientists were surprised that the gamma rays matched the energy spectrum of protons at Earth: the proton storm may have come directly from the Sun and not from the CME as anticipated.
Completed	2005-05-19

Title	RHESSI and TRACE View of January 20, 2005 Solar Flare
Abstract	RHESSI spacecraft images of gamma-rays (blue) and X-rays (red) thrown off by the hottest part of the flare are shown with UV images from the TRACE spacecraft. The gamma rays are made by energetic protons at the Sun. Scientists were surprised that the gamma rays matched the energy spectrum of protons at Earth: the proton storm may have come directly from the Sun and not from the CME as anticipated.
Completed	2005-05-19

SAMPEX - A Synoptic View of Earth's Electron Radiation Belts: North Pole Energetic Fluxes from HILT

Title	SAMPEX - A Synoptic View of Earth's Electron Radiation Belts: North Pole Energetic Fluxes from HILT
Abstract	The Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer, SAMPEX, measures fluxes of energetic particles from the sun, the Earth's magnetosphere, and cosmic ray sources over a broad range of energies. The four instruments aboard SAMPEX are the Low-Energy Ion Analyzer (LEICA), The Heavy Ion Large Telescope (HILT), The Mass Spectrometer Telescope (MAST), and the Proton-Electron Telescope (PET).
Completed	1995-01-01

RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Time Tagged
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - No time tags
Abstract	Close-up view of the solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with TRACE data and RHESSI. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

Title	RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times
Abstract	Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV.
Completed	2002-06-03

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Browse All : Sun and Earth of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and California