Daniel Machacek

Jupiter and Io from Voyager 2

Jupiter and Io from Voyager 2 on June 25, 1979.

PERSEVERANCE 1566 © NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NeV-T

Gigapan - retry.gigapan.com/gigapans/237...
GIGAmacro - viewer.gigamacro.com/view/S0kj63u...
Gigapan Website - www.nev-t-gigamacros.com
#Mars #science #NASA

A nebula with a bright star at its center. The nebula has three distinct layers, and the pattern in the layers repeats in a way that implies there are more layers outside the image boundaries, though they would be faint. The shape of the nebula is something like nesting yin yangs, with the center smallest one bright and dense, shining, smooth and golden. The middle one is orange and textured like a sherpa blanket. The largest, outer shell is fainter, and red like an ember. Its texture has softened along with its dissipation into space. There are some small stars speckled around the image, and one annoyingly bright, spiky one that's got too many colors because of the way the light spreads from point sources through the telescope's optics. A pale haze of grayish cloud also covers the scene, but it is sheer and translucent.

Apep. JWST. It's weird. Just look at it.

From GO 5842: What lies beyond the inner spiral of Apep?
Principal Investigator: Yinuo Han

flic.kr/p/2riELBn

Reykjanes Peninsula as seen by Sentinel-1.

SAR image taken on July 22, 2025.

Mars Perseverance Sol 1573: Left Navigation Camera (Navcam) / enhanced. NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam). The camera is located high on the rover's mast and aids in driving. July 23, 2025 (Sol 1573), 11:31:25 source image: Mars_Perseverance_NLF_1573_0806579143_159ECM_N0771512NCAM00501_01_295J Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Jackie Branc

🔴 #Mars #Perseverance Sol 1573: Left Navigation Camera
( #Navcam ) / enhanced

July 23, 2025 (Sol 1573), 11:31:25

source image: Mars_Perseverance_NLF_1573_0806579143_159ECM_N0771512NCAM00501_01_295J

Image Credit: #NASA / #JPL - #Caltech / Jackie Branc

#RedPlanet

On the topic of #RedSprites, I never actually posted the ones I caught last year on August 14th.

They occured over a large thunderstorm complex in the Franche-Comté region in France, about 400 km from my location. 🔭
kachelmannwetter.com/de/stormtrac...

A declassified KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellite image of Florida's Space Coast on July 21, 1978.

A declassified KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellite image of Florida's Space Coast on July 21, 1978. Cropped into the Launch Complex 39 area.

A declassified KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellite image of Florida's Space Coast on July 21, 1978. The scene shows an awesome high off-nadir view of Florida's Space Coast including NASA's VAB, a Saturn V rocket display, and more.

A declassified KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellite image of Florida's Space Coast on July 21, 1978. The scene shows an awesome high off-nadir view of Florida's Space Coast including NASA's VAB, a Saturn V rocket display, and more. (Labelled)

One of my favourite KH-9 HEXAGON images was taken 47 years ago yesterday (July 21).

The scene shows an awesome high off-nadir view of Florida's Space Coast including NASA's VAB, a Saturn V rocket display, and more.

This is absurd.

The red supergiant Betelgeuse is the bright feature in this image.

But that darker blue splotch is a *companion star* that's just been discovered—and it orbits so close to Betelgeuse that it's inside the larger star's outer atmosphere.

Triton from Voyager 2.

The mysterious surface of Triton from Voyager 2. From the polar cap toward the top to the dark cryovolcanic plumes to the mysterious dark features surrounded by light aprons on the limb to the smooth planes on the lower center/left to the cantaloupe terrain on the right, we hardly know this world.

Mount Rinjani in Indonesia.

Image taken today by Sentinel-2.

This panorama was made from photos taken through the windows of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shortly after it landed on the Moon. At the ends of the panorama can be seen the little rocket engine clusters of the reaction control thrusters which were used to adjust the orientation of the vehicle while in flight. The cratered Lunar surface stretches into the distance, strewn with rocks. The 'anti solar' point is marked by a bright glow near where the shadows of the photographers heads would be, from the many tiny glass spheres bouncing the sunlight back in the direction it came from. Such an effect can be seen on road signs and road stripes using glass bead bearing paints, or even on a dew covered grassy field in the morning sunlight.

The first hand held photos of the Lunar surface from the windows of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module a little over an hour after landing, mosaiced into a panorama. The level plains of Mare Tranquillitatis stretch into the distance with crater pits and rocks randomly scattered across the terrain.

Photograph taken from the International Space Station by astronaut Nichole Ayers, capturing a rare gigantic jet — an upward lightning discharge shooting from a thunderstorm about 90-100 km high into the upper atmosphere. The jet appears as a vivid purple and blue column of light that finely branches out toward the top where it turns into a vivid red color. It's rising from a brightly illuminated cloud top, surrounded by diffuse city lights from Northern Mexico and South Texas. Behind it is the curved limb of Earth with a green band from the airglow layer indicating the edge of the atmosphere. A portion of the space station’s robotic arm is visible in the foreground.

On July 3rd, astronaut Nichole Ayers photographed a rare Gigantic jet from the ISS. These upward directed electrical discharges extend 90-100 km high into the atmosphere.

I processed this image from the RAW file, adjusting the white balance, contrast and noise reduction.
Full res: flic.kr/p/2rhxqcK

This wide angle photograph, actually a mosaic of two photographs, shows the July 18 2025 launch from Vandenberg AFB, approximately 250 miles away from my Joshua Tree, California vantage point. These twilight launches feature dramatic lighting, and this one was no exception. The initial display of red to yellow to white to blue-white lighting appeared in the early stages as the rocker climbed, and continued to be a major feature of the display. Here the second stage exhaust gases are seen spreading with less resistance from the surrounding air which becomes more rarified as the upper layers of the atmosphere are passed through on the way to orbit. The uppermost plume's color is partly due to the light scattering characteristics of the exhaust gases, and partly due to the 'hard cool white' color of sunlight unfiltered by Earths atmosphere. On the ground the Sunlight is just a bit yellow from atmospheric scattering.

Friday night's launch from Vandenberg was quite a sight. It rose within Earths shadow, then became lit as it climbed by the very reddened Sun clearing the distant horizon. Orange, gold, white and finally a silvery blue white lighting occurred as the leading hollow plume mass dramatically expanded.

A forming protostar surrounded by a large hourglass-shaped nebula. A bright orange object, the protostar, lies at the center. In front of the protostar is a thin grey line, which is the protostar’s protoplanetary disk. Above the protostar is an orange, triangular cloud of gas that points to the top left. The area closest to the protostar is a brighter orange than the area to the top left, and has more pronounced plumes of orange gas. Below the protostar is another triangular cloud of gas that points to the bottom right. The area closest to the protostar is a blend of pronounced blue and orange plumes of gas. Farther toward the bottom right, the color of the gas turns primarily blue. Stars and galaxies of many different shapes and sizes are scattered around the image, although they are noticeably more absent on the left side of the hourglass.

This #NASAWebb view of dark cloud L1527 is a reminder to trust the process. ⏳ At the “neck” of the “hourglass” is a hidden protostar—a star in the making. Webb captures the varying thickness of dust, the molecular hydrogen filaments, and more: bit.ly/4n0SuUs 🔭 🧪

Algal blooms in the Baltic Sea.

Image taken yesterday by Sentinel-2.

Animated gif of Juno/JIRAM 3.5-micron observations of Io from December 27, 2024. This gif covers roughly 45 minutes of time as Juno passed Io at a distance of 74,444 km. The eruption at West Illyrikon was so intense that it saturated the detector and caused internal reflections within JIRAM's optics

A barren landscape and butterscotch sky. Thin clouds are faintly visible. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

Thin clouds spotted outside Jezero Crater, Mars, on Sol 1564 (yestersol). Taken by the Mars Perseverance Rover.

flic.kr/p/2rgKkXH

Color image of Pluto's moon Charon from MVIC camera onboard New Horizons spacecraft. Image is showing half of the Charon's disc at resolution 650 meters per pixel.

Ten years (and one day) ago New Horizons 🛰 made first and probably for looong time the last flyby of Pluto-Charon system.
This is best (half)global image of Charon obtained by MVIC camera. It combines hi-res B/W image with color images at lower resolution.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/D. Macháček.

Lake Victoria in Australia.

Image taken today by Sentinel-2.

A high-resolution color image of Mars with the small, dark, potato shaped satellite Phobos, seen in sharp contrast as it passes over the massive volcano Olympus Mons. Phobos appears irregular and shadowed against the softly rust colored Martian surface. In the distance, two other volcanic features Ascraeus Mons (upper right) and the flatter Alba Mons (upper left) are visible. Wisps of light clouds and the blackness of space frame the planet’s curved horizon.

1/n 🧵
Just released: NEW images of Phobos over Mars by @esa.int Mars Express 🔭🧪

This view shows Phobos above Olympus Mons!

Full-size (130MP) image & details: flic.kr/p/2rggHKy
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Andrea Luck CC BY

Captured on May 14, 2025 | Image ID: HQ967
Raw data from: psa.esa.int

Color image of high altitude clouds over Martian canyon Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is visible at the top right of the image under another layer of lower altitude clouds. Clouds at lower altitudes are also visible across different parts of the image with other prominent Martian features such as Noctis Labyrinthus and Syria Planum to the left and Sinai and Solis Planum in the right part of the image.

High altitude clouds over the Martian canyon Valles Marineris.

This is a small crop from the HQ516 image sequence taken by the HRSC camera aboard ESA's Mars Express spacecraft on January 3, 2025.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)/D. Machacek.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun

Newly released images - taken closer to the Sun than we’ve ever been before - are helping scientists better understand the Sun’s influence across the solar system, including events that can affect Earth. 🧪🔭

science.nasa.gov/science-rese...

My interpretation of Vesta's south pole impact that formed Rheasilvia crater. Before impact older Veneneia crater can be seen.
#Sciart #space #illustration #astronomy#Vesta

Shallow seafloor in The Shark Bay, Australia.

Image taken today by Sentinel-2.

Whoa.

That's a sprite, an elusive, high-altitude electrical discharge from a thundercloud photographed by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers from the ISS earlier today.

With reported sightings going back more than a century, this phenomenon was first photographed in 1989.

A crescent view of southern Jupiter. The Great Red Spot is visible towards the right. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Cresent Jupiter.

flic.kr/p/2hpeTvF

Algal vortex in The Baltic Sea.

Image taken by Landsat-8 on July 18, 2018.

The ray crater Degas on the rugged surface of Mercury, partially overlapping an older crater, Brontë. This is a view from Mariner 10's first flyby (indeed, humanity's first flyby) of the planet on March 29, 1974.

Wow. China's Tiangong space station transiting Jupiter, captured by 沈老思347 and shared via China航天
m.weibo.cn/detail/51753...

A high resolution photo of Mars from orbit captured by ESA's Mars Express. The image shows the reddish, dusty surface with soft brown and rusty hues, fading into a thin atmosphere. At the bottom left, two prominent volcanic formations, Olympus Mons and Ascraeus Mons, appear as large, broad features on the surface, with their edges softly blending into the landscape. On the bottom right, a large, circular bluish cloud hovers just above the surface, with soft, uneven edges. At the top center, a yellowish dust storm swirls across the terrain, resembling tightly packed cotton balls in a rough oval shape. The curvature of the planet highlights the thin atmosphere, gradually fading into the vast darkness of space.

POV: Orbiting Mars. 2 volcanoes. 1 dust storm and the darkness of space around you.

You can browse the 170MP (!) here easyzoom.com/image/633505

Full size, download & more info here flic.kr/p/2r95M3B

@esa.int Mars Express 2024-02-16
Olympus & Ascraues Mons

Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck 🧪🔭