The human eye is crucial to astronomy. Without the ability to see, the luminous universe of stars, planets and galaxies would be closed to us, unknown forever. Nevertheless, astronomers cannot shake their fascination with the invisible.
Outside the realm of human vision is an entire electromagnetic spectrum of wonders. Each type of light–Âfrom radio waves to gamma-rays–reveals something unique about … Read the rest of this article
New movies of Jupiter are the first to catch an invisible wave shaking up one of the giant planet’s jet streams, an interaction that also takes place in Earth’s atmosphere and influences the weather. The movies, made from images taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft when it flew by Jupiter in 2000, are part of an in-depth study conducted by a … Read the rest of this article
NASA unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky today showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.
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This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), part of its All-Sky Data Release. Image …
Sunspot AR1429 unleashed another strong flare (category M7.9) on March 13th. The explosion produced a significant coronal mass ejection (CME), which forecasters say should reach Earth today, March 15th, at 06:20 UT (+/- 7 hours), possibly triggering minor to moderate geomagnetic storms.
A bright comet related to sungrazing Comet Lovejoy dove towards the sun earlier this week. The orbiting Solar … Read the rest of this article
These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn’s second largest moon, Rhea, were taken on March 10, 2012, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This was a relatively distant flyby with a close-approach distance of 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers), well suited for global geologic mapping.
During the flyby, Cassini captured these distinctive views of the moon’s cratered surface, creating a 30-frame mosaic of Rhea’s … Read the rest of this article
As Earth’s magnetic field reverberates from the impact of one Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on March 8th, a second CME is on the way.
Big sunspot AR1429 unleashed an M6-class solar flare yesterday (March 9th), and the eruption hurled a cloud of plasma almost directly toward Earth.
Forecasters say the CME could reach our planet during the late hours of … Read the rest of this article
NASA’s Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft orbiting the moon officially have begun their science collection phase. During the next 84 days, scientists will obtain a high-resolution map of the lunar gravitational field to learn about the moon’s internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. The data also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky … Read the rest of this article
A chance alignment of planets during a passing gust of the solar wind has allowed scientists to compare the protective effects of Earth’s magnetic field with that of Mars’ naked atmosphere. The result is clear: Earth’s magnetic field is vital for keeping our atmosphere in place.
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This animation shows how a particular stream of the solar wind sweeps through space, …
A new video produced by NASA and narrated by actor Peter Cullen of “Transformers” fame celebrates humankind’s inherent need to explore through the past, present and future.
Why do we explore? Simply put, it is part of who we are, and it is something we have done throughout our history. In NASA’s new video, “We Are the Explorers,†we take … Read the rest of this article
Big sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another major flare–an X5-class eruption on March 7th at 00:28 UT.
As a result of the blast, a radiation storm is underway and a CME will likely hit Earth’s magnetic field in a day or so.
Geomagnetic storms are already in progress at high latitudes due to earlier eruptions from the active sunspot. Last night, … 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
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Aurora Oval
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