Water On Mars

2005-04-01 Ellen Roper

Can you help discover water on Mars? Finding water on different regions on Mars has implications for understanding its complex geologic history, the possible existence of past life and the sustenance of potential future astronauts. Many space ...

Gamma-Ray Earth

2005-03-31

The pixelated planet above is actually our own planet Earth seen in gamma rays - the most energetic form of light. In fact, the gamma rays used to construct this view pack over 35 million electron volts (MeV) compared to a mere two electron volts ...

ULXs in M74

2005-03-30

In visual appearance, M74 is a nearly perfect face-on spiral galaxy, about 30 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces. The red blotches seen in this composite view are ultraluminous x-ray sources (ULXs) mapped by the Chandra ...

Crescents of Titan and Dione

2005-03-29

What would it be like to see a sky with many moons? Such is the sky above Saturn. When appearing close to each other, moons will show a similar phase. A view with two of the more famous moons of Saturn in crescent phase was captured last month ...

A Tether in Space

2005-03-28

One of the greatest unrequited legends of outer space is the tether. Tethers, long strands of material, hold the promise of stabilizing satellites, generating electricity, and allowing easy transportation. Possibly the most extreme vision of ...

The Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens

2005-03-27 J. Rhoads

Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in this image. The central cloverleaf is rather light emitted ...

Composite Crab

2005-03-26

The Crab Pulsar, a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second, lies at the center of this composite image of the inner region of the well-known Crab Nebula. The spectacular picture combines optical data (red) from the Hubble ...

Huygens Discovers Luna Saturni

2005-03-25 Utrecht Univ. Museum

In 1655, three hundred fifty years ago on this date, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Luna Saturni - now known as Saturn's moon Titan. To celebrate, consider this intriguing picture of his telescope lens, all that remains of the ...

Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant

2005-03-24 Robert Gendler

It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this detailed image of faint supernova remnant Simeis 147. Seen towards the constellation Taurus it covers nearly 3 degrees (6 full moons) on the sky corresponding to a width of 150 ...

A Dust Devil Swirling on Mars

2005-03-23

What is that wisp on the horizon? Scientists think that the slight white apparition is actually a Martian dust devil that was caught swirling across Mars. The above image was taken earlier this month by the robotic rover Spirit. The swirling ...