In this photograph, the Orbital Workshop shower compartment was unfolded by technicians for inspection. The shower compartment was a cylindrical cloth enclosure that was folded flat when not in use. The bottom ring of the shower was fastened to the floor and contained foot restraints. The upper ring contained the shower head and hose. To use the shower, the astronaut filled a pressurized portable bottle with heated water and attached the bottle to the ceiling. A flexible hose cornected the water bottle to a handheld shower head. The astronaut pulled the cylindrical shower wall up into position and bathed, using liquid soap. Both soap and water were carefully rationed, having been premeasured for economical use.
Showering on Skylab
Title
Showering on Skylab
Full Description
A close up view of astronaut Jack R. Lousma, Skylab 3 pilot taking a hot bath in the crew quarters of the Orbital Workshop (OWS) of the Skylab space station cluster in Earth Orbit. This picture was taken with a hand-held 35mm Nikon camera. Astronaut Lousma, Alan Bean and Owen K. Garriott remained within the Skylab space station in orbit for 59 days conducting numerous medical, scientific and technological expierments. In deploying the shower facility the shower curtain is pulled up from the floor and attached to the ceiling. The water comes through a push-button shower head attached to a flexible hose. Water is drawn off by a vacuum system.
Date
07/01/1973
NASA Center
Headquarters
Monkey Baker in bio-pack
Name of Image
Monkey Baker in bio-pack
Date of Image
1959-05-01
Full Description
A squirrel monkey, Baker, in bio-pack couch being readied for Jupiter (AM-18 flight). Jupiter, AM-18 mission, also carried an American-born rhesus monkey, Able into suborbit. The flight was successful and both monkeys were recovered in good condition. AM-18 was launched on May 28, 1959.
The Rhesus monkey, Sam, with
…
Title
The Rhesus monkey, Sam, with Mercury fiberglass couch
Description
The test subject, a rhesus monkey named Sam, is seen encased in a model of the Mercury fiberglass contour couch. He will be flown on the Little Joe 2 as a test subject.
Date Taken
1963-10-23
Crosby Ramsey Memorial Obser
…
Title
Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory Refractor
Explanation
The Massachusetts-based firm of Alvan Clark and Sons became famous for making telescope optics near the end of the last century. Near the end of this century, major astronomical observatories still boast of telescopes with lenses and mirrors made by them including Lowell Observatory's 24 inch [ http://www.lowell.edu/visitors/misc/clark.html ] diameter refractor, the United States Naval Observatory's 26 inch [ http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO26in.html ] refractor, the McCormick Observatory's 26 inch [ http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~jkw3x/donation.html ], Lick Observatory's 36 inch [ http://www.ucolick.org/~mountain/mthamilton/public/history/ ], and Yerkes Observatory's 40 inch refractor [ http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/40inch.html ] - the largest refracting telescope [ http://www.msd.org/how1.htm ] in the world. Small observatories too can claim such a link to telescopic history [ http://w3.one.net/~foto/PictureGallery.htm ] and many offer the general public a chance to "look through a classic". This gorgeous, completely refurbished 8 inch refractor was originally bought from Alvan Clark and Sons in 1927. On Thursdays it stargazes from the Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory [ http://www.mdsci.org/obs.htm ] dome atop the Maryland Science Center near Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Messier 81
Title
Messier 81
Description
The magnificent spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major (which also includes the Big Dipper), this galaxy is easily visible through binoculars or a small telescope. M81 is located at a distance of 12 million light-years. The main image is a composite mosaic obtained with the multiband imaging photometer and the infrared array camera. Thermal infrared emission at 24 microns detected by the photometer (red, bottom left inset) is combined with camera data at 8.0 microns (green, bottom center inset) and 3.6 microns (blue, bottom right inset). A visible-light image of Messier 81, obtained with a ground-based telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, is shown in the upper right inset. Both the visible-light picture and the 3.6-micron near-infrared image trace the distribution of stars, although the Spitzer image is virtually unaffected by obscuring dust. Both images reveal a very smooth stellar mass distribution, with the spiral arms relatively subdued. As one moves to longer wavelengths, the spiral arms become the dominant feature of the galaxy. The 8-micron emission is dominated by infrared light radiated by hot dust that has been heated by nearby luminous stars. Dust in the galaxy is bathed by ultraviolet and visible light from nearby stars. Upon absorbing an ultraviolet or visible-light photon, a dust grain is heated and re-emits the energy at longer infrared wavelengths. The dust particles are composed of silicates (chemically similar to beach sand), carbonaceous grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace the gas distribution in the galaxy. The well-mixed gas (which is best detected at radio wavelengths) and dust provide a reservoir of raw materials for future star formation. The 24-micron multiband imaging photometer image shows emission from warm dust heated by the most luminous young stars. The infrared-bright clumpy knots within the spiral arms show where massive stars are being born in giant H II (ionized hydrogen) regions. Studying the locations of these star forming regions with respect to the overall mass distribution and other constituents of the galaxy (e.g., gas) will help identify the conditions and processes needed for star formation.
Messier 81
Title
Messier 81
Description
The magnificent spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major (which also includes the Big Dipper), this galaxy is easily visible through binoculars or a small telescope. M81 is located at a distance of 12 million light-years. The main image is a composite mosaic obtained with the multiband imaging photometer and the infrared array camera. Thermal infrared emission at 24 microns detected by the photometer (red, bottom left inset) is combined with camera data at 8.0 microns (green, bottom center inset) and 3.6 microns (blue, bottom right inset). A visible-light image of Messier 81, obtained with a ground-based telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, is shown in the upper right inset. Both the visible-light picture and the 3.6-micron near-infrared image trace the distribution of stars, although the Spitzer image is virtually unaffected by obscuring dust. Both images reveal a very smooth stellar mass distribution, with the spiral arms relatively subdued. As one moves to longer wavelengths, the spiral arms become the dominant feature of the galaxy. The 8-micron emission is dominated by infrared light radiated by hot dust that has been heated by nearby luminous stars. Dust in the galaxy is bathed by ultraviolet and visible light from nearby stars. Upon absorbing an ultraviolet or visible-light photon, a dust grain is heated and re-emits the energy at longer infrared wavelengths. The dust particles are composed of silicates (chemically similar to beach sand), carbonaceous grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace the gas distribution in the galaxy. The well-mixed gas (which is best detected at radio wavelengths) and dust provide a reservoir of raw materials for future star formation. The 24-micron multiband imaging photometer image shows emission from warm dust heated by the most luminous young stars. The infrared-bright clumpy knots within the spiral arms show where massive stars are being born in giant H II (ionized hydrogen) regions. Studying the locations of these star forming regions with respect to the overall mass distribution and other constituents of the galaxy (e.g., gas) will help identify the conditions and processes needed for star formation.
*Captions:* * Blue (171 Angs
…
Description
*Captions:* * Blue (171 Angstroms) full disk image: The Sun's million degree atmosphere taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. The close-up of the active region is cropped from the full disk image. * Blue (171 Angstroms): The Sun's million degree atmosphere taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. Close-up of the active region cropped from the full disk image. * Orange (304 Angstroms) full disk: The orange image shows portions of the sun's atmosphere at 60,000 to 80,000 C taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/halfres_195col_ed.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/halfres_195col_ed.tif ] (1.7M) [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/SOHOmdi_mag_light.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/SOHOmdi_mag_light.tif ] (920K) [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/cor2pretty2_ed.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/cor2pretty2_ed.tif ] (3.8M) *Captions:* * Green (195 Angstroms) full disk: The Sun in light emitted at 1.5 million degrees C taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. * SOHO's full disk magnetogram: Taken Dec. 4, this image shows the magnetic features on the Sun's surface. Taken by SOHO's MDI instrument. * The first coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by STEREO. This image was taken on Dec. 9 with STEREO's SECCHI/Cor2 coronagraph. A coronagraph blocks the bright disk of the sun allowing scientists to see the Sun's faint outer atmosphere, the corona. The white circle shows the location of the solar disk. The mass ejection can be seen on the right hand side of the image as outward directed streak ending in a faint ring.
Mars: Closest Encounter
Title
Mars: Closest Encounter
Light and Shadow in the Cari
…
Title
Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula
General Information
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
Chandra X-Ray Observatory Im
…
Name of Image
Chandra X-Ray Observatory Image of Black Hole
Date of Image
2000-04-01
Full Description
This Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) image is a spectrum of a black hole, which is similar to the colorful spectrum of sunlight produced by a prism. The x-rays of interest are shown here recorded in bright stripes that run rightward and leftward from the center of the image. These x-rays are sorted precisely according to their energy with the highest-energy x-rays near the center of the image and the lower-energy x-rays farther out. The spectrum was obtained by using the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG), which intercepts x-rays and changes their direction by the amounts that depend sensitively on the x-ray energy. The assembly holds 540 gold transmission gratings. When in place behind the mirrors, the gratings intercept the x-rays reflected from the telescope. The bright spot at the center is due to a fraction of the x-ray radiation that is not deflected by the LETG. The spokes that intersect the central spot and the faint diagonal rays that flank the spectrum itself are artifacts due to the structure that supports the LETG grating elements. (Photo credit: NASA Cfa/J. McClintock et al)
Thousands of Coma Cluster Ga
…
Title
Thousands of Coma Cluster Galaxies
Explanation
Almost every object in the above photograph is a galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950913.html ]. The Coma Cluster of galaxies pictured is a dense cluster containing many thousands of galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950912.html ]. Many of these galaxies [ ftp://crux.astr.ua.edu/web/goodies/data_resources/galaxies.text ] contain as many stars as our own Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950908.html ]. Although nearby when compared to most other clusters, light from the Coma Cluster still takes hundreds of millions of years to reach us. In fact, the Coma Cluster is so big it takes light millions of years just to go from one side to the other! This picture was created at the WWW site Skyview [ http://skview.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], a "virtual observatory" where it is possible to view any part of the sky in wavelengths from radio to gamma-ray.
M74: The Perfect Spiral
Title
M74: The Perfect Spiral
Explanation
If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy [ http://www.seds.org/messier/spir.html ] is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe [ http://www.netlabs.net/hp/tremor/hubble.html ] of about 100 billion stars, 30 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces [ http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/pisces/ constell.html ], NGC 628 or M74 presents [ http://sirtf.caltech.edu/Education/Messier/ m74.html ] a gorgeous face-on view [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010427.html ] to earthbound astronomers. Classified [ http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Haynes/ Haynes1.html ] as an Sc galaxy, the grand design [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010203.html ] of M74's graceful spiral arms traced by bright blue star clusters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010909.html ] and dark cosmic dust lanes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010720.html ], is similar in many respects to our own home galaxy, the Milky Way [ http://home.arcor-online.de/axel.mellinger/ ]. Recorded with a 28 million pixel [ http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/ popup_definition.php?lookup=3909 ] detector array, this impressive image celebrates first light [ http://www.gemini.edu/project/announcements/press/ 2001-2.html ] for the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS [ http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/ gmos/gmosIndex.html ]), a state-of-the-art instrument now operational at the 8-meter Gemini North [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990629.html ] telescope. The Gemini North Observatory gazes into the skies above Mauna Kea [ http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/ ], Hawaii, USA, while its twin observatory, Gemini South [ http://www.conicyt.cl/gemini/ ], is scheduled to begin operations later this year from Cerro Pachón in central Chile.
51 Pegasi: A New Planet Disc
…
Title
51 Pegasi: A New Planet Discovered
Explanation
Are we alone [ http://seti1.setileague.org/homepg.htm ] in the universe? Do other stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#star ] have planets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950819.html ] too? Humanity took one step closer to answering these questions in October 1995 when it was announced that the star 51 Pegasi [ http://zebu.uoregon.edu/51peg.html ] harbors at least one planet. In the above picture of 51 Peg the planet is not visible - it can only be detected by noticing small changes in the star's motion. Claims of planets [ http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/other.html ] orbiting other stars [ http://maxwell.sfsu.edu/asp/tnl/19/19.html ] are rare, with perhaps the most credible pertaining to a neutron star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#ns ] - a star much different than the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950813.html ]. But new ground was broken when the planetary detection claimed around the normal Sun-like star 51 Peg was confirmed. The planet, discovered by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, is thought to be like Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951013.html ] - except orbiting so close to the parent star that it's year lasts only about 4 days! In the above picture the lines centered on 51 Peg are caused by the telescope itself and are not related to the star or planet.
ISS Over Mont-Megantic Obser
…
Title
ISS Over Mont-Megantic Observatory
Explanation
On August 1st, a time exposure [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_speed ] created this surreal view that looks up into the early morning sky over southern Quebec. Only the light [ http://www.darksky.org/ ] from a nearly Full Moon brightens the sky and highlights the dome of the 1.6 meter telescope at Mont-Megantic Observatory [ http://www.astrolab-parc-national-mont-megantic.org/ en_astrolab_level03_sublevel01.html ]. Shadowy figures on the catwalk are astronomers who have interrupted their work to glimpse [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ ] the International Space Station (ISS [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070625.html ]) streaking overhead. The brightest "star" in the moonlit sky, the ISS was easy to spot moving through a background of stars in the high-flying constellation Pegasus [ http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/peg/index.html ].
A Cerro Tololo Sky
Title
A Cerro Tololo Sky
Explanation
High atop a Chilean [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ ci.html ] mountain lies one of the premier observatories of the southern sky: the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/ ] (CTIO). Pictured above [ http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0081.html ] is the dome surrounding one of the site's [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Sky%20Conditions/Webcam/ ] best known instruments, the 4-meter Blanco Telescope [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/telescopes/4m/base4m.html ]. Far behind the dome are thousands of individual stars and diffuse light from three galaxies: the Small Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000430.html ] (upper left), the Large Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000222.html ] (lower left), and our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/milky_way.html ] (right). Visible just to Blanco's right is the famous superposition [ http://www.southernskies.com.au/crux.htm ] of four bright stars known as the Southern Cross [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000618.html ]. A single 20 second exposure, this digital image was recorded with a sensitive detector intended for astronomical imaging. The observatory structures are lit solely by starlight.
STEREO's Extreme UltraViolet
…
Title
STEREO's Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)
Abstract
At a pixel resolution of 2048x2048, the STEREO EUVI instrument provides views of the Sun in ultraviolet light that rivals the full-disk views of SOHO/EIT. This image is through the 171 Angstrom (ultraviolet) filter which is characteristic of iron ions (missing eight and nine electrons) at 1 million degrees. There is a short data gap in the latter half of the movie that creates a freeze and then jump in the data view. * STEREO: Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory * SOHO: SOlar Heliospheric Observatory * EIT: Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope * EUVI: Extreme UltraViolet Imager
Completed
2007-02-27
Mysterious Pluto and Charon
Title
Mysterious Pluto and Charon
Explanation
Pluto [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/pluto.html ] is the only planet in our Solar System [ http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html ] remaining unphotographed by a passing spacecraft. Distant Pluto [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/pluto.htm ] and its moon Charon [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/pluto.html#charon ] therefore remain somewhat mysterious. In addition to direct imaging [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960311.html ] by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ ], careful tracking of brightness changes that occur as each object eclipses the other have allowed astronomers to build up the above black & white surface maps [ http://www.lowell.edu/users/buie/pluto/plutomap1.html ]. These maps depict the face of Pluto [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971228.html ] (left) that always faces Charon, and the face of Charon that always faces away from Pluto [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960212.html ]. The rectangular pixels [ http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEDT1.sh?word=pixel ] are an artifact of the mapping software. The Pluto-Kuiper Express [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ice_fire//pkexprss.htm ] mission is tentatively planned for launch in 2003 and should encounter Pluto around the year 2012.
Mount Megantic Magnetic Stor
…
Title
Mount Megantic Magnetic Storm
Explanation
Plasma from the Sun and debris from a comet both collided with planet Earth last Saturday morning triggering magnetic storms [ http://www.sec.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/ ] and a meteor shower in a dazzling atmospheric spectacle [ http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ ast14aug_1.htm ]. The debris stream from comet Swift-Tuttle is anticipated [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000812.html ] yearly, and many skygazers [ http://www.imo.net/news/news.html ] already planned to watch the peak of the annual Perseids [ http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/ perseids.html ] meteor shower in the dark hours of August 11/12. But the simultaneous, widely reported [ http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrummel/Aurora/ Aurora.html ] auroras were [ http://www.infowest.com/personal/s/schmutz/ aurora.HTML ] triggered by the chance arrival of something much less predictable -- a solar coronal mass ejection [ http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/ cmes.htm ]. This massive bubble of energetic plasma was seen leaving the active Sun's surface on August 9, just in time to travel to Earth and disrupt the planet's magnetic field [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/ Intro.html ] triggering extensive auroras [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/ apod_ts?aurora ] during the meteor shower's peak! Inspired by the cosmic light show, Sebastien Gauthier photographed the [ http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Station/3622/ AlbumPhotoAstronomie/AlbumAstronomie3.htm ] colorful auroral displays above the dramatic dome of the Mount-Megantic [ http://astrolab.interlinx.qc.ca/ ] Popular Observatory [ http://astrolab.interlinx.qc.ca/Obs_pop/ OPMM/ob_pop_choix.htm ] in southern Quebec, Canada. Bright Jupiter and giant star Aldebaran can be seen peering through [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000504.html ] the shimmering northern lights at the upper right.
Centaurus Galaxy Cluster in
…
Title
Centaurus Galaxy Cluster in X-Rays
Explanation
The Centaurus [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cen/ ] Cluster is a swarm [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020306.html ] of hundreds of galaxies a mere [ http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/ superc.html ] 170 million light-years away. Like other [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/ galaxy_clusters.html ] immense galaxy clusters [ http://crux.astr.ua.edu/white/mug/cluster/ clusters.html ], the Centaurus Cluster is filled with gas at temperatures of 10 million degrees or more, making the cluster a luminous source of cosmic x-rays [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/ history1_xray.html ]. While individual galaxies [ http://www.angelfire.com/id/jsredshift/ centaur.htm ] are not seen here, this false-color x-ray image [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0146/index.html ] from the Chandra Observatory [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/telescope_system.html ] does reveal striking details of the central region's hot cluster gas, including a large twisted plume about 70,000 light-years long. Colors represent temperatures indicated by the x-ray data with red, yellow, green, and blue shades ranging in order from cool to hot. The plume of gas alone is estimated to contain material equivalent to about one billion times the mass of the Sun. It may be a wake of gas condensing and cooling [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001208.html ] along the path of the massive, dominant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980831.html ] central galaxy moving through the cluster.
X-rays From The Cat's Eye
Title
X-rays From The Cat's Eye
Explanation
Haunting patterns within planetary nebula NGC 6543 [ http://nineplanets.org/twn/n6543x.html ] readily suggest its popular moniker -- the Cat's Eye nebula. In 1995, a stunning false-color optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/95/01.html ] detailed the swirls of this glowing nebula [ http://www.seds.org/billa/twn/types.html ], known to be the gaseous shroud expelled from a dying sun-like star [ http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/space/stellardeath/ stellardeath_opening.html ] about 3,000 light-years from Earth. This composite picture combines the famous Hubble image with new x-ray data [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/ history.html ] from the orbiting Chandra Observatory [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/1220/index.html ] and reveals surprisingly intense x-ray emission indicating the presence of extremely hot gas. X-ray emission is shown as blue-purple hues superimposed on red and green optical emission. The nebula's central star itself is clearly immersed in the multimillion degree, x-ray emitting gas. Other pockets of x-ray hot gas seem to be bordered by cooler gas emitting strongly at optical wavelengths, a clear indication that expanding hot gas is sculpting the visible Cat's Eye [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990916.html ] filaments and structures. Gazing into the Cat's Eye, astronomers see the fate of our sun [ http://www.astro.washington.edu/balick/WFPC2/ ], destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase [ http://ad.usno.navy.mil/pne/gallery.html ] of evolution ... in about 5 billion years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/white_dwarfs.html ].
The Martian Prime Meridian -
…
PIA03207
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title
The Martian Prime Meridian -- Longitude "Zero
Original Caption Released with Image
On Earth, the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England is defined as the "prime meridian," or the zero point of longitude. Locations on Earth are measured in degrees east or west from this position. The prime meridian was defined by international agreement in 1884 as the position of the large "transit circle," a telescope in the Observatory's Meridian Building. The transit circle was built by Sir George Biddell Airy, the 7th Astronomer Royal, in 1850. (While visual observations with transits were the basis of navigation until the space age, it is interesting to note that the current definition of the prime meridian is in reference to orbiting satellites and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements of distant radio sources such as quasars. This "International Reference Meridian" is now about 100 meters east of the Airy Transit at Greenwich.) For Mars, the prime meridian was first defined by the German astronomers W. Beer and J. H. Mädler in 1830-32. They used a small circular feature, which they designated "a," as a reference point to determine the rotation period of the planet. The Italian astronomer G. V. Schiaparelli, in his 1877 map of Mars, used this feature as the zero point of longitude. It was subsequently named Sinus Meridiani ("Middle Bay") by Camille Flammarion. When Mariner 9 mapped the planet at about 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) resolution in 1972, an extensive "control net" of locations was computed by Merton Davies of the RAND Corporation. Davies designated a 0.5-kilometer-wide crater (0.3 miles wide), subsequently named "Airy-0" (within the large crater Airy in Sinus Meridiani) as the longitude zero point. (Airy, of course, was named to commemorate the builder of the Greenwich transit.) This crater was imaged once by Mariner 9 (the 3rd picture taken on its 533rd orbit, 533B03) and once by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1978 (the 46th image on that spacecraft's 746th orbit, 746A46), and these two images were the basis of the martian longitude system for the rest of the 20th Century. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) has attempted to take a picture of Airy-0 on every close overflight since the beginning of the MGS mapping mission. It is a measure of the difficulty of hitting such a small target that nine attempts were required, since the spacecraft did not pass directly over Airy-0 until almost the end of the MGS primary mission, on orbit 8280 (January 13, 2001). In the left figure above, the outlines of the Mariner 9, Viking, and Mars Global Surveyor images are shown on a MOC wide angle context image, M23-00924. In the right figure, sections of each of the three images showing the crater Airy-0 are presented. A is a piece of the Mariner 9 image, B is from the Viking image, and C is from the MGS image. Airy-0 is the larger crater toward the top-center in each frame. The MOC observations of Airy-0 not only provide a detailed geological close-up of this historic reference feature, they, will be used to improve our knowledge of the locations of all features on Mars, which will in turn enable more precise landings on the Red Planet by future spacecraft and explorers.
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![*Captions:* * Blue (171 Angstroms) full disk image: The Sun's million degree atmosphere taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. The close-up of the active region is cropped from the full disk image. * Blue (171 Angstroms): The Sun's million degree atmosphere taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. Close-up of the active region cropped from the full disk image. * Orange (304 Angstroms) full disk: The orange image shows portions of the sun's atmosphere at 60,000 to 80,000 C taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/halfres_195col_ed.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/halfres_195col_ed.tif ] (1.7M) [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/SOHOmdi_mag_light.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/SOHOmdi_mag_light.tif ] (920K) [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/cor2pretty2_ed.jpg ] Hi-res TIF image [ http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/22dec2006/cor2pretty2_ed.tif ] (3.8M) *Captions:* * Green (195 Angstroms) full disk: The Sun in light emitted at 1.5 million degrees C taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. * SOHO's full disk magnetogram: Taken Dec. 4, this image shows the magnetic features on the Sun's surface. Taken by SOHO's MDI instrument. * The first coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by STEREO. This image was taken on Dec. 9 with STEREO's SECCHI/Cor2 coronagraph. A coronagraph blocks the bright disk of the sun allowing scientists to see the Sun's faint outer atmosphere, the corona. The white circle shows the location of the solar disk. The mass ejection can be seen on the right hand side of the image as outward directed streak ending in a faint ring.](http://mm04.nasaimages.org/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size1/NVA2-9-NA/12850/all_wave_ed_Thumb.jpg&userid=1&username=admin&resolution=1&servertype=JVA&cid=9&iid=NVA2&vcid=NA&usergroup=NASA_Solar_and_Heliospheric_Observatory_Co-9-Admin&profileid=41)
