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Mysterious Blob Galaxies Rev
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| Title |
Mysterious Blob Galaxies Revealed |
| Description |
This image composite shows a giant galactic blob (red, left) and the three merging galaxies NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered within it (yellow, right). Blobs are intensely glowing clouds of hot hydrogen gas that envelop faraway galaxies. They are about 10 times as large as the galaxies they surround. Visible-light images like the one shown here (left), reveal the vast extent of blobs, but don't provide much information about their host galaxies. Using its heat-seeking infrared eyes, Spitzer was able to see the dusty galaxies tucked inside one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away. The findings reveal three monstrously bright galaxies, trillions of times brighter than the Sun, in the process of merging together (right). Spitzer also observed three other blobs located in the same cosmic neighborhood, all of which were found to be glaringly bright. One of these blobs is also known to be a galactic merger, only between two galaxies instead of three. It remains to be seen whether the final two blobs studied also contain mergers. The Spitzer data were acquired by its multiband imaging photometer. The visible-light image was taken by the Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. |
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Mysterious Blob Galaxies Rev
…
| Title |
Mysterious Blob Galaxies Revealed |
| Description |
This image composite shows a giant galactic blob (red, left) and the three merging galaxies NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered within it (yellow, right). Blobs are intensely glowing clouds of hot hydrogen gas that envelop faraway galaxies. They are about 10 times as large as the galaxies they surround. Visible-light images like the one shown here (left), reveal the vast extent of blobs, but don't provide much information about their host galaxies. Using its heat-seeking infrared eyes, Spitzer was able to see the dusty galaxies tucked inside one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away. The findings reveal three monstrously bright galaxies, trillions of times brighter than the Sun, in the process of merging together (right). Spitzer also observed three other blobs located in the same cosmic neighborhood, all of which were found to be glaringly bright. One of these blobs is also known to be a galactic merger, only between two galaxies instead of three. It remains to be seen whether the final two blobs studied also contain mergers. The Spitzer data were acquired by its multiband imaging photometer. The visible-light image was taken by the Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. |
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Mysterious Blob Galaxies Rev
…
| Title |
Mysterious Blob Galaxies Revealed |
| Description |
This image composite shows a giant galactic blob (red, left) and the three merging galaxies NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered within it (yellow, right). Blobs are intensely glowing clouds of hot hydrogen gas that envelop faraway galaxies. They are about 10 times as large as the galaxies they surround. Visible-light images like the one shown here (left), reveal the vast extent of blobs, but don't provide much information about their host galaxies. Using its heat-seeking infrared eyes, Spitzer was able to see the dusty galaxies tucked inside one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away. The findings reveal three monstrously bright galaxies, trillions of times brighter than the Sun, in the process of merging together (right). Spitzer also observed three other blobs located in the same cosmic neighborhood, all of which were found to be glaringly bright. One of these blobs is also known to be a galactic merger, only between two galaxies instead of three. It remains to be seen whether the final two blobs studied also contain mergers. The Spitzer data were acquired by its multiband imaging photometer. The visible-light image was taken by the Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. |
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Perseus' Stellar Neighbors
| Title |
Perseus' Stellar Neighbors |
| Description |
Baby stars are forming near the eastern rim of the cosmic cloud Perseus, in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The baby stars are approximately three million years old and are shown as reddish-pink dots to the right of the image. The pinkish color indicates that these infant stars are still shrouded by the cosmic dust and gas that collapsed to form them. These stars are part of the IC348 star cluster, which consists of over 300 known member stars. The Perseus Nebula can be seen as the large green cloud at the center of the image. Wisps of green are organic molecules called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that have been illuminated by the nearby star formation. Meanwhile, wisps of orange-red are dust particles warmed by the newly forming stars. The Perseus Nebula is located about 1,043 light-years away in the Perseus constellation. The image is a three channel false color composite, where emission at 4.5 microns is blue, emission at 8.0 microns is green, and 24-micron emission is red. |
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Seeing Stars in Serpens
| Title |
Seeing Stars in Serpens |
| Description |
Infant stars are glowing gloriously in this infrared image of the Serpens star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The reddish-pink dots are baby stars deeply embedded in the cosmic cloud of gas and dust that collapsed to create it. A dusty disk of cosmic debris, or "protoplanetary disk," that may eventually form planets, surrounds the infant stars. Wisps of green throughout the image indicate the presence of carbon rich molecules called, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). On Earth, PAHs can be found on charred barbecue grills and in automobile exhaust. Blue specks sprinkled throughout the image are background stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. The Serpens star-forming region is located approximately 848 light-years away in the Serpens constellation. The image is a three-channel false-color composite, where emission at 4.5 microns is blue, emission at 8.0 microns is green, and 24 micron emission is red. |
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Bubbly Little Star
| Title |
Bubbly Little Star |
| Description |
In this processed Spitzer Space Telescope image, baby star HH 46/47 can be seen blowing two massive "bubbles." The star is 1,140 light-years away from Earth. The infant star can be seen as a white spot toward the center of the Spitzer image. The two bubbles are shown as hollow elliptical shells of bluish-green material extending from the star. Wisps of green in the image reveal warm molecular hydrogen gas, while the bluish tints are formed by starlight scattered by surrounding dust. These bubbles formed when powerful jets of gas, traveling at 200 to 300 kilometers per second, or about 120 to 190 miles per second, smashed into the cosmic cloud of gas and dust that surrounds HH 46/47. The red specks at the end of each bubble show the presence of hot sulfur and iron gas where the star's narrow jets are currently crashing head-on into the cosmic cloud's gas and dust material. Whenever astronomers observe a star, or snap a stellar portrait, through the lens of any telescope, they know that what they are seeing is slightly blurred. To clear up the blurring in Spitzer images, astronomers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed an image processing technique for Spitzer called Hi-Res deconvolution. This process reduces blurring and makes the image sharper and cleaner, enabling astronomers to see the emissions around forming stars in greater detail. When scientists applied this image processing technique to the Spitzer image of HH 46/47, they were able to see winds from the star and jets of gas that are carving the celestial bubbles. This infrared image is a three-color composite, with data at 3.6 microns represented in blue, 4.5 and 5.8 microns shown in green, and 24 microns represented as red. |
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Stellar Families
| Title |
Stellar Families |
| Description |
Human families may be bonded by blood, but stellar families are united by gravity. A family of stars, or star cluster, can contain hundreds or thousands of members. In this image, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope spots the Serpens South star cluster, which consists of a relatively dense group of 50 young stars -- 35 of which are protostars, or stellar infants, that are just beginning to form. Stellar members of Serpens South star cluster can be seen as the green, yellow, and orange tinted specks sitting atop the black dust lane running down the center of the image. Like raindrops, stars form when thick patches of cosmic clouds condense. Tints of green in the image represent hot hydrogen gas excited when high-speed jets of gas ejected by infant stars collide with the cool gas in the surrounding cloud. Wisps of red in the background are organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are being excited by stellar radiation from a neighboring star-forming region located to the east of this image, called W40. On Earth PAHs are found on charred barbeque grills and in the sooty automobile exhaust. This Spitzer picture is composed of three images taken with the telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), and 5.8 (red) microns. |
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HH46/47
| Title |
HH46/47 |
| Description |
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star. Using near-infrared light, Spitzer pierces through the dark cloud to detect the embedded outflow in an object called HH 46/47. Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are bright, nebulous regions of gas and dust that are usually buried within dark clouds. They are formed when supersonic gas ejected from a forming protostar, or embryonic star, interacts with the surrounding interstellar medium. These young stars are often detected only in the infrared. The Spitzer image was obtained with the infrared array camera. Emission at 3.6 microns is shown as blue, emission from 4.5 and 5.8 microns has been combined as green, and 8.0 micron emission is depicted as red. HH 46/47 is a striking example of a low mass protostar ejecting a jet and creating a bipolar, or two-sided, outflow. The central protostar lies inside a dark cloud (known as a 'Bok globule') which is illuminated by the nearby Gum Nebula. Located at a distance of 1140 light-years and found in the constellation Vela, the protostar is hidden from view in the visible-light image (inset). With Spitzer, the star and its dazzling jets of molecular gas appear with clarity. The 8-micron channel of the infrared array camera is sensitive to emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These organic molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are excited by the surrounding radiation field and become luminescent, accounting for the reddish cloud. Note that the boundary layer of the 8-micron emission corresponds to the lower right edge of the dark cloud in the visible-light picture. Outflows are fascinating objects, since they characterize one of the most energetic phases of the formation of low-mass stars (like our Sun). The jets arising from these protostars can reach sizes of trillions of miles and velocities of hundreds of thousands miles per hour. Outflows are clear evidence of the presence of a process that creates supersonic beams of gas. This mechanism is tightly bound to the presence of circumstellar discs which surround the young stars. Such discs are likely to contain the materials from which planetary systems form. Our Sun probably underwent a similar process some 4.5 billion years ago. Hence the interest in understanding how quickly and efficiently this mass accretion and loss process takes place in protostars. |
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HH46/47
| Title |
HH46/47 |
| Description |
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star. Using near-infrared light, Spitzer pierces through the dark cloud to detect the embedded outflow in an object called HH 46/47. Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are bright, nebulous regions of gas and dust that are usually buried within dark clouds. They are formed when supersonic gas ejected from a forming protostar, or embryonic star, interacts with the surrounding interstellar medium. These young stars are often detected only in the infrared. The Spitzer image was obtained with the infrared array camera. Emission at 3.6 microns is shown as blue, emission from 4.5 and 5.8 microns has been combined as green, and 8.0 micron emission is depicted as red. HH 46/47 is a striking example of a low mass protostar ejecting a jet and creating a bipolar, or two-sided, outflow. The central protostar lies inside a dark cloud (known as a 'Bok globule') which is illuminated by the nearby Gum Nebula. Located at a distance of 1140 light-years and found in the constellation Vela, the protostar is hidden from view in the visible-light image (inset). With Spitzer, the star and its dazzling jets of molecular gas appear with clarity. The 8-micron channel of the infrared array camera is sensitive to emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These organic molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are excited by the surrounding radiation field and become luminescent, accounting for the reddish cloud. Note that the boundary layer of the 8-micron emission corresponds to the lower right edge of the dark cloud in the visible-light picture. Outflows are fascinating objects, since they characterize one of the most energetic phases of the formation of low-mass stars (like our Sun). The jets arising from these protostars can reach sizes of trillions of miles and velocities of hundreds of thousands miles per hour. Outflows are clear evidence of the presence of a process that creates supersonic beams of gas. This mechanism is tightly bound to the presence of circumstellar discs which surround the young stars. Such discs are likely to contain the materials from which planetary systems form. Our Sun probably underwent a similar process some 4.5 billion years ago. Hence the interest in understanding how quickly and efficiently this mass accretion and loss process takes place in protostars. |
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HH46/47
| Title |
HH46/47 |
| Description |
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope transforms a dark cloud into a silky translucent veil, revealing the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star. Using near-infrared light, Spitzer pierces through the dark cloud to detect the embedded outflow in an object called HH 46/47. Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are bright, nebulous regions of gas and dust that are usually buried within dark clouds. They are formed when supersonic gas ejected from a forming protostar, or embryonic star, interacts with the surrounding interstellar medium. These young stars are often detected only in the infrared. The Spitzer image was obtained with the infrared array camera. Emission at 3.6 microns is shown as blue, emission from 4.5 and 5.8 microns has been combined as green, and 8.0 micron emission is depicted as red. HH 46/47 is a striking example of a low mass protostar ejecting a jet and creating a bipolar, or two-sided, outflow. The central protostar lies inside a dark cloud (known as a 'Bok globule') which is illuminated by the nearby Gum Nebula. Located at a distance of 1140 light-years and found in the constellation Vela, the protostar is hidden from view in the visible-light image (inset). With Spitzer, the star and its dazzling jets of molecular gas appear with clarity. The 8-micron channel of the infrared array camera is sensitive to emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These organic molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are excited by the surrounding radiation field and become luminescent, accounting for the reddish cloud. Note that the boundary layer of the 8-micron emission corresponds to the lower right edge of the dark cloud in the visible-light picture. Outflows are fascinating objects, since they characterize one of the most energetic phases of the formation of low-mass stars (like our Sun). The jets arising from these protostars can reach sizes of trillions of miles and velocities of hundreds of thousands miles per hour. Outflows are clear evidence of the presence of a process that creates supersonic beams of gas. This mechanism is tightly bound to the presence of circumstellar discs which surround the young stars. Such discs are likely to contain the materials from which planetary systems form. Our Sun probably underwent a similar process some 4.5 billion years ago. Hence the interest in understanding how quickly and efficiently this mass accretion and loss process takes place in protostars. |
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The Starless Core That Isn't
| Title |
The Starless Core That Isn't |
| Description |
The "Cores to Disks" Spitzer Legacy team is using the two infrared cameras on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to search dense regions of interstellar molecular clouds (known as "cores") for evidence of star formation. Part of the study targeted a group of objects with no known stars to study the properties of such regions before any stars have formed. The first of these "starless cores" to be examined held a surprise: a source of infrared light appeared where none was expected. The core is known as L1014, the 1,014th object in a list of dark, dusty "clouds" compiled by astronomer Beverly Lynds over 40 years ago. These have proved to be homes to a rich variety of molecules and are the birthplaces of stars and planets. The Spitzer image is a 3.6 micron (blue), 8.0 micron (green) and 24.0 micron (red) composite image. The light seen in the infrared image originates from very different sources. The bright yellow object at the center of the image is the object detected in the "starless core". The red ring surrounding the object is an artifact of the reduced spatial resolution of the telescope at 24 microns. At 3.6 microns the light comes mainly from the object at the heart of the core. At longer wavelengths, the light from the object becomes stronger, a signature that it is not a background star. Also in the longer wavelengths (8.0 to 24.0 microns), astronomers saw the glow from interstellar dust, glowing green to red in the Spitzer composite image. This dust consists mainly of a variety of carbon-based organic molecules known collectively as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The red color traces a cooler dust component. No previous observations showed any hint of a source in L1014. For example, the visible light image is from the Digital Sky Survey and is a B-, R-, and I-band composite image (wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 microns). The dark cloud in the center of the image is the core, completely opaque in the visible due to obscuration by dust. The L1014 core lies in the direction of Cygnus. It is thought to be about 600 light years away, but the distance is somewhat uncertain. The results from this study are published by C. Young and the "Cores to Disks" team in the Astrophysical Journal. |
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The Starless Core That Isn't
| Title |
The Starless Core That Isn't |
| Description |
The "Cores to Disks" Spitzer Legacy team is using the two infrared cameras on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to search dense regions of interstellar molecular clouds (known as "cores") for evidence of star formation. Part of the study targeted a group of objects with no known stars to study the properties of such regions before any stars have formed. The first of these "starless cores" to be examined held a surprise: a source of infrared light appeared where none was expected. The core is known as L1014, the 1,014th object in a list of dark, dusty "clouds" compiled by astronomer Beverly Lynds over 40 years ago. These have proved to be homes to a rich variety of molecules and are the birthplaces of stars and planets. The Spitzer image is a 3.6 micron (blue), 8.0 micron (green) and 24.0 micron (red) composite image. The light seen in the infrared image originates from very different sources. The bright yellow object at the center of the image is the object detected in the "starless core". The red ring surrounding the object is an artifact of the reduced spatial resolution of the telescope at 24 microns. At 3.6 microns the light comes mainly from the object at the heart of the core. At longer wavelengths, the light from the object becomes stronger, a signature that it is not a background star. Also in the longer wavelengths (8.0 to 24.0 microns), astronomers saw the glow from interstellar dust, glowing green to red in the Spitzer composite image. This dust consists mainly of a variety of carbon-based organic molecules known collectively as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The red color traces a cooler dust component. No previous observations showed any hint of a source in L1014. For example, the visible light image is from the Digital Sky Survey and is a B-, R-, and I-band composite image (wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 microns). The dark cloud in the center of the image is the core, completely opaque in the visible due to obscuration by dust. The L1014 core lies in the direction of Cygnus. It is thought to be about 600 light years away, but the distance is somewhat uncertain. The results from this study are published by C. Young and the "Cores to Disks" team in the Astrophysical Journal. |
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The Starless Core That Isn't
| Title |
The Starless Core That Isn't |
| Description |
The "Cores to Disks" Spitzer Legacy team is using the two infrared cameras on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to search dense regions of interstellar molecular clouds (known as "cores") for evidence of star formation. Part of the study targeted a group of objects with no known stars to study the properties of such regions before any stars have formed. The first of these "starless cores" to be examined held a surprise: a source of infrared light appeared where none was expected. The core is known as L1014, the 1,014th object in a list of dark, dusty "clouds" compiled by astronomer Beverly Lynds over 40 years ago. These have proved to be homes to a rich variety of molecules and are the birthplaces of stars and planets. The Spitzer image is a 3.6 micron (blue), 8.0 micron (green) and 24.0 micron (red) composite image. The light seen in the infrared image originates from very different sources. The bright yellow object at the center of the image is the object detected in the "starless core". The red ring surrounding the object is an artifact of the reduced spatial resolution of the telescope at 24 microns. At 3.6 microns the light comes mainly from the object at the heart of the core. At longer wavelengths, the light from the object becomes stronger, a signature that it is not a background star. Also in the longer wavelengths (8.0 to 24.0 microns), astronomers saw the glow from interstellar dust, glowing green to red in the Spitzer composite image. This dust consists mainly of a variety of carbon-based organic molecules known collectively as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The red color traces a cooler dust component. No previous observations showed any hint of a source in L1014. For example, the visible light image is from the Digital Sky Survey and is a B-, R-, and I-band composite image (wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 microns). The dark cloud in the center of the image is the core, completely opaque in the visible due to obscuration by dust. The L1014 core lies in the direction of Cygnus. It is thought to be about 600 light years away, but the distance is somewhat uncertain. The results from this study are published by C. Young and the "Cores to Disks" team in the Astrophysical Journal. |
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Two Moons Passing in the Nig
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| title |
Two Moons Passing in the Night |
| date |
08.26.2005 |
| description |
Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. "It is incredibly cool to be running an observatory on another planet," said planetary scientist Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Spirit and Opportunity. In this animation, both martian moons, Deimos on the left and Phobos on the right, travel across the night sky in front of the constellation Sagittarius. Part of Sagittarius resembles an upside-down teapot. Phobos is the brighter object on the right, Deimos is on the left. Spirit acquired these enhanced-brightness images with the panoramic camera on the night of sol 585 (Aug. 26, 2005). Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the six images that make up this animation using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically for acquiring images under low-light conditions. *Image credit:* NASA/JPL/Cornell/ Texas A&M |
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Earth From Mars
| title |
Earth From Mars |
| date |
03.08.2004 |
| description |
This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. The image is a mosaic of images taken by the rover's navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky, and an image taken by the rover's panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see.The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera's color filters. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M |
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Kathryn Sullivan
| title |
Kathryn Sullivan |
| date |
07.01.1979 |
| description |
An unofficial sustained American aviation altitude record for women was set July 1, 1979, by astronaut candidate Kathryn D. Sullivan in a NASA WB-57F reconnaissance aircraft. The record altitude of 63,300 feet was reached during a four-hour flight. Sullivan, in a high altitude pressure suit, operated color infrared cameras and multispectral scanning equipment as the WB-57F spent one and one-half hours of the Big Bend area of West Texas. Piloting the aircraft was Jim Korkowski, one of the NASA Airborne Instrumentation Research Program Pilots. The flight was out of Ellington AFB near Houston. Sullivan, who has a doctorate in geology, was selected in 1978 as one of 35 astronaut candidates training for the Shuttle program. She trained to be a mission specialist and flights in the WB-57F were training in preparation for her assignments on the Shuttle. Sullivan later served as a mission specialist on STS-41G, STS-31, and STS-45. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Two Moons Meet over Jupiter
| title |
Two Moons Meet over Jupiter |
| date |
03.02.2007 |
| description |
This beautiful image of the crescents of volcanic Io and more sedate Europa was snapped by New Horizons' color Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) at 10:34 UT on March 2, 2007, about two days after New Horizons made its closest approach to Jupiter. The picture was one of a handful of the Jupiter system that New Horizons took primarily for their artistic, rather than scientific value. This particular scene was suggested by space enthusiast Richard Hendricks of Austin, Texas, in response to an Internet request by New Horizons scientists for evocative, artistic imaging opportunities at Jupiter. This image was taken from a range of 4.6 million kilometers (2.8 million miles) from Io and 3.8 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Europa. Although the moons appear close in this view, a gulf of 790,000 kilometers (490,000 miles) separates them. The night side of Io is illuminated here by light reflected from Jupiter, which is out of the frame to the right. Europa's night side is completely dark, in contrast to Io, because that side of Europa faces away from Jupiter. Here, Io steals the show with its beautiful display of volcanic activity. Three volcanic plumes are visible. Most conspicuous is the enormous 300-kilometer (190-mile) -high plume from the Tvashtar volcano at the 11 o'clock position on Io's disk. Two much smaller plumes are barely visible: one from the volcano Prometheus, at the 9 o'clock position on the edge of Io's disk, and one from the volcano Amirani, seen between Prometheus and Tvashtar along Io's terminator (the line dividing day and night). The plumes appear blue because of the scattering of light by tiny dust particles ejected by the volcanoes, similar to the blue appearance of smoke. In addition, the contrasting red glow of hot lava can be seen at the source of the Tvashtar plume. The images are centered at 1 degree north, 60 degrees west on Io, and 0 degrees north, 149 degrees west on Europa. The color in this image was generated using individual MVIC images at wavelengths of 480, 620 and 850 nanometers. The human eye is sensitive to slightly shorter wavelengths, from 400 to 700 nanometers, and thus would see the scene slightly differently. For instance, while the eye would notice the difference between the yellow and reddish brown colors of Io's surface and the paler color of Europa, the two worlds appear very similar in color to MVIC's longer-wavelength vision. The night side of Io appears greenish compared to the day side, because methane in Jupiter's atmosphere absorbs 850-nanometer light and makes Jupiter-light green to MVIC's "eyes." MVIC is a component of the Ralph imaging instrument. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
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Charon Discovery Image
| title |
Charon Discovery Image |
| date |
06.22.1978 |
| description |
On 22 June 1978, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. was making routine measurements of photographic plates taken with the 1.55-meter (61-inch) Kaj Strand Astrometric Reflector at the USNO Flagstaff Station in Arizona. The purpose of these images was to refine the orbit of the far-flung planet Pluto to help compute a better ephemeris for this distant object. Astronomer James W. Christy had noticed that a number of the images of Pluto appeared elongated, but images of background stars on the same plate did not. Other plates showed the planet as a tiny, round dot. Christy examined a number of Pluto images from the USNO archives, and he noticed the elongations again. Furthermore, the elongations appeared to change position with respect to the stars over time. After eliminating the possibility that the elongations were produced by plate defects and background stars, the only plausible explanation was that they were caused by a previously unknown moon orbiting Pluto at a distance of about 19,600 kilometers (12,100 miles) with a period of just over six days. On 7 July 1978, the discovery was formally announced to the astronomical community and the world by the IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams via IAU Circular 3241. The discovery received the provisional designation "1978 P 1", Christy proposed the name "Charon", after the mythological ferryman who carried souls across the river Acheron, one of the five mythical rivers that surrounded Pluto's underworld. Over the course of the next several years, another USNO astronomer, the late Robert S. Harrington, calculated that Pluto and its newly-found moon would undergo a series of mutual eclipses and occultations, beginning in early 1985. On 17 February 1985 the first successful observation of one of these transits was made at with the 0.9-meter (36-inch) reflector at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, within 40 minutes of Harrington's predicted time. The IAU Circular announcing these confirming observations was issued on 22 February 1985. With this confirmation, the new moon was officially named Charon. Pluto was discovered at Lowell Observatory in 1930 by the late Clyde W. Tombaugh, an amateur astronomer from Kansas who was hired by the Observatory specifically to photograph the sky with a special camera and search for the planet predicted by the Observatory's founder, Percival Lowell. Lowell had deduced the existence of a "Planet X" by studying small anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. As it turned out, Pluto's discovery was almost entirely serendipitous, Pluto's tiny mass was far too small to account for the anomalies, which were resolved when Voyager 2 determined more precise masses for Uranus and Neptune. The discovery of Charon has led to a much better understanding of just how tiny Pluto is. Its diameter is about 2274 km (1413 miles), and its mass is 0.25% of the mass of the Earth. Charon has a diameter of about 1172 kilometers (728, miles) and a mass of about 22% that of Pluto. The two worlds circle their common center of mass with a period of 6.387 days and are locked in a "super-synchronous" rotation: observers on Pluto's surface would always see Charon in the same part of the sky relative to their local horizon. Normally Pluto is considered the most distant world in the solar system, but during the period from January 1979 until February 1999 it was actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. It has the most eccentric and inclinced orbit of any of the major planets. This orbit won't bring Pluto back to its discovery position until the year 2178! *Image Credit*: U.S. Naval Observatory |
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Meteorite Hunters
| title |
Meteorite Hunters |
| description |
When a meteorite is found, the ANSMET (Antarctic Search for Meteorites) team records its location, size, color, amount of fusion crust, probable type, and anything else that might be important. Some of their tools are similar to those used by the Apollo astronauts to collect samples, and some are the latest high-tech (like Global Positioning Satellite navigation). The team takes great care not to contaminate the meteorites. Meteorites are handled only with stainless steel instruments, and are immediately sealed in sterile plastic or aluminum foil packages. Meteorites collected by the ANSMET team in Antarctica are packed in dry ice to mimic conditions in the field and shipped to the Antarctic Meteorite Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. *Image Credit*: NASA Johnson Space Center |
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Crescent Sun
| title |
Crescent Sun |
| description |
Photographer David Guerra, of Edinburg, Texas, captured this stunning view of Monday's partial solar eclipse. His shots are showcased with other intriguing views of the event in Spaceweather.com's June 10 photo gallery. |
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An Eruption on Io
| title |
An Eruption on Io |
| date |
02.26.2007 |
| description |
The first images returned to Earth by New Horizons during its close encounter with Jupiter feature the Galilean moon Io, snapped with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) at 0840 UTC on February 26, while the moon was 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) from the spacecraft. Io is intensely heated by its tidal interaction with Jupiter and is thus extremely volcanically active. That activity is evident in these images, which reveal an enormous dust plume, more than 150 miles high, erupting from the volcano Tvashtar. The plume appears as an umbrella-shaped feature of the edge of Io's disk in the 11 o'clock position in the right image, which is a long-exposure (20-millisecond) frame designed specifically to look for plumes like this. The bright spots at 2 o'clock are high mountains catching the setting sun, beyond them the night side of Io can be seen, faintly illuminated by light reflected from Jupiter itself. The left image is a shorter exposure -- 3 milliseconds -- designed to look at surface features. In this frame, the Tvashtar volcano shows as a dark spot, also at 11 o'clock, surrounded by a large dark ring, where an area larger than Texas has been covered by fallout from the giant eruption. This is the clearest view yet of a plume from Tvashtar, one of Io's most active volcanoes. Ground-based telescopes and the Galileo Jupiter orbiter first spotted volcanic heat radiation from Tvashtar in November 1999, and the Cassini spacecraft saw a large plume when it flew past Jupiter in December 2000. The Keck telescope in Hawaii picked up renewed heat radiation from Tvashtar in spring 2006, and just two weeks ago the Hubble Space Telescope saw the Tvashtar plume in ultraviolet images designed to support the New Horizons flyby. Most of those images will be stored onboard the spacecraft for downlink to Earth in March and April. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
|
Meteorite Processing
| title |
Meteorite Processing |
| description |
After meteorites are found in Antarctica, they are carried to the Antarctic Meteorite Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. There, the meteorites are cataloged, examined, classified, and stored. This slide shows technicians working with meteorites in a sterile cabinet filled with dry nitrogen gas. The dry gas keeps the meteorites relatively free of contamination and keeps them from rusting. The technician on the left is examining a meteorite through a microscope, and the technician on the right is breaking a meteorite to expose its interior. The technicians put their hands into the black rubber gloves on the cabinets, which allows them to work without getting the meteorites dirty or exposing them to air. *Image Credit*: NASA Johnson Space Center |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Zoom into Austin, Texas, usi
…
| Title |
Zoom into Austin, Texas, using Landsat Imagery (WMS) |
| Abstract |
The WMS Global Mosaic dataset was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This global mosaic was produced from visual and near infrared bands taken by the Landsat-7 satellite. Using the panchromatic band to sharpen the final image, a final resolution of 0.5 arc seconds (about 15 meters) can be achieved. This mosaic is available through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol at JPL. This series of images was obtained using a software program called the Digital Earth PC which can use the WMS protocol to obtain images covering an arbitrary region of the earth. These images can be arranged in such a way with the Digital Earth PC software that a nearly continuous zoom effect can be achieved. |
| Completed |
2004-10-21 |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Gulf Coast cities weren't the only land surfaces to take a beating from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Barrier islands stretching from Texas to Florida were also scoured by the wind and waves of the powerful storm. Permanent changes to the shape and elevation of Timbalier Island and its northeastern companions are visible in this pair of infrared-enhanced 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. Timbalier Island, the largest island pictured here, sits at the interface between the Gulf of Mexico (south) and Terrebonne Bay (north) along the Louisiana coast southwest of New Orleans. Compared to the image from 2000 (bottom), a large swath of bright sand dominates the eastern side of Timbalier Island in the September 13 image, having either been piled there or exposed by waves and storm surge. To the east-northeast, two small, curving islands have disappeared completely, while farther north, the fierce seas turned two small slots in a barrier island into a single large gap. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Gulf Coast cities weren't the only land surfaces to take a beating from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Barrier islands stretching from Texas to Florida were also scoured by the wind and waves of the powerful storm. Permanent changes to the shape and elevation of Timbalier Island and its northeastern companions are visible in this pair of infrared-enhanced 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. Timbalier Island, the largest island pictured here, sits at the interface between the Gulf of Mexico (south) and Terrebonne Bay (north) along the Louisiana coast southwest of New Orleans. Compared to the image from 2000 (bottom), a large swath of bright sand dominates the eastern side of Timbalier Island in the September 13 image, having either been piled there or exposed by waves and storm surge. To the east-northeast, two small, curving islands have disappeared completely, while farther north, the fierce seas turned two small slots in a barrier island into a single large gap. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Gulf Coast cities weren't the only land surfaces to take a beating from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Barrier islands stretching from Texas to Florida were also scoured by the wind and waves of the powerful storm. Permanent changes to the shape and elevation of Horn and Petit Bois Islands south of Pascagoula, Mississippi, are visible in these infrared-enhanced images captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. The eastern and western tips of Horn island have been eroded so greatly that they are now below sea level, their white sandy beaches (August 7 image) now covered by blue water (September 17 image). The sound (northern) side of the island is layered with sand, which stands out in grayish-white against the red of vegetation. On Petit Bois Island, the changes appear more subtle, but there, too, the red of the island's vegetation appears softened by bright sand. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Gulf Coast cities weren't the only land surfaces to take a beating from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Barrier islands stretching from Texas to Florida were also scoured by the wind and waves of the powerful storm. Permanent changes to the shape and elevation of Horn and Petit Bois Islands south of Pascagoula, Mississippi, are visible in these infrared-enhanced images captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. The eastern and western tips of Horn island have been eroded so greatly that they are now below sea level, their white sandy beaches (August 7 image) now covered by blue water (September 17 image). The sound (northern) side of the island is layered with sand, which stands out in grayish-white against the red of vegetation. On Petit Bois Island, the changes appear more subtle, but there, too, the red of the island's vegetation appears softened by bright sand. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Rita
| Title |
Hurricane Rita |
| Description |
Hurricanes form over tropical waters, encouraged by sea surface temperatures of 26.5 °C (80 °F) or higher. Over such warm waters, hurricanes can explode in size and intensity, becoming Category 4 or 5 storms by the time they make landfall. Like its predecessor Katrina, Hurricane Rita has picked up steam in its trip over a warm Gulf of Mexico. The dark grey circles show measured positions of the hurricane, while lighter grey circles show forecasted positions. Maximum sustained wind speeds at each location are shown in miles per hour (white numbers). A quartet of satellites, including NASA's Topex/Poseidon and Jason satellites, have monitored sea surface height during Rita's journey toward the Gulf Coast. This map results from a combination of data from these satellites collected on September 21, 2005. This image shows ocean circulation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico, framed by the Florida peninsula on the right and the Texas-Mexico Gulf Coast on the left (shown in gray). Red indicates strong circulation of warm waters. Sea surface height is a useful measure of potential hurricane activity because storm-fueling warm water is higher than surrounding cooler water. The area shown in red is approximately 35 to 60 centimeters (roughly 13 to 23 inches) higher than the surrounding Gulf. A hurricane's track depends primarily on the winds that steer it, and these winds are forecasted with atmospheric models. The hurricane's energy source, however, comes from the ocean. Hurricanes travel over both strong ocean currents and smaller currents running in different directions (eddies). As of September 22, 2005, Hurricane Rita was forecasted to continue crossing a circulation feature in the Gulf of Mexico known as the Loop Current, then pass near a warm-water eddy known as the Eddy Vortex. The Eddy Vortex is in the north central Gulf, south of Louisiana. The Jason satellite carries a radar altitude meter, otherwise known as an altimeter. To determine the ocean's height, the altimeter measures the time it takes for the microwave pulses to bounce off the surface and return to the spacecraft. This measure, multiplied by the speed of light, gives the range from the satellite to the ocean surface. The joint U.S.-French Topex/Poseidon mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Image courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Colorado CCAR [ http://ccar.colorado.edu/ ] |
|
Hurricane Rita Floods U.S. G
…
| Title |
Hurricane Rita Floods U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
The Neches River flows 670 kilometers (416 miles) through Texas before pouring into Sabine Lake and then the Gulf of Mexico. In its final few kilometers, the river passes through Beaumont, Texas, one of the largest oil refining regions in East Texas. The river is an important conduit from the oil refineries to the Gulf of Mexico and the world. Beaumont and the Neches River were also almost directly in Hurricane Rita's path when it came ashore on September 24, 2005. There are some obvious signs of damage in the top image, collected 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 September 27, 2005. Several permanent structures had been built in the bulge in the river shown here. The structures, probably related to the region's oil industry, were tossed in Rita's strong winds, heavy rains, and battering waves. Their positions have shifted compared to their locations on April 18, 2001, lower image. Some of the structures are clearly broken, with sections missing. Along the shore, dark flood water surrounds a series of circular buildings. These ASTER images are shown in false color. Vegetation is red, and water is dark blue. The large images extend from Beaumont in the north to the Gulf of Mexico. Additional flooding is evident near the Gulf in the large images. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Rita Floods U.S. G
…
| Title |
Hurricane Rita Floods U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
The Neches River flows 670 kilometers (416 miles) through Texas before pouring into Sabine Lake and then the Gulf of Mexico. In its final few kilometers, the river passes through Beaumont, Texas, one of the largest oil refining regions in East Texas. The river is an important conduit from the oil refineries to the Gulf of Mexico and the world. Beaumont and the Neches River were also almost directly in Hurricane Rita's path when it came ashore on September 24, 2005. There are some obvious signs of damage in the top image, collected 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 September 27, 2005. Several permanent structures had been built in the bulge in the river shown here. The structures, probably related to the region's oil industry, were tossed in Rita's strong winds, heavy rains, and battering waves. Their positions have shifted compared to their locations on April 18, 2001, lower image. Some of the structures are clearly broken, with sections missing. Along the shore, dark flood water surrounds a series of circular buildings. These ASTER images are shown in false color. Vegetation is red, and water is dark blue. The large images extend from Beaumont in the north to the Gulf of Mexico. Additional flooding is evident near the Gulf in the large images. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Fires in Southern United Sta
…
| Title |
Fires in Southern United States |
| Description |
On January 2, 2006, winds whipped a fast-moving fire across the grasslands just south of the Red River, which marks the border between Oklahoma and Texas. According to reports from the Associated Press, the fire nearly razed the small ranch town of Ringgold, Texas, destroying as many as 50 homes and most of the buildings along the small town's Main Street. The fire scorched tens of thousands of acres between Ringgold and the town of Nocona, to the southeast. The charcoal-colored burn scar slices through the center of this image, captured on January 8, 2006, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. To make the burn scar stand out more prominently, the image was enhanced with the sensor's observations of near- and shortwave-infrared energy as well as visible light. Winter-bare ground is tan and brown, while patches of red indicate growing vegetation, probably irrigated crops. The small town of Nocona appears as a cement-gray splash at lower right of the scene, while the location of Ringgold is obscured by a cloud at image left. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor [ http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/archive/2006/drmon0103.htm ] map for January 3, drought stretched across the south-central United States in the first of January, affecting Arizona, southern Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and western Arkansas. A pocket of Exceptional Drought—the highest drought category on the scale—spanned northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and intruded a short distance into western Arkansas. The lack of rain, high temperatures, and strong winds were a menace for firefighters across the region, who continued to battle grassland and other wildfires through the first part of the month. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
|
Small Worlds Ceres and Vesta
| Title |
Small Worlds Ceres and Vesta |
| Explanation |
Ceres [ http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/asteroids_and_comets/ ceres.html ] and Vesta [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/ 1997/27 ] are, respectively, only around 950 kilometers and 530 kilometers in diameter - about the size of Texas and Arizona. But they are two of the largest of over 100,000 minor bodies [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ asteroidfact.html ] orbiting in the main asteroid belt [ http://www.solstation.com/stars/ asteroid.htm ] between Mars and Jupiter. These remarkably detailed Hubble Space Telescope images [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/ 2007/27/ ] show brightness and color variations across the surface of the two small worlds. The variations could represent large scale surface features or areas of different compositon. The Hubble image data will help astronomers plan for a visit by the asteroid-hopping Dawn spacecraft [ http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.asp ], scheduled for launch on July 7 and intended to orbit first Vesta [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070525.html ] and then Ceres [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060821.html ] after a four year interplanetary cruise. Though Shakespeare [ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/305250.html ] might not have been impressed, nomenclature introduced by the International Astronomical Union in 2006 classifies nearly spherical Ceres as a dwarf planet [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet ]. |
|
Surrounded by Mars
| Title |
Surrounded by Mars |
| Explanation |
Just after landing on Mars in 1997, the robotic Mars Pathfinder [ http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/index1.html ] main station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000912.html ] took a quick first look around. This insurance panorama [ http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/lemmon/about_udp.html ] was taken even before the Sagan Memorial Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970710.html ] camera was raised to its two-meter-high perch. The full view is best seen by slowly scrolling to the right. The unique perspective captures many Mars Pathfinder instruments [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf/sci_desc.html ] in the close foreground including a screen for judging sky illumination, communications antennae, solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/1-what-are-solar-panels.html ], and two ramps leading down to the surface for the robot probe Sojourner [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/rover/mission.html ]. After taking the ramp on the right, Sojourner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991030.html ] can be seen on the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000514.html ]. Visible on the surface are numerous rocks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980309.html ] and hills [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990704.html ] that came to be better studied. The Mars Pathfinder mission [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mpf.pdf ] went on to return 16,000 images and data that resulted in many discoveries [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf-pressrel.html ], including evidence for warmer and wetter conditions on Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ] in the past. After nearly three spectacular months exploring the surface, Mars Pathfinder dropped out of communication [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf-929-pressrel.html ], likely the result of depleted battery power. |
|
Jupiter, Moons and Bees
| Title |
Jupiter, Moons and Bees |
| Explanation |
Rising before the Sun on September 4, Jupiter and an old cresent Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020419.html ] gathered in the dim constellation of Cancer [ http://www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/ cancer.html ]. Watching from a hillside near Austin, Texas, planet Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ ], astrophotographer Russell Croman recorded this view [ http://www.rc-astro.com/solar_system/moon/moonbees.html ] of their passing as clouds gracefully dimmed the brilliant moonlight. Earthshine illuminates [ http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/codex/2A2r.html ] the lunar night side and on close inspection, bright Jupiter at the lower right appears tightly flanked [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980513.html ] by its own four large Galilean moons [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/ganymede/ discovery.html ]. Next to Jupiter lies a loose swarm of stars just below the clouds. The stars are the brighter members of the nearby star cluster M44, popularly known as the Beehive cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980803.html ]. Croman's remarkable digital image has been processed only slightly to improve the visibility of the earthshine region and Jupiter's moons [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001118.html ]. |
|
GRACE Maps the Gravity of Ea
…
| Title |
GRACE Maps the Gravity of Earth |
| Explanation |
Why do some places on Earth have higher gravity than others? Sometimes the reason is unknown. To help better understand the Earth's surface [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Interior_Structure/surface.html ], slight distance changes between a pair of identically orbiting satellites named GRACE [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030723.html http://essp.gsfc.nasa.gov/grace/ ] have been used to create the best ever map of Earth's gravitational field [ http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/dept/phys-sci/gravity/history/history.htm ]. High points on this map [ http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/gallery/animations/ggm01/ ], also colored red, indicate areas where gravity is slightly stronger than usual, while in blue areas gravity is slightly weaker. Many bumps and valleys on the map can be attributed to surface features, such as the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge [ http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge ] and the Himalayan Mountains [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020723.html ], but others cannot, and so might relate to unusually high or low sub-surface densities. Maps like this [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04652 ] also help calibrate changes in the Earth's surface including variable ocean currents [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980113.html ] and the melting of glaciers [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020527.html ]. |
|
An Inner Neptune for 55 Canc
…
| Title |
An Inner Neptune for 55 Cancri |
| Explanation |
Is our Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ] unique? The discovery [ http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0408585 ] of a Neptune [ http://www.nineplanets.org/neptune.html ]-mass planet in an sub-Mercury orbit around nearby Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html ]-like star 55 Cancri [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020614.html ], announced [ http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html ] yesterday along with the discovery of other similar systems, gives a new indication that planetary systems [ http://exoplanets.org/exoplanets_pub.html ] as complex as our own Solar System [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] likely exist elsewhere. The planet, discovered [ http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2004/0831.html ] in data from the Hobby-Eberly telescope [ http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/het/het.html ] in Texas, the Lick Observatory [ http://www.ucolick.org/ ] in California, and the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010806.html ], is one of four planets now known to orbit 55 Cancri [ http://exoplanets.org/esp/55cnc/55cnc.shtml ] -- the others being similar in mass to Jupiter. The finding involved noting subtle changes in the speed [ http://exoplanets.org/doppframe.html ] of the star caused by its orbiting planets. The above drawing [ http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ssu_images.html ] depicts what this planet might look like, assuming a mass similar to Neptune [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/neptune.html ], but a composition similar [ http://www.solstation.com/stars/4planets.htm ] to Earth. The star 55 Cancri [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/55cnc.html ], only 40 light-years distant, is visible [ http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/Science/GalleryOfImages/55cancri.html ] with binoculars [ http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/binoculars1.html ] towards the constellation [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html ] of Cancer [ http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=12 ]. |
|
Sunset Over Gusev Crater
| Title |
Sunset Over Gusev Crater |
| Explanation |
What would it be like to see a sunset on Mars? To help find out, the robotic rover Spirit [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040104a.html ] was deployed last month to park and serenely watch the Sun dip below the distant lip of Gusev crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020627.html ]. It was a tough job, but some robot had to do it. Now on Earth a red sunset is caused by two effects -- by blue light being preferentially scattered [ http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blue_sky.html ] out of sunlight by oxygen [ http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/8.html ] and nitrogen [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html ] molecules in the atmosphere, and by scattering off a small amount of impurities like volcanic dust [ http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/air/sun.rxml ]. (The magnitude of the first effect was computed in one of Albert Einstein's most cited papers [ http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/17/2/2/1 ].) Although Mars lacks oxygen and nitrogen, it is covered in red dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030819.html ] frequently hoisted into the atmosphere by fast [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050426.html ] but thin winds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990112.html ]. Analyses of images like the above photograph [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07997 ] show that at least some Martian days are capped by a sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970804.html ] significantly longer and redder than typical on Earth. For up to two hours after twilight, sunlight continued to reflect off Martian dust [ http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug04/Mars.Science.bpf.html ] high in the atmosphere, casting a diffuse glow. The result helps atmospheric scientists understand not only the atmosphere of Mars [ http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Mars/atmosphere.html ], but atmospheres across the Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ], including our home Earth [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/atmosphere.html ]. |
|
Stardust Capsule Returns to
…
| Title |
Stardust Capsule Returns to Earth |
| Explanation |
A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah desert yesterday after being tracked by radar and chased by helicopters and airplanes. Like last time [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040914.html ], no space aliens were involved. The saucer, the Stardust [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html ] return capsule, is carrying bits of Comet Wild 2 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040103.html ] captured two years ago during a rendezvous between Stardust [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/cool.html ] and the ancient comet. The capsule is pictured above [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/multimedia/cleanroom-1.html ] entering a temporary clean room in Utah [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah ] before part of it is shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Center [ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html ] in Houston [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston ], Texas [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas ], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ]. In the inset on the lower right [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03185 ], an artist depicts the capsule as it likely looked after it parachuted to a landing in the Utah desert. The upper right insert [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/multimedia/dc8-1.html ] shows an image of the streaking capsule [ http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/ ] taken yesterday by a DC-8 chase plane [ http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/gallery/images/commercial/dc8-04.html ]. The bits of Comet Wild 2 [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/comets/wild_2/wild_2.html&edu=high ] stored in the Stardust return capsule are likely older than the Sun and will be inspected over the next few years for clues [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040622.html ] about the early years of our Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ]. You, too, can help [ http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/01/10_dust.shtml ] look for dust grains in the Stardust aerogel! |
|
SR-71 Ship #1 - Ultraviolet
…
| Title |
SR-71 Ship #1 - Ultraviolet Experiment |
| Description |
NASA's SR-71 streaks into the twilight on a night/science flight from the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. Mounted in the nose of the SR-71 was an ultraviolet video camera aimed skyward to capture images of stars, asteroids and comets. The science portion of the flight is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Two SR-71 aircraft have been used by NASA as test beds for high-speed and high-altitude aeronautical research. One early research project flown on one of Dryden's SR-71s consisted of a proposal for a series of flights using the SR-71 as a science camera platform for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology, which operates under contract to NASA in much the way that NASA centers do. In March 1993, an upward-looking ultraviolet (UV) video camera placed in the SR-71's nosebay studied a variety of celestial objects in the ultraviolet light spectrum. The SR-71 was proposed as a test bed for the experiment because it is capable of flying at altitudes above 80,000 feet for an extended length of time. Observation of ultraviolet radiation is not possible from the Earth's surface because the atmosphere's ozone layer absorbs UV rays. Study of UV radiation is important because it is known to cause skin cancer with prolonged exposure. UV radiation is also valuable to study from an astronomical perspective. Satellite study of ultraviolet radiation is very expensive. As a result, the South West Research Institute (SWRI) in Texas developed the hypothesis of using a high-flying aircraft such as the SR-71 to conduct UV observations. The SR-71 is capable of flying above 90 percent of the Earth's atmosphere. The flight program was also designed to test the stability of the aircraft as a test bed for UV observation. A joint flight program was developed between the JPL and NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in 1994) in conjunction with SWRI to test the hypothesis. Dryden modified the nosebay of the SR-71, creating an upward-observing window to carry SWRI's ultraviolet CCD camera so it could make observations. According to Dryden's SR-71 Project Manager Dave Lux, a single flight of the aircraft confirmed the aircraft's capability and stability as a test bed for UV observations. SWRI's principle investigator was Dr. Allen Stern. |
| Date |
01.01.1994 |
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| Description |
Browse JPG (109 kB) | Full Res JPG (3.54 MB) ---> |
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| Description |
MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov ] PHOTO CAPTION PIA-00558 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00558 ] Earth from Mars Odyssey April 23, 2001 The 2001 Mars Odyssey's thermal emission imaging system acquired these images of the Earth using its visible and infrared cameras as the spacecraft left the Earth. The visible light image shows the thin crescent viewed from Odyssey's perspective. The infrared image was acquired at exactly the same time, but shows the entire Earth using the infrared's "night-vision" capability. In visible light, the instrument sees only reflected sunlight and therefore sees nothing on the night side of the planet. In infrared light the camera observes the light emitted by all regions of the Earth. The coldest ground temperatures seen correspond to the nighttime regions of Antarctica, the warmest temperatures occur in Australia. The low temperature in Antarctica is minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit), the high temperature at night in Australia 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit). These temperatures agree remarkably well with observed temperatures of minus 63 degrees Celsius at Vostok Station in Antarctica, and 10 degrees Celsius in Australia. The images were taken at a distance of 3,563,735 kilometers (more than 2 million miles) on April 19, 2001 as the Odyssey spacecraft left Earth. Mars Odyssey carries three scientific instruments designed to tell us what the Martian surface is made of and about its radiation environment: a thermal-emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and a Martian radiation environment experiment. Odyssey will arrive at Mars on October 24, when it will fire its main engine and be captured into Mars' orbit. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Principal investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tuscon, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, will operate the science instruments. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations will be conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The thermal emission imaging system was built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. and is operated by Arizona State University. ##### Image credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University |
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| Description |
MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov ] PHOTO CAPTION PIA-00559 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00559 ] Earth & Moon from Mars Odyssey April 23, 2001 2001 Mars Odyssey's thermal emission imaging system took this portrait of the Earth and its companion Moon, using the infrared camera, one of two cameras in the instrument. It was taken at distance of 3,563,735 kilometers (more than 2 million miles) on April 19, 2001 as the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft left the Earth. From this distance and perspective the camera was able to acquire an image that directly shows the true distance from the Earth to the Moon. The Earth's diameter is about 12,750 kilometers, and the distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 385,000 kilometers, corresponding to 30 Earth diameters. The dark region seen on Earth in the infrared temperature image is the cold south pole, with a temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). The small bright region above it is warm Australia. This image was acquired using the 9.1 micron infrared filter, one of nine filters that the instrument will use to map the mineral composition and temperature of the Martian surface. From this great distance, each picture element (pixel) in the image corresponds to a region 900 by 900 kilometers (about 560 by 560 miles). Once Odyssey reaches Mars orbit each infrared pixel will cover a region only 100 by 100 meters on the surface (about 330 by 330 feet), about the size of a major league baseball field. Mars Odyssey carries three scientific instruments designed to tell us what the Martian surface is made of and about its radiation environment: a thermal-emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and a Martian radiation environment experiment. Odyssey will arrive at Mars on October 24, when it will fire its main engine and be captured into Mars' orbit. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Principal investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tuscon, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, will operate the science instruments. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations will be conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The thermal emission imaging system was built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. and is operated by Arizona State University. ##### Image credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University |
|
Radiation environment at Mar
…
| title |
Radiation environment at Mars and Earth December 8, 2003 |
| Description |
This graphic shows the radiation dose equivalent as measured by Odyssey's martian radiation environment experiment at Mars and by instruments aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS), for the 18-month period from April 2002 through October 2003. The accumulated total in Mars orbit is just over two times larger than that aboard the Space Station. The bars where the Mars instrument's measurements are well above the average (as shown by the orange line) are months when there was significant solar activity, which increases the dose equivalent. Dose equivalent is expressed in units of milliSieverts per day. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. The radiation experiment was provided by the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL/JSC ### |
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Mars Odyssey All Stars -- Po
…
marscollection, nasa
A sea of dark dunes, sculpte
…
504716main_pia13662
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2010-12-08 |
| creator |
NASA |
| identifier |
504716main_pia13662 |
|
Hurricane Rita: Natural Haza
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Hurricanes form over tropica
…
rita_jas_2005266
| mediatype |
MISC |
| mediatype |
texts |
| date |
2005-09-22 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
rita_jas_2005266 |
|
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