Saturn's rings are so expansive that they often sneak into Cassini's pictures of other bodies. Here, they appear with the planet in a picture taken during a close flyby of Saturn's moon Dione. The flyby of Dione during which this image was taken was the last close encounter with this moon during Cassini's mission. The main goal of the flyby was to use the spacecraft as a probe to measure Dione's gravity field. However, scientists also managed to take some very close images of the surface. All of the data will be helpful to understand the interior structure and geological history of this distant, icy world. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 17, 2015 at a distance of approximately 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) from Dione. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute #saturn #cassini #dione #moon #planets #nasa #space #solarsystem #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 21,319
Young Elliptical Galaxy: At the center of this amazing image is an elliptical galaxy. Surrounding the galaxy and visible in the background are a wealth of other galaxies of all shapes. The reason for the peculiar shape of this galaxy stems from its formation history. When galaxies form, they usually resemble our galaxy, the Milky Way, with flat disks and spiral arms where star formation rates are high and which are therefore very bright. An elliptical galaxy is a much more disordered object which results from the merging of two or more disk galaxies. During these violent mergers most of the internal structure of the original galaxies is destroyed. The fact that NGC 3610 still shows some structure in the form of a bright disk implies that it formed only a short time ago. The galaxy's age has been put at around four billion years and it is an important object for studying the early stages of evolution in elliptical galaxies. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt #nasa #hubble #space #galaxy #astronomy #universe #nasabeyond #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 24,695
Colorful Liquid in Space (Part 2): Astronauts (@StationCDRKelly) on the International Space Station (@ISS) dissolved an effervescent tablet in a floating ball of water, and captured images using a camera capable of recording four times the resolution of normal high-definition cameras. The higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station. This footage is one of the first of its kind. The cameras are being evaluated for capturing science data and vehicle operations by our engineers. Credit: NASA #nasa #iss #spacestation #water #science #yearinspace Instagram ดารา @nasa 33,737
Colorful Liquid in Space (Part 1): Astronauts (@StationCDRKelly) on the International Space Station (@ISS) dissolved an effervescent tablet in a floating ball of water, and captured images using a camera capable of recording four times the resolution of normal high-definition cameras. The higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station. This footage is one of the first of its kind. The cameras are being evaluated for capturing science data and vehicle operations by our engineers. Credit: NASA #nasa #iss #spacestation #water #science #yearinspace Instagram ดารา @nasa 51,375
Brightening Magnetic Loops: Two active regions sprouted arches of bundled magnetic loops in this video from Our Solar Dynamics Observatory taken on Nov. 11-12, 2015. Charged particles spin along the magnetic field, tracing out bright lines as they emit light in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. About halfway through the video, a small eruption from the active region near the center causes the coils to rise up and become brighter as the region re-organizes its magnetic field. This video was taken in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths of 171 angstroms, typically invisible to our eyes but colored here in gold. Credit: NASA/SDO #nasa #space #sun #solar #weather #spaceweather #sdo #nasabeyond #heliophysics #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 31,859
Humanoid robots will be helpful to astronauts on our journey to Mars, so we have awarded prototypes to two universities for advanced research and development work. We're interested in humanoid robots because they can help or even take the place of astronauts working in extreme space environments. Robots, like our R5, could be used in future NASA missions either as precursor robots performing mission tasks before humans arrive or as human-assistive robots actively collaborating with the human crew. R5 initially was designed to complete disaster-relief maneuvers, however, its main goal is to prove itself worthy of even trickier terrain -- deep space exploration. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #nasatech #space #robot #r5 #journeytomars #technology #321techoff Instagram ดารา @nasa 21,646
A Brighter Moon: Although Saturn's moons Dione (near) and Enceladus (far) are composed of nearly the same materials, Enceladus has a considerably higher reflectivity than Dione. As a result, it appears brighter against the dark night sky. The surface of Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) endures a constant rain of ice grains from its south polar jets. As a result, its surface is more like fresh, bright, snow than Dione's (698 miles or 1123 kilometers across) older, weathered surface. As clean, fresh surfaces are left exposed in space, they slowly gather dust and radiation damage and darken in a process known as "space weathering." The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 8, 2015. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute #nasa #cassini #nasacassini #space #saturn #dione #enceladus #planets #nasabeyond #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 15,932
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren took this photograph on Nov. 11 from the International Space Station (@ISS) and shared it with his followers on social media. Lindgren wrote, "The delicate fingerprints of water imprinted on the sand. The #StoryOfWater." One of the ways research on the space station benefits life on Earth is by supporting water purification efforts worldwide. Drinkable water is vital for human survival. Unfortunately, many people around the world lack access to clean water. Using technology developed for the space station, at-risk areas can gain access to advanced water filtration and purification systems, making a life-saving difference in these communities. Joint collaborations between aid organizations and NASA technology show just how effectively space research can adapt to contribute answers to global problems. The commercialization of this station-related technology has provided aid and disaster relief for communities worldwide. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #iss #spacestation #earth #nasatech #astronauts Instagram ดารา @nasa 35,655
Only three local stars appear in this image, quartered by right-angled diffraction spikes. Everything besides them is a galaxy; floating like a swarm of microbes in a drop of water, and brought into view here not by a microscope, but by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. In the foreground, the spiral arms of MCG+01-02-015 seem to wrap around one another, cocooning the galaxy. The scene suggests an abundance of galactic companionship for MCG+01-02-015, but this is a cruel trick of perspective. Instead, MCG+01-02-015’s unsentimental naming befits its position within the cosmos: it is a void galaxy, the loneliest of galaxies. The galaxy is so isolated that if our galaxy, the Milky Way, were to be situated in the same way, we would not even have known of the existence of other galaxies until the development of strong telescopes and detectors in the 1960s. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Gorin (STScI), Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt #nasa #hubble #telescope #space #galaxy #galaxies #stars #star Instagram ดารา @nasa 36,468
Psychedelic Pluto: New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions. The image data were collected by the spacecraft’s Ralph/MVIC color camera on July 14 at 11:11 AM UTC, from a range of 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers). Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI #nasa #space #pluto #solarsystem #newhorizons #nasanewhorizons Instagram ดารา @nasa 79,694
Aboard the International Space Station (@ISS), astronaut Scott Kelly (@stationcdrkelly) posted this image and wrote, 'Salute from 250 mi above to all past and present veterans and families. You are my heroes.' Scott is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He was a naval aviator and logged over 8,000 hours in more than 40 different aircraft and spacecraft and has over 250 carrier landings. Kelly retired from the Navy in June of 2012. He currently is on a one-year mission aboard the space station. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #spacestation #iss #VeteransDay #YearInSpace Instagram ดารา @nasa 5,719
Today we salute the Americans who have served in the military. #nasa #apollo #moon #VeteransDay Instagram ดารา @nasa 72,113
The long, shallow grooves lining the surface of Phobos are likely early signs of the structural failure that will ultimately destroy this moon of Mars. Orbiting a mere 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the surface of Mars, Phobos is closer to its planet than any other moon in the solar system. Mars’ gravity is drawing in Phobos, the larger of its two moons, by about 6.6 feet (2 meters) every hundred years. Scientists expect the moon to be pulled apart in 30 to 50 million years. New modeling indicates that the grooves on Mars’ moon Phobos could be produced by tidal forces – the mutual gravitational pull of the planet and the moon. Initially, scientists had thought the grooves were created by the massive impact that made Stickney crater (lower right). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona #nasa #space #phobos #mars #moon #solarsystem Instagram ดารา @nasa 23,474
Solar Outburst! This close-up video shows an active region near the right-hand edge of the sun's disk, which erupted with at least a dozen minor events over a 30-hour period from Nov. 3-5, 2015. As competing magnetic forces grappled with each other, tongues of solar material lashed out from the sun's surface and several small flares erupted --seen as white flashes in this extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 304 angstroms. Though the sun's extreme ultraviolet light is invisible to our eyes, the wavelength is colorized here in red. This video was captured by our Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credits: NASA/SDO #nasa #space #sdo #sun #solar #nasabeyond #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 29,056
Lenticular galaxies, like this one called Mrk 820, are in the transition zone between elliptical and spiral galaxies. A closer look at the appearance of Mrk 820 reveals hints of a spiral structure embedded in a circular halo of stars. Surrounding Mrk 820 in this image is a good sampling of other galaxy types, both elliptical and spiral. Most of the smears and specks are distant galaxies, but the prominent bright object at the bottom is a foreground star called TYC 4386-787-1. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Grogin (STScI), Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt #nasa #hubble #space #galaxy #galaxies #hst #nasahubble Instagram ดารา @nasa 41,747
Conducting a "cosmic archaeological dig" at the very heart of our Milky Way galaxy, astronomers uncovered the blueprints of our galaxy's early construction phase. Peering deep into the Milky Way's crowded central hub of stars, researchers using our Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered for the first time a population of ancient white dwarfs -- smoldering remnants of once-vibrant stars that inhabited the core. Finding these relics at last can yield clues to how our galaxy was built, long before Earth and our sun formed. This image is a small section of Hubble's view of the dense collection of stars crammed together in the galactic bulge. The region surveyed is located 26,000 light-years away. Credits: NASA/ESA/STScI/SWEEPS Science Team #nasa #space #galaxy #milklyway #hubble #hst #astronomy #nasabeyond #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 71,402
[Artist Concept] Speed of Solar Wind Stripping Martian Atmosphere: Our Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission has identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet Mars is today. MAVEN data have enabled researchers to determine the rate at which the Martian atmosphere currently is losing gas to space via stripping by the solar wind. The findings reveal that the erosion of Mars' atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms. This image is an artist's rendering of a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the planet's upper atmosphere. Credits: NASA/GSFC #nasa #maven #mars #journeytomars #space #nasabeyond #atmosphere #planets #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 6,833
Want to #BeAnAstronaut? In anticipation of returning human spaceflight launches to American soil, and in preparation for our journey to Mars, we will soon begin accepting applications for the next class of astronaut candidates. With more human spacecraft in development in the United States today than at any other time in history, future astronauts will launch once again from the Space Coast of Florida on American-made commercial spacecraft, and carry out deep-space exploration missions that will advance a future human mission to Mars. The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different U.S. vessels during their careers: the International Space Station, two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S. companies, and our Orion deep-space exploration vehicle. From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors, we select qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S. citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds. We will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-February and expect to announce candidates selected in mid-2017. Stay tuned! Video credit: NASA @iss #nasa #astronaut #astronauts #space #jobs #jobopening Instagram ดารา @nasa 40,232
Whopping Galaxy Cluster Spotted: Astronomers have discovered a giant gathering of galaxies in a very remote part of the universe, thanks to our Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). This galaxy cluster, located 8.5 billion light-years away, is the most massive structure yet found at such great distances. Galaxy clusters are gravitationally bound groups of thousands of galaxies, which themselves each contain hundreds of billions of stars. The clusters grow bigger and bigger over time as they acquire new members. The red galaxies at the center of the image make up the heart of the galaxy cluster. This color image is constructed from multi-wavelength observations: Infrared observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are shown in red; near-infrared and visible light is green and blue; and radio light is purple. In addition to galaxies, clusters also contain a reservoir of hot gas with temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees Celsius/Kelvin. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Gemini/CARMA #nasa #galaxy #space #spitzer #nasabeyond #galaxycluster @nasawise #science Instagram ดารา @nasa 18,474
A milestone of human achievement, people have lived off the planet continuously for 15 years aboard the International Space Station (@ISS). Think about it, a teenager doesn't know a world where humans haven't lived and worked in space. Since Nov. 2, 2000, NASA astronauts and our international partners work off the Earth, for the Earth. From 1998 to 2011, five different space agencies representing 15 countries assembled the station, the largest structure ever built in space. Since being occupied in 2000, we've conducted more than 1,760 research investigations on the orbiting laboratory and more than 220 people from 17 countries have visited. Image credit: NASA #space #spacestation #anniversary#milestone #OffTheEarthForTheEarth #nasa #15YearsOnStation #iss Instagram ดารา @nasa 51,762
