n-a-s-a:

The Seahorse of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio (STScI) 

the-star-stuff:

A quarter moon rising above Earth’s horizon and above the air-glow of our atmosphere.

The image was taken on the final mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Columbia’s crew was killed on Feb. 1, 2003, when the shuttle broke up on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Credit: NASA

n-a-s-a:

Martian Sunset

Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Texas A&M, Cornell, JPL, NASA 

n-a-s-a:

At the Center of the Milky Way

Credit: ESO, Stefan Gillessen (MPE), F. Eisenhauer, S. Trippe, T. Alexander, R. Genzel, F. Martins, T. Ott 

n-a-s-a:

Comet over California

Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN) 

n-a-s-a:

The Trifid Nebula in Stars and Dust

Credit & Copyright: R. Jay GaBany

the-star-stuff:

Robot Submarine on Jupiter Moon Europa is ‘Holy Grail’ Mission for Planetary Science

Sending a submarine to the bottom of the ocean on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is the most exciting potential mission in planetary science, according to one prominent researcher.

Europa’s seafloor may well be capable of supporting life as we know it today, said Cornell University’s Steve Squyres, lead scientist for NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover, which is currently roaming the Red Planet. So a Europa robotic submarine mission is at the top of his wish list, though it likely won’t happen anytime soon.

“This is fantastic stuff,” Squyres said Wednesday (March 21) at a conference called Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space in The Woodlands, Texas. “This is the holy grail of planetary exploration right here.”

CREDIT: NASA/Ted Stryk 

n-a-s-a:

NGC 6384: Beyond the Stars

Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford 

the-star-stuff:

Venus rounds the corner

If you’ve been outside after sunset the past few weeks, there’s not much chance you’ve missed Venus shining like a laser in the west.

Right now, Venus is just “rounding the corner” of its orbit; the past few weeks it’s been heading away from the Sun from our viewpoint, and very soon will reach its greatest elongation in the sky from the Sun. At that point, every day will see Venus get a bit closer. Right now, Venus is very close to being half full.

“Amateur” astronomer Emil Kraaikamp observed Venus on March 15, and took this very nice shot of it.

Venus is shrouded in clouds, making it relatively featureless when you look at it through a telescope. However, if you use a filter that lets in ultraviolet light, some faint and subtle features in the clouds can be seen. Emil’s picture did just that, using a UV filter plus one each of red, green, and blue to get a true color plus UV picture. The phase of the planet is obvious enough, and you can also spot some of the patterns to the clouds, too.

Image credit: Emil Kraaikamp