3DAstronomer.com Is now Live

May 20th, 2010

After months of preparation, 3DAstronomer.com is now live.

Make sure you check out our great opening offers on now….

http://3DAstronomer.com

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Neptune Full Disk View

May 17th, 2010

This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on the Voyager 2 narrow angle camera. The images were taken at a range of 4.4 million miles from the planet, 4 days and 20 hours before closest approach. The picture shows the Great Dark Spot and its companion bright smudge; on the west limb the fast moving bright feature called Scooter and the little dark spot are visible. These clouds were seen to persist for as long as Voyager’s cameras could resolve them. North of these, a bright cloud band similar to the south polar streak may be seen. Years later, when the Hubble telescope was focused on the planet, these atmospheric features had changed, indicating that Neptune’s atmosphere is dynamic. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications, Washington, DC. 

Date: 
04/02/1990 
NASA Center: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
Subject Category: 
Voyager-Galileo 
Subject Category: 
Planet-Neptune 
Keywords: 
Laboratory 
Keywords: 
Jet 
Keywords: 
Propulsion 
Keywords: 
JPL 
Keywords: 
2 
Keywords: 
Voyager 
Keywords: 
Neptune 
Audience: 
General Public 
facet_what: 
FAST 
facet_what: 
Polar 
facet_what: 
Galileo 
facet_what: 
Voyager 
facet_what: 
Neptune 
facet_what: 
Voyager 2 
facet_where: 
Washington 
facet_where: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
facet_where: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) 
facet_when: 
04-02-1990 
facet_when_year: 
1990 
Image #: 
PIA01492 
orignial url: 
http://grin.hq.nasa… 
UID: 
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0443 
Center: 
JPL 
Center Number: 
PIA01492 
GRIN DataBase Number: 
GPN-2000-000443 
Creator-Photographer: 
NASA 
Original Source: 
DIGITAL 
Image ID: 
127349 
Resolution Size: 
5 
Format: 
JP2 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
GPN-2000-000443.jp2 
Width: 
2188 
Height: 
2185

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Hubble Space Telescope Looks at the Moon to Prospect for Resources (Apollo 17 Landing Region)

May 17th, 2010

HST imagery of the Apollo 17 landing site draped over Apollo 17 derived topography 
Abstract: 
The Hubble Space Telescope looked at specific areas of the moon prospecting for important minerals that may aid future sustained human presence on the moon. Initial analysis of the data indicate the likely presence of titanium and iron oxides. These minerals can be sources of oxygen, essential for human exploration. This visualization starts with a view of the moon as seen from Earth using a USGS Apollo derived artist rendered texture (airbrushed). The camera then zooms into the Apollo 17 landing region using Clementine data (the outer area after the camera pauses), high resolution HST data (the inner area), and Apollo 17 derived topgraphy. Exposure Time: 2.5 minutes Filters: F250W (250nm), F344N (344nm), F502N (502nm), F658N (658nm) Data from these multiple filters were used to produce the mosaic Apollo 17 landing site image. 

Completed: 
2005-10-12 
Credit: 
*Please give credit for this visualization to* NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Additional credit to Zoltan G. Levay (STScI) 
Studio: 
SVS 
Animator: 
Greg Shirah (Lead) 
Animator: 
Alex Kekesi 
Animator: 
Horace Mitchell 
Animator: 
Greg Bacon 
Scientist: 
James Garvin (NASA/GSFC) 
Data Collected: 
HST: 2005/08/16 – 2005/08/21; Clementine: 1994/02/26-1994/05/0 5 
Keywords: 
SVS 
Keywords: 
HDTV 
Keywords: 
Lunar 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
facet_what: 
Earth 
facet_what: 
Apollo 17 
facet_what: 
Moon 
facet_what: 
Clementine 
facet_what: 
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) 
Animation Number: 
3274 
UID: 
SPD-SCIVS-http://svs .gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a 000000/a003200/a0032 74/StillApollo.0550- IMAGE 
original url: 
http://svs.gsfc.nas… 
Image ID: 
110279 
Resolution Size: 
5 
Format: 
JP2 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
StillApollo.0550.jp2 
Width: 
2560 
Height: 
1920

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HST Image of M83 Central Region

May 17th, 2010

This HST image reveals that there is active star formation in both the bright nucleus of M83 as well as farther out in the spiral arms where bluer stars are seen. In between the nucleus and the outer spiral arms, there is a greenish-colored, bar-shaped region. Astronomers believe this area contains middle-aged stars and that it is largely devoid of active star formation. 

facet_what: 
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) 
facet_where: 
M83 
UID: 
SPD-CHAND-photo/2003 /1154/1154_wfpc_alig ned.jpg 
original url: 
http://chandra.harv… 
Image ID: 
235805 
Resolution Size: 
3 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
1154_wfpc_aligned.jp g 
Width: 
576 
Height: 
576 

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M82: An Irregular Galaxy

May 17th, 2010

Not all galaxies have spiral structure like our Milky Way. Many have smooth elliptical shapes, but also many have irregular shapes such as the bright sky object M82, the 82nd object on Messier’s [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] list. The strange structure of this galaxy is thought to be caused by young stars ejecting gas in energetic bubbles, and by lanes of absorbing dust. [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] For more information on M82 see The Electronic Universe Project’s write-up. [ http://zebu.uoregon…] Many images of Messier objects can be found in The Electronic Universe Project’s The Galaxy Gallery: Messier Objects. [ http://zebu.uoregon…] Tomorrow’s picture: M27: The Dumbbell Nebula 

Credit and Copyright: 
The Electronic Universe Project 
facet_where: 
M82 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
original url: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.… 
UID: 
SPD-APOD-ap950728 
Image ID: 
107192 
Resolution Size: 
2 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
m82_moo.jpg 
Width: 
300 
Height: 
264

Tags: , , , , , ,
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M101: The Pinwheel Galaxy

May 17th, 2010

Why do many galaxies appear as spirals [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]? A striking example is M101, shown above [ http://www.astr.ua.…], whose relatively close distance of about 22 million light years allow it to be studied in some detail. Recent evidence [ http://adsabs.harva…] indicates that a close gravitational interaction with a neighboring galaxy created waves of high mass [ http://lsnt7.lights…] and condensed gas which continue to circle the galaxy [ ftp://crux.astr.ua.…]. These waves compress existing gas and cause star formation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. One result is that M101 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], also called the Pinwheel Galaxy, has several extremely bright star-forming regions (called HII regions) spread across its spiral arms. M101 [ http://www.seds.org…] is so large that its immense gravity distorts smaller nearby galaxies. 

Credit and Copyright: 
W. Keel (U. Alabama in Tuscaloosa), KPNO [ http://www.noao.edu…], 4-m Mayall Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu…] 
facet_where: 
M101 
facet_where: 
Pinwheel Galaxy 
facet_where: 
Alabama 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
facet_what: 
Crux 
original url: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.… 
UID: 
SPD-APOD-ap970805 
Image ID: 
107815 
Resolution Size: 
3 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
m101_wk_big.jpg 
Width: 
512 
Height: 
512

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More Images of M87 (Jet)

May 17th, 2010

facet_what: 
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) 
facet_where: 
M87 
UID: 
SPD-CHAND-photo/2001 /0134/0134_hst.jpg 
original url: 
http://chandra.harv… 
Image ID: 
236734 
Resolution Size: 
3 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
0134_hst.jpg 
Width: 
576 
Height: 
370

Tags: , , , , , ,
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M104: The Sombrero Galaxy

May 17th, 2010

The famous Sombrero galaxy (M104) is a bright nearby spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The prominent dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] lane and halo of stars and globular clusters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] give this galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] its name. Something very energetic is going on in the Sombrero’s center, as much X-ray [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] light has been detected from it. This X-ray emission coupled with unusually high central stellar velocities cause many astronomers to speculate that a black hole [ http://cossc.gsfc.n…] lies at the Sombrero’s center – a black hole [ http://cossc.gsfc.n…] a billion times the mass of our Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This image was taken in blue light by the 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. 

Credit and Copyright: 
T. Boroson (NOAO [ http://www.noao.edu/] /USGP [ http://www.noao.edu…]), W. Keel (UA [ http://ua1vm.ua.edu/]), KPNO [ http://www.noao.edu…] 
facet_where: 
M104 
facet_where: 
Sombrero Galaxy 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
facet_what: 
Sun 
original url: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.… 
UID: 
SPD-APOD-ap951109 
Image ID: 
107283 
Resolution Size: 
3 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
sombrero_kp_big.jpg 
Width: 
614 
Height: 
338 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Photos, Universe | No Comments »

Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I

May 17th, 2010

Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy [ http://www.astro.uu…] in the Local Group [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and M31 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the eleven known small satellite galaxies [ http://www.astro.uu…] orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Besides the LMC [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and the SMC [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], all Milky Way satellite galaxies are small, dim, dwarf spheroidals [ http://www.astro.uu…], including the closest galaxy – the Sagittarius Dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Leo I is most distant than most of them, thought to be about 250 kpc away. Analysis of stars in Leo I show it contains many stars only about 3 billion years old – much younger than in most galaxies. 

Credit and Copyright: 
Anglo-Australian Telescope [ http://www.aao.gov.…] photograph by David Malin 
Credit and Copyright: 
Anglo-Australian Telescope Board [ http://www.aao.gov.…] 
facet_where: 
Milky Way Galaxy 
facet_where: 
M31 
facet_where: 
dwarf galaxy 
facet_where: 
Leo I 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
facet_what: 
Sagittarius 
facet_what: 
Leo 
facet_what: 
dwarf 
original url: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.… 
UID: 
SPD-APOD-ap960519 
Image ID: 
107446 
Resolution Size: 
2 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
leo_aat.jpg 
Width: 
300 
Height: 
239 

Tags: , , , , , ,
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Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I

May 17th, 2010

Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy [ http://www.astro.uu…] in the Local Group [ http://www.seds.org…] of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and M31 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the eleven known small satellite galaxies [ http://www.astro.uu…] orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Besides the LMC [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and the SMC [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], all Milky Way satellite galaxies are small, dim, dwarf spheroidals [ http://www.astro.uu…], including the closest galaxy – the Sagittarius Dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Leo I is more distant than most of them, thought to be about 250 kpc away. Although very little star-forming gas is visible in Leo I [ http://www.aao.gov.…], analysis of star ages shows [ http://adsabs.harva…] that stars have formed as recently as a billion years ago. 

Credit and Copyright: 
David Malin (AAO [ http://www.aao.gov.…]), AATB [ http://www.aao.gov.…] 
keyword: 
galaxy 
keyword: 
local group 
keyword: 
dwarf spheroidal 
facet_where: 
Milky Way Galaxy 
facet_where: 
M31 
facet_where: 
dwarf galaxy 
facet_where: 
Leo I 
facet_where: 
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) 
facet_what: 
Sagittarius 
facet_what: 
Leo 
facet_what: 
dwarf 
original url: 
http://antwrp.gsfc.… 
UID: 
SPD-APOD-ap991003 
Image ID: 
108519 
Resolution Size: 
3 
Format: 
JPEG 
Media Type: 
Image 
File Name: 
leo1_aao.jpg 
Width: 
400 
Height: 
320

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Photos, Universe | No Comments »

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