‘Solar System’ Archives
Images of Jupiter
Jupiter, the most massive planet in our solar system -- with dozens of moons and an enormous magnetic field -- forms a kind of miniature solar system. Jupiter does resemble a star in composition, but it did not grow big enough to ignite. The planet's swirling cloud stripes are punctuated by massive storms such as the Great Red Spot, which has [...]
The Solar System is older than we previously thought
The usual method for defining the age of the Solar System is to determine the time of the formation of the first solid grains in the disc surrounding the proto-Sun. Currently we date calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions in meteorites. A recently published study in Nature Geoscience has revised the current age of the Solar System to be .3 to 1.9 [...]
Map of Magnetic Field Lines of the Sun
Source: Universe Today: "The Solar Dynamic Observatory shows this new image of the Sun's magnetic field lines. This map is from data taken on August 20, 2010 by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager instrument (HMI). White lines show fields that are closed, not releasing solar wind, and gold lines show open fields, letting solar wind escape. [...]
Crescent ENCELADUS
A great way to see new images from NASA is to review the RAW images released. These are RAW images in the sense that they have not been processed to remove camera defects and other artifacts. You can see them on the CICLOPS site. This raw, unprocessed image of Enceladus was taken on August 13, 2010 and received on Earth August 14, 2010, so [...]
Images of Earth
Here are 5 amazing photos of the Earth. This photo of a total solar eclipse was taken from the International Space Station on March 29, 2006. The photo was taken by a crew member of the Expedition 12 mission. The island of Cyprus and the coast of Turkey can be seen from the image. STS-29 Onboard photo - External Tank [...]
Active Volcanoes on Venus?
Idunn Mons, a mountain on Venus was radar mapped by the Magellan space probe. The color overlay is a new thermal map using an infrared detector on the European Venus Express probe, currently orbiting Venus. Red is warmer, and as you can see, Idunn Mons is certainly hotter than expected. Venus is a lot like the Earth with almost the same [...]
Saturn’s Rings – Up close
There are a number of sources of fantastic images these days, Hubble, HiRISE and Cassini. Here is another gorgeous natural color view of gradations in the transparency of Saturn's inner rings taken by the Cassini spacecraft. We can see the myriad of dark shadows of the rings separate Saturn's southern hemisphere in the bottom of the image [...]
Stunning Saturn
Saturn is truly more beautiful that we could have ever imagined. Here we see Saturn cast its shadow on the rings in this Cassini image that shows how the rings reflect sunlight onto the dark side of the planet. Saturn appears dimly illuminated by the ringshine. This view looks toward the southern, unilluminated side of the rings from about 10 [...]
Tethys and Saturnian Rings
While browsing some images online I came across a site that reworks images from space and produces visually stunning and vibrate results. The integrity of the images remain. Take a look at this one. You can see more on wanderingspace.net
Your guide to finding Mars
January 2010 is a great time of year to find Mars in the night sky. Each evening it rises about 7.30 and it is easily identified with a very red glow in the sky. The main thing is where to look. Over the next few weeks it gets closer and closer and makes for easy viewing. January and Feburary are the best months to observe Mars for a [...]
Perihelion – Earth closest to the Sun
You may know that we don't have a circular orbit around the Sun. Its elliptical, that means at one point we are closest, and at another we are the furthest point away. So just about now, January 2/3 2010, the Earth will be at perihelion, the closest point on its elliptical orbit to the Sun. The Sun’s center will be 147,098,040 kilometers away [...]
Saturn Moon Ballet
Nice video of Saturn and it's moons in a dance to the sound of the nutcracker. Very festive!....It is a combination of 61 images taken from Cassini.