Planet Mars: Exploring Aram Chaos | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: Exploring Aram Chaos | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Aram Chaos is an eroded impact crater on Mars, about 280 kilometers in diameter. The floor of Aram Chaos also contains huge blocks of collapsed (chaotic) terrain that formed when water or ice was catastrophically removed. The crater was also filled in with sediments over time. This observation was acquired to fill in High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) coverage where Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data already exists. CRISM is another instrument onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 

The saying Λάθε βιώσας (“live hidden”) is attributed to Epicurus. Aram Chaos would be a good place to hide. (We used Modern Greek pronunciation to render the transliteration in the title card as “láthe viósas.”)

This is a non-narrated clip with ambient sound. Enhanced color image is less than 1 km (under a mi) across and the spacecraft altitude was 272 km (169 mi). For full images including scale bars, visit the source link.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. 

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE instrument, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

“For 17 years, MRO has been revealing Mars to us as no one had seen it before,” said the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek of JPL.

Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Duration: 2 minutes, 45 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 14, 2023 

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #AramChaos #Crater #MRO #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UArizona #BallAerospace #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Blooming of The "Spare Tire" Nebula: IC 5148 | Gemini South Telescope

Blooming of The "Spare Tire" Nebula: IC 5148 | Gemini South Telescope

IC 5148, nicknamed the Spare Tire Nebula, is a beautiful planetary nebula located about 3,000 light-years away near the ‘neck’ of the southern constellation Grus (The Crane). This image, captured with the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, showcases the looming cloud of gas of IC 1548 and the central stellar remnant from which the gas radiates. It is one of the fastest expanding planetary nebulae, pushing out into space at 180,000 kilometers per hour (112,000 miles per hour).

With small telescopes, this nebula looks like a bright central star with an outer ring. The mesmerizing layers of gas are faint. They are almost undetectable without the use of larger telescopes, and not with the clarity captured in this image using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. Around the time IC 5148 was discovered by astronomers in 1894, researchers coined the term planetary nebula to refer to these giant gaseous balls that looked like giant planets. Today we know that these balls are in fact stellar remnants.

At the center of IC 5148 is a white dwarf, the hot core of the dying star, surrounded by asymmetrical gaseous ‘blooms’ and a faint halo ring. The predecessor of the white dwarf was likely a star of a similar mass to our Sun. At the end of that star’s life, the internal pressure imbalance resulted in the star swelling up into a red giant. As it grew, the outer layers of the gas and stellar material were pushed into space to form the nebula we see today. The central hole—the dark patch surrounding the star—is due to the pressure of the radiation from the star that pushes the surrounding gas away from the core and leaves a vacant space. The formation of the ring and the bow-like structures of gas are marks of the evolutionary history of IC 5148—but the mechanisms that created them remain a mystery to astronomers.

The International Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best observing sites on the planet. The Gemini South telescope is located on a mountain in the Chilean Andes called Cerro Pachón, where very dry air and negligible cloud cover make this another prime telescope location. Both of the Gemini telescopes have been designed to excel in a wide variety of optical and infrared capabilities. By incorporating technologies such as laser guide star adaptive optics and multi-object spectroscopy, astronomers in the Gemini partnership explore the universe in unprecedented depth and detail.

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Release Date: Nov. 1, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #IC5148 #PlanetaryNebula #Star #WhiteDwarf #Grus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #GeminiSouthTelescope #GMOS #GeminiObservatory #Chile #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis Moon Rocket Powerhouse: The SLS | Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA's Artemis Moon Rocket Powerhouse: The SLS | Marshall Space Flight Center

At 212 feet tall, the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the backbone and powerhouse of the mega rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon. Its two massive propellant tanks provide more than 733,000 gallons of propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the base of the rocket stage, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust for the first eight minutes of flight. NASA and Boeing, the lead SLS core stage contractor, manufacture the core stage which is built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. 

Watch this video to learn more about the capability of the SLS rocket and its dynamic core stage.

For more information about SLS, visit https://www.nasa.gov/sls

Learn more about the Artemis II Moon Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Nov. 13, 2023

#NASA #Space #Moon #NASAArtemis #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #NASASLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #SLS #AerojetRocketdyne #Boeing #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #MSFC #NASAMichoud #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panning across "The Dancer in Dorado": Spiral Galaxy NGC 1566 | Hubble

Panning across "The Dancer in Dorado": Spiral Galaxy NGC 1566 | Hubble

This vibrant and dynamic-looking image features the spiral galaxy NGC 1566. This is sometimes informally referred to as the ‘Spanish Dancer Galaxy’. NGC 1566 is a weakly-barred or intermediate spiral galaxy, meaning that it does not have either a clearly present or a clearly absent bar-shaped structure at its center. The galaxy owes its nickname to the vivid and dramatic swirling lines of its spiral arms. This could evoke the shapes and colors of a dancer’s moving form. NGC 1566 lies around 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Dorado, and is also a member of the Dorado galaxy group. 

Galaxy groups are assemblages of gravitationally bound galaxies. Groups differ from galaxy clusters in size and mass: galaxy clusters may contain hundreds of galaxies and groups may contain several tens of galaxies. Nevertheless, there is not a precise delineation between the definition of a galaxy group and a galaxy cluster. Astronomers have proposed that the definitions be sharpened up, with one suggestion that galaxy aggregations with less mass than 80 trillion Suns should qualify as galaxy groups.

The Dorado group has had a fluctuating membership over the past few decades, with scientific papers changing its list of constituent galaxies. To understand why it is so challenging for astronomers to pin down members of groups such as the Dorado group, we can imagine a photograph of an adult human and a large oak tree. We have foreknowledge of the approximate size of the person and the tree, so if we were to see a photo where the person appeared roughly the same size as the tree, then we would be able to guess that, in reality, the person was positioned much closer to the camera than the tree was, giving the false impression that they were the same size. When working out members of a galaxy group, astronomers are not necessarily equipped with the knowledge of the size of the individual galaxies, and so have to work out whether galaxies really are relatively close together in space, or whether some of them are actually much closer or much further away. This has become easier with more sophisticated observation techniques, but still sometimes presents a challenge.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti and the LEGUS team, R. Chandar

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 13, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC1566 #Galaxies #Dorado #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1385: Two Views, Two Filters | Hubble

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1385: Two Views, Two Filters | Hubble

This luminous tangle of stars and dust is the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1385. It lies about 30 million light-years from Earth. The same galaxy was captured by Hubble before but the two images are notably different. This more recent image has far more pinkish-red and umber shades, whereas the former image was dominated by cool blues. This chromatic variation is not just a creative choice, but a technical one, made in order to represent the different number and type of filters used to collect the data that were used to make the respective images.

It is understandable to be a bit confused as to how the same galaxy, imaged twice by the same telescope, could be represented so differently in two different images. The reason is that—like all powerful telescopes used by professional astronomers for scientific research—Hubble is equipped with a range of filters. These highly specialized components have little similarity to filters used on social media. Those software-powered filters are added after the image has been taken, and cause information to be lost from the image as certain colors are exaggerated or reduced for aesthetic effect. In contrast, telescope filters are pieces of physical hardware that only allow very specific wavelengths of light to enter the telescope as the data are being collected. This does cause light to be lost, but means that astronomers can probe extremely specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is very useful for a number of reasons. For example, physical processes within certain elements emit light at very specific wavelengths, and filters can be optimized to these wavelengths.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has several arms that are mixed together and an overall oval shape. The center of the galaxy glows brightly. There are bright pink patches and filaments of dark red dust spread across the center.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST team
Release Dates: Nov. 13, 2023 & Aug. 16, 2021

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC1385 #SpiralGalaxy #Barred #Fornax #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Ghosts of Star Gamma Cassiopeia

The Ghosts of Star Gamma Cassiopeia

Gamma Cassiopeiae shines high in northern autumn evening skies. It is the brightest spiky star in this telescopic field of view toward the constellation Cassiopeia. Gamma Cas shares the ethereal-looking scene with ghostly interstellar clouds of gas and dust, IC 59 (top left) and IC 63. About 600 light-years distant, the clouds are not actually ghosts. They are slowly disappearing though, eroding under the influence of energetic radiation from hot and luminous gamma Cas. Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4 light-years from the nebulae. Slightly closer to gamma Cas, IC 63 is dominated by red H-alpha light emitted as hydrogen atoms ionized by the star's ultraviolet radiation recombine with electrons. Farther from the star, IC 59 shows proportionally less H-alpha emission but more of the characteristic blue tint of dust reflected star light. The cosmic stage spans over 1 degree or 10 light-years at the estimated distance of gamma Cas and friends.

Image Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Gruntz, Jean-François Bax 

Guillaume Gruntz's website: https://www.astrobin.com/users/GuillaumeGz/

Jean-François Bax's website: https://www.astrobin.com/users/GuillaumeGz/

Release Date: October 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Star #GammaCassiopeiae #GammaCas #Nebulas #Nebulae #IC59 #IC63 #Cassiopeia #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotographer #Astrophotography #STEM #Education #APoD

How NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Will Map the Cosmos | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

How NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Will Map the Cosmos | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s upcoming SPHEREx space telescope mission will map the entire sky like no spacecraft before it. To do that, SPHEREx needs specialized hardware. Three concentric cones called photon shields surround the telescope and block light and heat from the Sun and Earth. Without those shields, the telescope’s detectors would be blinded.

SPHEREx also needs to be cold because it detects infrared light. Invisible to human eyes, infrared is emitted by warm objects on Earth and out in the universe. It is also emitted by the telescope. Keeping it cold reduces the infrared glow, which lets SPHEREx see faint objects that are really far away.

SPHEREx stands for the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, SPHEREx is set to launch no later than April 2025. 

For more information about the SPHEREx mission, visit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2023

#NASA #Space #SPHEREx #Astronomy #Science #SurveyMission #Galaxies #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SPHERExSpaceTelescopes #SpaceTelescopes #Infrared #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #KARI #Korea #한국 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3310 in Ursa Major | Schulman Telescope

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3310 in Ursa Major | Schulman Telescope

NGC 3310 is a grand design spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It is a starburst galaxy and it is likely that NGC 3310 collided with one of its satellite galaxies about 100 million years ago, triggering widespread star formation. It is thought to be located approximately 46 million light-years away from the Earth, and is considered to be about 22,000 light-years wide. The ring clusters of NGC 3310 have been undergoing starburst activity for at least the last 40 million years.

Technical Details:

Optics: Schulman 32-inch RCOS Telescope

Camera: SBIG STX16803

The 0.81 m (32 in) Schulman Telescope is a Ritchey-Chrétien reflector built by RC Optical Systems and installed in 2010. It is operated by the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter and is Arizona's largest dedicated public observatory. The Schulman Telescope was designed from inception for remote control over the Internet by amateur and professional astrophotographers worldwide. It is currently the world's largest telescope dedicated for this purpose.

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Caption Acknowledgements: UA/Wikipedia

Image Date: March 1, 2011

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC3310 #SpiralGalaxy #StarburstGalaxy #UrsaMajor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #UA #MountLemmonObservatory #SchulmanTelescope #Astrophotographer #AdamBlock #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Earthrise 1968: NASA Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman (1928-2023) Tribute

Earthrise 1968: NASA Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman (1928-2023) Tribute

NASA astronaut Bill Anders' first color image of Earthrise over the Moon on Dec. 24, 1968. NASA Image#AS08-14-2383

Earthrise  - Dec. 24, 1968 - Apollo 8 Mission

Earthrise  - Dec. 24, 1968 - Apollo 8 Mission

The first photograph taken of Earthrise by a human—NASA astronaut Bill Anders on Dec. 24, 1968. 

NASA Image#AS08-13-2329

Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman (1928-2023) took this photo of Earthrise during the first human mission to the Moon in December 1968.

Official NASA Portrait of Astronaut Frank Borman (09-09-1968)

The Apollo 8 Prime Crew on Nov. 1, 1968: Left to right, are astronauts William A. Anders, lunar module pilot; James A. Lovell Jr., command module pilot; and Frank Borman, commander.

The Apollo 8 crew rocketed into orbit on December 21, 1968.

NASA astronaut Frank Borman (1928-1963) led the first team of American astronauts to circle the moon—extending humanity's horizons into deep space. His Apollo 8  crew rocketed into orbit on December 21, 1968, and after circling the moon 10 times on Christmas Eve, it was time to come home. On Christmas morning, mission control waited anxiously for word that Apollo 8’s engine burn to leave lunar orbit had worked. They soon got confirmation when Lovell radioed, “Roger, please be informed there is a Santa Claus.”

The crew splashed down in the Pacific on December 27. A lunar landing was still months away, but for the first time ever, humans from Earth had visited the moon and returned home safely.

Former NASA Astronaut Frank Borman passed away Nov. 7, in Billings, Montana, at the age of 95. 

Learn more about Frank Borman: 

https://www.nasa.gov/former-astronaut-frank-borman/

NASA Honors the life of Astronaut Frank Borman:

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-administrator-honors-life-of-apollo-astronaut-frank-borman/

Read about NASA's Apollo 8 Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-8/

Image Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center

Image Dates: Sept. 9-Dec. 24, 1968

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #Moon #Earthrise #Environment #ApolloProgram #Apollo8 #Astronaut #FrankBorman #JimLovell #BillAnders #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #History #Photography #STEM #Education

Shenzhou 17 Astronauts: Behind the Scenes | China's Tiangong Space Station

Shenzhou 17 Astronauts: Behind the Scenes | China's Tiangong Space Station

Busy in space—Shenzhou 17 astronauts in their daily work at the Tiangong Space Station (CSS). The Shenzhou-17 crew is expected to stay in orbit for nearly six months, carrying out several extravehicular activities, and conducting a large number of experiments and tests in areas of basic physics in a microgravity environment, materials science, life science, space medicine and space technology. 

Shenzhou-17 Crew:

Hongbo Tang (Commander)

Shengjie Tang (Mission Specialist)

Xinlin Jiang (Mission Specialist)

Video Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA) Watcher 

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 11, 2023

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Shenzhou17 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #HongboTang #ShengjieTang #XinlinJiang #SpaceLaboratory #ChinaSpaceStation #CSS #TiangongSpaceStation #中国空间站 #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Collins Aerospace NextGen Spacesuit for The Moon & Mars

Collins Aerospace NextGen Spacesuit for The Moon & Mars

Collins Aerospace is dedicated to inspiring and advancing the future of space for all with our next generation space suit, designed by astronauts for astronauts. 

Collins Aerospace is building new space suits for NASA's Artemis Moon Missions.

Learn more:  https://collins.aero/3QSLRoU

Credit: Collins Aerospace

Duration: 2 minutes, 27 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 10, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #Microgravity #Moon #ArtemisProgram #Astronauts #Spacesuits #xEVAS #EVA #Spacewalks #Moonwalks #Marswalks #HumanSpaceflight #CollinsAerospace #MoonToMars #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Red Arc of Light & The Milky Way over France

A Red Arc of Light & The Milky Way over France

This broad, luminous red arc was a surprising visitor to partly cloudy evening skies over northern France. Captured extending toward the zenith in a west-to-east mosaic of images from November 5, 2023,the faint atmospheric ribbon of light is an example of a Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc. The rare night sky phenomenon was also spotted at unusually low latitudes around world, along with more dynamic auroral displays during an intense geomagnetic storm. 

SAR arcs and their relation to auroral emissions have been explored by citizen science and satellite investigations. From altitudes substantially above the normal auroral glow, the deep red SAR emission is thought to be caused by strong heating due to currents flowing in planet Earth's inner magnetosphere. Beyond this SAR, the Milky Way arcs above the cloud banks along the horizon, a regular visitor to night skies over northern France.

Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

Julien's website: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/julienlooten/

Release Date: Nov. 11, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #AtmosphericOptics #Physics #NorthernLights #StableAuroralRed #SAR #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #France #Astrophotography #JulienLooten #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #STEM #Education #APoD

NASA Sounding Rocket Launches into Alaskan Aurora

NASA Sounding Rocket Launches into Alaskan Aurora

A sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, Nov. 8, 2023, carrying the DISSIPATION mission. The rocket launched into aurora and successfully captured data to understand how auroras heat the atmosphere and cause high-altitude winds.

The teams continue to support a second sounding rocket launch for BEAM-PIE, a mission for Los Alamos National Laboratory that will use an electron beam to create radio waves, measuring how atmospheric conditions modulate them. The data is key to interpreting measurements from many other missions. 

NASA’s Sounding Rockets Program, funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division, is managed at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, under NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Image Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield

Image Date: Nov. 8, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Suborbital #Earth #Sun #Heliophysics #PokerFlatResearchRange #Fairbanks #Alaska #SoundingRocket #RocketLaunch #DissipationMission #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #GSFC #NASAGoddard #WFF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Planet Jupiter Profile | Hubble Space Telescope

Planet Jupiter Profile | Hubble Space Telescope

Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Sun and is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system—more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

Jupiter's stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.

Jupiter is named for the king of the ancient Roman gods.​

Learn more: https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 2, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hubble #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #GreatRedSpot #SolarSystem #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Jupiter in Ultraviolet | Hubble Space Telescope

Planet Jupiter in Ultraviolet | Hubble Space Telescope

This image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths. The Great Red Spot appears red to the human eye, however in this ultraviolet image it appears darker because high altitude haze particles absorb light at these wavelengths. The reddish, wavy polar hazes are absorbing slightly less of this light due to differences in either particle size, composition, or altitude. The data used to create this ultraviolet image is part of a Hubble proposal that looked at Jupiter’s stealthy superstorm system. Hubble has a long history of observing the outer planets. From the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts to studying Jupiter's storms, Hubble's decades-long career and unique vantage point provide astronomers with valuable data to chart the evolution of this dynamic planet.

Hubble’s ultraviolet-observing capabilities allow astronomers to study the short, high-energy wavelengths of light beyond what the human eye can see. Ultraviolet light reveals fascinating cosmic phenomena, including light from the hottest and youngest stars embedded in local galaxies; the composition, densities, and temperatures of the material between stars; and the evolution of galaxies.

This is a false-color image because the human eye cannot detect ultraviolet light. Therefore, colors in the visible light spectrum were assigned to the images, each taken with a different ultraviolet filter. In this case, the assigned colors for each filter are: Blue: F225W, Green: F275W, and Red: F343N.

Credits: NASA, ESA, M. Wong (University of California - Berkeley), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America); CC BY 4.0

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hubble #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Ultraviolet #SolarSystem #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Autumn in Japan | Earth from Space | Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-3 Satellite

Autumn in Japan | Earth from Space | Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-3 Satellite

This image, from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Nov. 1, 2023, captures the colors of autumn over the Japanese archipelago.

Japan is made up of thousands of islands stretching over 2,500 km through the western Pacific Ocean. Almost all of the land area, however, is taken up by the country’s four main islands, three of which are pictured in this image. From north to south we see Honshu, the largest island extending in a northeast–southwest arc, Shikoku, just beneath the lower part of Honshu, and Kyushu at the bottom.

The image also shows how Japan is mainly mountainous and about 68% of the land area is covered by forest. Cooler temperatures and fewer daylight hours triggered the autumn foliage. This shows up here in shades of brown and red, particularly in forests in the upper part of the image. The colors depend on the various tree species, local weather, altitude and orientation of the slopes.

Urban areas and cultivated land stand out in sharp contrast in tones of grey. The largest area on the eastern coast of Honshu is Japan’s capital Tokyo. This metropolitan area—commonly known as Greater Tokyo—stretches around Tokyo Bay and is home to about 37 million people, making it the largest megacity in the world. Other urban areas, visible moving south along the Pacific coast of Honshu, are Nagoya and Osaka.

Honshu is also home to the country’s highest mountain Mount Fuji, a volcano that has been dormant since 1707. Its snow-capped summit can be spotted as a small white dot near the Pacific coast, about 100 km southwest of Tokyo.

Another volcano, visible with a plume of smoke pouring from its summit, is Sakurajima on the southern island of Kyushu. Formerly an island-volcano in the middle of Kagoshima Bay, it is now a peninsula after a powerful eruption in 1914 connected it with the Osumi Peninsula to the east.

Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites carry four sensors working together, making it the most complex so far of all the Sentinel missions. The Ocean and Land Color Instrument used to create this image offers new eyes on Earth, monitoring ocean ecosystems, supporting crop management and agriculture, and providing estimates of atmospheric aerosol and clouds.

Learn more about Copernicus Sentinel satellites:

https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/web/sentinel/home

Image Credit: Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Image Date: Nov. 1, 2023

Release Date: Nov. 10, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Satellite #Sentinel3Satellite #Planet #Earth #Japan #日本 #Autumn #Autumn2023 #Europe #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #FalseColor #STEM #Education