Dust and the Helix Nebula

Dust makes this cosmic eye look red. The eerie Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. The two light-year diameter shroud of dust and gas around a central white dwarf has long been considered an excellent example of a planetary nebula, representing the final stages in the

Suzaku Finds "Fossil" Fireballs from Supernovae

Studies of two supernova remnants using the Japan-U.S. Suzaku observatory have revealed never-before-seen embers of the high-temperature fireballs that immediately followed the explosions. Even after thousands of years, gas within these stellar wrecks retain the imprint of temperatures 10,000 times hotter than the sun's surface."This is the first evidence of a new type of supernova remnant -- one

Spitzer's M101

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Recorded at

Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble -- maybe Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. This suggestively shaped reflection nebula on the lower left is associated with the bright star Rigel, to its right, in the constellation Orion. More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula glows primarily by light reflected from Rigel. Fine dust in the nebula

Planetary Systems Now Forming in Orion

How do planets form? To help find out, the Hubble Space Telescope was tasked to take a detailed look at one of the more interesting of all astronomical nebulae, the Great Nebula in Orion. The Orion nebula, visible with the unaided eye near the belt in the constellation of Orion, is an immense nearby starbirth region and probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Insets to the

Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out

In the center of star-forming region 30 Doradus lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. These stars, known collectively as star cluster R136, were captured above in visible light by the newly installed Wide Field Camera peering though the recently refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. Gas and dust clouds in 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, have been

Tutulemma: Solar Eclipse Analemma

If you went outside at exactly the same time every day and took a picture that included the Sun, how would the Sun appear to move? With great planning and effort, such a series of images can be taken. The figure-8 path the Sun follows over the course of a year is called an analemma. This coming Tuesday, the Winter Solstice day in Earth's northern hemisphere, the Sun will be at the bottom

Update on Last Night's DNS Disruption

Domain Name System or DNS is an Internet protocol used to translate IP addresses into domain names so instead of typing in a long string of numbers we can enter urls like www.twitter.com into a browser to visit our favorite web sites. Last night, DNS settings for the Twitter web site were hijacked. From 9:46pm to 11pm PST, approximately 80% of Traffic to Twitter.com was redirected to other web

Aurora Shimmer, Meteor Flash

Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on December 13. This 30 second long exposure records their shimmering glow gently lighting the wintery coastal scene. A study in contrasts, it also captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from December's excellent Geminid meteor shower. Streaking past familiar stars in the handle of the Big

Southern Geminids

At least 34 meteors are included in this composite image as they rain through Australian skies during the annual Geminid Meteor shower. Dust particles strung out along the orbit of extinct comet Phaethon vaporize when they plow through planet Earth's atmosphere causing the impressive display. Although the particles are traveling parallel to each other, the resulting streaks clearly seem to

Mojave Desert Fireball

Monstrously bright, this fireball meteor lit up the Mojave Desert sky Monday morning, part of this year's impressive Geminid meteor shower. Seen toward the southwest over rock formations near Victorville, California, a more familiar celestial background was momentarily washed out by the meteor's flash. The background includes bright star Sirius at the left, and Aldebaran and the Pleaides star

Comet Hyakutake Passes the Earth

In 1996, an unexpectedly bright comet passed by planet Earth. Discovered less than two months before, Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake came within only 1/10th of the Earth-Sun distance from the Earth in late March. At that time, Comet Hyakutake, dubbed the Great Comet of 1996, became the brightest comet to grace the skies of Earth in 20 years. During its previous visit, Comet Hyakutake may well

A Fading Moonset Over Hong Kong

Do stars appear dimmer when nearer the horizon? Yes -- atmospheric air absorbs and reradiates light, so that the greater the airmass through which one peers, the fainter an object will appear. Pictured above in a multi-frame image, stars, the planet Jupiter, and even the Moon show the horizon-dimming effects of Earth's nearly-transparent atmosphere. The image was taken in the evening about

HUDF Infrared: Dawn of the Galaxies

When did galaxies form? To help find out, the deepest near-infrared image of the sky ever has been taken of the same field as the optical-light Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) in 2004. The new image was taken this summer by the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 on the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. Faint red smudges identified on the above image likely surpass redshift 8 in

Ice Moon Tethys from Saturn-Orbiting Cassini

What processes formed the unusual surface of Saturn's moon Tethys? To help find out, NASA sent the robotic Cassini spacecraft right past the enigmatic ice moon in 2005. Pictured above is one of the highest resolution images of an entire face of Tethys yet created. The pervasive white color of Tethys is thought to be created by fresh ice particles continually falling onto the moon from

The International Space Station Over the Horizon

This was home. Just over a week ago, the STS-129 crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth. As the shuttle departed the space station, they took the above image. Visible on the ISS are numerous modules, trusses, and long wing-like solar panels. The space shuttle crew spent almost 12 days calling the space station

The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught

Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, was the brightest comet of the last 40 years. Its spectacular tail spread across the sky and was breathtaking to behold from dark locations for many Southern Hemisphere observers. The head of the comet remained quite bright and was easily visible to even city observers without any optical aide. Part of the spectacular tail was visible just above

Himalayan Skyscape

Capella, alpha star of the constellation Auriga, rises over Mt. Everest in this panoramic view of the top of the world at night. The scene was recorded in late November near Namche Bazar, Nepal, gateway to the Himalayan mountain range. Moonlight illuminates the famous peaks of Everest (8840 meters) and Lhotse (8516 meters) at the far left, and a stupa (a Buddhist religious monument) in the

STS-130 Mission Information

Image above: (From left) Mission Specialist Nicholas Patrick, Pilot Terry Virts, Mission Specialists Robert Behnken and Kathryn Hire, Commander George Zamka and Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson. Image credit: NASALaunch Target:Feb. 4, 2010Orbiter:EndeavourMission Number:STS-130(130th space shuttle flight)Launch Window:10 minutesLaunch Pad:39AMission Duration:13 daysLanding Site:KSCInclination/

STS-130 Crew Profiles

Crew ProfilesGeorge D. Zamka CommanderView biographyTerry W. Virts Jr. PilotView biographyNicholas J. M. Patrick Mission SpecialistView biographyRobert L. Behnken Mission SpecialistView biographyStephen K. Robinson Mission SpecialistView biographyKathryn P. Hire Mission SpecialistView biography

Space Shuttle Mission: STS-130

In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are halfway complete with a three-day leak test on space shuttle Endeavour's environmental control and life support system, as well as structural leak tests.The shuttle's move, also known as rollover, to the Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for Dec. 12. Once inside, the Endeavour will be hoisted and then

The Double Cluster

A lovely starfield in the heroic northern constellation Perseus holds this famous pair of open or galactic star clusters, h and Chi Perseii. Also cataloged as NGC 869 (right) and NGC 884, both clusters are about 7,000 light-years away and contain stars much younger and hotter than the Sun. Separated by only a few hundred light-years, the clusters' ages based on their individual stars are

Honoring Apollo 13's Fred Haise

At a 1 p.m. ceremony on Dec 2, 2009, Administrator Charles Bolden presented NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award to Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, a Biloxi, Miss., native.The ceremony took place at Biloxi's Gorenflo Elementary School.Pictured from left to right are school principal Tina Thompson, Administrator Bolden, Fred Haise, Biloxi Public School District Superintendent Paul Tisdale and

Daphnis' Disturbances

This Cassini image, which at first appears to show a serene scene, in fact reveals dramatic disturbances created in Saturn's A ring by its moon Daphnis.Near the center of the image, tiny Daphnis (8 kilometers, 5 miles across) appears as a bright dot in the Keeler Gap near the edge waves it has created in the A ring. The moon has an inclined orbit and its gravitational pull perturbs the orbits of

Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660

NGC 660 lies near the center of this intriguing field of galaxies swimming within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces. Over 20 million light-years away, its peculiar appearance marks it as a polar ring galaxy. A rare galaxy type, polar ring galaxies have a substantial population of stars, gas, and dust orbiting in rings nearly perpendicular to the plane of a flat galactic disk. The

Scientists Explain Puzzling Lake Asymmetry on Titan

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other institutions suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the northern and southern polar regions of the planet's largest moon, Titan. A paper describing the theory appears in the Nov. 29 advance online edition

Atlantis and the STS-129 Profile

Surrounded by the blackness of space, this profile view of the space shuttle Atlantis was photographed by the Expedition 21 crew on the International Space Station soon after the shuttle and station began their post-undocking relative separation.Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 3:53 a.m. CST on Nov. 25, 2009.Atlantis and the STS-129 crew landed safely at Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 27

Details of Dark Senkyo

The low albedo feature known as Senkyo is visible through the haze of Titan's atmosphere.To learn about this area that appears dark near the moon's equator. This view looks toward Saturn-facing side of Titan (5150 kilometers, 3200 miles across) and is centered on terrain at 1 degree south latitude, 345 degrees west longitude. North on Titan is up and rotated 10 degrees to the right.The image was

Dust Sculptures in the Rosette Nebula

What creates the cosmic dust sculptures in the Rosette Nebula? Noted for the common beauty of its overall shape, parts of the Rosette Nebula, also known as NGC 2237, show beauty even when viewed up close. Visible above are globules of dark dust and gas that are slowly being eroded away by the energetic light and winds by nearby massive stars. Left alone long enough, the molecular-cloud

Another Stall of Right-Rear Wheel Ends Drive

Spirit's right-rear wheel stalled again on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28, 2009) during the first step of a two-step extrication maneuver. This stall is different in some characteristics from the stall on Sol 2092 (Nov. 21). The Sol 2099 stall occurred more quickly and the inferred rotor resistance was elevated at the end of the stall. Investigation of past stall events along with these characteristics

Expedition 21 Crew Lands in Kazakhstan

Expedition 21 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank De Winne and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Robert Thirsk have returned to Earth, landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft. Landing occurred at 2:15 a.m. EST Tuesday, 1:15 p.m. Kazakhstan time.All three crew members were reported to be in good

NGC 6992: Filaments of the Veil Nebula

Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,500 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula, also known as the Cygnus Loop. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright as a crescent Moon, remaining visible for weeks to people living at the dawn of recorded history. Today, the resulting supernova remnant has faded and is now

Slicing the Arc

The bright arc within Saturn's G ring is shown truncated by the shadow of the planet at the bottom of this image.Although it can't be seen here, the tiny moonlet Aegaeon (formerly known as S/2008 S 1) orbits within the bright arc. See PIA11148 to learn more. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from about 4 degrees above the ringplane. Many background stars are visible