Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae. Its about four million (4,000,000) times brighter than our sun and is one the most massive stars ever discovered.

A hypergiant star in the Carina Constellation. A hypergiant is a very bright star with a huge mass and is losing mass at a high rate. Very large and bright stars like Eta Carinae burn up very quickly compared to smaller stars. So it is expected to explode, supernova, very soon; astronomically speaking.

A supernova is a huge, stellar explosion of an entire star. They are very bright and can create light that will briefly outshine an entire galaxy. During a supernova, the star can emit more energy than our sun could in its entire lifespan! It spreads chemical elements throughout the galaxy, while the shock wave from the explosion can cause the formation of new stars.

Supernovae occur about once every fifty years in a galaxy the size of ours, the Milky Way.

Carina Nebula

This is a very high quality picture of the Carina Nebula or The Great Nebula in Carina. This nebula surrounds several open clusters of stars including, Eta Carinae, one of the largest and brightest stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.

In 1751-52, it was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille from the Cape of Good Hope.

This is one of the largest diffuse nebulae that can be seen from Earth and it is brighter than the famous Orion Nebula, but since it can be seen only far in the southern hemisphere, it is less known.

This large image is 6000 x 2906 pixels and 7.4 MB

Rocky Outcrop

This panoramic, 3D image shows a rocky outcrop on the surface of Mars.

Captured by Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity’s, panoramic camera.

Scientists believe that these rocks are volcanic ash deposits or sediments laid down by wind or water.

Images courtesy of NASA.

Mercury

A photo mosaic of the Planet Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. A mosaic is a number a smaller pictures taken and pieced together to form one large picture.

This picture consists of 18 individual small images taken by the Mariner 10 satellite on March 29, 1974, as it was leaving orbit.

The planets surface resembles hellish conditions, with an uncountable amount of craters and temperatures that range from -300°F on the side away from the sun and about 800°F on the side facing the sun.

Images provided by NASA.

Spirit View

Time to bust out those old 3D glasses and get a feel of the martain surface!

Here is a 3D, panoramic 360 degree view of the terrain around NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover “Spirit.”

Taken on June 2, 2004 from inside the crater “Gusev.”

Images courtesy of NASA

Endurance Crater

Another great panoramic photograph of Mars’ surface.

This approximate true-color image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover “Opportunity”

Its a picture of a surface impact crater nicknamed “Endurance.”

These craters are extremely important because they show what lie beneath the surface of Mars and could explain what geologic processes have occurred in the past.

Getting to the rocks embedded in the sides of this crater is very important to scientists. But they are in vertical positions making it hard for the rover to reach and examine them.

This image is 3000 x 582 pixels and 360KB, courtesy of NASA

Triangulum Nebula

NGC 604. A region in the Triangulum Galaxy discovered on September 11, 1784 by William Herschel.

Its longest diameter is about 700 light-years and over 6300 times brighter than the Orion Nebula.

This particular nebula is an H II (H2) Region. H2 regions are clouds of glowing gas and plasma, in which star formation(s) are taking place.

Over time this nebula could give birth to thousands of stars, but its not likely to happen in our lifetime; the process takes several million years.

When its all said and done, supernova explosions from huge stars in this region will disperse all of the gases visible now, leaving behind a cluster of shining stars.

This image is 1127 x 1201 pixels and about 2.4MB courtesy of the European Space Agency and NASA.

Presidential Suite

Here is a full-color panorama of the landing site from the Mars Pathfinder camera.

Often referred to as the “Presidential Panorama”

It is by-far my favorite image from the Mars Rover

There is also an even higher resolution version of this picture, it is 7.5 MB and 6230 x 1075 pixels, very detailed.

Hi-Res

Images courtesy of NASA

The Red Planet

This image was taken from the Mars Pathfinder.

The foreground contains parts of the airbags and the top of the low-gain antenna on the lander.

The rim of the impact crater “Big Crater” is visible in the upper-left on the horizon.

This mosaic was processed by the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Home Base

Here is another picture for tonight. Home.

This was taken by American astronauts from the Apollo 16 on April 16, 1972. You can see the west coast of the United States, Mexico and some parts of Central America. The Sierra Vista and Rocky mountains are visible as well as most of Mid-West US.

Image Courtesy of NASA.