Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
On July 29, 2011 the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera took this snapshot and captured 5 of Saturn's moons, from just above the ringplane. Left to right are small moons Janus and Pandora respectively 179 and 81 kilometers across, shiny 504 kilometer diameter Enceladus, and Mimas, 396 kilometers across, seen just next to Rhea.
Originally posted on Twitter.
In this view of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures swirling clouds in the region of the giant planet's northern hemisphere known as JetN4. Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson created this enhanced-color image using data from JunoCam.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA23438
Originally posted on Twitter.
Check out Eleanor Lutz's gorgeous orbit map of the planets and 18K asteroids in the solar system. Zoom in (or download the high-res version here) and check out all the detail!
https://www.universetoday.com/142531/an-orbit-map-of-the-solar-system/
Originally posted on Facebook.
Mars Is Heaven: https://buff.ly/2nlVuSm by @BadAstronomer. Grab the full, high-res version of this amazing image taken by @esascience #MarsExpress here: https://buff.ly/2nx28oD
Originally posted on Twitter.
Say what you will, but the man has panache, and a keen sense of the moment. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1178014342031298561
This is the just-assembled Starship Mk1 Prototype, which will make its first test flight (to 20 km) next month. It's intended to be a reusable spacecraft that will go to the moon and Mars.
Curiosity enjoying a beautiful, peaceful and possibly lonely afternoon on Mars. https://twitter.com/marsrader/status/1176488000383045633
Originally posted on Twitter.
"NASA’s New Black Hole Simulation Will Completely Melt Your Brain": https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-black-hole-visualization
It really is stunning. Follow the link above for the trippy visualization flow.
During a recent perijove pass, Juno caught an absolutely incredible image of Io's shadow cast upon Jupiter.😲😍
Unless it's actually millions of monoliths devouring Jupiter's atmosphere. Which is, frankly, equally as likely.
Hi-res quality: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/48745739051/
Source and credit: https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1173741101515079680
Originally posted on Facebook.
From inside the eye of Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 1. Source: https://twitter.com/GBlack22wx/status/1168273327531679744.
Bless the insane people who bring us these incredible images. 😮
"NASA launched its Spitzer Space Telescope into orbit around the Sun on Aug. 25, 2003. Since then, the observatory has been lifting the veil on the wonders of the cosmos, from our own solar system to faraway galaxies, using infrared light.
Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Spitzer enabled scientists to confirm the presence of seven rocky, Earth-size planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. The telescope has also provided weather maps of hot, gaseous exoplanets and revealed a hidden ring around Saturn. It has illuminated hidden collections of dust in a wide variety of locations, including cosmic nebulas (clouds of gas and dust in space), where young stars form, and swirling galaxies. Spitzer has additionally investigated some of the universe's oldest galaxies and stared at the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Spitzer's primary mission lasted five-and-a-half years and ended when it ran out of the liquid helium coolant necessary to operate two of its three instruments. But its passive-cooling design has allowed part of its third instrument to continue operating for more than 10 additional years. The mission is scheduled to end on Jan. 30, 2020.
In honor of Spitzer's Sweet 16 in space, here are 16 amazing images from the mission.": http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/2195-ssc2019-15-Sixteen-Images-for-Spitzer-s-Sweet-16
Behind the Scenes at Earth's Most Beautiful Rocket Launch Site: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/behind-the-scenes-at-earths-most-beautiful-rocket-launch-site/
Who’s up for a vacation to New Zealand?
What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball? A supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star but blasted its newly formed neutron star core -- a pulsar -- out into the Milky Way Galaxy.
Originally posted on Twitter.
This new Hubble Space Telescope view of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet's trademark Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter's atmosphere. More info: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/hubble-new-portrait-of-jupiter
Originally posted on Twitter.
A total solar eclipse reflected in an Argentine lake called La Cuesta Del Viento (The Slope of the Wind). By astrophotographer Thierry Legault. Via NASA’s Astonomy Picture of the Day.
Originally posted on Twitter.
An update from the indomnitable Mars rover Curiosity: “Can't stop. Won't stop. I've been exploring #Mars for seven years, traveled 13 miles (21 km), climbed 1,207 feet (368 m), found conditions on ancient Mars were favorable for life as we know it, and I'm not done yet. Here's what's new (plus a 360 view): https://go.nasa.gov/2YtGgMg”
Originally posted on Twitter.
Star Forming Region Without Stars: By digitally removing the stars, this image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars.
Allegedly some people think this region resembles a weeping angle, but…no. Just no. #shudder
Via APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190730.html
Originally posted on Twitter.
NASA Unveils Amazing Cosmic Views as Chandra X-Ray Observatory Turns 20: https://www.space.com/chandra-xray-telescope-turns-20.html.
Originally posted on Twitter.
Crowdfunded spacecraft LightSail 2 snaps amazing photos ahead of solar sail deployment: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/17/crowdfunded-spacecraft-lightsail-2-snaps-amazing-photos-ahead-of-solar-sail-deployment/.
LightSail 2’s development was funded in part via a successful crowdfunding campaign run by the Bill Nye-led Planetary Society. Its goal is to test a spacecraft’s ability to fly powered only by the force of photons from the Sun striking a solar sail constructed of Mylar. This method of space-based transportation is extremely slow to get started, but thanks to the inertia-free medium of outer space, it could be an extremely energy-efficient way for research craft to travel long distances.
It launched on June 25 as part of the shared payload of SpaceX’s most recent Falcon Heavy launch.
Originally posted on Twitter.
The Space Station Crosses a Spotless Sun (by Rainee Colacurcio): https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190715.html
I saw this image yesterday morning, and I continue to be transfixed by it. Obviously, there is one heck of a visual illusion going on here, as the ISS is in low Earth orbit and the sun is 93 million miles away, but it's powerful nonetheless.😯
