|
Click on each image for a larger
view. Links and copyright/credit information are provided.
|
 |
Nautilus Shell - This tropical sea-shell is an example of
a logarithmic spiral that expresses the golden rectangle which
is a rectangle in which the ratio of the length to the width
is the Golden Ratio (a number approximately equal to 1.6180339887498948482).
If you would like to acquire a copy of this image, it is available for purchase from Punchstock. |
|
 |
An international team of experts using powerful computers and programming techniques has mapped E8—a feat numerically akin to the mapping of the human genome—allowing for breakthroughs in a wide range of problems in geometry, number theory and the physics of string theory. Ever since 1887, when Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie discovered the mathematical group called E8, researchers have been trying to understand the extraordinarily complex object described by a numerical matrix of more than 400,000 rows and columns.
|
|
 |
Tulip macro photograph. © Jane A. George.
|
|
 |
The trajectory design model shown here allowed Mariner mission planners during mission development in 1967 to illustrate the orientation of the planet and calculate the the expected path of the Mariner 6 and 7 spacecraft, as well as the window of opportunity for the instruments and television cameras to operate during the flyby.
Image credit: NASA/JPL |
|
 |
This artist's concept of THEMIS' main orbits is represented by red ovals. Blue lines represent the Earth's magnetic field. The white flash represents energy released during substorms. The THEMIS spacecraft will line up at midnight over the United States every four days. The distances range from about half the distance to the moon to about a sixth of the distance to the moon. This position will help scientists pinpoint exactly when and where substorms occur.
Image credit: NASA |
|
 |
In the image produced from QuikSCAT data, white arrows showing wind direction are superimposed on the color images of wind speed. QuikScat, managed by JPL, measures ocean surface wind/stress by sending radar pulses to the surface and measuring the strength of the signals returned.
|
|
 |
Irrigation circles, Colorado. Each green circle signifies the presence of a center-pivot irrigation system. In this type of system, water is pumped from an underground aquifer and distributed through a giant sprinkler hundreds of feet (more than 100m) long that pivots around a central point. It is worth considering how long this system can work, given that it is based on fossil water supplies that are not being recharged.
Copyright Dan L. Perlman
ecolibrary.org |
|
 |
Adult male Morpho peleides butterfly, Costa Rica. Note the brilliant blue coloration on the upper side of the wing and the mottled brown on the underside. This is the final stage of four life stages in the complete metamorphosis of a butterfly.
Copyright Dan L. Perlman
ecolibrary.org |
|
 |
Detail of Saturn's Rings, Disk and Shadow
Credit: NASA, ESA and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)
hubblesite.org |
|
 |
Bolinopsis
www.photolib.noaa.gov/nurp/nur01004.htm
Lobate ctenophores are translucent and give off a bioluminescent glow. Bolinopsis infundibulum.
Image ID: nur01004, National Undersearch Research Program (NURP) Collection
Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) |
|
 |
Mammoth
Photo by: Chip Clark
Date: 1977
Number: 77-10004
National Museum of Natural History |
|
 |
Cockpit of Mercury Capsule Friendship 7
Photo by: Eric Long and Mark Avino
Date: 1998
Number: 2001-1831
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum |
|
 |
Liddicoatite
Photo by: Laurie Minor-Penland
Date: 1995
Number: 95-9624
Liddicoatitie (tourmaline family), Madagascar
National Museum of Natural History |
|
 |
Crab Nebula Composite
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_460.html
This mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, is a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers witnessed this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054, as did, almost certainly, Native Americans. |
|
 |
Honeybee nest showing empty cells. These cells are clean and new, and they have clearly not been used to raise brood. When foraging bees bring large quantities of nectar into the nest, the house bees will sense the growing lack of storage space for nectar and honey; as a result, they build new storage cells such as these.
Copyright Dan L. Perlman, 2005
ecolibrary.org |
|
 |
The Nazca created these geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert between 200 BCE and AD 600 by clearing away the dark red top soil and stone, leaving the pale underlying soil exposed. Since the plain where the lines are carved receives little rain or wind, the lines are still visible today.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17033 |
|
 |
NASA's Altair/Predator B aircraft |
|
 |
Scientists who want to study past climates can't get data from above, they have to look in the depths of the ocean. After they die, plants and animals sink to the ocean floor in a steady rain of debris that settles in successive layers. Since different species thrive in different climates, scientists can gauge the temperature of the ocean by looking at fossils in a vertical column of the ocean floor. The most plentiful, and perhaps the most useful, are the fossilized skeletons of microscopic plants and animals (foraminifera) are shown here.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17046 |
|
 |
Galaxy M84 is located in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, 50 million light-years from Earth.
hubblesite.org/gallery/album/exotic_collection/pr1997012a/web_print
Credit: Gary Bower, Richard Green (NOAO), the STIS Instrument Definition Team, and NASA
|
|
 |
The Limbed Excursion Mobile Utility Robot (LEMUR) is a small, agile and capable six-legged walking robot that has been built to perform dexterous small-scale assembly, inspection and maintenance of macro space facilities.
|
|
 |
Humpback whale's - Megaptera novaeangliae - tail - distinctive markings allow identification of individual
Image ID: anim0800, NOAA's Ark (Animals) Collection
Credit: Captain Budd Christman, NOAA Corps |
|
 |
Pu`u `O`o vent, part of Kilauea Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii. This vent has been active on and off in the 22 years since 1983. For most of that time, the cone has repeatedly grown and collapsed; according to the United States Geological Survey, the crater is about 1,300 ft (400 m) long and 820 ft (250 m) wide. At times, the crater has been as deep as 690 ft (210 m) although recent lava flows have filled much of the crater. The Geological Survey also reports that in early 2005, this cone was releasing approximately 3,000 to 5,000 tons (roughly 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 kg) of sulfur dioxide each day. To generate this volume of gas release, geologists calculate that over a million cubic yards/meters of lava are erupting every day from this volcanic system.
2001-08-02
http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/EcoLibrary/ |
|
 |
Phoebe's true nature is revealed in startling clarity in this mosaic of two images taken during Cassini's flyby on June 11, 2004. The image shows evidence for the emerging view that Phoebe may be an ice-rich body coated with a thin layer of dark material. Small bright craters in the image are probably fairly young features. This phenomenon has been observed on other icy satellites, such as Ganymede at Jupiter. When impactors slammed into the surface of Phoebe, the collisions excavated fresh, bright material -- probably ice -- underlying the surface layer. Further evidence for this can be seen on some crater walls where the darker material appears to have slid downwards, exposing more light-colored material. Some areas of the image that are particularly bright - especially near lower right - are over-exposed.
An accurate determination of Phoebe's density -- a forthcoming result from the flyby -- will help Cassini mission scientists understand how much of the little moon is comprised of ices.
This spectacular view was obtained at a phase, or Sun-Phoebe-spacecraft, angle of 84 degrees, and from a distance of approximately 32,500 kilometers (20,200 miles). The image scale is approximately 190 meters (624 feet) per pixel. No enhancement was performed on this image.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information, about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, ciclops.org.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
|
 |
Sea anemones clustered on a rocky slope off Hawaii.
Image ID: nur01507, National Undersearch Research Program (NURP) Collection
Location: Pacific Ocean, offshore Hawaii.
Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) |
|
 |
In the Space Shuttle Discovery's airlock, Astronaut Steve Robinson, left, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Astronaut Soichi Noguchi prepare for the first of three STS-114 spacewalks. |
|
 |
NASA began development of new communication satellites in 1960, based on the hypothesis that geosynchronous satellites, which orbit Earth 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the ground, offered the best location because the high orbit allowed the satellites' orbital speed to match the rotation speed of Earth and therefore remain essentially stable over the same spot. Only 17 months after development began, NASA launched Syncom I, but it stopped sending signals a few seconds before it reached its final orbit. Five months later, NASA launched Syncom II, which demonstrated the viability of the system. The next Syncom transmitted live coverage of the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo to stations in North America and Europe.
Image Credit: NASA |
|
 |
Image Name: The Himalayas
Image Date: Apr 12, 2001
Image Source: ASTER
Description: Soaring, snow-capped peaks and ridges of the eastern Himalaya Mountains create an irregular white-on-red patchwork between major rivers in southwestern China. The Himalayas are made up of three parallel mountain ranges that together extend more than 2,900 kilometers.
|
|
 |
Image Name: Lena Delta
Image Date: July 2000
Image Source: Landsat 7
Description: The Lena River, some 2,800 miles(4,500km) long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is an important refuge and breeding grounds for many species of Siberian wildlife.
|
|
 |
This image was taken July 27, 2003 when the ISS was over central Asia. June and July is the season for noctilucent clouds in the northern hemisphere; they form in the polar mesosphere, generally above 50 degrees latitude. Recent studies address why noctilucent clouds exist, whether the frequency of occurrence has increased throughout the 20th century (some researchers believe they have), and whether their frequency reflects human activities. Astronauts and cosmonauts have observed them over northern latitudes (Europe, Russia) in the past, but this display has been remarkable. |
|
 |
Camouflaged green katydid, Costa Rica. Many tropical katydids, such as the one in this image, are superb leaf mimics. Some even have what appear to be fungus and disease spots or chewed holes on their wings, but those are just additional parts of the camouflage. If you have trouble finding the katydid, look at the companion image, which points it out. © Dan L. Perlman, 2005
ecolibrary.org |
|
 |
Drive Gears: This drive gear rotates a gear that is about ten times larger in diameter.
Courtesy Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiT(TM) Technologies, www.mems.sandia.gov |
|
 |
A view of a Spider Mite approaching the gear chain. Please note the relative size of the gears and the mite.
Courtesy Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiT(TM) Technologies, www.mems.sandia.gov |
|
 |
Emerald Toucanet, Costa Rica. Toucanets (a sub-group of the toucans) are omnivores, primarily eating fruit and insects, as well as lizards and bird eggs and nestlings. Toucans are famous for their long bills, which are very light in weight. Hornbills, an Old World group, and Toucans, a New World group, exhibit convergence in the form of their bills. Although not close relatives, they have evolved very similar structures that help them fill similar niches in the habitats where they are found. © Dan L. Perlman, 2005
ecolibrary.org |
|
 |
The pixelated planet 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 (eV) for a typical visible light photon. The Earth's gamma-ray glow is indeed very faint, and this image was constructed by combining data from seven years of exposure during the life of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, operating in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. Brightest near the edge and faint near the center, the picture indicates that the gamma rays are coming from high in Earth's atmosphere. The gamma rays are produced as the atmosphere interacts with high-energy cosmic rays from space, blocking the harmful radiation from reaching the surface. Astronomers need to understand Earth's gamma-ray glow well as it can interfere with observations of cosmic gamma-ray sources like pulsars, supernova remnants, and distant active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.
Credit: Dirk Petry (GLAST Science Support Center), EUD, EGRET, NASA |
|
 |
NASA is using its unique resources to keep an eye on the renewed volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens in Washington state.
NASA scientists took these visible and infrared (IR) digital images of the mountain on Tuesday, Oct. 12, that show an increase in the number of hot spots as well as a plume of smoke coming from the crater. Bright red in the crater indicates hot spots, and blue indicates snow and the plume.
Researchers used the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) digital imaging system to acquire the infrared data. MASTER is an airborne simulator instrument similar to the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) high-resolution infrared imager carried on NASA's Terra Earth observation satellite.
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL |
|
 |
Green circles in the desert frequently indicate tracts of agriculture supported by center-pivot irrigation. The Al Khufrah Oasis in southeastern Libya (near the Egyptian border) is one of Libya’s largest agricultural projects, and is an easy-to-recognize landmark for orbiting astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Astronaut photograph ISS010-E-5266 was acquired October 28, 2004, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet.
Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16729 |
|
 |
Four hundred years ago, sky watchers, including the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler, were startled by the sudden appearance of a "new star" in the western sky, rivaling the brilliance of the nearby planets. Now, astronomers using NASA's three Great Observatories are unraveling the mysteries of the expanding remains of Kepler's supernova, the last such object seen to explode in our Milky Way galaxy.
This combined image -- from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and e Chandra X-ray Observatory -- unveils a bubble-shaped shroud of gas and dust that is 14 light-years wide and is expanding at 4 million miles per hour (2,000 kilometers per second). Observations from each telescope highlight distinct features of the supernova remnant, a fast-moving shell of iron-rich material from the exploded star, surrounded by an expanding shock wave that is sweeping up interstellar gas and dust.
Photo Credit: NASA |
|
 |
Aggregate hailstone. Large hailstone with smaller stones visible. Ruler shows radius of this remarkable hail stone. Diameter is approximately 6 inches - the size of a grapefruit.
Image ID: nssl0001, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Collection
Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) |
|
 |
The Cassini spacecraft has taken the most detailed temperature measurements to date of Saturn's rings. Data taken by the composite infrared spectrometer instrument on the spacecraft while entering Saturn's orbit show the cool and relatively warm regions of the rings.
This false-color image shows that the temperatures on the unlit side of Saturn's rings vary from a relatively warm 110 Kelvin (-261 degrees Fahrenheit, shown in red), to a cool 70 Kelvin (-333 degrees Fahrenheit, shown in blue). The green represents a temperature of 90 Kelvin (-298 degrees Fahrenheit). Water freezes at 273 Kelvin (32 degrees Fahrenheit).
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_210.html
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
|
 |
Rainbow with reflection over an Oklahoma wheatfield.
Image ID: nssl0125, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Collection
Location: Oklahoma
Photo Date: May 22, 1976
Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) |
|
 |
NSSL's first research Doppler Weather Radar. Radar dish in the foreground. Triangular panels of protective fiberglass radar dome are in the background. The dish has a 30-foot diameter.
Image ID: nssl0026, National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Collection
Photo Date: December 1971
Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) |
|
 |
Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona near Point Sublime, natural color (TM321) with elevation data (no vertical exaggeration).
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Date Completed: April 09, 1999
Duration: 2249 frames, 75.065 seconds
Scientist: Darrel Williams (NASA/GSFC)
Instrument: Landsat-5/TM
Datasets: USGS Digital Elevation Model
Keywords: Grand Canyon
DLESESubject: Physical geography
Data Collected: 1991/06/22
PAOID: G99-019, G99-071, G03-046 |
|
 |
Mars Exploration Rover parachute deployment testing in the world's largest wind tunnel at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif. |
|
 |
Molecular Torus Surrounds Black Hole
Illustration Credit: V. Beckmann (NASA's GSFC) et al., ESA
Explanation: Why do some black hole surroundings appear brighter than others? In the centers of active galaxies, supermassive black holes at least thousands of times the mass of our Sun dominate. Many, called Seyfert Type I, are very bright in visible light. Others, called Seyfert Type II, are rather dim. The difference might be caused by some black holes accreting much more matter than others. Alternatively, the black holes in the center of Seyfert Type II galaxies might be obscured by a surrounding torus. To help choose between these competing hypotheses, the nearby Seyfert II galaxy NGC 4388 has been observed in X-ray light recently by many recent Earth-orbiting X-ray observatories, including CGRO, SIGMA, BeppoSAX, INTEGRAL, Chandra, and XMM-Newton. Recent data from INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton have found that the X-ray flux in some X-ray colors varies rapidly, while flux in other X-ray colors is quite steady. The constant flux and apparent absorption of very specific X-ray colors by cool iron together give evidence that the central black hole in NGC 4388 is seen through a thick torus composed of molecular gas and dust. |
|
 |
NOAA view of a cloud-free composite of USA night lights taken from Oct. 1, 1994, to March 31, 1995. NOAA processed the data taken by the Defense Meteorological Defense Program. Credit: NOAA/DMSP.
www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s2015.htm |
|
 |
ic1396 -
Resembling a flaming creature on the run, this image exposes
the hidden interior of a dark and dusty cloud in the emission
nebula IC 1396. Young stars previously obscured by dust can
be seen here for the first time. Launched in August 2003
as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), Spitzer
was renamed in honor of Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr, the first
to propose placing telescopes in space.
|
|
 |
Galaxy - In 1995, the majestic spiral
galaxy NGC 4414 was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope as
part of the HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale.
An international team of astronomers, led by Dr. Wendy Freedman
of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
observed this galaxy on 13 different occasions over the course
of two months. Images were obtained with Hubble's Wide Field
Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) through three different color filters.
Based on their discovery and careful brightness measurements
of variable stars in NGC 4414, the Key Project astronomers were
able to make an accurate determination of the distance to the
galaxy. The resulting distance to NGC 4414, 19.1 megaparsecs
or about 60 million light-years, along with similarly determined
distances to other nearby galaxies, contributes to astronomers'
overall knowledge of the rate of expansion of the universe.
In 1999, the Hubble Heritage Team revisited NGC 4414 and completed
its portrait by observing the other half with the same filters
as were used in 1995. The end result is a stunning full-color
look at the entire dusty spiral galaxy. The new Hubble picture
shows that the central regions of this galaxy, as is typical
of most spirals, contain primarily older, yellow and red stars.
The outer spiral arms are considerably bluer due to ongoing
formation of young, blue stars, the brightest of which can be
seen individually at the high resolution provided by the Hubble
camera. The arms are also very rich in clouds of interstellar
dust, seen as dark patches and streaks silhouetted against the
starlight. |
|
 |
Orthosoma brunneum
Image from www.cerambycids.com; copyright Gino Nearns
Classification
Family: Cerambycidae
Subfamily: Prioninae
Tribe: Prionini
Genus: Orthosoma
Species: brunneum |
|
 |
A moon jellyfish.
Image ID: reef2547, The Coral Kingdom Collection
Photographer: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Staff
Credit: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA)
NOAA Central Library
Last Updated: 07-17-2001 |
|
 |
Nanochain -
False-color transmission electron microscope image of self-assembled
gold nanochains produced at the University of Chicago. The
center-to-center spacing between neighboring chains measures
50 nanometers. Individual gold nanoparticles measure 5 to
10 nanometers and self-assemble inside the polystyrene domains
of a thin copolymer film. Polymethylmethacrylate domains
of the film, on either side of the chains, do not contain
nanoparticles and appear dark. Image courtesy of Heinrich
Jaeger and Ward Lopes. From www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/
photos/nanotechnology/.
|
|
 |
Skeletons - These images show a whole
body scan obtained by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)
technology. The high-lighted areas are the parts of the skeleton.
Light blue identifies muscles and intestines, while the dark
blue areas contain fat. Particularly in the thigh, the three
different colorations can be easily identified. During the investigation
"Microgravity Imaging After Exposure to Microgravity,"
DEXA technology was used to identify lean tissue mass, the light
blue areas in the DEXA scan.
Mission: STS-78
Experiment Title: Magnetic Resonance Imaging After Exposure
to Microgravity (284054)
Payload: Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) |
|
 |
Fractal -
Magnification of a fractal section. Image from www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ma/gallery/mandel/index.html
|
|
 |
Articulated Wing, Leonardo da Vinci, Circa 15th century |
|
 |
3D representation of the Indian Monsoon
daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/atmospheric_dynamics/graphics/dao_Indian_Monsoon_c.gif
|
|
 |
Engine Test - A remote camera captures
a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test
firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,
Mississippi. |
|
 |
Aurora -
Recent solar activity has produced some spectacular aurora
in areas not usually lucky enough to see them, like this
dazzling red sky in Mt. Airy, Maryland. The composite image
is made up of three separate eight-second exposures. Photo
Credit: George Varros.
|
|
 |
Helix Nebula - The composite picture is a seamless blend
of ultra-sharp NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images combined
with the wide view of the Mosaic Camera on the National Science
Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory,
part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, near Tucson,
Ariz. Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute
assembled these images into a mosaic. The mosaic was then
blended with a wider photograph taken by the Mosaic Camera.
The image shows a fine web of filamentary "bicycle-spoke"
features embedded in the colorful red and blue gas ring, which
is one of the nearest planetary nebulae to Earth.
Image from
http://hubblesite.org/ |
|
 |
Eddy - A very well-defined spiral
eddy is visible through the haze off the east coast of Japan
in this SeaWiFS image. |
|
 |
Fullerine Cage (Buckyball) - This image shows the window
mechanism for the encapsulation of extraterrestrial noble
gases (such as helium) atoms inside the fullerene cage. One
view shows a broken bond, or open "window," with
atom moving out through window.
The fullerene molecule is a hollow, cage-like structure typically
made of 60 or more carbon atoms; it is also referred to as
a "buckyball," in honor of Buckminster Fuller, designer
of the geodesic dome that resembles the molecule.
Click here
to read the full NASA Ames Research Center press release related
to this image: RESEARCHERS DISCOVER EXTRATERRESTRIAL GASES
IN BUCKYBALLS
|
 |
|
