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Chaotic Star Birth
| Title |
Chaotic Star Birth |
| Description |
Located 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus, a reflection nebula called NGC 1333 epitomizes the beautiful chaos of a dense group of stars being born. Most of the visible light from the young stars in this region is obscured by the dense, dusty cloud in which they formed. With NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists can detect the infrared light from these objects. This allows a look through the dust to gain a more detailed understanding of how stars like our sun begin their lives. The young stars in NGC 1333 do not form a single cluster, but are split between two sub-groups. One group is to the north near the nebula shown as red in the image. The other group is south, where the features shown in yellow and green abound in the densest part of the natal gas cloud. With the sharp infrared eyes of Spitzer, scientists can detect and characterize the warm and dusty disks of material that surround forming stars. By looking for differences in the disk properties between the two subgroups, they hope to find hints of the star- and planet-formation history of this region. The knotty yellow-green features located in the lower portion of the image are glowing shock fronts where jets of material, spewed from extremely young embryonic stars, are plowing into the cold, dense gas nearby. The sheer number of separate jets that appear in this region is unprecedented. This leads scientists to believe that by stirring up the cold gas, the jets may contribute to the eventual dispersal of the gas cloud, preventing more stars from forming in NGC 1333. In contrast, the upper portion of the image is dominated by the infrared light from warm dust, shown as red. |
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Chaotic Star Birth
| Title |
Chaotic Star Birth |
| Description |
Located 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus, a reflection nebula called NGC 1333 epitomizes the beautiful chaos of a dense group of stars being born. Most of the visible light from the young stars in this region is obscured by the dense, dusty cloud in which they formed. With NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists can detect the infrared light from these objects. This allows a look through the dust to gain a more detailed understanding of how stars like our sun begin their lives. The young stars in NGC 1333 do not form a single cluster, but are split between two sub-groups. One group is to the north near the nebula shown as red in the image. The other group is south, where the features shown in yellow and green abound in the densest part of the natal gas cloud. With the sharp infrared eyes of Spitzer, scientists can detect and characterize the warm and dusty disks of material that surround forming stars. By looking for differences in the disk properties between the two subgroups, they hope to find hints of the star- and planet-formation history of this region. The knotty yellow-green features located in the lower portion of the image are glowing shock fronts where jets of material, spewed from extremely young embryonic stars, are plowing into the cold, dense gas nearby. The sheer number of separate jets that appear in this region is unprecedented. This leads scientists to believe that by stirring up the cold gas, the jets may contribute to the eventual dispersal of the gas cloud, preventing more stars from forming in NGC 1333. In contrast, the upper portion of the image is dominated by the infrared light from warm dust, shown as red. |
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Steamy Star in NGC 1333
| Title |
Steamy Star in NGC 1333 |
| Description |
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a stellar nursery called NGC 1333. Spitzer discovered that a pre-planetary disk of dust surrounding an embryonic star within this region, called NGC 1333-IRAS 4B, is drenched with water vapor. NGC 1333 is located about 1,000 light-years away in the Perseus constellation. It is a cloud of gas and dust that is busy manufacturing new stars. Spitzer surveyed four of the very youngest stars in this region and 26 others elsewhere, but found only one, NGC 1333-IRAS 4B, with water vapor. This might be because NGC 1333-IRAS 4B is in just the right orientation for Spitzer to view deep inside the developing star system and detect the water vapor. |
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Syr Darya River Overflows
| Title |
Syr Darya River Overflows |
| Description |
Winter ice and a failure to observe regional water use agreements trigged floods along the mighty Syr Darya River in Southern Kazakhstan. At least 200 families living in communities around Qyzylorda, shown here, were forced to evacuate when the river burst its banks. The Syr Darya is an important resource in Central Asia, providing water for farming and hydroelectric power. In early January, representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan met to plan water usage to prevent regional flooding. In early February, Kyrgystan sent a higher volume of water than agreed from its hydroelectric power station into the Chardara Reservoir on the border of the three countries. Uzbekistan had agreed to accept extra water in its Arnasay Reservoir, located just west of the Chardara, but did not take as much as required. As a result, the Chardara filled, and Kazak officials sent the extra water down the Syr Darya River. The River, already constricted by ice, could not take the extra water and overflowed. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image shows the flooded area as seen by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 10, 2004. Ice, which is light blue in this false-color image, lines sections of the River's original channel. The flood water, a darker shade of blue, expands around the ice-defined banks of the River. Clouds in this image are light blue and white, vegetation is green, and bare soil is pink. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004041-0210/AralSea.A2004041.0645.721 ] and in true color [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004041-0210/AralSea.A2004041.0645 ]. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Ripples in Rocks Point to Wa
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PIA05482
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Ripples in Rocks Point to Water |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water. "Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin" Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity. The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective. The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock. Figure 3 The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004). Figure 4 Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae. |
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Ripples in Rocks Point to Wa
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PIA05482
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Ripples in Rocks Point to Water |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water. "Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin" Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity. The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective. The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock. Figure 3 The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004). Figure 4 Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae. |
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Ripples in Rocks Point to Wa
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PIA05482
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Ripples in Rocks Point to Water |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water. "Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin" Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity. The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective. The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock. Figure 3 The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004). Figure 4 Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae. |
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Ripples in Rocks Point to Wa
…
PIA05482
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Ripples in Rocks Point to Water |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water. "Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin" Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity. The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective. The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock. Figure 3 The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004). Figure 4 Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae. |
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Ripples in Rocks Point to Wa
…
PIA05482
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Ripples in Rocks Point to Water |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the rock nicknamed "Last Chance," which lies within the outcrop near the rover's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image provides evidence for a geologic feature known as ripple cross-stratification. At the base of the rock, layers can be seen dipping downward to the right. The bedding that contains these dipping layers is only one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) thick. In the upper right corner of the rock, layers also dip to the right, but exhibit a weak "concave-up" geometry. These two features -- the thin, cross-stratified bedding combined with the possible concave geometry -- suggest small ripples with sinuous crest lines. Although wind can produce ripples, they rarely have sinuous crest lines and never form steep, dipping layers at this small scale. The most probable explanation for these ripples is that they were formed in the presence of moving water. "Crossbedding Evidence for Underwater Origin" Interpretations of cross-lamination patterns presented as clues to this martian rock's origin under flowing water are marked on images taken by the panoramic camera and microscopic imager on NASA's Opportunity. The red arrows (Figure 1) point to features suggesting cross-lamination within the rock called "Last Chance" taken at a distance of 4.5 meters (15 feet) during Opportunity's 17th sol (February 10, 2004). The inferred sets of fine layers at angles to each other (cross-laminae) are up to 1.4 centimeters (half an inch) thick. For scale, the distance between two vertical cracks in the rock is about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches). The feature indicated by the middle red arrow suggests a pattern called trough cross-lamination, likely produced when flowing water shaped sinuous ripples in underwater sediment and pushed the ripples to migrate in one direction. The direction of the ancient flow would have been either toward or away from the line of sight from this perspective. The lower and upper red arrows point to cross-lamina sets that are consistent with underwater ripples in the sediment having moved in water that was flowing left to right from this perspective. The yellow arrows (Figure 2) indicate places in the panoramic camera view that correlate with places in the microscope's view of the same rock. Figure 3 The microscopic view (Figure 3) is a mosaic of some of the 152 microscopic imager frames of "Last Chance" that Opportunity took on sols 39 and 40 (March 3 and 4, 2004). Figure 4 Figure 4 shows cross-lamination expressed by lines that trend downward from left to right, traced with black lines in the interpretive overlay. These cross-lamination lines are consistent with dipping planes that would have formed surfaces on the down-current side of migrating ripples. Interpretive blue lines indicate boundaries between possible sets of cross-laminae. |
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