The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), located 210,000 light-years away, is one of the most dynamic and intricately detailed star-forming regions in space. via NASA https://ift.tt/3ysLYLI
What’s happening to this cloud? Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky […]
Are asteroids dangerous? Some are, but the likelihood of a dangerous asteroid striking the Earth during any given year is low. Because some past mass extinction events have been linked to asteroid impacts, however, humanity has made it a priority to find and catalog those asteroids that may one day affect life on Earth. Pictured […]
Taken on mission sol 180 (August 22) this sharp image from a Hazard Camera on the Perseverance rover looks out across a rock strewn floor of Jezero crater on Mars. At 52.5 centimeters (21 inches) in diameter, one of the rover’s steerable front wheels is at lower left in the frame. Near center is a […]
Contamination control engineers in a clean room at the Goddard Space Flight Center evaluate a propellant tank before it is installed in our Europa Clipper spacecraft. via NASA https://ift.tt/3BjwBXK
Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus. Also known as vdB 142, seen on the left the cosmic elephant’s trunk is over 20 light-years long. Removed by digital […]
On Women’s Equality Day, NASA celebrates the women who are breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations. via NASA https://ift.tt/3zlG404
Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always look forward to the blue hour. That’s the transition in twilight, just before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon but land and sky are still suffused with a beautiful blue light. After sunset on August 21, this blue hour snapshot captured […]
The SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts and support personnel participate in water survival training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. via NASA https://ift.tt/3mrKBKO
Does a ball drop faster on Earth, Jupiter, or Uranus? The featured animation shows a ball dropping from one kilometer high toward the surfaces of famous solar system bodies, assuming no air resistance. The force of gravity depends on the mass of the attracting object, with higher masses pulling down with greater forces. But gravitational […]