Galleries - NASA Solar System Exploration National Aeronautics andSpace Administration Solar System Exploration beta Galleries ShareEmailPrint Featured Image Galleries Planetary Spacecraft Historical Infographics Images Video Interactive Apps Shareables Audio AddToAny Curiosity lands successfully, kicks off new era in Mars exploration If all continues to go well, Curiosity will soon bring us a wealth of new information about the Martian climate, soil, and geology. The rover landed at approximately 1:30 AM EST and has signaled its successful deployment. Opportunity — the tremendously successful rover that first landed on Mars in 2004 and is still operational — now has functional company on the Red Planet for the first time since 2010. “Ambitious” is the only way to describe NASA’s latest probe. After the tremendous successes of Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity, NASA built Curiosity to an even more ambitious specification. The rover is the approximate size of a Mini Cooper, weighs about one ton, and uses a radioisotope power system that contains some eleven pounds of plutonium-238. Landing a spacecraft that large on a planet like Mars isn’t particularly easy, especially when it’s being handled entirely by automated systems. The parachute, however, isn’t capable of slowing the MSL to a survivable descent speed.
9) November 2012 | Anne’s Astronomy News November 30, 2012 SNR 0509-67.5, a supernova remnant in the LMC Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Hughes et al, Optical: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) SNR 0509-67.5 (SNR 0509 for short) is the remnant of a supernova explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. It is about 23 light-years across and expanding at more than 5,000 kilometers a second, or more than 18 million kilometers an hour. This bubble is the visible remnant of a Type 1a supernova that occurred about 400 years ago in Earth’s time frame (what means that the light from the explosion reached us about 400 years ago), which was unusually bright and energetic. A Type Ia supernova is a result from the violent explosion of a white dwarf star (a compact star that has ceased fusion in its core). Astronomers failed to find any remnant of the companion star, however, and concluded that the common scenario of Type Ia supernovae did not apply in this case.
NASA unveils Mars rover Curiosity’s travel plans The first destination of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity will be an area near its Gale Crater landing site, where three kinds of terrain come together in a striking and unusual way. The rover’s primary mission is to reach the base of Mount Sharp — a three-mile high mound with layers of exposed rock — as it searches for the building blocks of possible Martian microbial life. Video On Friday, NASA released a series of images that shows the heat shield from the Mars Science Laboratory hitting the ground on Mars and raising a cloud of dust. But the six-wheeled Curiosity will first visit a site in a different direction because of the three adjoining rock formations, which scientists say could help them better understand the history of the crater and of Mars. “Probably we’ll do a month worth of science there, maybe a little bit more,” lead mission scientist John Grotzinger told reporters during a conference call Friday. — Reuters
Monster Black Hole Is the Largest and Brightest Ever Found Astronomers have discovered the largest and most luminous black hole ever seen — an ancient monster with a mass about 12 billion times that of the sun — that dates back to when the universe was less than 1 billion years old. It remains a mystery how black holes could have grown so huge in such a relatively brief time after the dawn of the universe, researchers say. Supermassive black holes are thought to lurk in the hearts of most, if not all, large galaxies. The largest black holes found so far in the nearby universe have masses more than 10 billion times that of the sun. In comparison, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is thought to have a mass only 4 million to 5 million times that of the sun. [The Strangest Black Holes in the Universe] Although not even light can escape the powerful gravitational pulls of black holes — hence, their name — black holes are often bright. The light from very distant quasars can take billions of years to reach Earth.
Video Duet – Soyuz Debut Blast off from the Amazon Jungle and Rockin’ Russian Rollout ! Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter Watch the video of today’s debut lift off of a Russian Soyuz rocket from the edge of the Amazon jungle at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana as it successfully carried the first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites to space after an arduous 7 year struggle to mesh Russian and European technologies and cultures – a magnificent achievement that opens a wide realm of new commercial and science exploration possibilities to exploit space for humankind. Now have some real fun and enjoy this absolutely cool Rockin’ Russian music video showing a headless Soyuz rollout to the pad, an erection like you’ve never imagined and capping with the Galileo satellites. Soyuz launch through the Amazon jungle raindrops on 21 October 2011. First Soyuz lift from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 21 October 2011. About Ken Kremer Dr.
NASA shake tests the Orion capsule that could take man to Mars The capsule, which could one day man to the red planet, has been put through its paces on the world's most powerful vibration table to simulate launch. Nasa has revealed the latest test to ensure its Orion capsule will be able to survive launching on top of the world's most powerful rocket. Engineers at NASA Glenn's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio recently finished a series of tests on a full-size test version of Orion's service module to verify that it can withstand the vibrations it will experience when it launches and travels into space atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Scroll down for video The 13-ton service module is an essential part of the spacecraft. It will propel, power and cool Orion in addition to providing air and water for the crew. 'We're making sure that the structure on the service module will survive the extremely strong vibrations of launch and ascent on the journey to space,' said Nicole Smith, project manager for the Orion testing at Plum Brook. Loaded: 0%
Photo reveals a planet-sized object as cool as the Earth The photo of a nearby star and its orbiting companion—with a temperature like a hot summer day in Arizona—will be revealed by Penn State Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kevin Luhman during a presentation at the Signposts of Planets conference at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on 20 October 2011. A paper describing the discovery will be published in the Astrophysical Journal. "This planet-like companion is the coldest object ever directly photographed outside our solar system," said Luhman, who led the discovery team. "Its mass is about the same as many of the known extra-solar planets—about six to nine times the mass of Jupiter—but in other ways it is more like a star. Essentially, what we have found is a very small star with an atmospheric temperature about as cool as the Earth's." See photo here. Luhman classifies this object as a "brown dwarf," an object that formed just like a star out of a massive cloud of dust and gas.
'It's Snowing on Jupiter': Stunning Photos Show Clouds High in Gas Giant's Skies Error loading player: No playable sources found Not all of Jupiter's clouds are huge, swirling, otherworldly beasts. Spectacular new images captured by NASA's Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft show fluffy-looking white clouds casting their comparably tiny shadows on the giant planet's monstrous, multicolored cloud decks. The white clouds, which get up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide or so, are high up in Jupiter's atmosphere — so high that they're very cold, and the material they shed is therefore almost certainly frozen, Juno team members said. "It's snowing on Jupiter, and we're seeing how it works," Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said during a news conference Thursday (May 25). "It's probably mostly ammonia ice, but there may be water ice mixed into it, so it's not exactly like the snow that we have [on Earth]," Bolton added. The new photos were taken during the most recent close approach, which Juno completed on May 19.
Astronomer captures image of planet - World news, News 20 October 2011 The Institute for Astronomy said Adam Kraus used Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea to find the planet. The University of Hawaii astronomer was working with Michael Ireland from Macquarie University and the Australian Astronomical Observatory. LkCa 15 b is 450 light years away from Earth and is being built by dust and gas. Mr Kraus presented the discovery at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland. Scientists had not been able to see such young planets before because they are so close to stars that the stars' light outshines them. Mr Kraus and Mr Ireland used mirrors to cancel out the starlight and were able to see dust near the planet.
In pictures: Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 The winning images from this year's competition have now been announced, with Artem Mironov's vibrant clouds of dust and gas in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex scooping first place. Stars and Nebulae Mironov won both the Stars and Nebulae category and the overall award, Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017. This image was taken over the course of three nights at a farm in Namibia, near Gamsberg mountain. The nebula is approximately 400 light years away from our planet, yet it is one of the closest to the Solar System. Image copyright Artem Mironov Competition judge and astronomer Dr Marek Kukula said: "There's an astonishing richness of colour and structure in this gorgeous image. "It's a popular part of the sky for astrophotographers, but this image shows it to us in a fresh light and there's a sense of mystery in the churning clouds of gas and dust." Image copyright Andras Papp Andras Papp has captured the path of the stars over the course of one "stellar day". Aurorae Galaxies
Vettel does doughnuts and Kobayashi greets the fans: videos from Suzuka | F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog Kamui Kobayashi celebrated with his fans at Suzuka Sebastian Vettel’s post-race doughnuts in Japan was just one of the unseen highlights of the race weekend. During the drivers’ parade Kamui Kobayashi hopped out of his car and greeted his fans at turn two. Here’s a selection of fans’ videos from the Japanese Grand Prix. Practice A marvellous impression of speed as the cars tackle 130R. Outside the track, Vettel is spotted by fans and tosses a pen back to one of them, presumably after signing something for them. Qualifying Lots of support for home hero Kamui Kobayashi as he starts his last lap in Q2. Much applause as he secures a place in the top ten: Race Kobayashi acknowledges the crowd during the drivers’ parade, stopping his car and going over to them: The drivers set off on the formation lap, seen here from turn two: