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Images of Australia and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Dusty Death of a Massive Sta
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| Title |
Dusty Death of a Massive Star |
| Description |
The supernova remnant1E0102.2-7219 (inset) sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth. A supernova remnant is made up of the messy bits and pieces of a massive star that exploded, or went supernova. The image on the right shows glowing dust grains in three wavelengths of infrared radiation: 24 microns (red) measured by the multiband imaging photometer aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and 8.0 microns (green) and 3.6 microns (blue) measured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The red bubble is a dust envelope around the supernova remnant E0102, which is being heated by the shock wave created in the explosion of the remnant's massive progenitor star some 1,000 years ago. Most of the blue stars are in the Small Magellanic Cloud, though some are in our own galaxy. The close-up of E0102 on the left is a composite of the infrared observations by Spitzer (red), an optical image (0.5 microns) captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (green), and X-ray measurements by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue). The X-ray ring is generated when the reverse shock slams into stellar material that was expelled during the explosion. |
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Dusty Death of a Massive Sta
…
| Title |
Dusty Death of a Massive Star |
| Description |
The supernova remnant1E0102.2-7219 (inset) sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth. A supernova remnant is made up of the messy bits and pieces of a massive star that exploded, or went supernova. The image on the right shows glowing dust grains in three wavelengths of infrared radiation: 24 microns (red) measured by the multiband imaging photometer aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and 8.0 microns (green) and 3.6 microns (blue) measured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The red bubble is a dust envelope around the supernova remnant E0102, which is being heated by the shock wave created in the explosion of the remnant's massive progenitor star some 1,000 years ago. Most of the blue stars are in the Small Magellanic Cloud, though some are in our own galaxy. The close-up of E0102 on the left is a composite of the infrared observations by Spitzer (red), an optical image (0.5 microns) captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (green), and X-ray measurements by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue). The X-ray ring is generated when the reverse shock slams into stellar material that was expelled during the explosion. |
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Dusty Death of a Massive Sta
…
| Title |
Dusty Death of a Massive Star |
| Description |
The supernova remnant1E0102.2-7219 (inset) sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth. A supernova remnant is made up of the messy bits and pieces of a massive star that exploded, or went supernova. The image on the right shows glowing dust grains in three wavelengths of infrared radiation: 24 microns (red) measured by the multiband imaging photometer aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and 8.0 microns (green) and 3.6 microns (blue) measured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The red bubble is a dust envelope around the supernova remnant E0102, which is being heated by the shock wave created in the explosion of the remnant's massive progenitor star some 1,000 years ago. Most of the blue stars are in the Small Magellanic Cloud, though some are in our own galaxy. The close-up of E0102 on the left is a composite of the infrared observations by Spitzer (red), an optical image (0.5 microns) captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (green), and X-ray measurements by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue). The X-ray ring is generated when the reverse shock slams into stellar material that was expelled during the explosion. |
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Three Faces of Andromeda
| Title |
Three Faces of Andromeda |
| Description |
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured stunning infrared views of the famous Andromeda galaxy to reveal insights that were only hinted at in visible light. Spitzer's 24-micron mosaic (top panel) is the sharpest image ever taken of the dust in another spiral galaxy. This is possible because Andromeda is a close neighbor to the Milky Way at a mere 2.5 million light-years away. The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer's 24-micron detector recorded 11,000 separate snapshots to create this new comprehensive picture. Asymmetrical features are seen in the prominent ring of star formation. The ring appears to be split into two pieces, forming the hole to the lower right. These features may have been caused by interactions with satellite galaxies around Andromeda as they plunge through its disk. Spitzer also reveals delicate tracings of spiral arms within this ring that reach into the very center of the galaxy. One sees a scattering of stars within Andromeda, but only select stars that are wrapped in envelopes of dust light up at infrared wavelengths. This is a dramatic contrast to the traditional view at visible wavelengths (lower left panel), which shows the starlight instead of the dust. The center of the galaxy in this view is dominated by a large bulge that overwhelms the inner spirals seen in dust. The dust lanes are faintly visible in places, but only where they can be seen in silhouette against background stars. The multi-wavelength view of Andromeda (lower right panel) combines images taken at 24 microns (blue), 70 microns (green), and 160 microns (red). Using all three bands from the multiband imaging photometer allows astronomers to measure the temperature of the dust by its color. The warmest dust is brightest at 24 microns while the coolest is most evident at 160 microns. The blue/white areas have the hottest dust, as seen in the bulge and in the star-forming areas along the arms. The cooler dust floating further out in the ring and arms are in the redder regions. The data were taken on August 25, 2004, the one-year anniversary of the launch of the space telescope. The observations have been transformed into this remarkable gift from Spitzer -- the most detailed infrared image of the spectacular galaxy to date. |
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Three Faces of Andromeda
| Title |
Three Faces of Andromeda |
| Description |
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured stunning infrared views of the famous Andromeda galaxy to reveal insights that were only hinted at in visible light. Spitzer's 24-micron mosaic (top panel) is the sharpest image ever taken of the dust in another spiral galaxy. This is possible because Andromeda is a close neighbor to the Milky Way at a mere 2.5 million light-years away. The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer's 24-micron detector recorded 11,000 separate snapshots to create this new comprehensive picture. Asymmetrical features are seen in the prominent ring of star formation. The ring appears to be split into two pieces, forming the hole to the lower right. These features may have been caused by interactions with satellite galaxies around Andromeda as they plunge through its disk. Spitzer also reveals delicate tracings of spiral arms within this ring that reach into the very center of the galaxy. One sees a scattering of stars within Andromeda, but only select stars that are wrapped in envelopes of dust light up at infrared wavelengths. This is a dramatic contrast to the traditional view at visible wavelengths (lower left panel), which shows the starlight instead of the dust. The center of the galaxy in this view is dominated by a large bulge that overwhelms the inner spirals seen in dust. The dust lanes are faintly visible in places, but only where they can be seen in silhouette against background stars. The multi-wavelength view of Andromeda (lower right panel) combines images taken at 24 microns (blue), 70 microns (green), and 160 microns (red). Using all three bands from the multiband imaging photometer allows astronomers to measure the temperature of the dust by its color. The warmest dust is brightest at 24 microns while the coolest is most evident at 160 microns. The blue/white areas have the hottest dust, as seen in the bulge and in the star-forming areas along the arms. The cooler dust floating further out in the ring and arms are in the redder regions. The data were taken on August 25, 2004, the one-year anniversary of the launch of the space telescope. The observations have been transformed into this remarkable gift from Spitzer -- the most detailed infrared image of the spectacular galaxy to date. |
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Three Faces of Andromeda
| Title |
Three Faces of Andromeda |
| Description |
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured stunning infrared views of the famous Andromeda galaxy to reveal insights that were only hinted at in visible light. Spitzer's 24-micron mosaic (top panel) is the sharpest image ever taken of the dust in another spiral galaxy. This is possible because Andromeda is a close neighbor to the Milky Way at a mere 2.5 million light-years away. The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer's 24-micron detector recorded 11,000 separate snapshots to create this new comprehensive picture. Asymmetrical features are seen in the prominent ring of star formation. The ring appears to be split into two pieces, forming the hole to the lower right. These features may have been caused by interactions with satellite galaxies around Andromeda as they plunge through its disk. Spitzer also reveals delicate tracings of spiral arms within this ring that reach into the very center of the galaxy. One sees a scattering of stars within Andromeda, but only select stars that are wrapped in envelopes of dust light up at infrared wavelengths. This is a dramatic contrast to the traditional view at visible wavelengths (lower left panel), which shows the starlight instead of the dust. The center of the galaxy in this view is dominated by a large bulge that overwhelms the inner spirals seen in dust. The dust lanes are faintly visible in places, but only where they can be seen in silhouette against background stars. The multi-wavelength view of Andromeda (lower right panel) combines images taken at 24 microns (blue), 70 microns (green), and 160 microns (red). Using all three bands from the multiband imaging photometer allows astronomers to measure the temperature of the dust by its color. The warmest dust is brightest at 24 microns while the coolest is most evident at 160 microns. The blue/white areas have the hottest dust, as seen in the bulge and in the star-forming areas along the arms. The cooler dust floating further out in the ring and arms are in the redder regions. The data were taken on August 25, 2004, the one-year anniversary of the launch of the space telescope. The observations have been transformed into this remarkable gift from Spitzer -- the most detailed infrared image of the spectacular galaxy to date. |
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Three Faces of Andromeda
| Title |
Three Faces of Andromeda |
| Description |
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured stunning infrared views of the famous Andromeda galaxy to reveal insights that were only hinted at in visible light. Spitzer's 24-micron mosaic (top panel) is the sharpest image ever taken of the dust in another spiral galaxy. This is possible because Andromeda is a close neighbor to the Milky Way at a mere 2.5 million light-years away. The Spitzer multiband imaging photometer's 24-micron detector recorded 11,000 separate snapshots to create this new comprehensive picture. Asymmetrical features are seen in the prominent ring of star formation. The ring appears to be split into two pieces, forming the hole to the lower right. These features may have been caused by interactions with satellite galaxies around Andromeda as they plunge through its disk. Spitzer also reveals delicate tracings of spiral arms within this ring that reach into the very center of the galaxy. One sees a scattering of stars within Andromeda, but only select stars that are wrapped in envelopes of dust light up at infrared wavelengths. This is a dramatic contrast to the traditional view at visible wavelengths (lower left panel), which shows the starlight instead of the dust. The center of the galaxy in this view is dominated by a large bulge that overwhelms the inner spirals seen in dust. The dust lanes are faintly visible in places, but only where they can be seen in silhouette against background stars. The multi-wavelength view of Andromeda (lower right panel) combines images taken at 24 microns (blue), 70 microns (green), and 160 microns (red). Using all three bands from the multiband imaging photometer allows astronomers to measure the temperature of the dust by its color. The warmest dust is brightest at 24 microns while the coolest is most evident at 160 microns. The blue/white areas have the hottest dust, as seen in the bulge and in the star-forming areas along the arms. The cooler dust floating further out in the ring and arms are in the redder regions. The data were taken on August 25, 2004, the one-year anniversary of the launch of the space telescope. The observations have been transformed into this remarkable gift from Spitzer -- the most detailed infrared image of the spectacular galaxy to date. |
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Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
| Title |
Amazing Andromeda Galaxy |
| Description |
The many "personalities" of our great galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are exposed in this new composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The wide, ultraviolet eyes of Galaxy Evolution Explorer reveal Andromeda's "fiery" nature -- hotter regions brimming with young and old stars. In contrast, Spitzer's super-sensitive infrared eyes show Andromeda's relatively "cool" side, which includes embryonic stars hidden in their dusty cocoons. Galaxy Evolution Explorer detected young, hot, high-mass stars, which are represented in blue, while populations of relatively older stars are shown as green dots. The bright yellow spot at the galaxy's center depicts a particularly dense population of old stars. Swaths of red in the galaxy's disk indicate areas where Spitzer found cool, dusty regions where stars are forming. These stars are still shrouded by the cosmic clouds of dust and gas that collapsed to form them. Together, Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Spitzer complete the picture of Andromeda's swirling spiral arms. Hints of pinkish purple depict regions where the galaxy's populations of hot, high-mass stars and cooler, dust-enshrouded stars co-exist. Located 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda is our largest nearby galactic neighbor. The galaxy's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy's disk is about 100,000 light-years across. This image is a false color composite comprised of data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector (blue), near-ultraviolet detector (green), and Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer at 24 microns (red). |
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Our Chaotic Neighbor
| Title |
Our Chaotic Neighbor |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of more than 100,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the whole galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns is red and orange: 4.5-micron light is green, and 3.6-micron light is blue. |
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Our Chaotic Neighbor
| Title |
Our Chaotic Neighbor |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of more than 100,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the whole galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns is red and orange: 4.5-micron light is green, and 3.6-micron light is blue. |
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Our Chaotic Neighbor
| Title |
Our Chaotic Neighbor |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of more than 100,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the whole galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns is red and orange: 4.5-micron light is green, and 3.6-micron light is blue. |
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What's Old Is New in the Lar
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| Title |
What's Old Is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of 300,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust ? the same stuff that makes up planets and even people ? is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds), scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds), and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots). The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the entire galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer. Light with wavelengths of 3.6 (blue) and 8 (green) microns was captured by the telescope's infrared array camera, 24-micron light (red) was detected by the multiband imaging photometer. |
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What's Old Is New in the Lar
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| Title |
What's Old Is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of 300,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust ? the same stuff that makes up planets and even people ? is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds), scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds), and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots). The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the entire galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer. Light with wavelengths of 3.6 (blue) and 8 (green) microns was captured by the telescope's infrared array camera, 24-micron light (red) was detected by the multiband imaging photometer. |
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What's Old Is New in the Lar
…
| Title |
What's Old Is New in the Large Magellanic Cloud |
| Description |
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The infrared image, a mosaic of 300,000 individual tiles, offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud, the rest are thought to be background galaxies. The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight. Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust ? the same stuff that makes up planets and even people ? is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds), scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds), and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots). The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way. It is approximately one-third as wide as the Milky Way, and, if it could be seen in its entirety, would cover the same amount of sky as a grid of about 480 full moons. About one-third of the entire galaxy can be seen in the Spitzer image. This picture is a composite of infrared light captured by Spitzer. Light with wavelengths of 3.6 (blue) and 8 (green) microns was captured by the telescope's infrared array camera, 24-micron light (red) was detected by the multiband imaging photometer. |
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| Description |
Titan's Surface |
| Full Description |
Until 1994, the optically opaque atmosphere of Titan completely hid the satellite's surface from view. In 1994, the Wide Field-Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope provided the first glimpse below Titan¿s cloud layer. A large white area approximately the size of Australia is seen in this image. Because this region rotates at the same rate as does Titan, it is believed to be a surface feature. For higher resolution, click here. |
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| Description |
Titan's Surface |
| Full Description |
Until 1994, the optically opaque atmosphere of Titan completely hid the satellite's surface from view. In 1994, the Wide Field-Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope provided the first glimpse below Titan¿s cloud layer. A large white area approximately the size of Australia is seen in this image. Because this region rotates at the same rate as does Titan, it is believed to be a surface feature. For higher resolution, click here. |
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Huygens probe jettison, anot
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| Description |
Huygens probe jettison, another view |
| Full Description |
This artist's rendition shows the Huygens probe at the start of its 22-day coast phase toward Titan. Huygens will be the first probe to land on a world in the outer Solar System. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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Huygens probe jettison, anot
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| Description |
Huygens probe jettison, another view |
| Full Description |
This artist's rendition shows the Huygens probe at the start of its 22-day coast phase toward Titan. Huygens will be the first probe to land on a world in the outer Solar System. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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Pools on Titan
| Description |
Pools on Titan |
| Full Description |
An artist's imagination of hydrocarbon pools, icy and rocky terrain on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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Pools on Titan
| Description |
Pools on Titan |
| Full Description |
An artist's imagination of hydrocarbon pools, icy and rocky terrain on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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Titan Descent (3-D Color)
| Description |
Titan Descent (3-D Color) |
| Full Description |
In this artist rendition, the Huygens probe is about to reach the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.This image is also available in color. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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Titan Descent (3-D Color)
| Description |
Titan Descent (3-D Color) |
| Full Description |
In this artist rendition, the Huygens probe is about to reach the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.This image is also available in color. Image by Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). |
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| Description |
Titan's Surface |
| Full Description |
Until 1994, the optically opaque atmosphere of Titan completely hid the satellite's surface from view. In 1994, the Wide Field-Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope provided the first glimpse below Titan¿s cloud layer. A large white area approximately the size of Australia is seen in this image. Because this region rotates at the same rate as does Titan, it is believed to be a surface feature. For higher resolution, click here. |
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Saturn from Down Under
| title |
Saturn from Down Under |
| description |
This photo of Saturn was taken from Australia by Erwin van der Velden. The photo was taken at a star party that is part of the Cassini mission's Saturn Observation Campaign. Visit the Experiencing Saturn gallery for more images and information. |
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A Piece of the Asteroid Vest
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| title |
A Piece of the Asteroid Vesta |
| description |
This meteorite is a sample of the crust of the asteroid Vesta, which is only the third solar system object beyond Earth where scientists have a laboratory sample (the other extraterrestrial samples are from Mars and the Moon). The meteorite is unique because it is made almost entirely of the mineral pyroxene, common in lava flows. The meteorite's mineral grain structure also indicates it was once molten, and its oxygen isotopes are unlike oxygen isotopes found for all other rocks of the Earth and Moon. The meteorite's chemical identity points to the asteroid Vesta because it has the same unique spectral signature of the mineral pyroxene. The meteorite also has the same pyroxene signature as other small asteroids, recently discovered near Vesta, that are considered "chips" blasted off Vesta's surface. This debris extends all the way to an "escape hatch" region in the asteroid belt called the Kirkwood gap. This region is swept free of asteroids because Jupiter's gravitational pull removes material from the main belt and hurls it onto a new orbit that crosses Earth's path around the Sun. The meteorite probably followed this route to Earth. It was torn off Vesta's surface as part of a larger fragment. Subsequent collisions broke apart the parent fragment and threw pieces toward the Kirkwood gap and onto a collision course toward Earth. The fragment's journey ended in 1960 when it fell in Western Australia. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observations further confirm this scenario by revealing a giant impact basin on the 325-mile (525 km) diameter asteroid. The ancient impact was so powerful, it tore off a piece of the asteroid's crust, exposing a deeper mantle of rock. Most of the identified meteorites from Vesta are in the care of the Western Australian Museum. This 1.4 pound (631 gm) specimen comes from the New England Meteoritical Services. It is a complete specimen measuring 3.7 inch x 3.1 inch x 3.4 inch (9.6 cm x 8.1 cm x 8.7 cm) showing the fusion crust, evidence of the last stage in its journey to Earth. *Image Credit*: R. Kempton (New England Meteoritical Services) |
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Gosses Bluff Meteorite Crate
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| title |
Gosses Bluff Meteorite Crater |
| description |
Lying just south of the Tropic of Capricorn and to the west of Alice Springs, Gosses Bluff Crater in the MacDonnell Ranges stands out as a prominent circular feature. All the terrestrial planets experienced an early episode of massive asteroidal bombardment, and many of them, for example the Moon, retain a clear record of that bombardment. Normal processes of erosion have erased all trace of this catastrophic episode in the Earth's history. Only a small number of younger impact craters are known to exist and Gosses Bluff is one of them. The original crater was about 20 kilometers in diameter. The rim can be detected on close scrutiny of the photograph, but the eye-catching circle of sandstone was uplifted by the impact to form a central ring in the crater and is about 3 kilometers in diameter. Most of the known impact craters on Earth are located in North America. This is because the continent contains large areas of ancient rocks -- old enough to preserve long record of impacts -- and also because the continent has been minutely studied by geologists. Australia also contains large areas of ancient rocks but has been less closely studied. It is likely that several other major impact sites will come to light with further research. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Deep Space Network
| title |
Deep Space Network |
| description |
The NASA Deep Space Network - or DSN - is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. The DSN currently consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world: at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert, near Madrid, Spain, and near Canberra, Australia. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth rotates, and helps to make the DSN the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world. NASA's scientific investigation of the Solar System is being accomplished mainly through the use of unmanned automated spacecraft. The DSN provides the vital two-way communications link that guides and controls these planetary explorers, and brings back the images and new scientific information they collect. All DSN antennas are steerable, high-gain, parabolic reflector antennas. The network is managed and operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND) manages the program within JPL. For more on the Deep Space Network, visit http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/index.html *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Canberra Deep Dish Communica
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| Title |
Canberra Deep Dish Communications Complex |
| Full Description |
View of Canberra 70m (230 ft.) antenna with flags from the three Deep Space Network sites. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, located outside Canberra, Australia, is one of the three complexes which comprise NASA's Deep Space Network. The other complexes are located in Goldstone, California, and Madrid, Spain. |
| Date |
01/01/1990 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|
JPL Site in 1942
| Title |
JPL Site in 1942 |
| Full Description |
In February 1942, there were only a few small buildings and rocket motor test pits on Jet Propulsion Laboratory's present site. George Emerson took this photograph from the hill above what is now the east gate. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology and is NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system. In addition to supervising robotic spacecraft and observing far-off galaxies in the universe, JPL is in charge of the Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone, near Madrid, Spain, and near Canberra, Australia. JPL is located in Pasadena, California about twelve miles northeast of Los Angeles. |
| Date |
02/1942 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|
A90-3000
Photographer : JPL After tra
…
8/21/90
| Description |
Photographer : JPL After traveling more than 1.5 billion km (948 million mi.), the Magellan spacecraft was inserted into orbit around Venus on Aug. 10, 1990. This mosaic consists of adjacent pieces of two magellan image strips obtained in the first radar test. The radar test was part of a planned In-Orbit Checkout sequence designed to prepare the magellan spacecraft and radar to begin mapping after Aug. 31. The strip on the left was returned to the Goldstone Deep Space Network station in California, the strip to the right was received at the DSN in Canberra, Australia. A third station that will be receiving Magellan data is locaterd near Madrid, Spain. Each image strip is 20 km (12 mi.) wide and 16,000 km (10,000 mi.) long. This mosaic is a small portion 80 km (50 mi.) long. This image is centered at 21 degrees north latitude and 286.8 degrees east longitude, southeast of a volcanic highland region called Beta Regio. The resolution of the image is about 120 meters (400 feet), 10 times better than revious images of the same area of Venus, revealing many new geologic features. The bright line trending northwest-southeast across the center of the image is a fracture or fault zone cutting the volcanic plains. In the upper lest corner of the image, a multiple-ring circular feature of probable volcanic origin can be seen, approx. 4.27 km (2.65 mi.) across. The bright and dark variations seen in the plains surrounding these features correspond to volcanic lava flows of varying ages. The volcanic lava flows in the southern half of the image have been cut by north-south trending faults. This area is similar geologically to volcanic deposits seen on Earth at Hawaii and the Snake River Plains in Idaho. |
| Date |
8/21/90 |
|
A90-3004
Photographer : JPL Two mosai
…
8/24/90
| Description |
Photographer : JPL Two mosaicked pieces of Magellan image strips display the area east of the Rhea Mons volcano on Venus. This image is centered at about 32.5 degrees north latitude and 286.6 degrees east longitude. The mosaic is 47 km (28 mi.) wide and 135 km (81 mi.) long. This region has been previously identified as "tessera"from Earth-based radar (Arecibo) images. The center of the image is dominated by a network of intersection ridges and valleys. The radar-bright north-south trending features in this image range from 1 km (0.6 mi.) to 3 km (1.8 mi.) in length. The average spacing between these ridges is about 1.5 km (0.9 mi.). The dark patches at the top of the image are smooth surfaces and may be lava flows located in lowlands between the higher ridge and the valley terrain. This image is a mosaic of two orbits obtained in the first Magellan stations near Goldstone, CA and Canberra, Australia. The resolution of this image is approx. 120 meters (400 feet). |
| Date |
8/24/90 |
|
AC91-2009
Photographer : JPL Range : 3
…
12/8/90
| Description |
Photographer : JPL Range : 35,000 miles plus. This color image of the Simpson Desert in Australia was obtained by the Galileo spacecraft at aboaut 2:30 pm PST. The color composite was made from images taken through the red, green and violet filters. The area shown, about 280 miles wide by about 340 miles north-to-south, is southeast of Alice Springs. At lower left is Lake Eyre, a salt lake below sea level, subject to seasonal water-level fluctuations, when this image was acquired the lake was nearly dry. At lower right is the greenish Lake Blanche. Fields of linear sand dunes stretch north and east of Lake Eyre, shaped by prevailing winds from the south and showing, in different colors, the various sources and/or ages of their sands. |
| Date |
12/8/90 |
|
Bushfires Raging in Southeas
…
| Title |
Bushfires Raging in Southeast Australia |
| Description |
Ribbons of flame trace across the parched landscape of southeast Australia. Prolonged, severe drought (exacerbated by an El Ni¤o), high winds, and high temperatures have sparked scores of fires across New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. Lives, homes, farmland, and livestock have been lost to the blazes. This scene, situated roughly 30 km southwest of Canberra, shows smoke billowing from one of the numerous fires in the region. This unusual image was made from data collected on January 26, 2003, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on the Terra satellite. The image is a combination of radiation in the visible and shortwave infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, using ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1. Fires burning in vegetation tend to emit radiation very strongly in the short wave infrared wavelengths of radiation, and this strong signal can be used to locate areas of open flame. In this image, the strong shortwave infrared signal of the flames has been colored bright yellow. Vegetation is red, and naturally bare soil is tan. The full scene is roughly 40 km by 60 km in area. Image courtesy NASA's Earth Observatory. |
|
Heavy Rains and Floods in Au
…
| Title |
Heavy Rains and Floods in Australia |
| Description |
Australia?s recent floods have breathed life into the normally dry, seasonal wetlands in the continent?s interior. Lake Yamma Yamma, shown above, is a shallow depression just west of the Cooper Creek floodplain in southwestern Queensland. The lake is usually a dry desert bowl, a playa lake, that collects water only when Cooper Creek floods. This year, Yamma Yamma has become an inland sea measuring 20 kilometers (12 miles) across. These images, taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] (ASTER) on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, contrast this year?s shorelines with the lake?s extent in 2001. Old shorelines show that the basin is not as full as it has been in the past, but Lake Yamma Yamma is clearly fuller this year than in 2001. Though the lake is shallow, it covers a large area and can hold a large volume of water. The influx of water into Lake Yamma Yamma and other interior lakes brings fish and a variety of birds to the outback. Pelicans, swans, ducks, and other bird species flock to the new water sources in the desert. Another sign of new life is the ring of red along the shore where new vegetation is growing. In this false-color infrared image, green plants appear red. Other lakes in Australia?s interior have also benefited from the floods. At the end of the Cooper Creek flood basin, Lake Eyre, Australia?s largest lake, has begun to fill for the first time in four years. The high-resolution images provided above are at ASTER?s full resolution of 15 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen based on data from the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Heavy Rains and Floods in Au
…
| Title |
Heavy Rains and Floods in Australia |
| Description |
Australia?s recent floods have breathed life into the normally dry, seasonal wetlands in the continent?s interior. Lake Yamma Yamma, shown above, is a shallow depression just west of the Cooper Creek floodplain in southwestern Queensland. The lake is usually a dry desert bowl, a playa lake, that collects water only when Cooper Creek floods. This year, Yamma Yamma has become an inland sea measuring 20 kilometers (12 miles) across. These images, taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] (ASTER) on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, contrast this year?s shorelines with the lake?s extent in 2001. Old shorelines show that the basin is not as full as it has been in the past, but Lake Yamma Yamma is clearly fuller this year than in 2001. Though the lake is shallow, it covers a large area and can hold a large volume of water. The influx of water into Lake Yamma Yamma and other interior lakes brings fish and a variety of birds to the outback. Pelicans, swans, ducks, and other bird species flock to the new water sources in the desert. Another sign of new life is the ring of red along the shore where new vegetation is growing. In this false-color infrared image, green plants appear red. Other lakes in Australia?s interior have also benefited from the floods. At the end of the Cooper Creek flood basin, Lake Eyre, Australia?s largest lake, has begun to fill for the first time in four years. The high-resolution images provided above are at ASTER?s full resolution of 15 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen based on data from the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
…
| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
The massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17603 ] that jolted the Solomon Islands on April 1, 2007, permanently changed the shoreline on Ranongga Island, west of the epicenter. New beach was added to the western shore of the island when the earthquake lifted the island as much as three meters, exposing near-shore coral reefs, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1892185.htm ] The freshly exposed reefs are visible beneath a veil of clouds in the top image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on April 11, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 31, 2006, shows the island's former shoreline. Lush tropical vegetation is red in these images, while the exposed reef is dark grey. Water is black and clouds range from light blue lavender to white. The exposed reef adds tens of meters to most of the shoreline, and more than 150 meters at the tip of the spit of land shown in this image. The earthquake occurred along the plate boundary, where the Australia/Woodlark/Solomon Sea plates slide beneath the denser Pacific plate. Friction between the sinking (subducting) plates and the overriding Pacific plate led to the large earthquake on April 1, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS) summary of the earthquake. [ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007aqbk/#summary ] Large earthquakes are common in the region, though the section of the plate that produced the April 1 earthquake had not caused any quakes of magnitude 7 or larger since the early 20th century, said the USGS. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
…
| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
The massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17603 ] that jolted the Solomon Islands on April 1, 2007, permanently changed the shoreline on Ranongga Island, west of the epicenter. New beach was added to the western shore of the island when the earthquake lifted the island as much as three meters, exposing near-shore coral reefs, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1892185.htm ] The freshly exposed reefs are visible beneath a veil of clouds in the top image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on April 11, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 31, 2006, shows the island's former shoreline. Lush tropical vegetation is red in these images, while the exposed reef is dark grey. Water is black and clouds range from light blue lavender to white. The exposed reef adds tens of meters to most of the shoreline, and more than 150 meters at the tip of the spit of land shown in this image. The earthquake occurred along the plate boundary, where the Australia/Woodlark/Solomon Sea plates slide beneath the denser Pacific plate. Friction between the sinking (subducting) plates and the overriding Pacific plate led to the large earthquake on April 1, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS) summary of the earthquake. [ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007aqbk/#summary ] Large earthquakes are common in the region, though the section of the plate that produced the April 1 earthquake had not caused any quakes of magnitude 7 or larger since the early 20th century, said the USGS. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
North Reef Island, Andaman S
…
| Title |
North Reef Island, Andaman Sea |
| Description |
On December 26, 2004, one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history struck offshore of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The ocean floor heaved in some places and sank in others, creating catastrophic tsunamis that raced across the Indian Ocean. Hundreds of thousands of people died as the waves struck coastlines from Thailand to Sri Lanka to Somalia. In addition to tsunami damage, satellite images of reefs, islands, and coastlines identified signs of permanent elevation change—sinking or uplift—along the fault between the Indo-Australia and Burma plates. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12640 ] In places such as North Reef Island, shown in this pair of images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite, the quake lifted the reefs permanently out of the water. The images use visible and infrared light detected by ASTER to make different land surfaces stand out clearly from one another: water is blue, vegetation is red, coral or bare sand appears white. In the "before" image, from December 2, 2004, the submerged reef creates a bright blue glow around the island. In the "after" image, from February 4, 2005, the white coral stands completely up out of the water. It is even tinged with red, which suggests the exposed coral had died, and algae had colonized it. In the weeks and months after the earthquake, satellite images provided broad coverage of an area where ground-based observations were initially very limited. A team of scientists led by Caltech Ph.D. geology student Aron Meltzner discovered changes in elevation along nearly 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) of the tectonic plate boundary. The images revealed that the earthquake rupture extended 100 kilometers (62 miles) farther north than estimates based on seismic and Global Positioning System (GPS) data suggested. The feature article Rise and Fall: Satellites Reveal Full Length of Tsunami-Generating Earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Aceh/aceh.html ] describes how scientists used satellite images to map the length of the earthquake rupture zone. The article includes additional satellite and ground-based images of elevation changes resulting from the 2004 Aceh-Andaman earthquake. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
North Reef Island, Andaman S
…
| Title |
North Reef Island, Andaman Sea |
| Description |
On December 26, 2004, one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history struck offshore of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The ocean floor heaved in some places and sank in others, creating catastrophic tsunamis that raced across the Indian Ocean. Hundreds of thousands of people died as the waves struck coastlines from Thailand to Sri Lanka to Somalia. In addition to tsunami damage, satellite images of reefs, islands, and coastlines identified signs of permanent elevation change—sinking or uplift—along the fault between the Indo-Australia and Burma plates. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12640 ] In places such as North Reef Island, shown in this pair of images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite, the quake lifted the reefs permanently out of the water. The images use visible and infrared light detected by ASTER to make different land surfaces stand out clearly from one another: water is blue, vegetation is red, coral or bare sand appears white. In the "before" image, from December 2, 2004, the submerged reef creates a bright blue glow around the island. In the "after" image, from February 4, 2005, the white coral stands completely up out of the water. It is even tinged with red, which suggests the exposed coral had died, and algae had colonized it. In the weeks and months after the earthquake, satellite images provided broad coverage of an area where ground-based observations were initially very limited. A team of scientists led by Caltech Ph.D. geology student Aron Meltzner discovered changes in elevation along nearly 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) of the tectonic plate boundary. The images revealed that the earthquake rupture extended 100 kilometers (62 miles) farther north than estimates based on seismic and Global Positioning System (GPS) data suggested. The feature article Rise and Fall: Satellites Reveal Full Length of Tsunami-Generating Earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Aceh/aceh.html ] describes how scientists used satellite images to map the length of the earthquake rupture zone. The article includes additional satellite and ground-based images of elevation changes resulting from the 2004 Aceh-Andaman earthquake. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Storms in the Java Sea
| Title |
Storms in the Java Sea |
| Description |
A ferry carrying more than 600 passengers sank in the Java Sea between the islands of Borneo (image center) and Java (to the south-southwest) just before midnight on December 29, 2006, during high winds and rough seas. On January 1, 2007, a plane carrying more than 100 people crashed on its flight over the Java Sea, high winds and turbulent weather are being investigated as possible causes. The origin of surges of deadly wind in this usually relatively calm region are poorly understood, and the area is not well-monitored with traditional weather equipment. Ocean winds data from NASA's QuikScat satellite may help improve monitoring and understanding of unusual weather in the area. Data obtained from QuikScat on December 30 and January 1 shed new insights into the atmospheric conditions at the time of the tragic incidents described above. In this image from January 1, the different colors reveal different wind speeds. White arrows are wind vectors showing both direction and speed. The data from December 30 and January 1 showed that the strong winds in the Java Sea originated from the surge of a strong winter monsoon from the Asian continent. The monsoon winds blew south across the South China Sea and deflected eastward after they crossed the equator due to the rotation of Earth. The winds in the Java Sea remained strong through January 1, 2007. Associated with the eastward winds, twin cyclones were also observed by QuikScat. (A cyclone is any large-scale atmosphere circulation around a region of low air pressure. The systems spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.) The stronger cyclone was south of the equator (summer hemisphere) between Java and Australia, and a weaker one was north of the equator (winter hemisphere) west of Borneo. QuikScat measures ocean surface wind speed by sending radar pulses to the surface and measuring the strength of the signals that return to the sensor. The sensor's wide-scale observations make it possible for scientists to interpret local weather events, such as the recent high wind outbreak in the Java Sea region, in the context of the large-scale atmospheric circulation and to confirm connections between the two. QuikScat data are available in near-real time to operational weather forecasting agencies around the world. NASA image courtesy of David Long, Brigham Young University, on the QuikSCAT Science Team, [ http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
|
Fires in Victoria, Australia
| Title |
Fires in Victoria, Australia |
| Description |
Throughout December 2006, large bushfires raged through national parks and other remote areas of Victoria's Barry Mountains. Despite the fact that summer was not officially underway, the late spring weather was extremely challenging for firefighters: hot, windy, and dry. Rough estimates based on preliminary maps from the government's Victoria Parks [ http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm ] Website indicated that more than 470,000 hectares (close to 1.2 million acres) had burned as of December 15. This image from NASA's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on the agency's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite shows fires burning in the heart of Alpine National Park, roughly 57 kilometers (a little over 35 miles) southeast of the town of Mansfield. The image uses not only visible light detected by ASTER, but also shortwave- and near-infrared light. Vegetation appears red, burned areas appear charcoal, bare ground (including roads) appears light beige, and smoke is gray. Plumes of smoke from individual fires billow southeast (the image is rotated counterclockwise off North) and spread into a blanket of haze. Alpine is Victoria's largest national park, covering 646,000 hectares (nearly 1.6 million acres) of the state's highest mountains. A mixture of alpine and sub-alpine ecosystems exists in the park, including snow gum (a kind of eucalyptus) forest and high plains covered by grasslands. More than 1,000 species of native plants live within the park, as well as threatened and rare animals. Many areas and roads in the park were closed because of the dangerous fire conditions. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Tropical Cyclone Monty
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Monty |
| Description |
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) acquired these natural color images and cloud top height measurements for Monty before and after the storm made landfall over the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, on February 29 and March 2, 2004 (shown as the left and right-hand image sets, respectively). On February 29, Monty was upgraded to category 4 cyclone status. After traveling inland about 300 kilometers to the south, the cyclonic circulation had decayed considerably, although category 3 force winds were reported on the ground. Some parts of the drought-affected Pilbara region received more than 300 millimeters of rainfall, and serious and extensive flooding has occurred. The natural color images cover much of the same area, although the right-hand panels are offset slightly to the east. Automated stereoscopic processing of data from multiple MISR cameras was utilized to produce the cloud-top height fields. The distinctive spatial patterns of the clouds provide the necessary contrast to enable automated feature matching between images acquired at different view angles. The height retrievals are at this stage uncorrected for the effects of the high winds associated with cyclone rotation. Areas where heights could not be retrieved 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. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 22335 and 22364. The panels cover an area of about 380 kilometers x 985 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 105 to 111 within World Reference System-2 paths 115 and 113. 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. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL MISR Team [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ], caption courtesy Clare Averill, Raytheon/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
|
Tropical Cyclone Monty
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Monty |
| Description |
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) acquired these natural color images and cloud top height measurements for Tropical cyclone Monty before and after the storm made landfall over the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, on February 29 and March 2, 2004 (shown as the left and right-hand image sets, respectively). On February 29, Monty was upgraded to category 4 cyclone status. After traveling inland about 300 kilometers to the south, the cyclonic circulation had decayed considerably, although category 3 force winds were reported on the ground. Some parts of the drought-affected Pilbara region received more than 300 millimeters of rainfall, and serious and extensive flooding has occurred. The natural color images cover much of the same area, although the right-hand panels are offset slightly to the east. Automated stereoscopic processing of data from multiple MISR cameras was utilized to produce the cloud-top height fields. The distinctive spatial patterns of the clouds provide the necessary contrast to enable automated feature matching between images acquired at different view angles. The height retrievals are at this stage uncorrected for the effects of the high winds associated with cyclone rotation. Areas where heights could not be retrieved 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 MISR Browse Image Viewer [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/MISRBR/ ] provides access to low-resolution true-color versions of these images. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 22335 and 22364. The panels cover an area of about 380 kilometers x 985 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 105 to 111 within World Reference System-2 paths 115 and 113. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon/JPL). |
|
Comet LINEAR: Fade To Black
| Title |
Comet LINEAR: Fade To Black |
| Explanation |
Only last month [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000727.html ] the stage was set for Comet LINEAR [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html#1999S4 ] (C/1999S4 LINEAR) to become the first "naked-eye" comet of Y2K. It didn't fill that role, of course, but it did turn in a very dramatic performance [ http://meteors.com/cometlinear/ kidger_update.html ]. Closely followed by astronomer Mark Kidger and colleagues with the Isaac Newton Group [ http://www.ing.iac.es/ ] telescopes (La Palma, Canary [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990410.html ] Islands), comet LINEAR's nucleus apparently fragmented extensively on the night of July 25th. A faint fluorescent [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ comets.html ] cloud fading against a background of stars is all that is still visible in this August 21st telescopic view from Loomberah [ http://www.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/linear.htm ], NSW Australia. Why did comet LINEAR break up? Comets are conglomerates of ice and rock [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000805.html ]. A very plausible scenario is [ http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/press/ing300.html ] that a substantial fraction of LINEAR's icy component was evaporated, leaving too little to hold the rocky material together. In any event, no bright telltale condensations [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000811.html ] remain. So, following its first tour through the inner Solar System, an encore [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000808.html ] from comet LINEAR seems unlikely! |
|
Earth at Night
| Title |
Earth at Night |
| Explanation |
This is what the Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ ] looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country [ http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/indexgeo.html ] or city [ http://www.cities.com/ ]? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Lights/ ] particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States [ http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ], and Japan [ http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html ]. Many large cities [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951119.html ] are located near rivers [ http://mbgnet.mobot.org/fresh/rivers/index.htm ] or oceans [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981007.html ] so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Lights/ ] include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia [ http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/as.html ]. The above image [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4333 ] is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting DMSP satellites [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/dmsp.html ]. ("Editor's note:" Contrary to some recent press reports, this site does not have a rotating screensaver version of the above image. Also, unfortunately, we do not sell prints. However, a high-resolution digital version of the image is available (click here [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02991 ] or here [ http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?5826 ]) and an Earth at Night poster "similar" to this image can be ordered (click here [ http://www.astrosociety.org/online-store/scstore/ ]) from other web sites. |
|
Summer at the South Pole
| Title |
Summer at the South Pole |
| Explanation |
The December solstice [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001221.html ] brings the beginning of Winter to Earth's Northern Hemisphere and Summer time to the South! This view [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA00729 ] of Earth's Southern Hemisphere near the beginning of Summer was created using images from the Galileo spacecraft [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/model.html ] taken during its December 1990 flyby [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/messenger/oldmess/Earth2.html ] of our fair planet [ http://www.spaceweather.com/ ]. Dramatically centered on the South Pole [ http://bat.phys.unsw.edu.au/~aasto/ ], this mosaic was constructed by piecing together images made over a 24 hour period so that the entire hemisphere appears to be in sunlight. South America (middle left), Africa [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001116.html ] (upper right), and Australia (lower right), are visible as dark masses while Antarctica [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991116.html ] gleams brightly in the center. Swirling clouds marking regularly spaced major weather systems are also prominent. |
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Jupiter Moon Movie
| Title |
Jupiter Moon Movie |
| Explanation |
South is toward the top in this frame from a stunning movie featuring Jupiter and moons recorded last Thursday from the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. In fact, three jovian moons [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001118.html ] and two red spots are ultimately seen in the full video as they glide around [ http://skytonight.com/observing/objects/javascript/ 3307071.html ] the solar system's ruling gas giant. In the early frame above, Ganymede [ http://www.nineplanets.org/ganymede.html ], the largest moon in the solar system, is off the lower right limb of the planet, while intriguing Europa [ http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/europa.html ] is visible against Jupiter's cloud tops, also near the lower right. Jupiter's new red spot junior [ http://redspotjr.christone.net/ ] is just above the broad white band in the planet's southern (upper) hemisphere. In later frames, as planet and moons rotate (right to left), red spot junior moves behind Jupiter's left edge while the Great Red Spot [ http://heritage.stsci.edu/1999/29/index.html ] itself comes into view from the right. Also finally erupting into view at the right, is Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io [ http://www.nineplanets.org/io.html ]. To download the full 2 megabyte movie as an animated gif file, click on the picture. |
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Sail On, Stardust
| Title |
Sail On, Stardust |
| Explanation |
Spacecraft on long interplanetary voyages [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sintro.htm ] often use the planets themselves as gravitational "sling shots" to boost them along their way. Launched [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ commemorative.html ] in February of 1999 on a historic voyage to a comet, the Stardust spacecraft [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ega/ ] is no different. On 15 January 2001 Stardust made its closest approach to planet Earth [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/status/010115.html ] since launch, coming within about 6,000 kilometers of the surface. It used this gravity assist maneuver [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf4-1.htm#gravity ] to increase its speed and alter its trajectory toward an encounter with comet Wild 2 [ http://www.ssep.org/stardust/wild-2.html ], which it should reach in 2004. Shortly before its time of closest approach, astronomer Gordon Garradd recorded this exposure [ http://www.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/stardust.htm ] of Stardust sailing through the skies above Loomberah, Australia. Nearby and moving fast [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ega/images.html ], the spacecraft appears as a streak against a background of faint stars in the constellation Cetus [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/cet.html ]. Stardust cruised within just 98,000 kilometers of the Moon [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ega/lunar.html ] about 15 hours later. After collecting [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/ aerogel.html ] dust from the tail of comet Wild 2, Stardust's voyage [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/details.html ] will continue -- as it returns the samples to Earth in 2006. |
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LINEAR's Tail and Two Nuclei
| Title |
LINEAR's Tail and Two Nuclei |
| Explanation |
Arcing toward southern skies in late March, this faint comet LINEAR [ http://www.qsl.net/ah6l/A2.html ] - the one officially designated [ http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~weaver/nova/ naming_convention.html ] C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) - brightened unexpectedly. The outburst, apparently due to the fragmentation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010521.html ] of its nucleus, delighted observers as the comet eventually increased to naked-eye [ http://www.astronomynotes.com/nakedeye/nakedeya.htm ] brightness. Comet [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/comets.html ] LINEAR's tail also grew and in this mosaic of images [ http://members.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/ linear.htm ] from May 18, astronomer Gordon Garradd has carefully followed the fluorescing filaments of LINEAR's gas tail stretching 1.5 degrees (the width of three full moons) along the anti-sunward direction [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980220.html ]. The inset close-up near the top clearly shows two bright condensations in the cometary [ http://www.noao.edu/education/igcomet/igcomet.html ] coma, indicating the presence of a split nucleus. This comet LINEAR [ http://cometography.com/lcomets/2001a2.html ] made its closest approach to the Sun on May 24. Still showing off [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#01A2 ] for southern skygazers at about 5th magnitude, it will become more easily visible for northern observers by late June. |
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A Brighter Comet LINEAR
| Title |
A Brighter Comet LINEAR |
| Explanation |
Brighter than ever expected [ http://www.jarnac.org/ ], comet LINEAR -- you know [ http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~weaver/nova/ naming_convention.html ], the one designated C/2001 A2 [ http://www.qsl.net/ah6l/A2.html ] -- is a sight to see in southern skies. This comet LINEAR [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010531.html ] first brightened impressively in late March as its active nucleus began to fragment [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010521.html ], prompting some speculation that the comet might soon break up [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000913.html ] completely. But still hanging together after its closest approach to the Sun, C/2001 A2 suddenly brightened again and was reported [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#01A2 ] last week to have reached nearly 3rd magnitude, easily visible to the unaided eye. This delightful telescopic picture [ http://members.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/linear.htm ] of the brighter coma of comet LINEAR was recorded from Australia on June 20. Stars seen through the tenuous coma [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980410.html ] and filamentary tail appear as a series of short trails in this three-color composite image registered on the comet [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]. North is up and the scene covers about half the width of the full Moon. Now moving through the constellation Cetus [ http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/constellns/ cet.html ], comet LINEAR will be north of the celestial equator by July 4 as it comes into view for eager northern sky-gazers. |
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