Blue Dunes of Mars
This image taken from HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a variety of different dune types in southern Lyot Crater in the Northern lowlands at 48.9 degrees north, on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Annular Solar Eclipse at Horseshoe Bend
A remarkable image that captures the annular solar eclipse of May 20, 2012 at Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River in Northern Arizona. Horseshoe Bend is a looping meander entrenched into the bedrock. Image credit: Clinton Melander; Clint’s Web site
Exoplanets- an Interactive map
XKCD published an infographic a few weeks ago, showing 786 known exoplanets (planets orbiting suns other than our own) in our Milky Way galaxy, and the Planetary Habitability Laboratory has released an interactive version of that map. Go to the interactive map.
The scale of Mars’s moon Phobos
This astounding image made by Ludovic Celle shows Phobos, the largest moon of Mars (the other one being Deimos), imposed over the French city of Grenoble in the Alpes. Image credit: Ludovic Celle / davinci-marsdesign
A Taste of Solar Maximum (video)
Solar maximum or solar max is a normal period of greatest solar activity in the 11 year solar cycle of the Sun. During solar maximum, large numbers of sunspots appear. Solar maximum is still a year away. Images credit: NASA
Trails in the Morning Sky
Bright Venus and Jupiter still rise together before dawn. The peaceful waters by a small lakeside house near Stuttgart, Germany reflect their graceful arcing trails in this composited series of exposures, recorded on the morning of July 26. Image credit: Stefan Seip (TWAN)
Why is Earth so dry?
Earth with large oceans, rivers and glaciers near the North and South poles, doesn’t seem to have a water shortage. But the fact is that she is 99-percent dry rock. Only less than 1 percent of its mass is water!
Vampire star and its victim
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) astronomers has shown that most very bright high-mass stars, which drive the evolution of galaxies, do not live alone. Many of such binaries transfer mass from one star to another, a kind of stellar vampirism depicted in this artist’s impression. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser/S.E. de Mink
Venus, the Moon, Jupiter and the Pleiades
The above image shows the sword of Dom Nuno Alvares Pereira appearing to pierce the waning crescent Moon. It was captured in Portel, Portugal a little before dawn on July 15, 2012. Image credit: Miguel Claro
Storm of Comets
A storm of comets around a star near our own, called Eta Corvi, is sawn in this artist’s conception. Evidence for this barrage comes from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, whose infrared detectors picked up indications that comets were recently torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
