Hourly Cosmos

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of solar evaporation ponds outside the city of Moab, Utah. There are 23 colorful ponds spread across 400 acres. They are part of a large operation to mine potassium chloride—more commonly referred to as muriate of potash (MOP)—from ore buried underground. MOP is in high demand as fertilizer because there are no easy substitutes for potassium, an essential nutrient for plant growth. Each pond color indicates a different state of evaporation. The deep, royal blue color is due to a dye that is added to a full pond of potash brine and water in order to speed up the rate of heat absorption. The seafoam green colors indicate shallower waters (with less dye) that are well into the evaporation process. The tan colored ponds are nearly dry; salt crystals (the final product) are left over in the pond and ready for collection. Image credit: NASA Read more NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Solar Evaporation Ponds Near Moab, Utah - From NASA Marshall Space Flight Center - https://flic.kr/p/XH9JL4

Imaged from La Crescenta, CA, using an APM 140mm doublet, asi1600mm mono camera and ZWO Ha and Oiii filters. Approx 2 hours integration.

NGC-7923 The Helix Nebula in Narrowband - From Ryan Kinnett (rkinnett.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2mmkLgs

Titan, Rhea (lower left) and Mimas mutual event. Cassini NAC RGB view. Taken 2015-03-25 20:10 UTC. A very faint ring (G ring?) that is almost undetectable unless the photo is viewed in darkness runs horizontally between Rhea's upper limb and Mimas' disk. Several faint stars are also visible. Distance to Titan: 4.35 million km Distance to Rhea: 2.63 million km Distance to Mimas: 3.03 million km Phase angle: 142 deg

N1806009091 - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/CJrCgn

Enceladus NAC view, 640 000 km distance, 164 deg phase. 2009-03-21 RED+BL1 composite. The brightness of the background and Enceladus' disk is due to the E ring particles forward-scattering light. N1616349558

Badly Framed #2 - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/7szMxf

NASA image acquired: March 29, 2011 MESSENGER acquired this image of Mercury's horizon as the spacecraft was moving northward along the first orbit during which MDIS was turned on. Bright rays from Hokusai can be seen running north to south in the image. MDIS frequently acquired images that contained Mercury's horizon during the mission's three Mercury flybys. (Visit these links to see examples of horizon images from Mercury flyby 1, Mercury flyby 2, and Mercury flyby 3.) However, now that MESSENGER is in orbit about Mercury, views of Mercury's horizon in the images will be much less common. The field of view for MDIS will generally be filled with Mercury's surface as the instrument maps out the planet's geology in high resolution, stereo, and color. Occasionally, in order to obtain images of a certain portion of Mercury's surface, the horizon will also be visible. On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission is currently in its commissioning phase, during which spacecraft and instrument performance are verified through a series of specially designed checkout activities. In the course of the one-year primary mission, the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the science questions that the MESSENGER mission has set out ...

From Orbit, Looking toward Mercury's Horizon - From Goddard Space Flight Center - https://flic.kr/p/9uNkEs

Yet is there hope. Time and tide flow wide. — Melville Aurora and a meteor over Woodruff Narrows Reservoir

Time and Tide - From Bill (ridingrobots.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2rFDmdm

Great Salt Lake, Utah 2019

Spiral Jetty - From Bill (ridingrobots.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2iH8Ues

My attempt at re-processing one of the iconic images from the Jupiter flyby of 2007.

New Horizons REDUX - From Ian Regan - https://flic.kr/p/uPkC5F

Exposed sedimentary layers at the Jezero Crater delta; mosaic of 19 left Mastcam-Z images captured by NASA' Perseverance rover on July 24, 2022 (mission sol 507.) Adjusted to approximate natural coloration and illumination. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Jason Major

Jezero Delta Sedimentary Layers - From Jason Major (jpmajor.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2nAuUj9

Lo que me costó la imagen.. es dificilísimo enfocar la cámara (no lo conseguí tampoco en esta imagen, pero es la mejor que obtuve de las 15 que hice). Se aprecian las dos cúpulas del observatorio, la luna eclipsada (era un momento de la totalidad del eclipse de luna de 28 de agosto de 2007) y mucha gente curiosa que entraba y salía del recinto para ver el fenómeno.

Observatorio de la Universidad de MacQuarie y eclipse lunar - From Ángel López-Sánchez - https://flic.kr/p/2VMYDh

Cassini ISS NAC view. Color from CB3, MT1 and MT3 filters.

2007 Titan Mosaic - From Ian Regan - https://flic.kr/p/K2EmLW

Near Alturas Lake, Idaho

Airglow to the North - From Bill (ridingrobots.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2rBKare

30 minute loop. Imaged with Meade LX200 14" at f/20.

Jupiter 2023-10-14 - From Ryan Kinnett (rkinnett.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2pkdWxk

I think this is almost the last preplanetary nebula in the Hubble archive. I'm not sure if I should be sad that there aren't that many or happy that this many had their pictures taken. They are elusive and marvelous. I am definitely happy to live in a time when the HST exists. What kind of images will future telescopes look at? Will these amazing glimpses into our galaxy look feeble and inferior to some yet unborn stargazer? I love Hubble, but I do hope that its successors achieve this. Red: HST_10536_06_ACS_HRC_F814W_sci Green: Pseudo Blue: HST_10536_06_ACS_HRC_F606W_sci North is NOT up. It's 35° counter-clockwise from up.

IRAS 20068+4051 - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/ieEyey

On July 19, 2013, you waved at Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft was there to snap a photo of not only us, but the Saturn system. Here's Cassini's view of Enceladus within Saturn's E ring on that day. (Enceladus is actually forming Saturn's E ring. More details can be found here: Tiny Icy Moon 'Feeds' Giant Saturn Ring) These images were taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20, 2013. The camera was pointing toward SATURN-ERING at approximately 742,417 miles (1,194,805 kilometers) away, and the images were taken using the CL1, RED, BL1 and GRN filters. Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / composite by Val Klavans

Enceladus in the E Ring - From Val Klavans (valklavans.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/fpHjw2

"Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech." processing 2di7 & titanio44

Opportunity Sol 2960 mic M.H.L. technique - From 2di7 & titanio44 - https://flic.kr/p/c412om

This image of the southern Greenland town of Narsaq was taken during an Operation IceBridge flight on Apr. 26, 2018. Operation IceBridge, NASA's longest-running airborne mission to monitor polar ice change, concluded this year's springtime survey of Arctic sea and land ice on May 2. The flights, which began on March 22, covered the western basin of the Arctic Ocean and Greenlands fastest-changing glaciers. Image credit: NASA/Joe MacGregor Read More NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Blue Waters - From NASA Marshall Space Flight Center - https://flic.kr/p/24wyXks

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Brian Swift

CP18_49_11_1 - From Brian Swift (bswift.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2eNGtMw

Mosaic of four NAVCAM photos of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken on 3 February 2015 from a distance of 28.7 km from the center of the comet. The resolution is 2.4 m per pixel. The smaller comet lobe is on top. In the shadow are the cliffs of Hathor, in the central part of the image. Seth and Ash regions are visible on the larger lobe. Credits: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM/Thomas Appéré - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mosaïque de quatre photos de la comète Churyumov-Gerasimenko prises par la caméra NAVCAM le 3 février 2015 depuis une distance de 28,7 km du centre de la comète. La résolution est de 2,4 m par pixel. Le plus petit des deux lobes de la comète est en haut de l'image. Les falaises de Hathor sont plongées dans l'ombre, au centre de l'image. Le plus gros lobe nous montre les régions Seth et Ash. Crédits : ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM/Thomas Appéré - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko - 3 February 2015 - From Thomas Appéré (thomasappere.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/qQK86q

Color image of Tethys taken by the narrow-angle camera. IR, green and UV frames were processed to more closely match true color. The view is still slightly exaggerated color. Note the enormous (450 km diameter) impact structure named Odysseus. Also discernible is a grayish band running across the equator with slightly redder material to the south. Taken on Dec 24, 2005 at a distance of 197 000 km and phase angle of 85 degrees.

Tethys [ rev19 ] - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/oBKVq

JNCE_2019255_22C00024_V01 NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Jupiter - PJ22-24 - Detail - From Kevin M. Gill (kevinmgill.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2hgswQa

Zoom in on Io - 2 Volcanic plumes - Jupiter 's World - NASA Juno PJ58 Download: www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/53509276511/sizes/o/ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/AndreaLuck CC BY Full image: flic.kr/p/2pwtQAR Orbit (Perijove) 58 NASA's Juno Io Images Altitude: 3852 km Time: ID: JNCE_2024034_58C00026_V01 More info: www.missionjuno.swri.edu/news/juno-captures-two-active-vo... Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/AndreaLuck Image featured by NASA: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-juno-gets-a-close-up-look-at-... Feel free to share, giving the appropriate credit and providing a link to the original image or tweet: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Volcanic Plumes on Io - Jupiter 's World - NASA Juno PJ58 - From Andrea Luck (andrealuck.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2pwr2EX

Just a quick one this morning while I have nothing else to do. HST_9473_06_ACS_HRC_F435W_sci HST_9473_06_ACS_HRC_F555W_sci HST_9473_06_ACS_HRC_F814W_sci

Super Star Cluster M82-F - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/bUFygH

This image shows an object known as HH 151, a bright jet of glowing material trailed by an intricate, orange-hued plume of gas and dust. It is located some 460 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull), near to the young, tumultuous star HL Tau. In the first few hundred thousand years of life, new stars like HL Tau pull in material that falls towards them from the surrounding space. This material forms a hot disc that swirls around the coalescing body, launching narrow streams of material from its poles. These jets are shot out at speeds of several hundred kilometers (or miles) per second and collide violently with nearby clumps of dust and gas, creating wispy, billowing structures known as Herbig-Haro objects — like HH 151 seen in the image. Such objects are very common in star-forming regions. They are short-lived, and their motion and evolution can actually be seen over very short timescales, on the order of years. They quickly race away from the newly-forming star that emitted them, colliding with new clumps of material and glowing brightly before fading away. ESA/Hubble & NASA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find...

Hubble Sees a Glowing Jet From A Young Star - From Goddard Space Flight Center - https://flic.kr/p/dX2drC

4 NAC clear filter frames ranging from 20 000 to 30 000 km. 2005-09-26 Phase angle: 127 deg

Hyperion mosaic [colorized] - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/816Nye

Decided to go ahead and post this. It's partly illustration and partly real data. Hubble has grisms that can be used to create spectra for entire fields. I colorized the spectra and overlaid them onto a regular image to show the grism doing its work. Of particular note is how the jet near the top of the image is not a smooth spectrum, but a bumpy one with strong emission lines. Note the colors do not correspond to real visible light colors. This is near-infrared data, but the same concepts apply to it. This particular area of the sky shows a young stellar object in a dusty cloud near HH34. idae05020

Grism - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2gXqGvi

There are, however: two planets (Saturn and Jupiter at the middle left), the red supergiant star Antares (above the mountain peak), and a few billion other stars thrown in, each with its own planets. Knolls, Utah

No Comet in This One - From Bill (ridingrobots.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2jkzB8i

CASSINI SATURN NASA/JPL/j. Roger

CASSINI SATURN (1) - From Jacint Roger (landru79.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2iKZuWn

Image created processing data found on: mrbrowse.issdc.gov.in/MOMLTA/ This includes 4 images in one showing Phobos in its 4 different positions. ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission - Mars Colour Camera Mission Name = MARS1 Targer: Phobos Date: 2014-10-14 Altitude: 16019 km - 16074 km Filters: Bayer Filter Producer ID: MR1-ISRO-SAC-DP-TEAM Product IDs: MCC_MEB_20141014T112535853_D_GDS Time: 2014-10-14T11:25:35.853 MCC_MEB_20141014T112547853_D_GDS Time: 2014-10-14T11:25:47.853 MCC_MEB_20141014T112559854_D_GDS Time: 2014-10-14T11:25:59.854 MCC_MEB_20141014T112610854_D_GDS Time: 2014-10-14T11:26:10.854 Credit: ISRO/ISSDC/MOM/AndreaLuck MOM Data Usage Terms And Conditions on mrbrowse.issdc.gov.in/MOMLTA/ For Data Usage Terms and Conditions info contact: issdc@istrac.gov.in ------------------------------------ Terms and conditions for data access (a) All the users have to register in ISSDC MOM portal for downloading the data. (b) All the users should abide to the data policy guidelines, which will be augmented or modified by ISRO as and when necessary. (c) Re-distribution of the data on profit or non-profit basis is strictly restricted. Disclaimer (a) MOM data sharing is open and free of charge for non-profit scientific use. (b) All the data received from MOM remains the property of ISRO and ISRO holds the copyright for the entire set of data received from MOM. (c) ISRO also reserves the right to use any data from any instrument for Education and Public Outreach purposes. (d) The ...

Phobos over Mars - Sequence - Utopia Planitia & Syrtis Major - ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission - From Andrea Luck (andrealuck.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2oYemRA

Scene from a Massive Pit in Hydrae Chasma Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona (Less than 5 km across. www.uahirise.org/ESP_013033_1730)

ESP_013033_1730 - From UAHiRISE (NASA) (uahirise.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/Dt47RK