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December Moon Meets Evening
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| Title |
December Moon Meets Evening Star |
| Explanation |
If you've been outdoors near sunset, then you've probably noticed Venus [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ venusfact.html ] low in the west as the brilliant evening star [ http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/venus/ shadow-of-venus.html ]. Sometimes mistaken [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050609.html ] for a tower light near the horizon, Venus is the third brightest celestial beacon, after the Sun and Moon, in planet Earth's sky. That distinction is particularly easy to appreciate in this peaceful scene [ http://www.pbase.com/missouri_skies/image/53158060 ] featuring the crescent Moon, Venus, and sunset colors [ http://www.missouriskies.org/ sunset_gallery/sunsetgallery.html ] captured on December 4th near Albany, Missouri, USA. As this season's evening star, Venus [ http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/ ] will be at its most brilliant tonight, but as December progresses the bright planet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040521.html ] will begin to fall out [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990903.html ] of the western sky. By early next week, December's Moon will have moved on to meet another bright planet overhead -- Mars [ http://stardate.org/nightsky/almanac/ s200512_alm.html ]. |
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Green Summer and Icy Winter
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PIA02645
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
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| Title |
Green Summer and Icy Winter in James Bay |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
One year ago, in late February 2000, MISR began acquiring Earth imagery. Its "first light" images showed a frozen James Bay in the Ontario-Quebec region of Canada. These more recent nadir-camera views of the same area illuminate stark contrasts between summer and winter. The left-hand image was acquired on August 9, 2000 (Terra orbit 3427), and the right-hand image is from January 16, 2001 (Terra orbit 5757). James Bay lies at the southern end of Hudson Bay. It is named for the English explorer Thomas James, who first explored the area in 1631 while searching for the Northwest Passage. Visible in these images are some of the many rivers that flow into the bay, starting at the southern tip and moving clockwise on the western side are the Harricana, Moose, Albany, and Attawapiskat. The latter enters the bay just to the west of the large, crescent-shaped Akimiski Island. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. |
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MISR Views New York and Sout
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PIA02630
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
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| Title |
MISR Views New York and Southern New England |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This MISR nadir-camera image includes New York City, site of the recently completed baseball playoff between the American League's Yankees and the National League's Mets. The Yankees defeated the Mets, 4 games to 1, in the first "Subway Series" to be held since 1956. The image was acquired on October 20, 2000 (Terra orbit 4475), one day prior to the opening game of the Series. The Hudson River Valley and portions of southern New England, resplendent in fall colors, are visible in this image. Southwest of Albany are New York's Catskill Mountains, a popular wilderness and recreation area. The Catskills are part of the Appalachian chain. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. |
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Perspective View, Syracuse,
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PIA02759
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar
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| Title |
Perspective View, Syracuse, Oneida Lake, Utica, Upstate New York |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. Size: 112 kilometers wide, 176 kilometers distance (69 by 109 miles) Location: 43 deg. North lat., 76 deg. West lon. Orientation: View east southeast Colors: Landsat bands 1,2,3 in blue, green, and red Date Acquired: February 13, 2000 (SRTM), October 18, 1991 (Landsat) Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA, This perspective view of upstate New York shows Lake Ontario in the lower left, the Adirondack Mountains in the upper left, and the Catskill Mountains on the right. This image was generated using topographic data from SRTM and an enhanced true-color Landsat 5 satellite image. Topographic shading in the image was enhanced with false shading derived from the elevation model. Topographic expression is exaggerated 6X. Fall foliage appears in a variety of colors, as expected for the mid-October Landsat data used here. Redder vegetation generally occurs at higher elevations and toward the north (left), especially in the Adirondack Mountains. The back edge of the data set forms a false skyline. Oneida Lake is just below the scene center. From the lake, Syracuse is toward the lower right, Rome is toward the upper left, and Utica is directly upward from the lake. Oswego is on the shore of Lake Ontario at the bottom edge of the image. All four cities appear whitish. The other whitish areas toward the north (left) are thin clouds in the satellite image. At Herkimer, just beyond Utica, the Mohawk River exits the Adirondacks and flows eastward into rugged terrain and onward toward Albany. Upon close inspection at full resolution, one can see the Erie Canal (dark blue line) running east from Oneida Lake to connect to the Mohawk River. Other parts of the canal connect to the Oswego River running north (left) to Lake Ontario, to Onandaga Lake next to Syracuse, and Cayuga Lake in the lower right corner of the image (just the edge of the lake). Parts of Owasco, Skaneateles, and Otisco Lakes are visible in the lower right (bottom to top). These are some of the Finger Lakes of central New York, with their narrow valleys (Otisco Lake is almost completely hidden by its valley walls). At the full image resolution, a thin white line marks the New York State Thruway from the bottom to the top of the image, passing north(left) of the Onandaga Lake next to Syracuse and through Utica and Herkimer. The valley between the Adirondacks to the left (north) and the Catskills to the right guides both the Erie Canal and New York State Thruway on their way to Albany and the Hudson River (both off the edge of the image), illustrating the importance of topography in transportation. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National |
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