Glowing green and red, shimmering hypnotically across the night sky, the aurora borealis is a wonder to behold. Longtime sky watchers say it is the greatest show on Earth.
It might be the greatest show in Earth orbit, too. High above our planet, astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been enjoying an up-close view of auroras outside their … Read the rest of this article
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. In this special edition, Envisat Mission Manager, Henri Laur, joins the show to discuss ten years of the Earth-observing mission.
Here is a stunning, mind-blowing time lapse video of the Earth at night, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station:
The video, taken by astronauts and edited by Michael König, was from a high-resolution camera with low-light abilities, so it can see faint sources of light. The footage was all taken from August to October 2011.
Cities stream by … Read the rest of this article
ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory has found water in a comet with almost exactly the same composition as Earth’s oceans. The discovery revives the idea that our planet’s seas could once have been giant icebergs floating through space.
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This illustration shows the orbit of comet Hartley 2 in relation to those of the five innermost planets of the Solar System. …
The effects of the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated areas of Japan can be seen as far away as Antarctica. Satellite images show new icebergs were created after the tsunami hit the Sulzberger Ice Shelf.
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Images captured by Envisat’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar on 12 March and 16 March 2011. The newly formed icebergs can clearly be …
The first map of sea-ice thickness from ESA’s CryoSat mission was revealed today at the Paris Air and Space Show. This new information is set to change our understanding of the complex relationship between ice and climate.
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The 2011 noctilucent cloud (NLC) season has begun. For the past few nights, observers in northern parts of Europe have spotted velvety, electric-blue tendrils rippling across the sunset sky. NLCs are a summertime phenomenon first reported by polar observers in the 19th century. In recent decades, for reasons no one fully understands, the clouds have intensified and spread … Read the rest of this article
NASA’s Glory spacecraft is scheduled for launch on Friday, March 4. Technical issues with ground support equipment for the Taurus XL launch vehicle led to the scrub of the original Feb. 23 launch attempt. Those issues have been resolved.
The March 4 liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is targeted for 5:09:43 a.m. EST, in the middle of a … Read the rest of this article
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Volcanic cones along lava path |
Scientists are crediting satellite imagery with helping to predict where volcanic eruptions could strike. It is well known that earthquakes can stress Earth’s crust and trigger subsequent quakes, but there has been no proof of this for volcanoes until now.
In September 2005, a volcanic event in Ethiopia’s Afar Desert forced magma up through rocks … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
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