Comment

Comment by Michel on April 25, 2012 at 7:17pm

Impressive?

It wouldn't be believable if it was a movie special effect =)

Comment by doone on April 25, 2012 at 7:07pm

That’s Impressive

Apr. 25, 2012

Comment by doone on April 25, 2012 at 6:57pm

The massive star Eta Carinae in our Milky Way galaxy that experts believe might explode in a supernova at any time.

(Reuters / NASA)

Comment by doone on April 25, 2012 at 6:37am

Meteor Over Crater Lake 
Image Credit & Copyright: Brad Goldpaint (Goldpaint Photography)

Explanation: Did you see it? One of the more common questions during a meteor shower occurs because the time it takes for a meteor to flash is typically less than the time it takes for a head to turn. Possibly, though, the glory of seeing bright meteors shoot across and knowing that they were once small pebbles on another world might make it all worthwhile, even if your observing partner(s) could not share in every particular experience. Peaking over the past few days, a dark moonless sky allowed the Lyrids meteor shower to exhibit as many as 30 visible meteors per hour from some locations. A bright Lyrid meteor streaks above picturesque Crater Lake in Oregon, USA, in the above composite of nine exposures taken last week. Snow covers the foreground, while the majestic central band of our home galaxy arches well behind the serene lake. Other meteor showers this year include the Perseids in mid-August and the Leonids in mid-November, both expected to also dodge the glare of a bright Moon in 2012.

Comment by doone on April 24, 2012 at 11:19pm

Browse more data visualizations.

Comment by doone on April 24, 2012 at 6:47am

Rosetta Approaches Asteroid Lutitea 
Images Credit: ESA / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / RSSD / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA; 
Video Compilation: Daniel Machacek / YouTube: planetaryprobes

Explanation: What would it look like to approach an asteroid in a spaceship? In 2010, ESA's robotic Rosetta spacecraft zipped past the asteroid 21 Lutetia taking data and snapping images in an effort to better determine the history of the asteroid and the origin of its unusual colors. Recently, many images from a camera always facing the asteroid were compiled into the above video. Although of unknown composition, Lutetia is not massive enough for gravity to pull it into a sphere. The 100-kilometer acrossLutetian is currently the largest asteroid or comet nucleus that has been visited by a human-launched spacecraft. Orbiting in the main asteroid belt, Lutetia shows itself to be a heavily cratered remnant of the early Solar System. Now well past Lutetia, the Rosetta spacecraft is continuing onto comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko where a landing is planned for 2014.

Comment by Michel on April 23, 2012 at 11:56am

WOW! I had heard some high-voltage music before, but this is good.

Comment by doone on April 23, 2012 at 11:36am

Comment by doone on April 23, 2012 at 7:48am

To Blob, or not to Blob, that is the question:

Evaporating Blobs of the Carina Nebula 
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Explanation: No, they are not alive -- but they are dying. The unusual blobs found in the Carina nebula, some of which are seen floating on the upper right, might best be described as evaporating. Energetic light and winds from nearby stars are breaking apart the dark dust grains that make the iconic forms opaque. Ironically the blobs, otherwise known as dark molecular clouds, frequently create in their midst the very stars that later destroy them. The floating space mountains pictured above by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope span a few light months. The Great Nebula in Carina itself spans about 30 light years, lies about 7,500 light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of Keel (Carina).

Comment by doone on April 22, 2012 at 2:13pm

Flowing Barchan Sand Dunes on Mars 
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

Explanation: When does Mars act like a liquid? Although liquids freeze and evaporate quickly into the thin atmosphere of Mars, persistent winds may make large sand dunes appear to flow and even drip like a liquid. Visible on the above image right are two flat top mesas in southern Mars when the season was changing from Spring to Summer. A light dome topped hill is also visible on the far left of the image. As winds blow from right to left, flowing sand on and around the hills leaves picturesque streaks. The dark arc-shaped droplets of fine sand are called barchans, and are the interplanetary cousins of similar Earth-based sand forms. Barchans can move intact a downwind and can even appear to pass through each other. When seasons change, winds on Mars can kick up dust and are monitored to see if they escalate into another of Mars' famous planet-scale sand storms.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 71
• 72
• 73
• 74
• 75
• …
• 122
• Next ›
• Page