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On the night of Oct. 8, a photographer in Harstad, Norway captured this image of the dancing northern lights. Auroras are created when fast-moving, magnetic solar material strikes Earth's magnetic bubble, the magnetosphere. This collision rattles the magnetosphere in an event called a geomagnetic storm, sending trapped charged particles zooming down magnetic field lines towards the atmosphere, where they collide brilliantly with molecules in the air, creating auroras. Though many geomagnetic storms are associated with clouds of solar material that explode from the sun in an event called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, this storm was caused by an especially fast stream of solar wind. "Geomagnetic storms caused by high-speed solar wind streams aren't uncommon," said Leila Mays, a space physicist at our Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Near solar minimum-when solar activity like CMEs are less frequent-these fast streams are actually the most common cause of geomagnetic storms that create auroras." Image courtesy of Johnny Henriksen/Spaceweather.com #nasa #space #photography #aurora #spaceweather #nasabeyond #sun #earth #science; -
When stars that are around the mass of the sun reach their final stages of life, they shed their outer layers into space, which appear as glowing clouds of gas called planetary nebulae. The ejection of mass in stellar burnout is irregular and not symmetrical, so that planetary nebulae can have very complex shapes. In the case of this one, the nebula forms a winding blue cloud that perfectly aligns with two stars at its center. In 1999 astronomers discovered that the star at the upper right is in fact the central star of the nebula, and the star to the lower left is probably a true physical companion of the central star. For tens of thousands of years the stellar core will be cocooned in spectacular clouds of gas and then, over a period of a few thousand years, the gas will fade away into the depths of the universe. The curving structure of this planetary nebula resembles a last goodbye before the star reaches its final stage of retirement as a white dwarf. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Serge Meunier #nasa #nebula #stars #space #astronomy #nasabeyond #science #hubble #hst #hubble25; -
Pluto's haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by our New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn's moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles (called tholins) that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI #nasa #space #pluto #plutoflyby #solarsystem #newhorizons #nasabeyond #science; -
Scientists compared ground-based videos of pulsating auroras—a certain type of aurora that appears as patches of brightness regularly flickering on and off—with satellite measurements of the numbers and energies of electrons raining down towards the surface from inside Earth’s magnetic bubble, the magnetosphere. The team found something unexpected: A drop in the number of low-energy electrons, long thought to have little or no effect, corresponds with especially fast changes in the shape and structure of pulsating auroras. This image of a colorful aurora was taken in Delta Junction, Alaska, on April 10, 2015. All auroras are created by energetic electrons, which rain down from Earth’s magnetic bubble and interact with particles in the upper atmosphere to create glowing lights that stretch across the sky. Credits: Image courtesy of Sebastian Saarloos #nasa #aurora #earth #earthrightnow #science; -
This map-projected view of Ceres was created from images taken by our Dawn spacecraft during its high-altitude mapping orbit, in August and September 2015. Images taken using infrared (920 nanometers), red (750 nanometers) and blue (440 nanometers) spectral filters were combined to create this false-color view. Redder colors indicate places on Ceres' surface that reflect light strongly in the infrared, while bluish colors indicate enhanced reflectivity at short (bluer) wavelengths; green indicates places where albedo, or overall brightness, is strongly enhanced. Scientists use this technique in order to highlight subtle color differences across Ceres, which would appear fairly uniform in natural color. This can provide valuable insights into the mineral composition of the surface, as well as the relative ages of surface features. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA #nasa #dawn #nasadawn #ceres #solarsystem #space #nasabeyond #science @NASAJPL;
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Ribbons of dust festoon the galaxy NGC 613 in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 613 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy for the bar-shaped band of stars and dust crossing its intensely glowing center. About two-thirds of spiral galaxies show a characteristic bar shape like NGC 613 - our own galaxy appears to have one of these bars through its midline as well. As with nearly all spiral galaxies, a monstrous black hole resides at the heart of NGC 613. Its mass is estimated at about 10 times that of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole and it is consuming stars, gas and dust. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and S. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast) #nasa #hubble #hst #hubble25 #galaxy #space #blackhole #nasaebeyond #science; -
Before drifting off to sleep, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (@stationcdrkelly) captured this images from the International Space Station and wrote, " Day 180. Moonlight over Italy. #BuonaNotte Good night from @ISS! #YearInSpace." Kelly is living and working off the Earth, for the Earth aboard the station for a yearlong mission. Traveling the world about 250 miles above the Earth, and at 17,500 mph, he circumnavigates the globe more than a dozen times a day. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #spacestation #space #earth #iss; -
The film "The Martian" is set in the 2030s, when our astronauts are regularly traveling to Mars and living on the surface. Right now, we're developing the capabilities needed to send humans to the Red Planet. A fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers already are on and around Mars, dramatically increasing our knowledge about the Red Planet and paving the way for future human explorers. The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover measured radiation on the way to Mars and is sending back radiation data from the surface. This data will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore Mars. Future missions like the Mars 2020 rover, seeking signs of past life, also will demonstrate new technologies that could help astronauts survive on Mars. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #mars #journeytomars #themartian #marsrover #curiosity #curiosityrover #space #redplanet #nasabeyond #science; -
NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly (@stationcdrkelly) captured this photo today, from the International Space Station and wrote on Twitter, "Early morning shot of Hurricane #Joaquin from @ISS before reaching #Bahamas. Hope all is safe. #YearInSpace." In addition to the crew Earth observations from the space station, NASA and NOAA satellites are tracking the progress of this powerful storm. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #spacestation #space earth #hurricane #earthrightnow #hurricanejoaquin #storm #weather #science #iss; -
Our New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto's largest moon, Charon - and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history. This high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon was captured just before closest approach on July 14. The image combines blue, red and infrared images; the colors are processed to best highlight the variation of surface properties across Charon. Charon's color palette is not as diverse as Pluto's; most striking is the reddish north (top) polar region, informally named Mordor Macula. Charon is 754 miles (1,214 kilometers) across; this image resolves details as small as 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers). Many scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they're finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI #nasa #space #newhorizons #plutoflyby #pluto #charon #nasabeyond #science;
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A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies: Galaxy clusters are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity. The Phoenix Cluster, pictured here, has shattered multiple records in the past: In 2012, scientists announced that the Phoenix cluster featured the highest rate of cooling hot gas and star formation ever seen in the center of a galaxy cluster, and is the most powerful producer of X-rays of all known clusters. The rate at which hot gas is cooling in the center of the cluster is also the largest ever observed. New observations of this galaxy cluster are helping astronomers better understand this remarkable object. Data reveal narrow filaments from the center of the cluster where stars are forming. These massive cosmic threads of gas and dust, most of which had never been detected before, extend for 160,000 to 330,000 lights years. This is longer than the entire breadth of the Milky Way galaxy, making them the most extensive filaments ever seen in a galaxy cluster. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/M. McDonald et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI #nasa #space #hubble #chandra #nasabeyond #galaxy #stars #milkyway #science; -
Solar Loops: An active region viewed in profile put on quite a show of erupting plasma and looping arches on Sept. 22-23. The loops, seen above the sun's surface on the right, are light emissions from charged particles spinning along magnetic field lines that dance through the sun's atmosphere. The region, which appeared as a sunspot group in visible light, was observed here in two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light over a period of about 40 hours. Though invisible to our eyes, light emissions in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 171 Angstroms are typically colorized in gold, while emissions in 304 angstroms are colorized in red. Credit: NASA/SDO #nasa #sun #nasabeyond #light #science #sdo; -
Water on Mars! New findings from our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars. Dark, narrow streaks on Martian slopes such as these at Hale Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on contemporary Mars. The streaks are roughly the length of a football field. The imaging and topographical information in this processed, false-color view. These dark features on the slopes are called "recurring slope lineae" or RSL. Planetary scientists detected hydrated salts on these slopes at Hale Crater, corroborating the hypothesis that the streaks are formed by briny liquid water. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona #nasa #nasabeyond #mars #mro #space #planets #marsannouncement #journeytomars #science; -
It's a #SuperBloodMoon! A perigee full moon, or supermoon, is seen behind the Washington Monument during a total lunar eclipse on Sunday, Sept. 27, in Washington, DC. The combination of a supermoon and total lunar eclipse last occurred in 1982 and will not happen again until 2033. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) #nasa #space #eclipse #lunareclipse #moon #supermoon #earth #nasaebeyond #science; -
TONIGHT: #SuperBloodMoon! For the first time in more than 30 years, you can witness a supermoon in combination with a lunar eclipse. Tonight in the U.S. and much of the world, a total lunar eclipse will mask the moon's larger-than-life face. Get your camera and find a great spot to snap a pic of the event, then share it with NASA this evening in our #SuperBloodMoon photo contest. Share your photo with us starting at 10:00pm EDT tonight here: http://go.nasa.gov/superbloodmoon-contest Image Credit: NASA #nasa #bloodmoon #eclipse #lunareclipse #harvestmoon #moon #supermoon #earth #science;
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