A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. Sarychev Peak is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, and it is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island. Prior to June 12, the last explosive eruption occurred in 1989, with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows. Ash from the multi-day eruption has been detected 2,407 kilometers east-southeast and 926 kilometers west-northwest of the volcano, and commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.
“An anomalous bit of bright, whitish material can be seen just left of center in this view captured by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager on Sol 132 of the rover’s mission (Dec. 19). The material, which has been nicknamed a “Martian flower,” is almost certainly a bit of plastic that fell off the rover itself.”
One of our first pieces of useless litter on Mars, which we have the temerity to call a “flower.” That’s how we do.
“NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows a rare view of a pair of overlapping galaxies, called NGC 3314. The two galaxies appear to be colliding, but they are actually separated by tens of millions of light-years, or about ten times the distance between our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The chance alignment of the two galaxies, as seen from Earth, gives a unique look at the silhouetted spiral arms in the closer face-on spiral, NGC 3314A. The motion of the two galaxies indicates that they are both relatively undisturbed and that they are moving in markedly different directions. “
The scale of space and time in an image is incredible.
On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.—NASA
Honestly, the data and images coming back from the Mars Rover is absolutely stunning. Such an incredible thing to witness. Everyone, anywhere, on their cellphone, can do a sweep view of MARS! Motha’fuckin, Mars!
One of the things that I found so strangely sublime about the Mars Rover: Mars gravel under foot looks just like Earth gravel. Except it’s on Mars. Yes, I mean “sublime” in its philosophical connotation.
The resolution. is. fucking. stunning. Humans did that, fellow humans. We did that.
It’s astonishing how a picture of gravel can hold such a powerful expression of human negation and affirmation.
This happened, like a Philip K Dick novel. The planning, scientific achievement, coordination, engineering, physics research, and imagination required to make this happen is incredible. Kind of incomprehensibly possible. Modern voyage of discovery. Great vid. Everyone should watch and be amazed.
Like, while we’re eating bologna sandwiches, NASA put a rover on Mars.
