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Artist's Concept of Wide-fie …
PIA06927
Wide-field Infrared Survey E …
Title Artist's Concept of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Original Caption Released with Image Artist's concept of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. A new NASA mission will scan the entire sky in infrared light in search of nearby cool stars, planetary construction zones and the brightest galaxies in the universe. Called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the mission has been approved to proceed into the preliminary design phase as the next in NASA's Medium-class Explorer program of lower cost, highly focused, rapid-development scientific spacecraft. It is scheduled to launch in 2008.
NASA KSNN - Are You An Explo …
Are You An Explorer? This se …
6/1/03
Description Are You An Explorer? This segment describes the future plans NASA has for space exploration.
Date 6/1/03
NASA 360 Episode 6
This episode of NASA 360 loo …
2008
Description This episode of NASA 360 looks at how NASA tests the equipment needed for our return to the moon. Highlights include: the lunar truck Chariot, NASA's All Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, or ATHLETE, the rover Scarab and new suits for astronauts. This video is a NASA eClips (TM) program.
Date 2008
Lillie Burney Elementary Sch …
Mississippi Rep. Percy Watso …
9/8/06
Description Mississippi Rep. Percy Watson (left) talks with first-graders Savannah Jones and Levi Meyers, and Astronaut Lee Morin on Sept. 8 during the NASA Explorer School kickoff event at the Lillie Burney Elementary School in Hattiesburg, Miss. NASA Explorer Schools help promote student achievement in mathematics and science through activities using the excitement of NASA research, discoveries and missions.
Date 9/8/06
NASA Connect - GWTF - MAX Co …
NASA Connect Segment explori …
11/1/00
Description NASA Connect Segment exploring computer simulation tools for research on drag. The video features the Mars Airbourne Explorer simulation computer program.
Date 11/1/00
The three men responsible fo …
Description The three men responsible for the success of Explorer 1, America's first Earth satellite which was launched January 31, 1958. At left is Dr. W. H. Pickering, former director of JPL, which built and operated the satellite. Dr. James A. van Allen, center, of the State University of Iowa, designed and built the instrument on Explorer that discovered the radiation belts which circle the Earth. At right is the late Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army's Redstone Arsenal team which built the first stage Redstone rocket that launched Explorer 1.
Advanced Equipment to Use on …
NASA is currently testing po …
2008
Description NASA is currently testing potential equipment that can be used on missions back to the moon. Moses Lake, Washington, the site for the tests, has a surface similar to that of the moon. This segment introduces two advanced pieces of equipment that NASA is developing: the All Terrain Hex-Legged Extra Terrestrial Explorer, or ATHLETE, and the Chariot. ATHLETE is a rover with six wheels that will be able to transport up to 450 kg of cargo at a rate of 10 km/h. The Chariot, the new moon buggy, is powered by two motors with twelve wheels that can pivot in all directions at the speed of 24 km/h. This video is a NASA eClips (TM) program.
Date 2008
ISEE3-ICE
title ISEE3-ICE
description Known as International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 and International Cometary Explorer, this spacecraft scored a number of firsts - including the first comet flyby. *Image Credit*: NASA
NASA Explorer School
The NASA Explorer School-Eas …
11/8/07
Description The NASA Explorer School-East Oktibbeha County School District team recently celebrated the start of its three-year partnership with NASA during a two-part kickoff event Nov. 7 and 8. Pictured from left are, Oktibbeha County School District Superintendent Dr. Walter Conley, NES Team Administrator James Covington, Stennis Space Center Deputy Director Gene Goldman, Sharon Bonner, NES Team Lead Yolanda Magee, Andrea Temple, Carolyn Rice, and special guest astronaut Roger Crouch.
Date 11/8/07
Explorer I
Title Explorer I
Explanation Inaugurating the era of space exploration [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4406/contents.html ] for the US, the First Explorer [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970518.html ] was launched [ http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calander/explorer1.html ] into Earth orbit forty years ago [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/98/expl1rel.html ] (February 1, 1958) by the Army Ballistic Missle Agency [ http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/arspace/welcome.html ]. The Explorer I satellite [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history/mm/lk_inst.html ] weighed about 30 pounds, was 6 feet long, 6 inches in diameter and consisted of batteries, transmitters, and scientific instrumentation [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wexp13.html ] built into the fourth stage of a Jupiter-C rocket. Foreshadowing NASA and the adventurous [ http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/history/explorer.html ] and successful Explorer Program [ http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/Programs/explorer.html ], Explorer I bolstered national prestige in the wake of Sputnik [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970427.html ]. The satellite also contributed to a spectacular scientific bonanza - the discovery of Earth-girdling belts of magnetically trapped charged particles now known as the Van Allen Radiation Belts [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Iradbelt.html ].
Explorer I
Name of Image Explorer I
Date of Image 1959-10-21
Full Description This image is a cutaway illustration of the Explorer I satellite with callouts. The Explorer I satellite was America's first scientific satellite launched aboard the Jupiter C launch vehicle on January 31, 1958. The Explorer I carried the radiation detection experiment designed by Dr. James Van Allen and discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt.
Installing Explorer VII
Name of Image Installing Explorer VII
Date of Image 1959-10-13
Full Description Juno II was a part of America's effort to increase its capability to lift heavier satellites into orbit. One payload was Explorer VII. This photograph depicts workers installing the Explorer VII satellite on Juno II (AM-19A) booster. The Explorer VII investigated energetic particles and obtained data on radiation and magnetic storms. The successful launch of Juno II took place on October 13, 1959.
Jupiter C/Explorer 1 in Gant …
Name of Image Jupiter C/Explorer 1 in Gantry
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Explorer 1 atop a Jupiter-C in gantry. Jupiter-C carrying the first American satellite, Explorer 1, was successfully launched on January 31, 1958. The Jupiter-C launch vehicle consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later designated as Juno boosters for space launches
Explorer 1 Architects
title Explorer 1 Architects
date 01.01.1958
description The three men responsible for the success of Explorer 1, America's first Earth satellite which was launched January 31, 1958. At left is Dr. William H. Pickering, former director of JPL, which built and operated the satellite. Dr. James A. van Allen, center, of the State University of Iowa, designed and built the instrument on Explorer that discovered the radiation belts which circle the Earth. At right is Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army's Redstone Arsenal team which built the first stage Redstone rocket that launched Explorer 1.
The First Explorer
Title The First Explorer
Explanation The first US spacecraft was Explorer 1 [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history/mm/sect001.html#Explorer I ]. The cylindrical 30 pound satellite [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980213.html ] was launched (above) as the fourth stage of a Jupiter-C rocket (a modified US Army [ http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/firsts/firsts.html ] Redstone [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970406.html ] ballistic missile) and achieved orbit on January 31, 1958. Explorer I carried instrumentation [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history/mm/lk_inst.html ] to measure internal and external temperatures, micrometeorite impacts, and an experiment designed by James A. Van Allen [ http://www.jamesvanallen.com/productionbiography.html ] to measure the density of electrons and ions in space. The measurements made by Van Allen's experiment led to an unexpected and startling discovery [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wexp13.html ] -- an earth-encircling belt of high energy electrons and ions trapped in the magnetosphere [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Intro.html ] now known as the Van Allen Belt [ http://es91-server1.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/sppb/MI/imagers.html ]. Explorer I ceased transmitting on February 28 of that year but remained in orbit until March of 1970.
Explorer 1 During the Instal …
Name of Image Explorer 1 During the Installation to Jupiter-C
Date of Image 1958-01-01
Full Description Explorer 1 satellite. This photo was taken during the installation of Explorer-1, the first United States' Earth-orbiting satellite, to its launch vehicle, Jupiter-C, in January 1958
Nearby Newborns
PIA07143
GALEX Telescope
Title Nearby Newborns
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1 This image shows six of the three-dozen "ultraviolet luminous galaxies" spotted in our corner of the universe by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. These massive galaxies greatly resemble newborn galaxies that were common in the early universe. The discovery came as a surprise, because astronomers had thought that the universe's "birth-rate" had declined, and that massive galaxies were no longer forming. The galaxies, located in the center of each panel, were discovered after the Galaxy Evolution Explorer scanned a large portion of the sky with its highly sensitive ultraviolet-light detectors. Because young stars pack most of their light into ultraviolet wavelengths, young galaxies appear to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer like diamonds in a field of stones. Astronomers mined for these rare "gems" before, but missed them because they weren't able to examine a large enough slice of the sky. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer surveyed thousands of nearby galaxies before finding three-dozen newborns. While still relatively close in astronomical terms, these galaxies are far enough away to appear small to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Clockwise beginning from the upper left, they are called: GALEX_J232539.24+004507.1, GALEX_J231812.98-004126.1, GALEX_J015028.39+130858.5, GALEX_J021348.52+125951.3, GALEX_J143417.15+020742.5, GALEX_J020354.02-092452.5.
Nearby Newborns
PIA07143
GALEX Telescope
Title Nearby Newborns
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1 This image shows six of the three-dozen "ultraviolet luminous galaxies" spotted in our corner of the universe by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. These massive galaxies greatly resemble newborn galaxies that were common in the early universe. The discovery came as a surprise, because astronomers had thought that the universe's "birth-rate" had declined, and that massive galaxies were no longer forming. The galaxies, located in the center of each panel, were discovered after the Galaxy Evolution Explorer scanned a large portion of the sky with its highly sensitive ultraviolet-light detectors. Because young stars pack most of their light into ultraviolet wavelengths, young galaxies appear to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer like diamonds in a field of stones. Astronomers mined for these rare "gems" before, but missed them because they weren't able to examine a large enough slice of the sky. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer surveyed thousands of nearby galaxies before finding three-dozen newborns. While still relatively close in astronomical terms, these galaxies are far enough away to appear small to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Clockwise beginning from the upper left, they are called: GALEX_J232539.24+004507.1, GALEX_J231812.98-004126.1, GALEX_J015028.39+130858.5, GALEX_J021348.52+125951.3, GALEX_J143417.15+020742.5, GALEX_J020354.02-092452.5.
Explorer 1 Preparations
title Explorer 1 Preparations
date 01.20.1958
description Technicians lower Explorer 1, the first American satellite, onto the launch vehicle's fourth stage motor. This photo was taken in the gantry at Launch Complex 26 at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. *Image Credit*: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Explanatory Image of the Fir …
Title Explanatory Image of the First Explorer VI Picture of Earth
Full Description The lined areas at the left represent a cloud-cover map, prepared from meteorology charts, which have been superimposed on a glove to show how the lighted area which the Explorer VI television scanner saw on August 14, 1959.
Date 08/14/1959
NASA Center Headquarters
Explorer 24
Title Explorer 24
Full Description This satellite, Explorer 24, was a 12-foot-diameter inflatable sphere developed by an engineering team at Langley. It provided information on complex solar radiation/air-density relationships in the upper atmosphere.
Date 9/28/1964
NASA Center Langley Research Center
Marjorie Townsend and SAS-1
Title Marjorie Townsend and SAS-1
Full Description Marjorie Townsend discusses the X-ray Explorer Satellite's performance with a colleague during preflight tests at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Townsend, a Washington DC native, was the first woman to receive an engineering degree from The George Washington University. She joined NASA in 1959 and later advanced to become the project manager of the Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS) Program. The satellite shown in the picture, SAS-1, was the 42nd in NASA's Explorer series, a family of small, simple satellites sent to perform important scientific missions for minimal cost. The first Explorer satellite launched in 1958, months prior to the formation of NASA, initiating a program of exploration that has continued into the twenty-first century. SAS-1 continued the tradition of crucial science projects by carrying the first set of sensitive instruments designed to map X-ray sources both within and beyond our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Also known as Explorer 42 and the X-ray Explorer, it became the first American spacecraft launched by another country when an Italian space team launched it on December 12, 1970 from a mobile launch platform located in international waters off the coast of East Africa. It mapped the universe in X-ray wavelengths and discovered X-ray pulsars and evidence of black holes. The satellite was named Uhuru, which means freedom in Swahili, because it was launched from San Marco off the coast of Kenya on Kenya's Independence Day. In the 1970's the Italian Government made Townsend a Knight of the Italian Republic Order for her contributions to the United States-Italian space efforts. In 1990, Townsend joined BDM International Inc., as the director of Space Systems Engineering with the Space Science and Applications Division.
Date 12/02/1970
NASA Center Goddard Space Flight Center
Dora'& Kids at Day of Play
From left, Cobie Smith, 5, a …
10/5/05
Description From left, Cobie Smith, 5, and Tatume Smith, also 5, have their picture taken with 'Dora the Explorer.' The children were participants in Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play celebration at Stennis Space Center (SSC) on Oct. 1. The Worldwide Day of Play is sponsored annually by Nickelodeon television network to encourage children to be physically active. Approximately 150 children participated in the event at SSC.
Date 10/5/05
Juno I -- Explorer I
Name of Image Juno I -- Explorer I
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Juno I, a slightly modified Jupiter-C launch vehicle, shortly before the January 31, 1958 launch of America's first satellite, Explorer I. The Jupiter-C, developed by Dr. Wernher von Braun and the rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Installation of Explorer 1
Name of Image Installation of Explorer 1
Date of Image 1958-01-01
Full Description Installation of Explorer 1, the first United States' satellite, to its launch vehicle, Jupiter-C, January 1958
View of Explorer VII
Name of Image View of Explorer VII
Date of Image 1959-01-01
Full Description A Juno II launched an Explorer VII satellite on October 13, 1959. Explorer VII, with a total weight of 91.5 pounds, carried a scientific package for detecting micrometeors, measuring the Earth's radiation balance, and conducting other experiments.
Juno II (AM-19A)/Explorer VI …
Name of Image Juno II (AM-19A)/Explorer VII
Date of Image 1959-10-11
Full Description The Juno II vehicle in gantry for fueling. The Juno II AM-19A mission was launched on October 13, 1959 and successfully deployed an astronomical satellite, Explorer VII
Jupiter C/Explorer I Charact …
Name of Image Jupiter C/Explorer I Characteristics
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description This illustration shows the main characteristics of the Jupiter C launch vehicle and its payload, the Explorer I satellite. The Jupiter C, America's first successful space vehicle, launched the free world's first scientific satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. The four-stage Jupiter C measured almost 69 feet in length. The first stage was a modified liquid fueled Redstone missile. This main stage was about 57 feet in length and 70 inches in diameter. Fifteen scaled down SERGENT solid propellant motors were used in the upper stages. A "tub" configuration mounted on top of the modified Redstone held the second and third stages. The second stage consisted of 11 rockets placed in a ring formation within the tub. Inserted into the ring of second stage rockets was a cluster of 3 rockets making up the third stage. A fourth stage single rocket and the satellite were mounted atop the third stage. This "tub", all upper stages, and the satellite were set spirning prior to launching. The complete upper assembly measured 12.5 feet in length. The Explorer I carried the radiation detection experiment designed by Dr. James Van Allen and discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt.
Explorer 1
PIA04601
Title Explorer 1
Original Caption Released with Image America's First Satellite America joined the space race with the launch of this small, but important spacecraft.
Europa Explorer
title Europa Explorer
description The Europa Explorer Mission is a Solar System Exploration Roadmap Mission that examines Europa's subsurface oceans from orbit and searches for possible landing sites for future missions.
NASA SCI Files - Animal Popu …
In the third segment of the …
2/16/05
Description In the third segment of the Case of the Zany Animal Antics the tree house detectives simulate population growth with an experiment and learn how to estimate populations with random sampling from a NASA explorer school. In the last part of the Animal Populations and Habitats segment the tree house detectives learn what makes up a good habitat.
Date 2/16/05
Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
Title Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
Description The many "personalities" of our great galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are exposed in this new composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The wide, ultraviolet eyes of Galaxy Evolution Explorer reveal Andromeda's "fiery" nature -- hotter regions brimming with young and old stars. In contrast, Spitzer's super-sensitive infrared eyes show Andromeda's relatively "cool" side, which includes embryonic stars hidden in their dusty cocoons. Galaxy Evolution Explorer detected young, hot, high-mass stars, which are represented in blue, while populations of relatively older stars are shown as green dots. The bright yellow spot at the galaxy's center depicts a particularly dense population of old stars. Swaths of red in the galaxy's disk indicate areas where Spitzer found cool, dusty regions where stars are forming. These stars are still shrouded by the cosmic clouds of dust and gas that collapsed to form them. Together, Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Spitzer complete the picture of Andromeda's swirling spiral arms. Hints of pinkish purple depict regions where the galaxy's populations of hot, high-mass stars and cooler, dust-enshrouded stars co-exist. Located 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda is our largest nearby galactic neighbor. The galaxy's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy's disk is about 100,000 light-years across. This image is a false color composite comprised of data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector (blue), near-ultraviolet detector (green), and Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer at 24 microns (red).
Juno II Launch Vehicle
Name of Image Juno II Launch Vehicle
Date of Image 1958-01-01
Full Description The modified Jupiter C (sometimes called Juno I), used to launch Explorer I, had minimum payload lifting capabilities. Explorer I weighed slightly less than 31 pounds. Juno II was part of America's effort to increase payload lifting capabilities. Among other achievements, the vehicle successfully launched a Pioneer IV satellite on March 3, 1959, and an Explorer VII satellite on October 13, 1959. Responsibility for Juno II passed from the Army to the Marshall Space Flight Center when the Center was activated on July 1, 1960. On November 3, 1960, a Juno II sent Explorer VIII into a 1,000-mile deep orbit within the ionosphere.
SEDS-I: Subsatellite in moti …
Title SEDS-I: Subsatellite in motion (every 10th frame)
Completed 1994-04-01
Dr. von Braun with the Front …
Name of Image Dr. von Braun with the Front Page of the Huntsville Times
Date of Image 1963-01-01
Full Description Dr. von Braun is presented with the front page of the Huntsville Times arnouncing the launch of Explorer I, the first U.S. Earth satellite, which was boosted by the Jupiter-C launch vehicle developed by Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under the direction of Dr. von Braun. The occasion was the fifth Anniversary of the Explorer I launch in January 1958.
Activities in a Blockhouse D …
Name of Image Activities in a Blockhouse During Jupiter-C Launch
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Activities in a blockhouse during the launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958
Juno II/Explorer VII
Name of Image Juno II/Explorer VII
Date of Image 1959-10-13
Full Description The ignition of Juno II (AM-19A). Juno II (AM-19) successfully placed a physics and astronomy satellite, Explorer VII, in orbit on October 13, 1959.
FIRST LEGO League Kickoff
FIRST LEGO League participan …
9/23/06
Description FIRST LEGO League participants listen to Aerospace Education Specialist Chris Copelan explain the playing field for 'Nano Quest' during a recent FLL kickoff event at StenniSphere, the visitor center at NASA Stennis Space Center. The kickoff began the 2006 FLL competition season. Eighty-five teachers, mentors, parents and 9- to 14-year-old students from southern and central Mississippi came to SSC to hear the rules for Nano Quest. The challenge requires teams to spend eight weeks building and programming robots from LEGO Mindstorms kits. They'll battle their creations in local and regional competitions. The Dec. 2 competition at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will involve about 200 students. FIRST LEGO League, considered the 'little league' of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, partners FIRST and the LEGO Group. Competitions aim to inspire and celebrate science and technology using real-world context and hands-on experimentation, and to promote the principles of team play and gracious professionalism. Because NASA advocates robotics and science-technology education, the agency and SSC support FIRST by providing team coaches, mentors and training, as well as competition event judges, referees, audio-visual and other volunteer staff personnel. Two of Mississippi's NASA Explorer Schools, Bay-Waveland Middle and Hattiesburg's Lillie Burney Elementary, were in attendance. The following schools were also represented: Ocean Springs Middle, Pearl Upper Elementary, Long Beach Middle, Jackson Preparatory Academy, North Woolmarket Middle, D'Iberville Middle, West Wortham Middle, Picayune's Roseland Park Baptist Academy and Nicholson Elementary, as well as two home-school groups from McComb and Brandon. Gulfport and Picayune Memorial-Pearl River high schools' FIRST Robotics teams conducted robotics demonstrations for the FLL crowd.
Date 9/23/06
NASA Connect - Geometry and …
NASA Connect Video containin …
11/1/00
Description NASA Connect Video containing six segments as described below. NASA Connect Segment explaining air flow. The video describes how drag, lift, and thrust work. NASA Connect Segment exploring drag and agebraic relationships. The video explains flow visualization and air flow and how engineers use algebra in their work. NASA Connect Segment explaining the new concept aircraft in development known as the blended wing body. The video explains how engineers and scientists uses geometry to help with development. NASA Connect Segment involving students in a classroom activity called What A Drag. The video explores how shape affects drag. NASA Connect Segment involving students in a classroom activity. The video explores how surface area affects drag. NASA Connect Segment exploring computer simulation tools for research on drag. The video features the Mars Airbourne Explorer simulation computer program.
Date 11/1/00
GLOBE Hydrology Workshop SEI …
Matt Krigbaum (left), a teac …
6/30/05
Description Matt Krigbaum (left), a teacher at Mitchell Elementary in Ann Arbor, Mich., pours water from the Pearl River into a turbidity tube to measure the river's light penetration. Krigbaum, along with Lois Williams, principal at Elizabeth Courville Elementary in Detroit, Mich., and Carolyn Martin and Arlene Wittmer, teachers at Elizabeth Courville Elementary, conducted the experiment during a GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) hydrology workshop. GLOBE is a worldwide, hands-on science education program in which teachers can become certified to implement the program at their schools after taking hydrology, land cover/biology, atmosphere/climate and soil protocol workshops. Twelve teachers from across the country attended the recent weeklong GLOBE training at SSC, offered through its Educator Resource Center and the NASA Explorer Schools program. All workshops are free and offer continuing education units.
Date 6/30/05
Stennis hosts Gulf Pine Coun …
Tori Williams, of Brownie Gi …
10/13/07
Description Tori Williams, of Brownie Girl Scout Troop 313, builds her own `stomp rocket' with the help of adult chaperone Pamela Cottrell. The two, of Gulfport, participated in NASA Brownie Day on Oct. 13 at Stennis Space Center. They were among nearly 200 members of Brownie Girl Scout Troops within the Gulf Pines Council who took part in the day of educational activities at SSC. Brownie Day used NASA curriculum support materials to teach about the sun and its significance in our solar system. In addition to building and launching their own model rockets, the girls toured the center's portable Starlab planetarium, viewed demonstrations about living and working in space, played games of `Moon Phasers' that teach about the rotation of the moon around the earth, made bracelets with ultraviolet-sensitive beads, and other activities that celebrated Earth's very own star. They also toured StenniSphere and were able to earn their Earth and Sky and Space Explorer `Try-Its.'
Date 10/13/07
Launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer …
Name of Image Launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer 1
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 31, 1958. After the Russian Sputnik 1 was launched in October 1957, the launching of an American satellite assumed much greater importance. After the Vanguard rocket exploded on the pad in December 1957, the ability to orbit a satellite became a matter of national prestige. On January 31, 1958, slightly more than four weeks after the launch of Sputnik.The ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile Agency) in Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, in cooperation with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, launched a Jupiter from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later designated as Juno boosters for space launches
High Above
On March 7, 1947, not long a …
3/6/09
Description On March 7, 1947, not long after the end of World War II and years before Sputnik ushered in the space age, a group of soldiers and scientists in the New Mexico desert saw something new and wonderful in these grainy black-and-white-photos -- the first pictures of Earth as seen from altitude greater than 100 miles in space. Just the year before in 1946, scientists like John T. Mengel, a NASA pioneer who later oversaw the Vanguard Program, began experimenting with captured German V-2 rockets. Mengel conducted upper atmosphere experiments by launching the rockets into near-earth orbit. He designed and fabricated the first research nose shell to replace of the V-2 warhead and began placing cameras in the nose shell. Before the Small Steps Program began in 1946 using V-2 rockets to take images from space, the highest pictures ever taken of the Earth's surface were from the Explorer II balloon, which ascended 13.7 miles in 1935, high enough to discern the curvature of the Earth. The V-2 cameras reached more than five times that altitude and clearly showed the planet set against the blackness of space. When the movie frames were stitched together, the panoramas taken in the late 1940s covered a million square miles or more at a single glance. Image Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Date 3/6/09
COBE Satellite Marks 20th An …
NASA's Cosmic Background Exp …
11/18/09
Description NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of the early cosmos. Developed and built at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., COBE precisely measured and mapped the oldest light in the universe -- the cosmic microwave background. For these results, COBE scientists John Mather, at Goddard, and George Smoot, at the University of California, Berkeley, shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics. The mission ushered cosmologists into a new era of precision measurements, paving the way for deeper exploration of the microwave background by NASA's ongoing WMAP mission and the European Space Agency's new Planck satellite. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/cobe_20th.html. Image Credit: NASA
Date 11/18/09
Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
PIA08787
Multiband Imaging Photometer …
Title Amazing Andromeda Galaxy
Original Caption Released with Image The many "personalities" of our great galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are exposed in this new composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The wide, ultraviolet eyes of Galaxy Evolution Explorer reveal Andromeda's "fiery" nature -- hotter regions brimming with young and old stars. In contrast, Spitzer's super-sensitive infrared eyes show Andromeda's relatively "cool" side, which includes embryonic stars hidden in their dusty cocoons. Galaxy Evolution Explorer detected young, hot, high-mass stars, which are represented in blue, while populations of relatively older stars are shown as green dots. The bright yellow spot at the galaxy's center depicts a particularly dense population of old stars. Swaths of red in the galaxy's disk indicate areas where Spitzer found cool, dusty regions where stars are forming. These stars are still shrouded by the cosmic clouds of dust and gas that collapsed to form them. Together, Galaxy Evolution Explorer and Spitzer complete the picture of Andromeda's swirling spiral arms. Hints of pinkish purple depict regions where the galaxy's populations of hot, high-mass stars and cooler, dust-enshrouded stars co-exist. Located 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda is our largest nearby galactic neighbor. The galaxy's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy's disk is about 100,000 light-years across. This image is a false color composite comprised of data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector (blue), near-ultraviolet detector (green), and Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer at 24 microns (red).
Grace and Beauty
Description Our robotic explorer Cassini regards the shadow-draped face of Saturn.
Full Description Our robotic explorer Cassini regards the shadow-draped face of Saturn. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 14 degrees above the ringplane. In this viewing geometry all of the main rings, except for the B ring, appear transparent. The rings cast their mirror image onto the planet beyond. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 9, 2007, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (972,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 90 kilometers (56 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Date October 15, 2007
Dr. William H. Pickering
Dr. William H. Pickering ser …
Description Dr. William H. Pickering served as the fourth director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, from 1954 to 1976. The period during which he led JPL spanned the eras from JPL's creation of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, through the formation of NASA, the Ranger, Surveyor and Mariner missions of the 1960s and the Viking mission of the 1970s.
Europa Astrobiology Lander
title Europa Astrobiology Lander
description This Flagship class mission would build on the findings of the Europa Explorer Mission, and would perform astrobiology related exploration on the surface of Europa.
The First Explorer
Title The First Explorer
Explanation Fifty years ago (on January 31, 1958) the First Explorer [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/ ], was launched into Earth orbit [ http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/explorer/ welcome.html ] by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Inaugurating the era of space exploration for the United States, Explorer I [ http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/expinfo.html ] was a thirty pound satellite that carried instruments to measure temperatures, and micrometeorite impacts, along with an experiment designed by James A. Van Allen [ http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/vanallen.html ] to measure the density of electrons and ions in space. The measurements made by Van Allen's experiment led to an unexpected and startling discovery [ http://www.phy6.org/Education/wexp13.html ] -- an earth-encircling belt of high energy electrons and ions trapped in the magnetosphere [ http://www.phy6.org/Education/Intro.html ] now known as the Van Allen Radiation Belt [ http://www.phy6.org/Education/wradbelt.html ]. Explorer I ceased transmitting on February 28, 1958, but remained in orbit until March of 1970. Pioneering space scientist James Van Allen [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/features/ james_van_allen.html ] died on August 9th, 2006 at the age of 91.
Explorer 1
title Explorer 1
description America joined the space race with the launch of this small, but important spacecraft. *Image Credit*: JPL
Explorer XVII Satellite
Title Explorer XVII Satellite
Full Description Weighing 405 lbs. (184 kg), this 35-inch (89-cm) pressurized stainless steel sphere measured the density, composition, pressure and temperature of Earth's atmosphere after its launch from Cape Canaveral on April 3, 1963. The mission was one of three that Goddard Space Flight Center specifically conducted to learn more about the atmosphere's physical properties?knowledge that they ultimately used for scientific and meteorological purposes. Explorer XVII carried two spectrometers, four vacuum pressure gauges and two electrostatic probes. Before it reached its intended orbit that ranged from 158 to 570 miles (254-917 km) above Earth, the satellite was spun up to about 90 rpm.
Date 01/01/1963
NASA Center Goddard Space Flight Center
First Picture from Explorer …
Title First Picture from Explorer VI Satellite
Full Description This is the first crude picture obtained from Explorer VI Earth satellite launched August 7, 1959. It shows a sun-lighted area of the Central Pacific ocean and its cloud cover. The picture was made when the satellite was about 17,000 miles above the surface of the earth on August 14, 1959. At the time, the satellite was crossing Mexico. The signals were received at the South Point, Hawaii, tracking station.
Date 08/14/1959
NASA Center Headquarters
GALEX 1st Light Near Ultravi …
PIA04278
GALEX Telescope
Title GALEX 1st Light Near Ultraviolet -50
Original Caption Released with Image This image was taken May 21 and 22 by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The image was made from data gathered by the two channels of the spacecraft camera during the mission's "first light" milestone. It shows about 50 celestial objects in the constellation Hercules. The reddish objects represent those detected by the camera's near ultraviolet channel over a 5-minute period, while bluish objects were detected over a 3-minute period by the camera's far ultraviolet channel. Deeper imaging may confirm the apparent existence in this field of galaxy pairs and triplets or individual star formation regions in single galaxies. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.
GALEX 1st Light Near Ultravi …
PIA04279
GALEX Telescope
Title GALEX 1st Light Near Ultraviolet
Original Caption Released with Image This image was taken on May 21 and 22 by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The image was made from data gathered during the missions "first light" milestone, and shows celestial objects in the constellation Hercules. The objects shown represent those detected by the camera's near ultraviolet channel over a 5-minute period. The radial streaks at the edge of the image are due to stars reflecting from the near ultraviolet detector window. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.
GALEX 1st Light Compilation
PIA04282
GALEX Telescope
Title GALEX 1st Light Compilation
Original Caption Released with Image This compilation shows the constellation Hercules, as imaged on May 21 and 22 by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The images were captured by the two channels of the spacecraft camera during the mission's "first light" milestone. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.
GALEX 1st Light Far Ultravio …
PIA04280
GALEX Telescope
Title GALEX 1st Light Far Ultraviolet
Original Caption Released with Image This image was taken May 21 and 22 by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The image was made from data gathered by the far ultraviolet channel of the spacecraft camera during the mission's "first light" milestone. It shows about 400 celestial objects, appearing in blue, detected over a 3-minute, 20-second period in the constellation Hercules. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.
GALEX 1st Light Near and Far …
PIA04281
GALEX Telescope
Title GALEX 1st Light Near and Far Ultraviolet -100
Original Caption Released with Image NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer took this image on May 21 and 22. The image was made from data gathered by the two channels of the spacecraft camera during the mission's "first light" milestone. It shows about 100 celestial objects in the constellation Hercules. The reddish objects represent those detected by the camera's near ultraviolet channel over a 5-minute period, while bluish objects were detected over a 3-minute period by the camera's far ultraviolet channel. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.
Mira's Tail There All Along
PIA09961
Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
Title Mira's Tail There All Along
Original Caption Released with Image NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer discovered an exceptionally long comet-like tail of material trailing behind Mira -- a star that has been studied thoroughly for about 400 years. So, why had this tail gone unnoticed for so long? The answer is that nobody had scanned the extended region around Mira in ultraviolet light until now. As this composite demonstrates, the tail is only visible in ultraviolet light (top), and does not show up in visible light (bottom). Incidentally, Mira is much brighter in visible than ultraviolet light due to its low surface temperature of about 3,000 kelvin (about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit). The Galaxy Evolution Explorer, one of NASA's Small Explorer class missions, is the first all-sky survey in ultraviolet light. It found Mira's tail by chance during a routine scan. Since the mission's launch more than four years ago, it has surveyed millions of galaxies and stars. Such vast collections of data often bring welcome surprises, such as Mira's unusual tail. The visible-light image is from the United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope in Australia, via the Digitized Sky Survey, a program affiliated with the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Galaxy Centaurus A
PIA04624
GALEX Telescope
Title Galaxy Centaurus A
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the active galaxy Centaurus A was taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer on June 7, 2003. The galaxy is located 30 million light-years from Earth and is seen edge on, with a prominent dust lane across the major axis. In this image the near ultraviolet emission is represented as green, and the far ultraviolet emission as blue. The galaxy exhibits jets of high energy particles, which were traced by the X-ray emission and measured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These X-ray emissions are seen as red in the image. Several regions of ultraviolet emission can be seen where the jets of high energy particles intersect with hydrogen clouds in the upper left corner of the image. The emission shown may be the result of recent star formation triggered by the compression of gas by the jet. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer mission is led by the California Institute of Technology, which is also responsible for the science operations and data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of Caltech, manages the mission and built the science instrument. The mission was developed under NASA's Explorers Program, managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The mission's international partners include South Korea and France.
Galaxy NGC 55
PIA04923
GALEX Telescope
Title Galaxy NGC 55
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 55 was taken by Galaxy Evolution Explorer on September 14, 2003, during 2 orbits. This galaxy lies 5.4 million light years from our Milky Way galaxy and is a member of the "local group" of galaxies that also includes the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the Magellanic clouds, and 40 other galaxies. The spiral disk of NGC 55 is inclined to our line of sight by approximately 80 degrees and so this galaxy looks cigar-shaped. This picture is a combination of Galaxy Evolution Explorer images taken with the far ultraviolet (colored blue) and near ultraviolet detectors, (colored red). The bright blue regions in this image are areas of active star formation detected in the ultraviolet by Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The red stars in this image are foreground stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.
Galaxy NGC 300
PIA04924
GALEX Telescope
Title Galaxy NGC 300
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 300 was taken by Galaxy Evolution Explorer in a single orbit exposure of 27 minutes on October 10, 2003. NGC 300 lies 7 million light years from our Milky Way galaxy and is one of a group of galaxies in the constellation Sculptor. NGC 300 is often used as a prototype of a spiral galaxy because in optical images it displays flowing spiral arms and a bright central region of older (and thus redder) stars. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer image taken in ultraviolet light shows us that NGC 300 is an efficient star-forming galaxy. The bright blue regions in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer image reveal new stars forming all the way into the nucleus of NGC 300.
Galaxy NGC 247
PIA04922
GALEX Telescope
Title Galaxy NGC 247
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the dwarf spiral galaxy NGC 247 was taken by Galaxy Evolution Explorer on October 13, 2003, in a single orbit exposure of 1600 seconds. The region that looks like a "hole" in the upper part of the galaxy is a location with a deficit of gas and therefore a lower star formation rate and ultraviolet brightness. Optical images of this galaxy show a bright star on the southern edge. This star is faint and red in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer ultraviolet image, revealing that it is a foreground star in our Milky Way galaxy. The string of background galaxies to the North-East (upper left) of NGC 247 is 355 million light years from our Milky Way galaxy whereas NGC 247 is a mere 9 million light years away. The faint blue light that can be seen in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer image of the upper two of these background galaxies may indicate that they are in the process of merging together.
Jupiter-C Headline in Huntsv …
Name of Image Jupiter-C Headline in Huntsville Times
Date of Image 1958-01-01
Full Description In January 1958, a modified Redstone rocket lifted the first American satellite into orbit just 3 months after the the von Braun team received the go-ahead. This modified Redstone rocket was known as a Jupiter-C. Its satellite payload was called Explorer I.
Explorer I Satellite
Name of Image Explorer I Satellite
Date of Image 1957-10-03
Full Description America?s first scientific satellite, the Explorer I, carried the radiation detection experiment designed by Dr. James Van Allen and discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt. It was launched aboard a modified redstone rocket known as the Jupiter C, developed by Dr. von Braun?s rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The satellite launched on January 31, 1958, just 3 months after the the von Braun team received the go-ahead.
Dr. von Braun Inside Blockho …
Name of Image Dr. von Braun Inside Blockhouse
Date of Image 1958-03-01
Full Description Dr. von Braun inside the blockhouse during the launch of the Jupiter C/Explorer III in March 1958.
Teacher Kim Cantrell from th …
Photo Description Teacher Kim Cantrell from the Edwards Air Force Base Middle School, Edwards, Calif., participating in a live uplink at NASA Dryden as part of NASA's Explorer Schools program, asks the crew of the International Space Station a question.
Photo Date July 15, 2003
The First Explorer
Title The First Explorer
Explanation Inaugurating the era of space exploration for the US, the First Explorer [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/explorer.html ], a thirty pound satellite, was launched [ http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/explorer/welcome.html ] into Earth orbit on January 31, 1958 by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Explorer I [ http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/expinfo.html ] carried instruments to measure temperatures, micrometeorite impacts, and an experiment designed by James A. Van Allen [ http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/vanallen.html ] to measure the density of electrons and ions in space. The measurements made by Van Allen's experiment led to an unexpected and startling discovery [ http://www.phy6.org/Education/wexp13.html ] -- an earth-encircling belt of high energy electrons and ions trapped in the magnetosphere [ http://www.phy6.org/Education/Intro.html ] now known as the Van Allen Radiation Belt [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt ]. Explorer I ceased transmitting on February 28 of that year but remained in orbit until March of 1970. Pioneering astrophysicist James Van Allen [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/features/ james_van_allen.html ] died on August 9th at the age of 91.
Launch, Jupiter-C, Explorer …
Name of Image Launch, Jupiter-C, Explorer 1
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 31, 1958. After the Russian Sputnik 1 was launched in October 1957, the launching of an American satellite assumed much greater importance. After the Vanguard rocket exploded on the pad in December 1957, the ability to orbit a satellite became a matter of national prestige. On January 31, 1958, slightly more than four weeks after the launch of Sputnik.The ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile Agency) in Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, in cooperation with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, launched a Jupiter from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later designated as Juno boosters for space launches
Explorer 24
Title Explorer 24
Description This satellite, Explorer 24, was a 12-foot-diameter inflatable sphere developed by an engineering team at Langley. It provided information on complex solar radiation/air-density relationships in the upper atmosphere." Explorer satellites were inflatable satellites--or satelloons, like Echo, and were developed as a follow-on program. They were intended as a vehicle to study the density of air in the upper atmosphere. Explorer 24 was launched in November 1964. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, pp. 191-192.
Date 10.16.1964
NASA TV's This Week @NASA, D …
* The three crew members of …
12/04/09
Description * The three crew members of Expedition 21 made a safe landing in a Soyuz spacecraft after departing the International Space Station several hours earlier. * NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden presented Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, Jr. with NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award during a special ceremony in Biloxi, Mississippi, Haise√¢s hometown. * Thirty-seven years ago the Apollo 17 mission began with this early morning launch from the Kennedy Space Center. * NASA'S revolutionary Kepler space telescope has been honored by two leading magazines. Popular Science Magazine dubbed the planet-hunting telescope the 2009 Best of What's New Grand Award, and Popular Mechanics lauded its achievement with a 2009 Breakthrough Award. * NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is on track to begin its mission this week. WISE is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Delta II rocket.
Date 12/04/09
Cartwheel Galaxy Makes Waves
Title Cartwheel Galaxy Makes Waves
Description This false-color composite image shows the Cartwheel galaxy as seen by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's Far Ultraviolet detector (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2 in B-band visible light (green), the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 8 microns (red), and the Chandra X-ray Observatory's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer-S array instrument (purple). Approximately 100 million years ago, a smaller galaxy plunged through the heart of Cartwheel galaxy, creating ripples of brief star formation. In this image, the first ripple appears as an ultraviolet-bright blue outer ring. The blue outer ring is so powerful in the GALEX observations that it indicates the Cartwheel is one of the most powerful UV-emitting galaxies in the nearby universe. The blue color reveals to astronomers that associations of stars 5 to 20 times as massive as our sun are forming in this region. The clumps of pink along the outer blue ring are regions where both X-rays and UV radiation are superimposed in the image. These X-ray point sources are very likely collections of binary star systems containing a blackhole (called Massive X-ray Binary Systems). The X-ray sources seem to cluster around optical/UV bright supermassive star clusters. The yellow-orange inner ring and nucleus at the center of the galaxy result from the combination of visible and infrared light, which is stronger towards the center. This region of the galaxy represents the second ripple, or ring wave, created in the collision, but has much less star for mation activity than the first (outer) ring wave. The wisps of red spread throughout the interior of the galaxy are organic molecules that have been illuminated by nearby low-level star formation. Meanwhile, the tints of green are less massive, older visible light stars. Although astronomers have not identified exactly which galaxy collided with the Cartwheel, two of three candidate galaxies can be seen in this image to the bottom left of the ring, one as a neon blob and the other as a green spiral. Previously, scientists believed the ring marked the outermost edge of the galaxy, but the latest GALEX observations detect a faint disk, not visible in this image, that extends to twice the diameter of the ring.
Lillie Burney Elementary Sch …
Title Lillie Burney Elementary School
Description Mississippi Rep. Percy Watson (left) talks with first-graders Savannah Jones and Levi Meyers, and Astronaut Lee Morin on Sept. 8 during the NASA Explorer School kickoff event at the Lillie Burney Elementary School in Hattiesburg, Miss. NASA Explorer Schools help promote student achievement in mathematics and science through activities using the excitement of NASA research, discoveries and missions.
Date 09.08.2006
The Rite of Spring
Of the countless equinoxes S …
10/15/09
Description Of the countless equinoxes Saturn has seen since the birth of the solar system, this one, captured in a mosaic of light and dark, is the first witnessed up close by an emissary from Earth Îÿ_Îÿ_Îÿ__€∆_ none other than our faithful robotic explorer, Cassini. Seen from our planet, the view of Saturn's rings during equinox is extremely foreshortened and limited. But in orbit around Saturn, Cassini had no such problems. From 20 degrees above the ring plane, Cassini's wide angle camera shot 75 exposures in succession for this mosaic showing Saturn, its rings and a few of its moons a day and a half after exact Saturn equinox, when the sun/s disk was exactly overhead at the planet's equator. The novel illumination geometry that accompanies equinox lowers the sun's angle to the ring plane, significantly darkens the rings, and causes out-of-plane structures to look anomalously bright and to cast shadows across the rings. These scenes are possible only during the few months before and after SaturnÎÿ_Îÿ_Îÿ__Îÿ__Îÿ_s equinox which occurs only once in about 15 Earth years. Also at equinox, the shadows of the planet's expansive rings are compressed into a single, narrow band cast onto the planet as seen in this mosaic. The images comprising the mosaic, taken over about eight hours, were extensively processed before being joined together. With no enhancement, the rings would be essentially invisible in this mosaic. To improve their visibility, the dark right half of the rings has been brightened relative to the brighter left half by a factor of three, and then the whole ring system has been brightened by a factor of 20 relative to the planet. So the dark half of the rings is 60 times brighter, and the bright half 20 times brighter, than they would have appeared if the entire system, planet included, could have been captured in a single image. The images were taken on Aug. 12, 2009, beginning about 1.25 days after exact equinox, using the red, green and blue spectral filters of the wide angle camera and were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained at a distance of approximately 526,000 miles from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 74 degrees. Image scale is 31 miles per pixel. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Date 10/15/09
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. --- At Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers begin placing the Delta rocket fairing around the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. NASA's latest explorer carries three scientific instruments to map the chemical and mineralogical makeup of Mars: a thermal-emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and a Martian radiation environment experiment. The imaging system will map the planet with high-resolution thermal images and give scientists an increased level of detail to help them understand how the mineralogy of the planet relates to the land forms. In addition, Odyssey will serve as a communications relay for U.S. and international landers arriving at Mars in 2003/2004. The Mars Odyssey is scheduled for launch April 7, 2001, at 11:02 a.m. EST.
Brief History of the Univers …
Title Brief History of the Universe
Description This artist's timeline chronicles the history of the universe, from its explosive beginning to its mature, present-day state. Our universe began in a tremendous explosion known as the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago (left side of strip). Observations by NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer and Wilkinson Anisotropy Microwave Probe revealed microwave light from this very early epoch, about 400,000 years after the Big Bang, providing strong evidence that our universe did blast into existence. Results from the Cosmic Background Explorer were honored with the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics. A period of darkness ensued, until about a few hundred million years later, when the first objects flooded the universe with light. This first light is believed to have been captured in data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The light detected by Spitzer would have originated as visible and ultraviolet light, then stretched, or redshifted, to lower-energy infrared wavelengths during its long voyage to reach us across expanding space. The light detected by the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Anisotropy Microwave Probe from our very young universe traveled farther to reach us, and stretched to even lower-energy microwave wavelengths. Astronomers do not know if the very first objects were either stars or quasars. The first stars, called Population III stars (our star is a Population I star), were much bigger and brighter than any in our nearby universe, with masses about 1,000 times that of our sun. These stars first grouped together into mini-galaxies. By about a few billion years after the Big Bang, the mini-galaxies had merged to form mature galaxies, including spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way. The first quasars ultimately became the centers of powerful galaxies that are more common in the distant universe. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured stunning pictures of earlier galaxies, as far back as ten billion light-years away.
SEDS-II: Final Dynamic State
Title SEDS-II: Final Dynamic State
Completed 1994-10-19
SEDS-II: Slowest period of d …
Title SEDS-II: Slowest period of deployment
Completed 1994-10-19
Celebrating Explorer I
Name of Image Celebrating Explorer I
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Dr. James Pickering, Dr. James van Allen of the State University of Iowa, and Army Ballistic missionile Agency Technical Director Dr. Wernher von Braun triumphantly display a model of the Explorer I, America's first satellite, shortly after the satellite's launch on January 31, 1958. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory packed and tested the payload, a radiation detection experiment designed by Dr. van Allen. Dr. von Braun's rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, developed the Juno I launch vehicle, a modified Jupiter-C.
Venus Mobile Explorer
title Venus Mobile Explorer
description This long-lived in-situ Flagship class mission would provide aerial mobility close to the surface (approximately 10 kilometers above the surface) using metallic bellows to tolerate the extreme environment of Venus, where the temperature reaches 460 degrees Celsius, and the pressure is up to 90 bars, and the super critical carbon dioxide atmosphere is highly corrosive.
Ulysses Launch
title Ulysses Launch
date 10.06.1990
description The Space Shuttle Discovery hurtles into space as sister ship Columbia looks on from Launch Pad 39A. Discovery lifted off from pad 39B at 7:47 a.m. EDT, Oct. 6. Columbia will be moved to the vacated pad 39B where it will undergo testing to pinpoint the source of a liquid hydrogen leak. Discovery is carrying a crew of five and the Ulysses solar explorer as it embarks on mission STS-41, a four-day flight. *Image Credit*: NASA
Mars Science Laboratory
title Mars Science Laboratory
description This artist's impression shows Mars Science Laboratory exploring the surface of Mars. The robotic explorer will be roving long-range, long-duration science laboratory that will be a major leap in surface measurements and pave the way for a future sample return mission. *Image Credit*: NASA
ACD06-0113-014
Spaceward Bound Program in A …
7/5/06
Description Spaceward Bound Program in Atacama Desert, shown here is a realtime webcast from Yungay, Chile vis satellite involving NASA Scientists and seven NASA Explorer school teachers. Spaceward Bound Program in Atacama Desert, shown here is a realtime webcast from Yungay, Chile vis satellite involving NASA Scientists and seven NASA Explorer school teachers. On the Ames end we find the Girl Scouts Space cookines robotic team. The robot nicknamed Zoe is looking for life in extreme environments in preparation for what might be encounter on Mars. On the Ames end we find the Girl Csouts Space cookines robotic team. The robot nicknamed Zoe is looking for life in extreme environments in preparation for what might be encounter on Mars. see full text on the NASA-Ames News - Research # 04-91AR Center Director works with "SpaceCookie" sending commands to Zoe.
Date 7/5/06
ACD06-0113-015
Spaceward Bound Program in A …
6/27/06
Description Spaceward Bound Program in Atacama Desert, shown here is a realtime webcast from Yungay, Chile vis satellite involving NASA Scientists and seven NASA Explorer school teachers. Spaceward Bound Program in Atacama Desert, shown here is a realtime webcast from Yungay, Chile vis satellite involving NASA Scientists and seven NASA Explorer school teachers. On the Ames end we find the Girl Scouts Space cookines robotic team. The robot nicknamed Zoe is looking for life in extreme environments in preparation for what might be encounter on Mars. On the Ames end we find the Girl Csouts Space cookines robotic team. The robot nicknamed Zoe is looking for life in extreme environments in preparation for what might be encounter on Mars. see full text on the NASA-Ames News - Research # 04-91AR Center Director works with "SpaceCookie" sending commands to Zoe.
Date 6/27/06
The X-ray Timing Explorer
Title The X-ray Timing Explorer
Explanation Launched Saturday [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/xte_1st.html ] on a Delta rocket [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951213.html ], the X-ray Timing Explorer [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/xte2.html ] (XTE) will watch the sky for rapid changes in X-rays [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#X-ray ]. XTE [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/XTE.html ] carries three separate X-ray telescopes. The Proportional Counter Array [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/PCA.html ] (PCA) and the High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment [ http://mamacass.ucsd.edu:8080/hexte/hexte.html ] (HEXTE) will provide the best timing information in the widest X-ray energy range yet available. They will observe stellar systems [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950624.html ] that contain black holes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951127.html ], neutron stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951122.html ], and white dwarfs [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950910.html ] as well as study the X-ray properties of the centers of active galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951205.html ]. XTE [ http://space.mit.edu/XTE/XTE.html ]'s All Sky Monitor [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/ASM.html ] (ASM) will scan the sky every 90 minutes to find new X-ray transients and track the variability of old ones. XTE has a planned life time of two years.
Stephan's Quintet and NGC 73 …
PIA04925
GALEX Telescope
Title Stephan's Quintet and NGC 7331
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for notations Galaxy Evolution Explorer observation of Stephan's Quintet and the nearby galaxy NGC 7331. Blue represents far ultraviolet, and red near ultraviolet. Stephan's quintet is an interacting group of galaxies. Close inspection of the group (lower center-right) shows blue regions of recent star formation associated with streamers of gas (tidal tails) created by the interaction. NGC 7331 shows prominent star formation in spiral arms.
Stephan's Quintet and NGC 73 …
PIA04925
GALEX Telescope
Title Stephan's Quintet and NGC 7331
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for notations Galaxy Evolution Explorer observation of Stephan's Quintet and the nearby galaxy NGC 7331. Blue represents far ultraviolet, and red near ultraviolet. Stephan's quintet is an interacting group of galaxies. Close inspection of the group (lower center-right) shows blue regions of recent star formation associated with streamers of gas (tidal tails) created by the interaction. NGC 7331 shows prominent star formation in spiral arms.
Thor/Able
Name of Image Thor/Able
Date of Image 1959-08-06
Full Description The launch of Thor/Able 3 launch vehicle on August 6, 1959, from the Atlantic Missile Range. The payload was Explorer VI for meteorology study.
Geomagnetic Tail Lab (GEOTAI …
Name of Image Geomagnetic Tail Lab (GEOTAIL) Diffuse Ultraviolet Experiment (DUVE) Processing
Date of Image 1992-05-29
Full Description At Launch Complex 17 Pad A, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) workers are installing the payload fairing around the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) mated to a Delta II rocket. The EUVE spacecraft is designed to study the extreme ultraviolet portion of the spectrum.
Jupiter-C Assembly at ABMA
Name of Image Jupiter-C Assembly at ABMA
Date of Image 1958-01-31
Full Description Jupiter-C Missile No. 27 assembly at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Aalabama. The Jupiter-C was a modification of the Redstone Missile, and originally developed as a nose cone re-entry test vehicle for the Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). Jupiter-C successfully launched the first American Satellite, Explorer 1, in orbit on January 31, 1958.
Ghostly Remnant of an Explos …
PIA09219
Far-ultraviolet Detector
Title Ghostly Remnant of an Explosive Past
Original Caption Released with Image This enhanced image from the far-ultraviolet detector on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a ghostly shell of ionized gas around Z Camelopardalis, a binary, or double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star known as a white dwarf, and a companion star. The image was processed to enhance the diffuse emissions from the shell. Z Cam is the bright object near the center of the image. Parts of the shell are seen as a lobe-like, light-blue feature below and to the right of Z Cam, and as two large, light blue, perpendicular lines on the left. The massive shell around Z Cam provides evidence of material ejected during and swept up by a powerful nova eruption, called a classical nova, which likely occurred a few thousand years ago. In exploding binary systems, one of the two stars steals material from the other until it builds up to a certain level, at that point, the system erupts in a giant inferno. In the case of Z Cam, the white dwarf is pilfering material from its sedate companion. There are two classes of exploding binary star systems, or cataclysmic variables: recurrent dwarf novae, which erupt in small, "hiccup-like" blasts episodically, and classical novae, which undergo huge explosions thousands of times more powerful than dwarf novae. Z Cam was the one of the first known recurrent dwarf novae. Yet the shell of ionized gas around Z Cam detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer can only be explained as the remnant of a full-blown classical nova explosion. The discovery of the shell provides the first evidence that some binary systems undergo both types of explosions. Previously, a link between the two types of novae had been predicted, but there was no evidence to support the theory. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first began imaging Z Cam in 2003, this image was taken on Jan. 25, 2004. The type of emission found around Z Cam is most easily visible at far-ultraviolet wavelengths. Most of the background galaxies and stars have been eliminated by the image processing, although a few linger as white spots near the top. The light-blue streaky clump in the bottom right corner is created by ultraviolet light reflected by dust. It is uncertain if Z Cam is the source of the dust-scattered light.
Ghostly Remnant of an Explos …
PIA09219
Far-ultraviolet Detector
Title Ghostly Remnant of an Explosive Past
Original Caption Released with Image This enhanced image from the far-ultraviolet detector on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a ghostly shell of ionized gas around Z Camelopardalis, a binary, or double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star known as a white dwarf, and a companion star. The image was processed to enhance the diffuse emissions from the shell. Z Cam is the bright object near the center of the image. Parts of the shell are seen as a lobe-like, light-blue feature below and to the right of Z Cam, and as two large, light blue, perpendicular lines on the left. The massive shell around Z Cam provides evidence of material ejected during and swept up by a powerful nova eruption, called a classical nova, which likely occurred a few thousand years ago. In exploding binary systems, one of the two stars steals material from the other until it builds up to a certain level, at that point, the system erupts in a giant inferno. In the case of Z Cam, the white dwarf is pilfering material from its sedate companion. There are two classes of exploding binary star systems, or cataclysmic variables: recurrent dwarf novae, which erupt in small, "hiccup-like" blasts episodically, and classical novae, which undergo huge explosions thousands of times more powerful than dwarf novae. Z Cam was the one of the first known recurrent dwarf novae. Yet the shell of ionized gas around Z Cam detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer can only be explained as the remnant of a full-blown classical nova explosion. The discovery of the shell provides the first evidence that some binary systems undergo both types of explosions. Previously, a link between the two types of novae had been predicted, but there was no evidence to support the theory. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first began imaging Z Cam in 2003, this image was taken on Jan. 25, 2004. The type of emission found around Z Cam is most easily visible at far-ultraviolet wavelengths. Most of the background galaxies and stars have been eliminated by the image processing, although a few linger as white spots near the top. The light-blue streaky clump in the bottom right corner is created by ultraviolet light reflected by dust. It is uncertain if Z Cam is the source of the dust-scattered light.
Ghostly Remnant of an Explos …
PIA09219
Far-ultraviolet Detector
Title Ghostly Remnant of an Explosive Past
Original Caption Released with Image This enhanced image from the far-ultraviolet detector on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a ghostly shell of ionized gas around Z Camelopardalis, a binary, or double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star known as a white dwarf, and a companion star. The image was processed to enhance the diffuse emissions from the shell. Z Cam is the bright object near the center of the image. Parts of the shell are seen as a lobe-like, light-blue feature below and to the right of Z Cam, and as two large, light blue, perpendicular lines on the left. The massive shell around Z Cam provides evidence of material ejected during and swept up by a powerful nova eruption, called a classical nova, which likely occurred a few thousand years ago. In exploding binary systems, one of the two stars steals material from the other until it builds up to a certain level, at that point, the system erupts in a giant inferno. In the case of Z Cam, the white dwarf is pilfering material from its sedate companion. There are two classes of exploding binary star systems, or cataclysmic variables: recurrent dwarf novae, which erupt in small, "hiccup-like" blasts episodically, and classical novae, which undergo huge explosions thousands of times more powerful than dwarf novae. Z Cam was the one of the first known recurrent dwarf novae. Yet the shell of ionized gas around Z Cam detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer can only be explained as the remnant of a full-blown classical nova explosion. The discovery of the shell provides the first evidence that some binary systems undergo both types of explosions. Previously, a link between the two types of novae had been predicted, but there was no evidence to support the theory. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first began imaging Z Cam in 2003, this image was taken on Jan. 25, 2004. The type of emission found around Z Cam is most easily visible at far-ultraviolet wavelengths. Most of the background galaxies and stars have been eliminated by the image processing, although a few linger as white spots near the top. The light-blue streaky clump in the bottom right corner is created by ultraviolet light reflected by dust. It is uncertain if Z Cam is the source of the dust-scattered light.
Ghostly Remnant of an Explos …
PIA09219
Far-ultraviolet Detector
Title Ghostly Remnant of an Explosive Past
Original Caption Released with Image This enhanced image from the far-ultraviolet detector on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a ghostly shell of ionized gas around Z Camelopardalis, a binary, or double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star known as a white dwarf, and a companion star. The image was processed to enhance the diffuse emissions from the shell. Z Cam is the bright object near the center of the image. Parts of the shell are seen as a lobe-like, light-blue feature below and to the right of Z Cam, and as two large, light blue, perpendicular lines on the left. The massive shell around Z Cam provides evidence of material ejected during and swept up by a powerful nova eruption, called a classical nova, which likely occurred a few thousand years ago. In exploding binary systems, one of the two stars steals material from the other until it builds up to a certain level, at that point, the system erupts in a giant inferno. In the case of Z Cam, the white dwarf is pilfering material from its sedate companion. There are two classes of exploding binary star systems, or cataclysmic variables: recurrent dwarf novae, which erupt in small, "hiccup-like" blasts episodically, and classical novae, which undergo huge explosions thousands of times more powerful than dwarf novae. Z Cam was the one of the first known recurrent dwarf novae. Yet the shell of ionized gas around Z Cam detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer can only be explained as the remnant of a full-blown classical nova explosion. The discovery of the shell provides the first evidence that some binary systems undergo both types of explosions. Previously, a link between the two types of novae had been predicted, but there was no evidence to support the theory. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first began imaging Z Cam in 2003, this image was taken on Jan. 25, 2004. The type of emission found around Z Cam is most easily visible at far-ultraviolet wavelengths. Most of the background galaxies and stars have been eliminated by the image processing, although a few linger as white spots near the top. The light-blue streaky clump in the bottom right corner is created by ultraviolet light reflected by dust. It is uncertain if Z Cam is the source of the dust-scattered light.
GALEX Ultraviolet Image of C …
Name GALEX Ultraviolet Image of Cartwheel Galaxy
X-ray Light Curve for KS 173 …
Name X-ray Light Curve for KS 1731-260
Surprise Ultraviolet Party i …
PIA07251
GALEX Telescope
Title Surprise Ultraviolet Party in the Sky
Original Caption Released with Image Galaxies aren't the only objects filling up the view of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Since its launch in 2003, the space telescope -- originally designed to observe galaxies across the universe in ultraviolet light -- has discovered a festive sky blinking with flaring and erupting stars, as well as streaking asteroids, satellites and space debris. A group of six streaking objects -- the identities of which remain unknown -- can be seen here flying across the telescope's sight in this sped-up movie. The two brightest objects appear to perform a sharp turn then travel in the reverse direction. This illusion is most likely the result of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer overtaking the objects as it orbits around Earth. Careful inspection reveals four additional faint objects with the same timing and behavior. These faint objects are easiest to see during the retrograde portion of their paths. Three appear between the two bright sources, and one is above them, near the edge of the field of view. These bonus objects are being collected in to public catalogues for other astronomers to study.
Explosions - Large and Small
PIA09221
Title Explosions - Large and Small
Original Caption Released with Image "" Click on the image for full resolution animation (""Half Resolution) This animation shows an artist's concept of Z Camelopardalis (Z Cam), a stellar system featuring a collapsed, dead star, or white dwarf, and a companion star. The white dwarf, the bright white object within the disk on the left, sucks matter from its more sedate companion star, on the right. The stolen material forms a rotating disk of gas and dust around the white dwarf. After a certain amount of material accumulates, the star erupts in a huge nova explosion, known as a "classical nova." After that explosion, the star continues to flare up with smaller bursts, which is why Z Cam is known today as a recurrent dwarf Nova. The remnants of the classical nova explosion form a ghostly shell, which provides lingering evidence of the violent outburst. The animation ends with an image taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer on Jan. 25, 2004, when the star system was undergoing a period of relative calm. Astronomers divide exploding binary star systems into two classes -- recurrent dwarf novae, which erupt in smaller, "hiccup-like" blasts, and classical novae, which undergo huge explosions. A link between the two types of novae had been predicted, but the observations from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer bolster the theory that some binary systems undergo both types of explosions.
Classic Galaxy with Glamour
PIA07828
Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
Title Classic Galaxy with Glamour
Original Caption Released with Image This color composite image of nearby NGC 300 combines the visible-light pictures from Carnegie Institution of Washington's 100-inch telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (colored red and yellow), with ultraviolet views from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Galaxy Evolution Explorer detectors image far ultraviolet light (colored blue). This composite image traces star formation in progress. Young hot blue stars dominate the outer spiral arms of the galaxy, while the older stars congregate in the nuclear regions which appear yellow-green. Gases heated by hot young stars and shocks due to winds from massive stars and supernova explosions appear in pink, as revealed by the visible-light image of the galaxy. Located nearly 7 million light years away, NGC 300 is a member of a nearby group of galaxies known as the Sculptor Group. It is a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way.
Black Hole Grabs Starry Snac …
PIA01884
Title Black Hole Grabs Starry Snack
Original Caption Released with Image Poster Version This artist's concept shows a supermassive black hole at the center of a remote galaxy digesting the remnants of a star. NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer had a "ringside" seat for this feeding frenzy, using its ultraviolet eyes to study the process from beginning to end. The artist's concept chronicles the star being ripped apart and swallowed by the cosmic beast over time. First, the intact sun-like star (left) ventures too close to the black hole, and its own self-gravity is overwhelmed by the black hole's gravity. The star then stretches apart (middle yellow blob) and eventually breaks into stellar crumbs, some of which swirl into the black hole (cloudy ring at right). This doomed material heats up and radiates light, including ultraviolet light, before disappearing forever into the black hole. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer was able to watch this process unfold by observing changes in ultraviolet light. The area around the black hole appears warped because the gravity of the black hole acts like a lens, twisting and distorting light.
Black Hole Grabs Starry Snac …
PIA01884
Title Black Hole Grabs Starry Snack
Original Caption Released with Image Poster Version This artist's concept shows a supermassive black hole at the center of a remote galaxy digesting the remnants of a star. NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer had a "ringside" seat for this feeding frenzy, using its ultraviolet eyes to study the process from beginning to end. The artist's concept chronicles the star being ripped apart and swallowed by the cosmic beast over time. First, the intact sun-like star (left) ventures too close to the black hole, and its own self-gravity is overwhelmed by the black hole's gravity. The star then stretches apart (middle yellow blob) and eventually breaks into stellar crumbs, some of which swirl into the black hole (cloudy ring at right). This doomed material heats up and radiates light, including ultraviolet light, before disappearing forever into the black hole. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer was able to watch this process unfold by observing changes in ultraviolet light. The area around the black hole appears warped because the gravity of the black hole acts like a lens, twisting and distorting light.
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