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Sun of Canada and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk
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| Title |
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole |
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Ionosphere Total Electron Co
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| Title |
Ionosphere Total Electron Content - April 2001 |
| Abstract |
A view of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) measured over North America during a storm in April 2001. Red is high electron counts, blue is low, grey where there is no data. From the pre-storm state, we see relatively low electron counts . As the storm intensity increases, so do the number of electrons. The increase will generate more interference for communications systems, GPS, etc. |
| Completed |
2005-11-18 |
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Ionosphere Total Electron Co
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| Title |
Ionosphere Total Electron Content - November 2003 |
| Abstract |
This movie displays plume formation for a space weather event in November 2003. In this visualization, the observer is fixed between the Sun and the Earth (slightly off the center line for better perspective). Blue represents low ionospheric electron counts, dark red is high electron counts. |
| Completed |
2005-11-18 |
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Ionosphere Total Electron Co
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| Title |
Ionosphere Total Electron Content - November 2003 |
| Abstract |
This movie displays plume formation for a space weather event in November 2003. In this visualization, the observer is fixed between the Sun and the Earth (slightly off the center line for better perspective). Blue represents low ionospheric electron counts, dark red is high electron counts. |
| Completed |
2005-11-18 |
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Heat Wave in North America
| Title |
Heat Wave in North America |
| Description |
Scorching summer sun, burning pavement, stinging sweatnormal for July. But in July 2006, temperatures climbed above average levels for the previous six years and stayed warm for several days. During mid-July, a heat wave settled over most of the United States, with air temperatures soaring past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). Land surface temperatures climbed as well, as this image shows. Most of the United States and portions of Canada and Mexico were much warmer than they had been during the same period from 2000 to 2005. Deep red across the Midwest indicates that land surface temperatures were as much as 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the six-year average, and with the exception of the Pacific Northwest and a few other isolated region, the rest of the country was also warmer than average. The heat wave continued past the period shown here, through the end of July. In California alone, the heat killed at least 126 people, reported Reuters on July 29. This image was created from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between July 12 and July 19, 2006. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara. |
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Lake Effect Snow in the Unit
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| Title |
Lake Effect Snow in the United States |
| Description |
Like light radiating from the Sun, streamers of snow streak southeast from the Great Lakes in this photo-like image, collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on December 9, 2006. The snow seen here came from two different storms. The broad swath of white extending from the left edge of the image to Lake Michigan was deposited on December 1 by a powerful winter storm [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17480 ] that left thousands without power for many days. The snow on the southeastern side of the Great Lakes, however, fell on December 7 and December 8 as lake-effect snow. Lake-effect snow occurs along the southeastern edge of the Great Lakes when icy wind blows across the lakes from Canada. The wind picks up relatively warm, moist air over the lakes and pushes it over land, where the air is cooler. When the moist air encounters cooler temperatures over land, the water condenses into precipitation, which in this case fell as snow. The signature of lake-effect snow is striking in this image. A field of white lines the southeastern shores of each of the Great Lakes. The strong winds that generated the snow left their imprint in the form of long streamers of snow that extend all the way to the deep brown folds of the Appalachian Mountains along the right edge of the image.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of the United States can be viewed on the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The tiny red dots in this image indicate where MODIS detected fires. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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The Helix Nebula from CFHT
| Title |
The Helix Nebula from CFHT |
| Explanation |
One day our Sun may look like this. The Helix Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960417.html ] is the closest example of a planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/planetary_nebulae.html ] created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The outer gasses of the star expelled into space [ http://www.seds.org/messier/planetar.html ] appear from our vantage point as if we are looking down a helix [ http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Helix.html ]. The remnant central stellar core, destined to become a white dwarf star [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html ], glows in light so energetic [ http://snoopy.gsfc.nasa.gov/~orfeus2/ultraviolet.html ] it causes the previously expelled gas to fluoresce [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/exhibits/fluorescent_tube.html ]. The Helix Nebula [ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jstys/nebulae/ngc7293.html ], given a technical designation of NGC 7293 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n7293.html ], lies 450 light-years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] away towards the constellation [ http://www.emufarm.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html ] of Aquarius [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/aqr.html ] and spans 1.5 light-years. The above image was taken with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope [ http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/ ] (CFHT) located atop a dormant volcano in Hawaii [ http://www.state.hi.us/ ], USA. A close-up of the inner edge [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970720.html ] of the Helix Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970901.html ] shows unusual gas knots of unknown origin [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1998ApJ...503..792B ]. |
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Mount Megantic Magnetic Stor
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| Title |
Mount Megantic Magnetic Storm |
| Explanation |
Plasma from the Sun and debris from a comet both collided with planet Earth last Saturday morning triggering magnetic storms [ http://www.sec.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/ ] and a meteor shower in a dazzling atmospheric spectacle [ http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ ast14aug_1.htm ]. The debris stream from comet Swift-Tuttle is anticipated [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000812.html ] yearly, and many skygazers [ http://www.imo.net/news/news.html ] already planned to watch the peak of the annual Perseids [ http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/ perseids.html ] meteor shower in the dark hours of August 11/12. But the simultaneous, widely reported [ http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrummel/Aurora/ Aurora.html ] auroras were [ http://www.infowest.com/personal/s/schmutz/ aurora.HTML ] triggered by the chance arrival of something much less predictable -- a solar coronal mass ejection [ http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/ cmes.htm ]. This massive bubble of energetic plasma was seen leaving the active Sun's surface on August 9, just in time to travel to Earth and disrupt the planet's magnetic field [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/ Intro.html ] triggering extensive auroras [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/ apod_ts?aurora ] during the meteor shower's peak! Inspired by the cosmic light show, Sebastien Gauthier photographed the [ http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Station/3622/ AlbumPhotoAstronomie/AlbumAstronomie3.htm ] colorful auroral displays above the dramatic dome of the Mount-Megantic [ http://astrolab.interlinx.qc.ca/ ] Popular Observatory [ http://astrolab.interlinx.qc.ca/Obs_pop/ OPMM/ob_pop_choix.htm ] in southern Quebec, Canada. Bright Jupiter and giant star Aldebaran can be seen peering through [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000504.html ] the shimmering northern lights at the upper right. |
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Solstice And Season's Eclips
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| Title |
Solstice And Season's Eclipse |
| Explanation |
Today the Sun reaches its southernmost point [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sseason.htm ] in planet Earth's sky at 13:37 UT [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/faq/docs/UT.html ]. This celestial event is known as a solstice, marking the beginning of Summer [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951222.html ] in the Southern Hemisphere and Winter in the North. But this year, the solstice will be followed, on December 25th, by another geocentric celestial event [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/EarthSeasons.html ] -- the last eclipse of the millennium [ http://www.usno.navy.mil/millennium/ ]! The Christmas day eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/extra/ PSE2000Dec25.html ] will only be a partial one as the silhouetted disk of the Moon obscures the Sun's edge. Visible [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/ SE2000Dec25P.gif ] from much of Canada [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/extra/ PSE2000Dec25city2/PSE2000Dec25city2.html ], The United States [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/extra/ PSE2000Dec25city1/PSE2000Dec25city1.html ] and Mexico [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/extra/ PSE2000Dec25city3/PSE2000Dec25city3.html ], the appearance of the partially eclipsed Sun might remind you of the last holiday cookie [ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/cookies/cookie.html ] you took a bite from. Still, the exact timing and degree of the eclipse will depend very much on your location. This image, from an annular eclipse [ http://www.astrosurf.com/alphaweb/10mai94/ ] in 1994, shows the lunar disk covering around 55% of the Sun's diameter. It is representative of what could be seen from Washington D. C. during the December 25 eclipse maximum which, for that location, occurs at 12:41 PM ET. As always, if you view the eclipse be extremely careful [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality/ TotalityCh11.html#Intro ] to protect your eyes. |
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Sudbury Indicates Nonstandar
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| Title |
Sudbury Indicates Nonstandard Particle Model |
| Explanation |
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory [ http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/ ] (SNO) has been detecting so few neutrinos [ http://www-e815.fnal.gov/~bugel/why.html ] from the Sun [ http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html ] that the Standard Model [ http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/theory/model.html ] of fundamental particles [ http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/theory/fundamental.html ] in the universe may have to be revised. Pictured above [ http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/sno/images/publicity_photos/index.html ] is the SNO as it was being built. Now operating, this large sphere beneath Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ] is detecting nearly invisible particles called neutrinos [ http://wwwlapp.in2p3.fr/neutrinos/aneut.html ] being emitted from the center of the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980605.html ]. SNO [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010225.html ] appears to be measuring a rate expected for all types of neutrinos [ http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/neutrino.html ] combined but a decided deficit for the electron neutrino [ http://www.treasure-troves.com/physics/ElectronNeutrino.html ]. The results [ http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/sno/first_results/ ] are being interpreted as bolstering previous evidence [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010517.html ] that different types of neutrinos are changing into each other. The most popular model for fundamental particles [ http://www.cpepweb.org/cpep_sm_large.html ], known as the Standard Model [ http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/lab-info/quark.html ], did not predict such schizophrenic neutrinos [ http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/sno/first_results/sno_first_results2.ps ]. Implications include [ http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-ph/0106258 ] that neutrinos have mass [ http://cupp.oulu.fi/neutrino/nd-mass.html ] and therefore comprise some of the dark matter [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/0398cosmos/0398rubin.html ] in the universe, although probably not a cosmologically significant amount. |
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A Yukon Aurora
| Title |
A Yukon Aurora |
| Explanation |
Last week was another good week for auroras [ http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/~ddr/ASGP/STRSCOOP/AURORA/SUMMARY.HTM ]. The story began about two weeks ago when two large Coronal Mass Ejections [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000309.html ] exploded off the Sun [ http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html ]. Waves of elementary particles [ http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/elementaryparticles/elementaryparticles.html ] and ions [ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wposion.html ] swept out past the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/earth.html ] on September 28 and 29, causing many auroras [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?auroras ]. A week ago, a flapping sheet [ http://pluto.space.swri.edu/IMAGE/glossary/IMF.html ] that divides north and south regions of the Sun's magnetic field [ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wimfproj.html ] passed the Earth, again causing auroras. Pictured above is a particularly good image of one of the October 1 northern lights [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01oct01.html ]. Taken in Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ]'s Yukon [ http://www.gov.yk.ca/ ], the city lights of Whitehorse [ http://www.city.whitehorse.yk.ca/ ] are seen below dark cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960925.html ]s and a twisting green aurora [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000519.html ]. |
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Expansive Comet Holmes
| Title |
Expansive Comet Holmes |
| Explanation |
The spherical coma of Comet Holmes has swollen to a diameter of over 1.4 "million" kilometers, making the tenuous, dusty cloud even bigger than the Sun [ http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/holmes.html ]. Scattering sunlight, all that dust and gas came from the comet's remarkably active nucleus [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/ 40/image/a/ ], whose diameter before the late October outburst [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html ] was estimated to be a mere 3.4 kilometers. In this sharp image, recorded on November 14 with the Canada-France-Hawaii [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000905.html ] Telescope, stars are easily visible right through the outer coma [ http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/comet_worldbook.html ], while the nucleus is buried [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/ 40/image/a/format/web_print/ ] inside the condensed, bright region. The bright region [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/ 40/image/d/ ] of the coma seems offset from the center, consistent with the idea that a large fragment drifted away from the nucleus and disintegrated, producing the comet's spectacular outburst. Of course, more recent images [ http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page20.htm ] of Holmes also show the bright star Mirfak (Alpha Persei) shining through as the comet sweeps slowly through the constellation Perseus [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation) ]. |
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Aurora Over Winnipeg
| Title |
Aurora Over Winnipeg |
| Explanation |
What's happening above that city? The city is Winnipeg [ http://www.city.winnipeg.mb.ca/ ], Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ], and the phenomenon is aurora [ http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/~ddr/ASGP/STRSCOOP/AURORA/SUMMARY.HTM ]. These past few months have been active ones for our Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010924.html ], producing several coronal mass ejections [ http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/cmes.htm ] (CMEs) of particles [ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wposion.html ] that have swept past our Earth [ http://www.nineplanets.org/earth.html ] and caused many spectacular auroras [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?aurora ]. Specifically in this case, a CME that occurred on October 9 impacted the Earth on October 11 and 12, causing nearly 12 hours of auroras [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_12oct01.html ]. The above-pictured aurora [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_12oct01.html ] had to be very bright to be seen over the lights of Winnipeg, the city well below and in front of the cascading atmospheric airglow [ http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/ ]. Lights reflecting off of a slight haze [ http://www.concord.org/haze/causes.html ] cause an unrelated glow that emanates from some of the buildings. |
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Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewa
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| Title |
Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewan |
| Explanation |
Perhaps it's time to go inside. Such thoughts might occur to people witnessing the approach of an impressive shelf cloud [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelf_cloud ]. Shelf clouds are typically seen leading thunderstorms [ http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/faq/faq_tst.php ], although they may precede [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gust_front ] any well defined front of relatively cold air. Shelf clouds [ http://www.targetarea.net/photoshe.html ] differ from roll clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060117.html ] because shelf clouds are attached to a larger cloud system lurking above. Similarly, shelf clouds [ http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloudpic1.html ] differ from wall clouds because wall clouds typically trail storm system [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cl0aw87LqA ]s. The above pictured shelf cloud [ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=photos_shelfclouds ] was photographed toward the southwest during a trip crossing the prairies of Saskatchewan [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasketchewan ], Canada [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada ] on the Trans-Canada Highway [ http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/1598 ] in 2001 August. A rising Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050503.html ] illuminated the impressive cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050821.html ] from the east as it advanced from the west. |
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Dueling Auroras
| Title |
Dueling Auroras |
| Explanation |
Will it be curtains for one of these auroras? A quick inspection indicates that it is curtains for both, as the designation "curtains [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/auroraslook.html ]" well categorizes the type of aurora pattern pictured. Another (informal) type is the corona [ http://explorezone.com/snapshots/1999/09_09_aurora.htm ]. The above auroras [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01oct01.html ] resulted from outbursts of ionic particles [ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Ielect.html ] from the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ] during the last week of September. A polarity change [ http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/geology/geology9/geology9.html ] in the solar magnetic field [ http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Spotlight/Magnetic/ ] at the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010204.html ] then triggered auroras [ http://pluto.space.swri.edu/IMAGE/glossary/IMF.html ] over the next few days. The above picture [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01oct01.html ] was taken on October 3 as fleeting space radiation [ http://www.oulu.fi/~spaceweb/textbook/aurora/proton_aurora.html ] pelted the Earth's atmosphere [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html ] high above the Yukon [ http://www.gov.yk.ca/ ] in Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ]. |
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Launch of the Sun Pillar
| Title |
Launch of the Sun Pillar |
| Explanation |
On January 16, NASA's space shuttle Columbia roared [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011115.html ] into blue morning skies above Kennedy Space Center on STS-107 [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ ], the first shuttle mission of 2003. But this is not a picture of that launch [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-107/ html/03pd0113.html ]! It was taken on the morning of January 16 though, at sunrise, looking eastward toward Lake Ontario from just outside of Caledon, Ontario, Canada. In the picture a sun pillar [ http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/ guides/mtr/opt/ice/sp.rxml ], sunlight reflecting from ice crystals [ http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/pillar.htm ] gently falling through the cold air, seems to shoot above the fiery Sun still low [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020902.html ] on the horizon. By chance, fog [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021122.html ] and clouds forming over the relatively warm lake look like billowing smoke from a rocket's exhaust plume [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020308.html ] and complete the launch illusion. Amateur photographer Lauri Kangas stopped on his way to work to record the eye-catching [ http://www.photon-echoes.com ] sun pillar launch. |
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Stars and Planets in the Hal
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| Title |
Stars and Planets in the Halo of the Moon |
| Explanation |
Photographed on [ http://www.photon-echoes.com/ ] March 13th from Caledon, Ontario, Canada, a bright Moon was surrounded by this lovely halo. Planet Jupiter and stars Procyon, Castor, and Pollux also appear within the circle of lunar light. Castor [ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/castor.html ] and Pollux, twins in Greek Mythology, are appropriately bright stars of the constellation Gemini [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/gem.html ] while Procyon [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ hr/2943.html ] is the brightest star in Canis Minor [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/cmi-p.html ]. The circular halo is produced by six-sided ice crystals [ http://meteoros.de/arten/ee01e.htm ] in thin high-altitude clouds, which refract the moonlight and give the halo a characteristic radius of 22 degrees. For persistent skygazers such apparitions [ http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm ] are relatively easy to see when the Moon and Sun illuminate [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/atm/atm.html ] planet Earth's skies. |
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KamLAND Verifies the Sun
| Title |
KamLAND Verifies the Sun |
| Explanation |
A large sphere beneath Japan has helped verify humanity's understanding of the inner workings of the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971028.html ]. The KamLAND sphere [ http://kamland.lbl.gov/Pictures/ ], shown above during construction in 2001, fails to detect [ http://hep.stanford.edu/neutrino/KamLAND/Nontechnical/detection.html ] fundamental particles [ http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/frameless/fundamental.html ] called anti-neutrinos [ http://hep.stanford.edu/neutrino/KamLAND/Nontechnical/intro.html ] that are known to be emitted by nearby nuclear reactors around Japan [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html ]. This triumphant failure can best be explained by neutrinos oscillating [ http://hep.stanford.edu/neutrino/KamLAND/Nontechnical/oscillations.html ] between different types. KamLAND [ http://hep.stanford.edu/neutrino/KamLAND/ ]'s results bolster previous neutrino oscillation [ http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/nuosc.html ] claims including that from the Sudbury detector [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010710.html ], a similar large sphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010225.html ] beneath Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ] designed to detect all types of neutrinos [ http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/neutrino.html ] from the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980605.html ]. Thus, leading astrophysicists now consider the long standing solar neutrino deficit problem [ http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ParticleAndNuclear/solar_neutrino.html ] as finally solved. A new mystery that replaces it is to find a new Standard Model [ http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/frameless/standard_model.html ] for particle physics [ http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/ ] that fully explains neutrino oscillations. |
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Aurora Over Edmonton
| Title |
Aurora Over Edmonton |
| Explanation |
Northern and southern locales saw many a beautiful aurora [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020805.html ] over the last week, as particles [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Ielect.html ] from several large solar flares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031029.html ] impacted the Earth. Many reported [ http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/aurora/gallery_01oct03_page8.html ] unusually red aurora [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031030.html ]s, although colors across the spectrum were also seen. Power grids and orbiting satellites braced for the onslaught [ http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/power_outage_031031.html ], but little lasting damage was reported. Pictured above [ http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/aurora/gallery_01oct03_page2.html ], the Clover Bar Power Plant [ http://www.epcor.ca/Environment/Environmental+Commitment/Statements+and+Policies/Environmental+Statement+of+Clover+Bar+and+Rossdale+Generating+Stations.htm ] was photographed from the banks of the North Saskatchewan River [ http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/NorthSask/NorthSask_e.htm ] in Edmonton [ http://www.gov.edmonton.ab.ca/ ], Alberta [ http://www.gov.ab.ca/ ], Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ]. A small pond in the foreground reflects predominantly green aurora [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010402.html ] light far in the distance. Two days ago, again unexpectedly, another large solar flare [ http://space.com/scienceastronomy/solar_flares_031103.html ] occurred from sunspot group 10486 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031027.html ], the site of other recent major flares. This unusually active solar region is now rotating to the far side of the Sun. |
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Vega Credit: D. Moffatt (DOA
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| Title |
Vega Credit: D. Moffatt (DOA [ http://www.dao.nrc.ca/ ]), ScienceWeb [ http://scienceweb.dao.nrc.ca/ ], Starry Messenger Communications |
| Explanation |
Vega is a bright blue star 25 light years away. Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=06/15/1996&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ] is the brightest star in the Summer Triangle [ http://eagle.online.discovery.com/DCO/doc/1012/world/starshack/starshack080796/starshack.html ], a group of stars easily visible summer evenings in the northern hemisphere. The name Vega [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/7001.html ] derives from Arabic origins, and means "stone eagle." 4,000 years ago, however, Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=05/20/1995&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ] was known by some as "Ma'at" - one example of ancient human astronomical knowledge and language. 14,000 years ago, Vega [ http://stardate.utexas.edu/radio/StarDateDB.FM$RETRIEVE?value=07/10/1994&field=ScriptAirDate&html=Test+Request+Date ], not Polaris [ http://www.arcorp.com/polaris.html ], was the north star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961201.html ]. Vega [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ%2E%2E%2E450%2E%2E364G&db_key=AST&nosetcookie=1 ] is the fifth brightest star in the night sky, and has a diameter almost three times that of our Sun. Life [ http://www.seti-inst.edu/phoenix/contact.html ] bearing planets, rich in liquid water, could possibly exist around Vega [ http://lsnt7.lightspeed.net/~astronomy/lifezones/lifezones.html ]. The above picture [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/moffatt1.html ], taken in January, finds Vega, the Summer Triangle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961212.html ], and Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970610.html ] high above Victoria [ http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/ ], British Columbia [ http://www.gov.bc.ca/ ], Canada. |
|
The Crab Nebula from CFHT
| Title |
The Crab Nebula from CFHT |
| Explanation |
This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The Crab Nebula [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m001.html ], the result of a supernova [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/supernovae.html ] seen in 1054 AD [ http://www.seds.org/messier/more/m001_sn.html ], is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980208.html ] are not only tremendously complex, but appear to have less mass than expelled [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1995ApJ...454L.129F ] in the original supernova and a higher speed than expected [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1998PASP..110..831N ] from a free explosion. The above image [ http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/AIOM/English/CFHT-Coelum-AIOM-Jan2004.html ], taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope [ http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/English/CFHT-Story.html ] (CFHT), is in three colors chosen for scientific interest. The Crab Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?crab ] spans about 10 light-years [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html ]. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar [ http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~pulsar/Education/Sounds/sounds.html ]: a neutron star [ http://www.astro.umd.edu/~miller/nstar.html ] as massive as the Sun [ http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html ] but with only the size of a small town [ http://www.cityofhoughton.com/ ]. The Crab Pulsar [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020920.html ] rotates about 30 times each second. |
|
A Full Sky Multicolored Auro
…
| Title |
A Full Sky Multicolored Auroral Corona |
| Explanation |
On some nights the sky is the most interesting show in town. This fisheye [ http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/projection/fisheye/ ] picture captures a particularly active and colorful auroral corona [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/auroraslook.html ] that occurred two days ago over l'Observatoire de la Decouverte in Val Belair near Quebec [ http://www.gouv.qc.ca/ ], Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ]. The above spectacular aurora has an unusually high degree of detail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020115.html ], range of colors [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980901.html ], and breadth across the sky. The vivid green, red, and blue auroral colors [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/difcolors.html ] are likely caused by high atmospheric oxygen [ http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/8.html ] and hydrogen [ http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/1.html ] reacting to incoming electrons [ http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/welect.html ]. The trigger events were magnetically induced explosions [ http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/cmes.htm ] on the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ] from sunspot region 696 over the past few days. Continued activity [ http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01nov04.htm ] from this active solar region could mean more auroras visible to northern observers over the next few days. Early in the morning but far in the background, planets, stars and the Moon will be simultaneously putting on their own show [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041108.html ]. |
|
In the Center of the Heart N
…
| Title |
In the Center of the Heart Nebula |
| Explanation |
What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html ] dubbed IC 1805 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040917.html ] looks, in whole, like a human heart [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/heartmap.html ]. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen ]. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. A close up spanning about 30 light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] contains many of these stars is shown above [ http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/AIOM/English/CFHT-Coelum-AIOM-Dec2004.html ] in a recent image taken by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000905.html ]. This open cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html ] of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an absent microquasar [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040916.html ] that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031022.html ] is located about 7,500 light years [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html ] away toward the constellation [ http://www.mallorcaweb.net/masm/descon1.htm ] of Cassiopeia [ http://www.seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/cassiopeia.html ]. |
|
Northern Lights, September S
…
| Title |
Northern Lights, September Skies |
| Explanation |
So far, the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/ ] have made some remarkable visits to September's skies [ http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/ gallery_01sep05_page5.htm ]. The reason, of course, is the not-so-quiet Sun [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/ 15sep_solarminexplodes.htm ]. In particular, a large solar active region now crossing the Sun's disk has produced multiple, intense flares and a large coronal mass ejection (CME [ http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/cme.html ]) that triggered wide spread auroral activity just last weekend. This colorful example [ http://www.geocities.com/photo_geo/nouv.html ] of spectacular curtains of aurora was captured with a fish-eye lens in skies over Quebec, Canada on September 11. Also featured is the planet Mars [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/ 07jul_marshoax.htm ], the brightest object above and left of center. Seen near Mars (just below and to the right) is the tightly knit Pleiades [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050414.html ] star cluster. Although they can appear to be quite close, the northern lights actually originate at extreme altitudes, 100 kilometers or so above the Earth's surface. |
|
Lake Effect Snow in the Unit
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Like light radiating from th
…
GreatLakes_TMO_2006343
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-12-09 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
GreatLakes_TMO_2006343 |
|
Unique Weather Yields Record
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
ndvi_gpcp_aug04
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004 |
| creator |
NASA -- Imagery created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and processed by Jenn Small and Assaf Anyamba of the ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/gimms/htdocs/ GIMMS Group at NASA GSFC (NDVI). Rainfall anomaly image based on the precip.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Global Precipitation Climatology Product produced at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. |
| identifier |
ndvi_gpcp_aug04 |
|
MISR View of Georgian Bay, O
…
PIA02615
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
MISR View of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
MISR images of the southeast portion of Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada, acquired on March 6, 2000, during Terra orbit 1155. The color image is from the nadir (vertical) camera, and highlights a cloud to the southwest of Christian Island. In this view, the shadow cast by the cloud on the water is visible just north of the cloud itself. Bright areas in the image are either cloud or ice, an example of the latter is the frozen Lake Simcoe. The eight monochrome images are red band data from the off-nadir cameras. Starting with the one in the upper right and moving counterclockwise, the images progress from the most forward-viewing to the most aftward-viewing camera. Thus, the top (bottom) row of monochrome images are views acquired forward (aftward) of vertical. The apparent displacement of the cloud from south to north as the view progresses from forward to aftward is primarily a geometric parallax effect due to the cloud's elevation above the surface. In each image in the top row, a fainter feature with the same shape as the cloud is visible within Georgian Bay. The feature and the cloud itself approach one another as the view angle becomes less oblique. The feature is present only in the water, and disappears over the land surface of Christian Island. What is it? We are observing reflections of the cloud in the water. Their positions are dictated by the law of reflection, which states that the angle relative to the vertical of the reflected rays is the same as the angle of the incident rays. Therefore, the apparent location of a reflection relative to the cloud changes as a function of camera view angle. Unlike water, land does not act as a good mirror. Also, in the aftward views the reflections are less visible because they are blocked by the southern extension of the cloud. Reflections of this sort are not visible in conventional vertical imagery because in that case they lie directly underneath the cloud, and are consequently obscured. 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. For more information: http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov |
|
Multi-angle Images of Hudson
…
PIA02603
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Multi-angle Images of Hudson Bay and James Bay, Canada, 24 February 2000 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
At left is a true-color image from the downward-looking (nadir)camera on the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. The false-color image at right is a composite of red band data taken by the MISR forward 45.6-degree, nadir, and aftward 45.6-degree cameras, displayed in blue, green, and red colors, respectively. Color variations in the left image highlight spectral (true-color) differences, whereas those in the right image highlight differences in angular reflectance properties. The purple areas in the right image are low cloud, and light blue at the edge of the bay is due to increased forward scattering by the fast (smooth)ice. The orange areas are rougher ice, which scatters more light in the backward direction. This example illustrates how multi-angle viewing can distinguish physical structures and textures. Data for all channels are presented in a Space Oblique Mercator map projection to facilitate their co-registration. The images are about 400 km (250 miles) wide with a spatial resolution of about 275 meters (300 yards). North is toward the top. 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. |
|
Green Summer and Icy Winter
…
PIA02645
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| 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. |
|
Smoke Soars to Stratospheric
…
PIA04365
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Smoke Soars to Stratospheric Heights |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A new look at smoke from the Chisholm forest fire, which ignited on May 23, 2001 about 160 kilometers north of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, provides confirming evidence that dense smoke can reach the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Scientists have postulated a link between fires in northern forests and the observed enhancements in stratospheric aerosols, but it is difficult to measure smoke aerosol heights directly. Here, height information for the Chisholm fire was retrieved using stereoscopic processing of data from multiple Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) cameras. These images were acquired on May 29, when the severity of the fire had begun to stabilize after a cold front and strong low-level winds caused rapid spread of flame and an eruption of large-scale convection on May 28. This dramatic event was studied in detail by M. Fromm and R. Servranckx, "Transport of forest fire smoke above the tropopause by supercell convection", Geophys. Res. Lett., vol. 30, no. 10 (2003). The two left-hand images are natural color views from MISR's nadir and 60° forward viewing cameras in which a pall of yellowish smoke is apparent both above the surface and above clouds in the top portion of the images. This area is near the junction of Canada's Keewatin region and Northwest Territory, and about 1200 km northward of the originalfire location. Lake Athabasca is at the lower left. The second panel from the right is MISR's standard stereo height product (derived from the nadir and the two 26° cameras), while the right-hand panel is a specially-generated product using MISR's 46° and 60° forward-pointing cameras. Because the smoke appears thicker at the oblique view angles, better areal coverage is obtained and the retrievals are less sensitive to the underlying cloud deck. The southern portion of the smoke cloud is at an altitude of about 3.5 km, however, the smoke further to the north has risen above the tropopause (which is at about 11 km altitude) and intruded into the lower stratosphere. These measurements indicate that smoke reaches heights of about 12-13 kilometers above sea level. The height fields pictured here are uncorrected for wind effects, wind-corrected heights (which have higher accuracy but sparser spatial coverage) for this smoke pall are about 0.5 km higher. The Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 7695. The panels cover an area of 380 kilometers x 1137 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 36 to 43 within World Reference System-2 path 40. 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. |
|
Natural Color Mosaic of Nort
…
PIA04361
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar
…
| Title |
Natural Color Mosaic of North America |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This natural-color image combines cloud-free data from over 500 Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) orbits with shaded relief Digital Terrain Elevation models from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and other sources. An astonishing diversity of geological features, ecological systems and human landscapes across North America is indicated within the image, which spans from 56N, 136W at the upper left to 16N 48W at lower right. In addition to the contiguous United States, the scene spans from British Columbia in the northwest to Newfoundland in the northeast, and extends eastward to the lonely Bermuda Islands and southward to the Bahamas, Cuba and Mexico. Draped in green, the eastern and central United States and Canada contrast with the vibrant geology that is laid bare across the arid portions of the southwestern United States and central Mexico. Along Mexico's east coast, the lush vegetation to the east of the Sierra Madre mountain range indicates the orographic rainfall gradient along this subtropical-tropical coast. In the high Rocky Mountains and in British Columbia's Coast Range, many peaks remain snow-covered year-round. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 north and 82 south latitude. This data product was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during years 2000 - 2004. The image is displayed in an Albers Conic Equal Area projection with the projection center at 36 North, 92 West. 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. |
|
Smoke Signals from the Alask
…
PIA04363
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Smoke Signals from the Alaska and Yukon Fires |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
. Some of the smoke from these fires was detected as far away as New Hampshire. These visualizations were captured on June 30th by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on NASA's Terra spacecraft. Here, MISR distinguishes clouds from smoke and retrieves heights and optical depths for the smoke -- information which will help to improve models of how smoke aerosols are transported. The images cover an area extending from the Mackenzie Bay in northwest Canada, through the Alaskan Interior and along the Alaska-Yukon border, south to the Wrangell Mountains. The first panel in the series is a natural-color image from MISR's 60° forward viewing camera. Smoke plumes notable along the right-hand edge are situated southwest of the Peel River in the Yukon Territory, and plumes extending west from the left-hand edge are situated in the vicinity of the Yukon River and the town of Eagle at the Alaska-Canada border. In the lower portion of the image, thick smoke obscures the Wrangell Mountain range. The next panel in the series is a stereoscopic height field, in which topography, smoke plumes and clouds are all being detected. Analysis indicates that most of the smoke and many low clouds are situated at heights between about 1 and 4 kilometers above the surface, while a few high clouds attained much greater altitudes. The third panel from the left is a smoke mask, in which the image is classified as either non-smoke, or as smoke with low confidence (lc) or high confidence (hc), represented by the blue, red and green pixels, respectively. Many of the actual smoke "plumes" were identified as high-confidence smoke, including parts of plumes in the Peel River region (upper right) and Yukon River/Alaska-Canada border region (left-hand edge). This smoke mask is produced by a computerized "machine-learning" classifier which detects smoke by examining the spectral, textural, and angular features in the radiances from three oblique-viewing MISR cameras. Ultimately, the classifier will be trained to identify plume-like shapes, thus making it possible to automatically isolate plume heights from the stereo product. The right-hand panel displays MISR's aerosol optical depth retrieval, in which the brightness and contrast changes of the surface at different view angles are used to measure the attenuation of sunlight as it passes through a column of the atmosphere. Increasing amounts of smoke aerosol appear as green, yellow, orange and red pixels, and clearer skies are indicated by blue pixels. Areas where the aerosol optical depth could not be retrieved, either because the smoke was too thick to see the surface contrast or because the presence of clouds precluded a retrieval, are shown in dark gray. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. The non-animated data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired, Large lightning-induced fires were active in Alaska and the Yukon Territory from mid-June to mid-July, 2004. Thick smoke particles filled the air during these fires, prompting Alaskan officials to issue air quality warnings [ http://airnow.gov/ ], during Terra orbits 24123. The still panels cover an area of about 400 kilometers 898 kilometers, and use data from blocks 35 to 41 within World Reference System-2 path 64. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., 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. |
|
Western United States and So
…
PIA04330
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Western United States and Southwestern Canada |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This natural-color image from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) captures the beauty of the western United States and Canada. Data from 45 swaths from MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera were combined to create this cloud-free mosaic. The image extends from 48° N 128° W in the northwest, to 32°N, 104° W in the southeast, and has been draped over a shaded relief Digital Terrain Elevation Model from the United States Geological Survey. The image area includes much of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan in the north, and extends southward to California, Arizona and New Mexico. The snow-capped Rocky Mountains are a prominent feature extending through British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Many major rivers originate in the Columbia Plateau region of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The Colorado Plateau region is characterized by the vibrant red-colored rocks of the Painted Desert in Utah and Arizona, and in New Mexico, White Sands National Park is the large white feature in the Southeast corner of the image with the Malpais lava flow just to its North. The southwest is dominated by the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada, California's San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles basin and the Pacific Ocean. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. This data product was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during 2000-2002. The panels utilize data from blocks 45 to 65 within World Reference System-2 paths 31 to 53. 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. |
|
Bay of Fundy
PIA01912
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
| Title |
Bay of Fundy |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The highest tides on Earth occur in the Minas Basin, the eastern extremity of the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada, where the tide range can reach 16 meters when the various factors affecting the tides are in phase. The primary cause of the immense tides of Fundy is a resonance of the Bay of Fundy-Gulf of Maine system. The system is effectively bounded at this outer end by the edge of the continental shelf with its approximately 40:1 increase in depth. The system has a natural period of approximately 13 hours, which is close to the 12h25m period of the dominant lunar tide of the Atlantic Ocean. Like a father pushing his daughter on a swing, the gentle Atlantic tidal pulse pushes the waters of the Bay of Fundy-Gulf of Maine basin at nearly the optimum frequency to cause a large to-and-fro oscillation. The greatest slosh occurs at the head (northeast end) of the system. The high tide image (top) was acquired April 20, 2001, and the low tide image (bottom) was acquired September 30, 2002. The images cover an area of 16.5 by 21 km, and are centered near 64 degrees west longitude and 45.5 degrees north latitude. 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 monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 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. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Size: 16.5 by 21 kilometers (10.2 by 13 miles) Location: 45.4 degrees North latitude, 64 degrees West longitude Image Data: ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1 Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet) Dates Acquired: September 30, 2002 |
|
MISR's First Views of James
…
PIA02450
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
MISR's First Views of James Bay, Canada |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The first images taken by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on February 24, 2000, show the winter landscape of James Bay, Ontario, Canada from three of the instrument's nine cameras. The image at left captures the opening of MISR's cover and was recorded by the most oblique forward-viewing camera, which images the Earth at 70 degrees relative to a vertical plane. Several islands, including the crescent-shaped Akimiski Island, are visible in the frozen bay. The center image was acquired a few minutes later by the "nadir" camera, which looks straight down. The image on the right was taken seven minutes after the first image from the most oblique, aftward-viewing camera."These first pictures illustrate many of MISR's new and unique capabilities," said Dr. David J. Diner, MISR principal investigator of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. "The instrument, operations system, and science data processing software are performing extremely well and the quality of the images, particularly at the very challenging oblique angles, is outstanding." An increased blue tint at the oblique angles is the result of scattering of light in the atmosphere. Contrast reversals and other color and brightness variations from one angle to another are also apparent, and are most likely due to varied surface geometries and textures. Observing such changes in image content and detail from space over a wide range of angles, almost simultaneously, is a novel approach for characterizing surface, atmospheric, and cloud characteristics. The MISR data will continue to provide unprecedented details about Earth's climate over the next six years. Capturing long, ribbon-like images, 400 kilometers (250 miles) wide, MISR can detect objects as small as 275 meters (900 feet) in diameter. The MISR instrument is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. MISR is flying on the Terra satellite, which is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. |
|
Mars Researchers Rendezvous
…
PIA03714
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Mars Researchers Rendezvous on Remote Arctic Island |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Devon Island is situated in an isolated part of Canada's Nunavut Territory, and is usually considered to be the largest uninhabited island in the world. However, each summer since 1999, researchers from NASA's Haughton-Mars Project and the Mars Society reside at this "polar desert" location to study the geologic and environmental characteristics of a site which is considered to be an excellent "Mars analog": a terrestrial location wherein specific conditions approximate environmental features reported on Mars. Base camps established amidst the rocks and rubble surrounding the Haughton impact crater enable researchers to conduct surveys designed to test the habitat, equipment and technology that may be deployed during a human mission to Mars. One of the many objectives of the project scientists is to understand the ice formations around the Haughton area, in the hopes that this might ultimately assist with the recognition of areas where ice can be found at shallow depth on Mars. These images of Devon Island from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument provide contrasting views of the spectral and angular reflectance "signatures" of different surfaces within the region. The top panel is a natural color view created with data from the red, green and blue-bands of MISR's nadir (vertical-viewing) camera. The bottom panel is a false-color multiangular composite of the same area, utilizing red band data from MISR's 60-degree backward, nadir, and 60-degree forward-viewing cameras, displayed as red, green and blue, respectively. In this representation, colors highlight textural properties of elements within the scene, with blue tones indicating smooth surfaces (which preferentially forward scatter sunlight) and red hues indicating rougher surfaces (which preferentially backscatter). The angular reflectance "signature" of low clouds causes them to appear purple, and this visualization provides a unique way of distinguishing clouds from snow and ice. The data were captured on June 28, 2001, during the early part of the arctic summer, when sea ice becomes thinner and begins to move depending upon localized currents and winds. In winter the entire region is locked with several meters of nearly motionless sea ice, which acts as a thermodynamic barrier to the loss of heat from the comparatively warm ocean to the colder atmosphere. Summer melting of sea ice can be observed at the two large, dark regions of open water, one is present in the Jones Sound (near the top to the left of center), and another appears in the Wellington Channel (left-hand edge). A large crack caused by tidal heaving has broken the ice cover over the Parry Channel (lower right-hand corner). A substantial ice cap permanently occupies the easternmost third of the island (upper right). Surface features such as dendritic meltwater channels incised into the island's surface are apparent. The Haughton-Mars project site is located slightly to the left and above image, center, in an area which appears with relatively little surface ice, near the island's inner "elbow." The images were acquired during Terra orbit 8132 and cover an area of about 334 kilometers x 229 kilometers. They utilize data from blocks 27 to 31 within World Reference System-2 path 42. 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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Fire in the Land of 100,000
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PIA03414
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Fire in the Land of 100,000 Lakes |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Fire season in Manitoba, Canada lasts from April until October, and numerous smoke plumes caused by lightning strikes are captured in these Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) views of the northwestern part of the province. The data were acquired on June 20, 2001 during Terra orbit 8015. On the left is a true-color image acquired by MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. The area covered measures 232 kilometers X 80 kilometers. The greenish area on the right-hand side of the image, partially obscured by clouds, is Southern Indian Lake. This landscape is predominantly boreal, and contains deciduous and evergreen conifer forests, deciduous broadleaved forests, fens, and lakes. Tree species found within the area include white and black spruce, jack pine, tamarack, willow, and birch. Human population density is sparse, averaging about 1 person per 10 square kilometers. During the fire season, information is updated daily on the Manitoba Conservation website (http://www.gov.mb.ca/natres/fire/). The large plume northwest of Big Sand Lake, above image center, was reported to be under control on June 20, whereas the plume at lower left, to the west of Gold Sand Lake, was classified "out of control." In the next two days, an additional 27 out-of-control fires in the area were started by lightning strikes arriving with as low-moving northerly cold front. By June 29, all but six of the fires had been brought under control. The picture on the right is a height field derived using automated computer processing of the data from several of MISR's cameras. The results indicate that the smoke plumes reach altitudes a few kilometers above the surface terrain, nearly as high as the cumulus cloud field in the lower right quadrant. The height retrievals make use of geometric parallax associated with observing the features at multiple angles. A few artifacts are visible in this early version of the MISR stereoscopic product, e.g., linear discontinuities in the elevation field, isolated elevation "spikes" (appearing as red), and black areas where no result was obtained. Nevertheless, this first version of the algorithm, which is designed to operate autonomously and rapidly without human intervention, is doing a good job at detecting the smoke plumes and cloud field. Improvements are anticipated in the future. The product was generated as part of operational processing at the NASA Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center. 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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Saskatchewan and Manitoba
PIA03408
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Saskatchewan and Manitoba |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
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., Surface brightness contrasts accentuated by a thin layer of snow enable a network of rivers, roads, and farmland boundaries to stand out clearly in these MISR images of southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba. The lefthand image is a multi-spectral false-color view made from the near-infrared, red, and green bands of MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. The righthand image is a multi-angle false-color view made from the red band data of the 60-degree aftward camera, the nadir camera, and the 60-degree forward camera. In each image, the selected channels are displayed as red, green, and blue, respectively. The data were acquired April 17, 2001 during Terra orbit 7083, and cover an area measuring about 285 kilometers x 400 kilometers. North is at the top. The junction of the Assiniboine and Qu'Apelle Rivers in the bottom part of the images is just east of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. During the growing season, the rich, fertile soils in this area support numerous fields of wheat, canola, barley, flaxseed, and rye. Beef cattle are raised in fenced pastures. To the north, the terrain becomes more rocky and forested. Many frozen lakes are visible as white patches in the top right. The narrow linear, north-south trending patterns about a third of the way down from the upper right corner are snow-filled depressions alternating with vegetated ridges, most probably carved by glacial flow. In the lefthand image, vegetation appears in shades of red, owing to its high near-infrared reflectivity. In the righthand image, several forested regions are clearly visible in green hues. Since this is a multi-angle composite, the green arises not from the color of the leaves but from the architecture of the surface cover. Progressing southeastward along the Manitoba Escarpment, the forested areas include the Pasquia Hills, the Porcupine Hills, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, and Riding Mountain National Park. The forests are brighter in the nadir than at the oblique angles, probably because more of the snow-covered surface is visible in the gaps between the trees. In contrast, the valley between the Pasquia and Porcupine Hills near the top of the images appears bright red in the lefthand image (indicating high vegetation abundance) but shows a mauve color in the multi-angle view. This means that it is darker in the nadir than at the oblique angles. Examination of imagery acquired after the snow has melted should establish whether this difference is related to the amount of snow on the surface or is indicative of a different type of vegetation structure. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are believed to derive their names from the Cree words for the winding and swift-flowing waters of the Saskatchewan River and for a narrows on Lake Manitoba where the roaring sound of wind and water evoked the voice of the Great Spirit. They are two of Canada's Prairie Provinces, Alberta is the third. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, |
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Manicouagan Impact Structure
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PIA03434
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Manicouagan Impact Structure, Quebec |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The large annular lake in this image represents the remnants of one of the largest impact craters still preserved on the surface of the Earth. Lake Manicouagan in northern Quebec, Canada, surrounds the central uplift of the impact structure, which is about 70 kilometers in diameter and is composed of impact-brecciated rock. Glaciation and other erosional processes have reduced the extent of the crater, with the original diameter estimated at about 100 kilometers. This natural-color image of the region was acquired by MISR's nadir (vertical-viewing) camera on June 1, 2001, during Terra orbit 7737. The impact that formed Manicouagan is thought to have occurred about 212 million years ago, toward the end of the Triassic period. Some scientists believe that this impact may have been responsible for a mass extinction associated with the loss of roughly 60% of all species. It has been proposed that the impact was created by an asteroid with a diameter of about 5 kilometers. The lake is bounded by erosion-resistant metamorphic and igneous rocks, and shock metamorphic effects are abundant in the target rocks of the crater floor. Today Lake Manicouagan serves as a reservoir and is one of Quebec's most important regions for Atlantic salmon fishing. 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. For more information: http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov ] |
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Southern Québec in Late Wint
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PIA03446
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Southern Québec in Late Winter |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
These images of Canada's Québec province were acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer on March 4, 2001. The region's forests are a mixture of coniferous and hardwood trees, and "sugar-shack" festivities are held at this time of year to celebrate the beginning of maple syrup production. The large river visible in the images is the northeast-flowing St. Lawrence. The city of Montréal is located near the lower left corner, and Québec City, at the upper right, is near the mouth of the partially ice-covered St. Lawrence Seaway. Both spectral and angular information are retrieved for every scene observed by MISR. The left-hand image was acquired by the instrument's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera, and is a false-color spectral composite from the near-infrared, red, and blue bands. The right-hand image is a false-color angular composite using red band data from the 60-degree backward-viewing, nadir, and 60-degree forward-viewing cameras. In each case, the individual channels of data are displayed as red, green, and blue, respectively. Much of the ground remains covered or partially covered with snow. Vegetation appears red in the left-hand image because of its high near-infrared brightness. In the multi-angle composite, vegetated areas appear in shades of green because they are brighter at nadir, possibly as a result of an underlying blanket of snow which is more visible from this direction. Enhanced forward scatter from the smooth water surface results in bluer hues, whereas urban areas look somewhat orange, possibly due to the effect of vertical structures which preferentially backscatter sunlight. The data were acquired during Terra orbit 6441, and cover an area measuring 275 kilometers x 310 kilometers. 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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Cascade Mtns. Oregon
PIA03492
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
| Title |
Cascade Mtns. Oregon |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The ground near one of the long-dormant Three Sisters volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains of west-central Oregon has risen approximately 10centimeters in a 10-by-20-km parcel since 1996, meaning that magma or underground lava is slowly flowing into the area, according to a research team from the U.S. Geological Survey. The Three Sisters area -- which contains five volcanoes -- is only about 170 miles from Mount St. Helens, which erupted in 1980. Both are part of the Cascades Range, a line of 27volcanoes stretching from British Columbia in Canada to northern California. This perspective view was created by draping a simulated natural color ASTER image over digital topography from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset. This image was acquired on May 28, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. 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 will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 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. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, along-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Size: 20 x 25 km (12 x 15 miles) Location: 44.1 deg. North lat., 122.1 deg. West long. Orientation: View towards Southeast Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 m Date Acquired: Various |
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Hurricane Isabel
PIA00428
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
…
| Title |
Hurricane Isabel |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1: AIRS infrared channel 2333 (2616 cm-1), Figure 2: Total Water Vapor retrieved from AIRS infrared and AMSU-A microwave data September 18, 2003 These two false-color images show Hurricane Isabel viewed by the AIRS and AMSU-A instruments at 1:30 EDT in the morning of Thursday September 18, 2003. Isabel will be ashore within 12 hours, bringing widespread flooding and destructive winds. In figure 1 on the left, data retrieved by the AIRS infrared sensor shows the hurricane's eye as the small ring of pale blue near the upper left corner of the image. The dark blue band around the eye shows the cold tops of hundreds of powerful thunderstorms. These storms are embedded in the 120 mile per hour winds swirling counterclockwise around Isabel's eye. Cape Hatteras is the finger of land north-northwest of the eye. Isabel's winds will soon push ashore a 4- to 8-foot high mound of 'storm surge' and accompanying high surf, leading to flooding of Cape Hatteras and other islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Also seen in the image are several organized bands of cold, (blue) thunderstorm tops being pulled into the storm center. Other thunderstorm are forming north of the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico near the bottom of the picture. Figure 2 shows the geographical distribution and total amount of atmospheric water vapor associated with Isabel as inferred by AIRS and AMSU-A. Very humid areas appear deep red and surround the storm's eye in the ring of thunderstorms, as seen above. The enhancement of atmospheric water vapor in the storm is maintained by evaporation from the wind-churned sea surface. In turn, the water vapor powers the thunderstorms by condensing as rain and releasing the ocean's warmth into the atmosphere to drive strong convection. This makes Isabel and other hurricanes 'heat engines,' converting ocean water's warmth into atmospheric gales. Isabel is weakening as it move ashore and loses its supply of energy from warm water, but not before raining an expected 6-12 inch thick layer of its water over an area extending from South Carolina and New England to the midwest and southern Canada. Paler blue areas in the water vapor image show less humid heights of the atmosphere, which are associated with the colder thunderstorm tops seen in the infrared image. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA., JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena |
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Hurricane Isabel
PIA00428
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
…
| Title |
Hurricane Isabel |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1: AIRS infrared channel 2333 (2616 cm-1), Figure 2: Total Water Vapor retrieved from AIRS infrared and AMSU-A microwave data September 18, 2003 These two false-color images show Hurricane Isabel viewed by the AIRS and AMSU-A instruments at 1:30 EDT in the morning of Thursday September 18, 2003. Isabel will be ashore within 12 hours, bringing widespread flooding and destructive winds. In figure 1 on the left, data retrieved by the AIRS infrared sensor shows the hurricane's eye as the small ring of pale blue near the upper left corner of the image. The dark blue band around the eye shows the cold tops of hundreds of powerful thunderstorms. These storms are embedded in the 120 mile per hour winds swirling counterclockwise around Isabel's eye. Cape Hatteras is the finger of land north-northwest of the eye. Isabel's winds will soon push ashore a 4- to 8-foot high mound of 'storm surge' and accompanying high surf, leading to flooding of Cape Hatteras and other islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Also seen in the image are several organized bands of cold, (blue) thunderstorm tops being pulled into the storm center. Other thunderstorm are forming north of the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico near the bottom of the picture. Figure 2 shows the geographical distribution and total amount of atmospheric water vapor associated with Isabel as inferred by AIRS and AMSU-A. Very humid areas appear deep red and surround the storm's eye in the ring of thunderstorms, as seen above. The enhancement of atmospheric water vapor in the storm is maintained by evaporation from the wind-churned sea surface. In turn, the water vapor powers the thunderstorms by condensing as rain and releasing the ocean's warmth into the atmosphere to drive strong convection. This makes Isabel and other hurricanes 'heat engines,' converting ocean water's warmth into atmospheric gales. Isabel is weakening as it move ashore and loses its supply of energy from warm water, but not before raining an expected 6-12 inch thick layer of its water over an area extending from South Carolina and New England to the midwest and southern Canada. Paler blue areas in the water vapor image show less humid heights of the atmosphere, which are associated with the colder thunderstorm tops seen in the infrared image. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA., JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena |
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Hurricane Isabel
PIA00428
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
…
| Title |
Hurricane Isabel |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Figure 1: AIRS infrared channel 2333 (2616 cm-1), Figure 2: Total Water Vapor retrieved from AIRS infrared and AMSU-A microwave data September 18, 2003 These two false-color images show Hurricane Isabel viewed by the AIRS and AMSU-A instruments at 1:30 EDT in the morning of Thursday September 18, 2003. Isabel will be ashore within 12 hours, bringing widespread flooding and destructive winds. In figure 1 on the left, data retrieved by the AIRS infrared sensor shows the hurricane's eye as the small ring of pale blue near the upper left corner of the image. The dark blue band around the eye shows the cold tops of hundreds of powerful thunderstorms. These storms are embedded in the 120 mile per hour winds swirling counterclockwise around Isabel's eye. Cape Hatteras is the finger of land north-northwest of the eye. Isabel's winds will soon push ashore a 4- to 8-foot high mound of 'storm surge' and accompanying high surf, leading to flooding of Cape Hatteras and other islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Also seen in the image are several organized bands of cold, (blue) thunderstorm tops being pulled into the storm center. Other thunderstorm are forming north of the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico near the bottom of the picture. Figure 2 shows the geographical distribution and total amount of atmospheric water vapor associated with Isabel as inferred by AIRS and AMSU-A. Very humid areas appear deep red and surround the storm's eye in the ring of thunderstorms, as seen above. The enhancement of atmospheric water vapor in the storm is maintained by evaporation from the wind-churned sea surface. In turn, the water vapor powers the thunderstorms by condensing as rain and releasing the ocean's warmth into the atmosphere to drive strong convection. This makes Isabel and other hurricanes 'heat engines,' converting ocean water's warmth into atmospheric gales. Isabel is weakening as it move ashore and loses its supply of energy from warm water, but not before raining an expected 6-12 inch thick layer of its water over an area extending from South Carolina and New England to the midwest and southern Canada. Paler blue areas in the water vapor image show less humid heights of the atmosphere, which are associated with the colder thunderstorm tops seen in the infrared image. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA., JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena |
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![Vega Credit: D. Moffatt (DOA [ http://www.dao.nrc.ca/ ]), ScienceWeb [ http://scienceweb.dao.nrc.ca/ ], Starry Messenger Communications](http://mm04.nasaimages.org/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size1/NVA2-4-NA/8321/vega_dm.jpg&userid=1&username=admin&resolution=1&servertype=JVA&cid=4&iid=NVA2&vcid=NA&usergroup=NASA_Astronomy_Picture_of_the_Day_Collecti-4-Admin&profileid=16)
