Where In The Universe Challenge #143

By Nancy Atkinson - April 6, 2011 at 7:58 PM UTC | Site News
Where-in-the-universe-143.jpg

It's time once again for another Where In The Universe Challenge. Name where in the Universe this image was taken and give yourself extra points if you can name the telescope or spacecraft responsible for the image. Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on later at this same post to find the answer. To make this challenge fun for everyone, please don't include links or extensive explanations with your answer. Good luck!

UPDATE: The answer is now posted below.

This trillobite-like feature showed up on a magnetic map of emerging sunspot 10926 recorded by the Hinode spacecraft in Dec. 2006. You can

download a 5MB movie of the formation of this sunspot at this link.

The picture, and the movie, are a magnetogram—a dynamic map tracing the sunspot's intense magnetism. Black represents negative (S) polarity, and white represents positive (N).

Scientists said they had never seen anything like this kind of feature before. Read more about it on the

Science@NASA website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com