NASA photos on Flickr

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

The Altiplano Night by Greg Dowmont

The Milky Way is massively bright on this cold, clear, altiplano night. At 4,500 meters its reflection in a river, a volcanic peak on the distant horizon, is captured in this stitched panorama under naturally dark skies of the northern Chilean highlands near San Pedro de Atacama. Along the Solar System's ecliptic plane, the band of Zodiacal light also stands out, extending above the Milky Way toward the upper left. In the scene from late April, brilliant Mars, Saturn, and Antares form a bright celestial triangle where ecliptic meets the center of the Milky Way. Left of the triangle, the large purple-red emission nebula Sharpless 2-27, more than twenty Moon diameters wide is centered around star Zeta Ophiuchi. via NASA ift.tt/29n4bzm

NASA EVA work boat by Shannon Sproule

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A general purpose two-person EVA unit, commonly used to construct, inspect or repair sections of the ISS-B.

Work boats sported second-generation manipulator arms, tentacles more precisely; the biomechanical design was found to be superior to the older jointed boom arms as the tentacle's algorithms would find the best route to the grasp point and also be capable of reaching through complex station beamwork. In effect, the workers could remain stationary with the arms found it's own way to it's target point.

Sky Lights in the New Year by 주원 김

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Triggered by the impact of a coronal mass ejection on New Year's eve, a moderate geomagnetic storm brought a celebration of sky lights to planet Earth's high latitudes yesterday. In this New Year's nightscape, the shimmering reddish curtains of aurora australis along a southern horizon are captured over Morgiana, SW Victoria, Australia. Of course, more permanent jewels of the southern skies are on the scene. The southern Milky Way, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and bright stars of the Southern Cross are on the left. In silhouette, branches of the large foreground tree stretch across the Milky Way's satellite galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. The bright star framed near the tips of tree branches at right is Achernar. Alpha star of the constellation Eridanus, Achernar is sometimes known as the southern end of the river. via NASA ift.tt/1mvpULk

A Laser-Sharp View of Blended Wing Body Plane Design by cyrux22

A Laser-Sharp View of Blended Wing Body Plane Design via NASA ift.tt/2e3QlEM

AS11-40-5946 by Project Apollo Archive

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Apollo 11 Hasselblad image from film magazine 40/S - EVA

NASA by Roesler Haus

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NASA Manta Ray by John Stephens

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The year is 1964. Reverse engineered and improved upon from a Soviet blueprint for the Крекер-7 Soviet Starfighter, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration secretly developed the Manta Ray fighter as a smaller and more nimble response to the hulking Soviet craft. NASA test pilots were known to wear gorilla masks to instantly discredit any onlookers that might stumble upon the highly classified weapon.

Built for Cracker, Inc. - this is the second fighter for our team in Round 7 of the Starfighter Telephone Game! [www.flickr.com/groups/starfighter_telephone_game/discuss/...]

Thanks to Cooper Works 70 for the awesome decals.

This one will be packed and shipped to Hammerstein NWC as soon as the stand is constructed! Can't wait to see what he does with it!

NASA Recruitment by Chris l Wong

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Again...can't decide which crop is better...

Mimas Jan. 30, 2017 (cl1 cl2) by 2di7 & titanio44

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech - Processing: Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin / aliveuniverse.today

Hubble Uncovers Evidence of Farthest Planet Forming From its Star by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found compelling evidence of a planet forming 7.5 billion miles away from its star, a finding that may challenge current theories about planet formation.

Of the almost 900 planets outside our solar system that have been confirmed to date, this is the first to be found at such a great distance from its star. The suspected planet is orbiting the diminutive red dwarf TW Hydrae, a popular astronomy target located 176 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Hydra the Sea Serpent.

Read more: 1.usa.gov/WWRVzj

Credit: NASA/SABOR/Wayne Slade, Sequoia Scientific

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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A Gegenschein Lunar Eclipse by Greg Dowmont

Is there anything interesting to see in the direction opposite the Sun? One night last month, there were quite a few things. First, the red-glowing orb on the lower right of the featured image is the full moon, darkened and reddened because it has entered Earth's shadow. Beyond Earth's cone of darkness are backscattering dust particles orbiting the Sun that standout with a diffuse glow called the gegenschein, visible as a faint band rising from the central horizon and passing behind the Moon. A nearly horizontal stripe of green airglow is also discernable just above the horizon, partly blocked by blowing orange sand. Visible in the distant sky as the blue dot near the top of the image is the star Sirius, while the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches up on the image left and down again on the right. The fuzzy light patches just left of center are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Red emission nebulas too numerous to mention are scattered about the sky, but are labelled in a companion annotated image. In the image foreground is the desolate Deadvlei region of the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, featuring the astrophotographer himself surveying a land and sky so amazing that he described it as one of the top experiences of his life. via NASA ift.tt/1jod2FX

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Montebello, CA

The yard looks really clean right now with all the construction done. Some odd and unique sightings include the GMC RL, 2 ex-Ontario Amreps with fire damage, and county trucks. Also didn't know they had 2 WXLL RLs.

Falcon 9 Thuraya 4-NGS by Les Greenwood

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Rocket launch of the Space X Thuraya 4-NGS from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral SFS. FL. This a launch of a communications satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space for the UAEbased Yahsat. This was taken from the boat launch in Sebastian, FL.🚀

Prints and framed shots available at www.les-greenwood.pixels.com

A Gegenschein Lunar Eclipse by Jon

Is there anything interesting to see in the direction opposite the Sun? One night last month, there were quite a few things. First, the red-glowing orb on the lower right of the featured image is the full moon, darkened and reddened because it has entered Earth's shadow. Beyond Earth's cone of darkness are backscattering dust particles orbiting the Sun that standout with a diffuse glow called the gegenschein, visible as a faint band rising from the central horizon and passing behind the Moon. A nearly horizontal stripe of green airglow is also discernable just above the horizon, partly blocked by blowing orange sand. Visible in the distant sky as the blue dot near the top of the image is the star Sirius, while the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches up on the image left and down again on the right. The fuzzy light patches just left of center are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Red emission nebulas too numerous to mention are scattered about the sky, but are labelled in a companion annotated image. In the image foreground is the desolate Deadvlei region of the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, featuring the astrophotographer himself surveying a land and sky so amazing that he described it as one of the top experiences of his life. via NASA ift.tt/1jod2FX

NASA Sees Tropical Storm Isaac and Tropical Depression 10 Racing in Atlantic by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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There are now two active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and NASA is generating satellite imagery to monitor their march westward. Tropical Storm Issac is already bringing rainfall to the Lesser Antilles today, Aug. 22, Tropical Depression 10 formed in the eastern Atlantic, and another low fizzled in the western Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Isaac formed late on Aug. 21 from Tropical Depression 9 and immediately caused warnings and watches. Tropical Depression 10 formed during the morning hours on Aug. 22 in the central Atlantic, east of Isaac and appears to be following the tropical storm on NOAA's GOES-13 satellite imagery. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm Isaac over the Lesser Antilles, and newborn Tropical Depression 10 trailing behind on Aug. 22 at 1445 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT). The image was created by the NASA GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Both storms are showing good circulation.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Isaac on Aug. 22 at 2:05 a.m. EDT, as it was bringing heavy rainfall to the Lesser Antilles. Strong thunderstorms appeared in a band of thunderstorms in Isaac's western quadrant that had cloud top temperatures as cold as -63F (-52C).

Watches and Warnings in Effect

The National Hurricane Center has posted Warnings and Watches for Tropical Storm Issac. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and the surrounding islands, and St. Martin, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, and Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

There are also hurricane and tropical storm watches in effect. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands; the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona westward to the Haiti-Domenican Republic southern border. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the north coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haiti-Dominican Republic northern border eastward to north of Isla Saona.

Tropical Storm Isaac

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Aug. 22, Tropical Storm Isaac had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (75 kmh), and the NHC said that strengthening is forecast. Isaac could become a hurricane by Thursday or Thursday night, Aug. 23. The center of Isaac was about 140 miles (230 km) east of Guadaloupe, near latitude 15.9 north and longitude 59.3 west. Isaac is moving westward near 21 mph (33 kmh) is expected to stay on this track over the next couple of days.

The NHC said, "On the forecast track the center of Isaac should move through the Leeward Islands this evening and pass near or south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Thursday (Aug. 23) and approach the Dominican Republic Thursday night and Friday (Aug. 24).

Tropical Depression 10 Forms

The tenth tropical depression seemed to take a cue from Issac, because soon after tropical depression 9 strengthened into Isaac, Tropical Depression 10 (TD10) was born.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the western half of Tropical Depression 10 on Aug. 22 at 12:23 a.m. EDT, hours before it was named a depression. Scattered strong thunderstorms appeared in the western and northern quadrants of the storm, indicating strong uplift in the storm, that would later lead to its consolidation and strengthening into a depression.

TD10 came into being on Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It was located about 860 miles (1,385 km) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, near 12.4 North latitude and 36.3 West longitude. TD10 is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 kmh) and this general motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days. TD10 has maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kmh), and the National Hurricane Center expects TD10 to become a tropical storm Joyce.

System 95L Fizzles Out

The third low pressure area that forecasters had been watching for possible development has fizzled out, now that it moved inland in northeastern Mexico. The NHC gives it a "near zero percent" chance of development now.

Rob Gutro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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The Milky Way Over Monument Valley by 주원 김

You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that includes these iconic rock peaks called buttes. Buttes are composed of hard rock left behind after water has eroded away the surrounding soft rock. In the featured image taken in 2012, the closest butte on the left and the butte to its right are known as the Mittens, while Merrick Butte can be seen just further to the right. High overhead stretches a band of diffuse light that is the central disk of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. The band of the Milky Way can be spotted by almost anyone on almost any clear night when far enough from a city and surrounding bright lights. via NASA ift.tt/1RH0yUk

Meteors over Four Girl Mountains by Greg Dowmont

On some nights it rains meteors. Peaking over the next two nights, asteroid dust is expected to rain down on Earth during the annual Geminids meteor shower. This year, unfortunately, fainter Geminids will be harder to see because of the brightness of the Long Nights Full Moon, which occurs Wednesday. Pictured, an image from this year's Perseids meteor shower in August captured multiple streaks over Four Girls Mountain in central China. The bright Pleaides open star cluster appears toward the upper right, while numerous emission nebulas are visible in red, many superposed on the diagonal band of the Milky Way. via NASA ift.tt/2gHbmsn

A Gegenschein Lunar Eclipse by Cobra Whatever

Is there anything interesting to see in the direction opposite the Sun? One night last month, there were quite a few things. First, the red-glowing orb on the lower right of the featured image is the full moon, darkened and reddened because it has entered Earth's shadow. Beyond Earth's cone of darkness are backscattering dust particles orbiting the Sun that standout with a diffuse glow called the gegenschein, visible as a faint band rising from the central horizon and passing behind the Moon. A nearly horizontal stripe of green airglow is also discernable just above the horizon, partly blocked by blowing orange sand. Visible in the distant sky as the blue dot near the top of the image is the star Sirius, while the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches up on the image left and down again on the right. The fuzzy light patches just left of center are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Red emission nebulas too numerous to mention are scattered about the sky, but are labelled in a companion annotated image. In the image foreground is the desolate Deadvlei region of the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, featuring the astrophotographer himself surveying a land and sky so amazing that he described it as one of the top experiences of his life. via NASA ift.tt/1jod2FX

NASA Satellites See California Wildfires from Space by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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EPIC image captured from October 9, 2017 from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera on the DSCOVR satellite.

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As wildfires burn across California, NASA satellites help gather data about where the fires are and how smoke travels across the state.

The smoke from the fires is even visible a million miles away from Earth, captured by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). The Terra spacecraft can see fires in both daylight and at night, helping aid firefighters in tracking and stopping the blazes. NASA's unique vantage point in space helps better understand our home planet.

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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NASA Trashcan..............................................lightbox by Beerbrain/Ronny Perry

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What Will YOU See? by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA Unfiltered – Our First Photo NASA Social

Are you instantly on Instagram? A Flickr fanatic? If you know the difference between shutter speed and an f-stop, this NASA Social is for you. NASA is hosting an event for its photo-fanatic social media followers on the morning of Feb. 27, 2014, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

This NASA Social will bring 15 social media photo-gurus together at NASA Goddard to snap and share photos of where NASA's next great Earth science satellite was developed, built and tested. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission Core Observatory is the largest satellite ever built and tested at NASA Goddard.

NASA Social participants and their friends and family are also invited to attend the GPM launch party at NASA Goddard's Visitor Center. We will watch a live NASA Television broadcast of the launch of GPM from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The Visitor Center will be open from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. EST, with expert presentations and family-friendly hands-on demonstrations. The launch of the GPM Core Observatory is scheduled for no earlier than 1:07 p.m. EST, Feb. 27, 2014.

More details and registration: 1.usa.gov/1fs1sRr

Credit: NASA

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Gamma rays and Comet Dust by Cobra Whatever

Gamma-rays and dust from periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle plowed through planet Earth's atmosphere on the night of August 11/12. Impacting at about 60 kilometers per second the grains of comet dust produced this year's remarkably active Perseid meteor shower. This composite wide-angle image of aligned shower meteors covers a 4.5 hour period on that Perseid night. In it the flashing meteor streaks can be traced back to the shower's origin on the sky. Alongside the Milky Way in the constellation Perseus, the radiant marks the direction along the perodic comet's orbit. Traveling at the speed of light, cosmic gamma-rays impacting Earth's atmosphere generated showers too, showers of high energy particles. Just as the meteor streaks point back to their origin, the even briefer flashes of light from the particles can be used to reconstruct the direction of the particle shower, to point back to the origin on the sky of the incoming gamma-ray. Unlike the meteors, the incredibly fast particle shower flashes can't be followed by eye. But both can be followed by the high speed cameras on the multi-mirrored dishes in the foreground. Of course, the dishes are MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes, an Earth-based gamma-ray observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma. via NASA ift.tt/2b5UZpl

Strong Extratropical Cyclone Over the US Midwest by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA image acquired October 26, 2010

The storm that swept across the center of the United States on October 26 and October 27, 2010, was memorable to those who experienced it because of its strong winds, rain, hail, and widespread tornadoes. Meteorologists get excited about the storm because it set a record for the lowest pressure (not associated with a hurricane) measured over land in the continental United States. At 5:13 p.m. CDT, the weather station in Bigfork, Minnesota recorded 955.2 millibars (28.21 inches of pressure). Pressure is one indicator of a storm’s strength, and this measurement corresponds to the pressure seen in a Category 3 hurricane.

This image, taken by the GOES satellite on October 26, shows the storm system circling around the area of extreme low pressure. Such extratropical cyclones form over the United States in the spring and fall, when the temperature difference from north to south is large. Warm, high-pressure air rushes toward the cooler, low-pressure air in the north. Because the Earth is rotating, the air moving in ends up circling the area of low pressure, creating the cyclone shown in the image. The intensity of the storm is determined by the pressure difference between the center and the outer edges. Extreme low pressure in the center of the storm, therefore, is an indicator that the storm was very intense.

The animation shows the storm developing starting late on October 25 and running through October 27. The cyclone formed very quickly on October 26, taking a distinctive comma shape as the day went on. The storm developed so quickly, in fact, that it is classified as a bomb, an extremely fast developing storm (dropping at least one millibar of pressure per hour for 24 hours), more common over water than land.

The storm was also huge. Though the area of low pressure is centered over the Upper Midwest, the storm reached from the Gulf of Mexico into Canada, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.

Extratropical cyclones bring an array of unsettled weather, including strong wind, rain, hail, and tornadoes, and this cyclone brought all of that. On October 26–27, winds gusted up to 78 miles per hour in Michigan, with high winds throughout the Midwest. The National Weather Service reported 61 tornadoes over the two days. Heavy snow also fell in the north.

NASA Earth Observatory imagery created by Jesse Allen, using imagery provided courtesy of the NASA GOES Project Science Office. Caption by Holli RIebeek.

Instrument: GOES

Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Skylab 3 Astronauts by NASA on The Commons

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Description: The crewmembers of Skylab 3: astronaut Alan L. Bean, foreground, commander; scientist-astronaut Owen K. Garriott, left, science pilot; and astronaut Jack R. Lousma, pilot. This crew spent 59 days and 11 hours in orbit.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA

Image Number: 72-HC-90

Date: February 2, 1972

A Prominence on the Sun by Jon

This eerie landscape of incandescent plasma suspended in looping and twisted magnetic fields stretched toward the Sun's eastern horizon on September 16. Captured through a backyard telescope and narrowband filter in light from ionized hydrogen, the scene reveals a gigantic prominence lofted above the solar limb. Some 600,000 kilometers across, the magnetized plasma wall would dwarf worlds of the Solar System. Ruling gas giant Jupiter can only boast a diameter of 143,000 kilometers or so, while planet Earth's diameter is less than 13,000 kilometers. Known as a hedgerow prominence for its appearance, the enormous structure is far from stable though, and such large solar prominences often erupt. via NASA ift.tt/1FmkD19

NASA's Swift Narrows Down Origin of Important Supernova Class by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA image release March 20, 2012

Studies using X-ray and ultraviolet observations from NASA's Swift satellite provide new insights into the elusive origins of an important class of exploding star called Type Ia supernovae.

Three types of systems, illustrated here, may host Type Ia supernovae. The first two panels depict a white dwarf in a binary system accumulating matter transferred from a red supergiant companion many times the sun's mass (left) or similar to the sun (middle). The transferred matter is thought to accumulate on the white dwarf and ultimately cause it to explode. Swift data on dozens of supernovae essentially eliminate the first model. Mounting evidence suggests that some Type Ia supernovae occur when binary white dwarfs (right) merge and collide.

Credit: NASA/Swift/ Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State Univ.

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Solar Scientist Confirm Existence of Flux Ropes on the Sun by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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Caption: This is an image of magnetic loops on the sun, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It has been processed to highlight the edges of each loop to make the structure more clear. A series of loops such as this is known as a flux rope, and these lie at the heart of eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs.) This is the first time scientists were able to discern the timing of a flux rope's formation. (Blended 131 Angstrom and 171 Angstrom images of July 19, 2012 flare and CME.)

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

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On July 18, 2012, a fairly small explosion of light burst off the lower right limb of the sun. Such flares often come with an associated eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME – but this one did not. Something interesting did happen, however. Magnetic field lines in this area of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, began to twist and kink, generating the hottest solar material – a charged gas called plasma – to trace out the newly-formed slinky shape. The plasma glowed brightly in extreme ultraviolet images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and scientists were able to watch for the first time the very formation of something they had long theorized was at the heart of many eruptive events on the sun: a flux rope.

Eight hours later, on July 19, the same region flared again. This time the flux rope's connection to the sun was severed, and the magnetic fields escaped into space, dragging billions of tons of solar material along for the ride -- a classic CME.

"Seeing this structure was amazing," says Angelos Vourlidas, a solar scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "It looks exactly like the cartoon sketches theorists have been drawing of flux ropes since the 1970s. It was a series of figure eights lined up to look like a giant slinky on the sun." To read more about this new discovery go to: 1.usa.gov/14UHsTt

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Patagonia Andes - ISS - May 11 2026 by Kevin Gill

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Color adjustments, cropped.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Christopher Williams/Kevin M. Gill

Image Source: eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS074&amp...

Saturn - December 16 2007 by Kevin Gill

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill

NASA's LRO Camera Team Releases High Resolution Global Topographic Map of Moon by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA image release November 16, 2011

The science team that oversees the imaging system on board NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has released the highest resolution near-global topographic map of the moon ever created.

This new topographic map, from Arizona State University in Tempe, shows the surface shape and features over nearly the entire moon with a pixel scale close to 100 meters (328 feet). A single measure of elevation (one pixel) is about the size of two football fields placed side-by-side.

To read more on this image go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-topo.html

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/DLR/ASU

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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NASA Scientific Balloon in Antarctica by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA image captured December 25, 2011

A NASA scientific balloon awaits launch in McMurdo, Antarctica. The balloon, carrying Indiana University's Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST), was launched on December 25.

After a circum-navigational flight around the South Pole, the payload landed on January 5. The CREST payload is one of two scheduled as part of this seasons' annual NASA Antarctic balloon Campaign which is conducted in cooperation with the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs. The campaign's second payload is the University of Arizona's Stratospheric

Terahertz Observatory (STO). You can follow the flights at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's web site at www.csbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice.htm

Credit: NASA

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy by Mauro Bagnariol

How much mass do flocculent spirals hide? The featured true color image of flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 4414 was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope to help answer this question. The featured image was augmented with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Flocculent spirals -- galaxies without well-defined spiral arms -- are a quite common form of galaxy, and NGC 4414 is one of the closest. Stars and gas near the visible edge of spiral galaxies orbit the center so fast that the gravity from a large amount of unseen dark matter must be present to hold them together. Understanding the matter and dark matter distribution of NGC 4414 helps humanity calibrate the rest of the galaxy and, by deduction, flocculent spirals in general. Further, calibrating the distance to NGC 4414 helps humanity calibrate the cosmological distance scale of the entire visible universe. via NASA ift.tt/2gsbMns

The Horsehead Nebula by Greg Dowmont

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the red emission nebula in the center of the above photograph. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright red emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. The emission nebula's red color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. On the image left is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains filaments of dark dust. Just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula featured picture is a blueish reflection nebulae that preferentially reflects the blue light from nearby stars. via NASA ift.tt/1lPuhBd

Europa - Juno JunoCam PERIJOVE 45 by 2di7 & titanio44

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Crediti: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS - Processing: Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin / aliveuniverse.today

Saturn - December 17 2006 by Kevin Gill

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill

The Milky Way Over Monument Valley by Greg Dowmont

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You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that includes these iconic rock peaks called buttes. Buttes are composed of hard rock left behind after water has eroded away the surrounding soft rock. In the featured image taken in 2012, the closest butte on the left and the butte to its right are known as the Mittens, while Merrick Butte can be seen just further to the right. High overhead stretches a band of diffuse light that is the central disk of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. The band of the Milky Way can be spotted by almost anyone on almost any clear night when far enough from a city and surrounding bright lights. via NASA ift.tt/1RH0yUk

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Azusa, CA

Pictures from the past week.

Summer Storm Spins Over Arctic by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced on Aug. 27, 2012, that the ice cap covering the Arctic Ocean is now smaller than ever recorded since consistent satellite measurements of the ice began more than three decades ago. Each year, the ice cap goes through a shrink-and-swell cycle, melting throughout the summer months before expanding through fall and winter. In the past decade in particular the minimum summertime extent of the ice cap has shown a consistent decline in size – a trend closely linked with the Arctic's warming climate. NASA and NSIDC scientists said the extent of Arctic sea ice on Aug. 26 surpassed the previous record minimum extent set in the summer of 2007. The ice cap will continue to melt and get smaller in the coming weeks before temperatures get colder and ice begins to refreeze as fall approaches.

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NASA image acquired August 6, 2012

Summer Storm Spins Over Arctic

An unusually strong storm formed off the coast of Alaska on August 5 and tracked into the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it slowly dissipated over the next several days.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color mosaic image on August 6, 2012. The center of the storm at that date was located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

The storm had an unusually low central pressure area. Paul A. Newman, Chief Scientist for Atmospheric Sciences at NASA Goddard estimates that there have only been about eight storms of similar strength during the month of August in the last 34 years of satellite records. “It’s an uncommon event, especially because it’s occurring in the summer. Polar lows are more usual in the winter,” Newman said.

Arctic storms such as this one can have a large impact on the sea ice, causing it to melt rapidly through many mechanisms, such as tearing off large swaths of ice and pushing them to warmer sites, churning the ice and making it slushier, or lifting warmer waters from the depths of the Arctic Ocean.

“It seems that this storm has detached a large chunk of ice from the main sea ice pack. This could lead to a more serious decay of the summertime ice cover than would have been the case otherwise, even perhaps leading to a new Arctic sea ice minimum,” said Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist with NASA Goddard. “Decades ago, a storm of the same magnitude would have been less likely to have as large an impact on the sea ice, because at that time the ice cover was thicker and more expansive.”

Aqua passes over the poles many times a day, and the MODIS Rapid Response System stitches together images from throughout each day to generate a daily mosaic view of the Arctic. This technique creates the diagonal lines that give the image its "pie slice" appearance.

In the image, the bright white ice sheet of Greenland is seen in the lower left.

By Maria-José Viñas
NASA's Earth Science News Team

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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The Elephant's Trunk in IC 1396 by Jon

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Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus. Of course, the cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20 light-years long. This composite was recorded through narrow band filters that transmit the light from ionized hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms in the region. The resulting image highlights the bright swept-back ridges that outline pockets of cool interstellar dust and gas. Such embedded, dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars within the obscuring cosmic dust. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. via NASA ift.tt/1Moutg5

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