|
|
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. |
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Ghostly Remnant of an Explos
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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GALEX Ultraviolet Image of C
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| Name |
GALEX Ultraviolet Image of Cartwheel Galaxy |
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X-ray Light Curve for KS 173
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| Name |
X-ray Light Curve for KS 1731-260 |
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Surprise Ultraviolet Party i
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Black Hole Grabs Starry Snac
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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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Black Hole Grabs Starry Snac
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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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