NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) captures photographs and video of the Earth from the International Space Station (@ISS) routinely. On Nov. 17, 2015. Kelly shared this stunning image, writing "Unmistakably #Africa‬." Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #iss #spacestation #yearinspace #earth Instagram ดารา @nasa 1,182

Tethys, dwarfed by the scale of Saturn and its rings, appears as an elegant crescent in this image taken by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. Views like this are impossible from Earth, where we only see Saturn's moons as (more or less) fully illuminated disks. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 18, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 184,000 miles (296,000 km) from Tethys. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute #nasa #nasabeyond #space #cassini #saturn #moon #tethys #planet #planets #solarsystem #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 30,590

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for the Orbital ATK CRS-4 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station (@ISS). Liftoff was at 4:44 p.m. EST. The Cygnus resupply spacecraft will deliver more than 7,000 pounds of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to the station. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray & Tim Terry #nasa #space #cygnus #launch #rocketlaunch #ula #orbitalatk #rocket # Instagram ดารา @nasa 50,653

This composite image shows an infrared view of Saturn's moon Titan from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, acquired during the mission's ''T-114'' flyby on Nov. 13, 2015. A view at visible wavelengths would show only Titan's hazy atmosphere. The near-infrared wavelengths in this image allow Cassini's vision to penetrate the haze and reveal the moon's surface. During this Titan flyby, the spacecraft's closest-approach altitude was 6,200 miles (10,000 km), which is considerably higher than those of typical flybys, which are around 750 miles (1,200 km). The high flyby allowed VIMS to gather moderate-resolution views over wide areas (typically at a few km per pixel). Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Idaho #nasa #space #cassini #saturn #planet #planets #titan #moon #solarsystem #nasabeyond Instagram ดารา @nasa 42,333

Launch scrub: Because of wind gusts that exceeded the weather criteria for launching, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance have postponed the planned launch of the Atlas V rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft. It is Orbital ATK’s fourth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Launch managers have set Saturday, Dec. 5 at 5:10 p.m. EST for the next launch attempt. Image credit: NASA #nasa #space #cygnus Instagram ดารา @nasa 34,447

Astronomers have found the faintest object ever seen in the early universe. It existed about 400 million years after the big bang, 13.8 billion years ago. This is a Hubble Space Telescope view of a very massive cluster of galaxies, MACS J0416.1-2403, located roughly 4 billion light-years away and weighing as much as a million billion suns. The inset is an image of an extremely faint and distant galaxy that existed only 400 million years after the big bang. Hubble captured it because the gravitational lens makes the galaxy appear 20 times brighter than normal. Credits: NASA, ESA, and L. Infante (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile) #nasa #space #hubble #hst #spitzer #nasabeyond #astronomy #galaxy #bigbang #telescope #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 35,057

Twas the night before launch... the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft is ready for a 5:55 p.m. EST liftoff to the International Space Station tomorrow! Image Credit: United Launch Alliance #nasa #space #spacestation #iss #isscargo #atlasV #cygnus #science #launch #rocket Instagram ดารา @nasa 16,782

Ready to Launch at 5:55 p.m. EST on Thursday: The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is in place at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Sealed inside the payload fairing atop the rocket is the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft filled with science, crew supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station. This is the company's fourth scheduled cargo delivery mission to the station. In this image, the Atlas V rocket and Cygnus spacecraft is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to the pad at Space Launch Complex-41. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance #nasa #iss #spacestation #cygnus #space #rocket #isscargo #spacecraft #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 36,043

Before drifting off to sleep tonight, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (@stationcdrkelly) captured this images from the International Space Station and wrote, "Day 248. #Aurora highlights the end of another month. #GoodNight 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 #earth Instagram ดารา @nasa 47,239

A view from the "Kimberley" formation on Mars taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed. This image was taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Curiosity on the 580th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The colors are adjusted so that rocks look approximately as they would if they were on Earth, to help geologists interpret the rocks. This "white balancing" to adjust for the lighting on Mars overly compensates for the absence of blue on Mars, making the sky appear light blue and sometimes giving dark, black rocks a blue cast. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS #nasa #space #mars #marscuriosity #rover #redplanet Instagram ดารา @nasa 23,662

Thank you for joining us as we shared #BlackHoleFriday images & information about black holes. We'll keep hunting for black holes and studying them. How? Spotting black holes is tricky. Because they don’t give off light, astronomers have a difficult time pinpointing their location. But when a black hole gets close enough to an object, like a star, for example, and begins consuming the object's mass, the matter that pours into its gravitational clutches can get so hot that it glows and releases energy in the form of X-ray light. The most powerful X-rays are emitted from the hottest material swirling just outside the edge of the black hole. By observing this light with space telescopes, scientists can determine where black holes are hiding in the cosmos. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center #blackholes #blackhole #nasa #space #blackfriday Instagram ดารา @nasa 40,778

Looking for a size large this #BlackFriday? Here's a supermassive black hole. It's #BlackFriday, but for us, it's the 3rd annual #BlackHoleFriday. Today, we're posting pics & info about black holes. This artist's concept illustrates a supermassive black hole with millions to billions times the mass of our sun. Supermassive black holes are enormously dense objects buried at the hearts of galaxies. (Smaller black holes also exist throughout galaxies.) In this illustration, the supermassive black hole at the center is surrounded by matter flowing onto the black hole in what is termed an accretion disk. This disk forms as the dust and gas in the galaxy falls onto the hole, attracted by its gravity. Also shown is an outflowing jet of energetic particles, believed to be powered by the black hole's spin. The regions near black holes contain compact sources of high energy X-ray radiation thought, in some scenarios, to originate from the base of these jets. This high energy X-radiation lights up the disk, which reflects it, making the disk a source of X-rays. The reflected light enables astronomers to see how fast matter is swirling in the inner region of the disk, and ultimately to measure the black hole's spin rate. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech #blackhole #blackholes #nasa #space Instagram ดารา @nasa 47,994

Just like the smallest stores can fit massive crowds on Black Friday, this small galaxy contains a supermassive black hole. Astronomers using data from our Hubble Space Telescope have found this unlikely object in an improbably place — a monster black hole lurking inside one of the tiniest galaxies ever known. If you lived inside this dwarf galaxy, the night sky would dazzle with at least 1 million stars visible to the naked eye. Our nighttime sky as seen from Earth’s surface shows 4,000 stars. The finding implies there are many other compact galaxies in the universe that contain supermassive black holes. Today is our third annual #BlackHoleFriday, where we're posting pics & info about black holes on #BlackFriday. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI-PRC14-41a #blackhole #blackholes #NASA #Space Instagram ดารา @nasa 5,337

Double Black Hole Doorbuster! Astronomers using our Hubble Space Telescope have found that Markarian 231, the nearest galaxy to Earth that hosts a quasar, is powered by two central black holes furiously whirling about each other. Like a pair of whirling skaters, the black-hole duo generates tremendous amounts of energy that makes the core of the host galaxy outshine the glow of its population of billions of stars, which scientists then identify as quasars. Today is our third annual #BlackHoleFriday, where we're posting pics & info about black holes on #BlackFriday. Credits: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) #blackhole #blackholes #NASA #Space Instagram ดารา @nasa 36,715

Tired from shopping? Maybe it's time to devour some snacks. Here's a black hole snacking on a star. It's #BlackFriday, but for us, it's the 3rd annual #BlackHoleFriday. Today, we'll post pics & info about black holes. On March 28, 2011, NASA's Swift detected intense X-ray flares thought to be caused by a black hole devouring a star. In one model, illustrated here, a sun-like star on an eccentric orbit plunges too close to its galaxy's central black hole. About half of the star's mass feeds an accretion disk around the black hole, which in turn powers a particle jet that beams radiation toward Earth. Video credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab #NASA #Space #Blackhole #blackholes Instagram ดารา @nasa 59,600

Feel like the items in your shopping cart are growing, while your bank account stays the same? Then you might be able to relate to this black hole. This artist illustration shows a black hole discovered in July 2015 that grew much more quickly than its host galaxy. The discovery calls into question previous assumptions on the development of galaxies. Today is our third annual #BlackHoleFriday, where we're posting pics & info about black holes on #BlackFriday. Credit: NASA #blackhole #blackholes #NASA #Space Instagram ดารา @nasa 11,851

Here's a 2 for 1 special showing two black holes merging into one. It's #BlackFriday, but for us, it's the 3rd annual #BlackHoleFriday. Today, we'll post pics & info about black holes. A black hole is a massive object whose gravitational field is so intense that no light (electromagnetic radiation) can escape it. When two orbiting black holes merge, a massive amount of energy is released in the form of jets. Meanwhile, the movement of these massive bodies disturbs the fabric of space-time around them, sending ripples of gravitational waves radiating outward. These waves are predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, but have yet to be directly detected. In this video, we see a closer look at the center of a spiral galaxy reveals a pair of black holes locked in a death spiral. When they merge, the massive amount of energy is released in the form of jets. Credit: NASA #NASA #Space #Blackhole #blackholes Instagram ดารา @nasa 43,307

It's #BlackFriday, but for us, it's the third annual #BlackHoleFriday. Today, we'll post pics & info about black holes. What Is a Black Hole? A black hole is a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to escape. The strong gravity occurs because matter has been pressed into a tiny space. This compression can take place at the end of a star's life. Some black holes are a result of dying stars. Because no light can escape, black holes are invisible. However, space telescopes with special instruments can help find black holes. They can observe the behavior of material and stars that are very close to black holes. Pictured here is an artist's drawing a black hole named Cygnus X-1. It formed when a large star caved in. This black hole pulls matter from blue star beside it. Image Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss #NASA #Space #Blackhole #blackholes Instagram ดารา @nasa 89,740

Happy Thanksgiving from 250 miles above! Astronaut Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) and Kjell Lindgren (@Astro_Kjell) wish you the best this holiday from the International Space Station (@ISS). Video credit: NASA #nasa #space #iss #spacestation #thanksgiving #happythanksgiving Instagram ดารา @nasa 45,020

This curious galaxy — only known by the seemingly random jumble of letters and numbers 2MASX J16270254+4328340 — has been captured by the Hubble Space Telescope dancing the crazed dance of a galactic merger. The galaxy has merged with another galaxy leaving a fine mist, made of millions of stars, spewing from it in long trails. Despite the apparent chaos, this snapshot of the gravitational tango was captured towards the event’s conclusion. This transforming galaxy is heading into old age with its star-forming days coming to an end. The true drama occurred earlier in the process, when the various clouds of gas within the two galaxies were so disturbed by the event that they collapsed, triggering an eruption of star formation. This flurry of activity exhausted the vast majority of the galactic gas, leaving the galaxy sterile and unable to produce new stars. As the violence continues to subside, the newly formed galaxy’s population of stars will redden with age and eventually begin to cool and dim one by one. With no future generations of stars to take their place, the galaxy thus begins a steady path of fading and quieting. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt #space #nasa #hubble #galaxy #galaxies #telescope Instagram ดารา @nasa 34,922