pictures Archives - Universe Today

Some of the Best Pictures of the Planets in our Solar System

16 Jan , 2015 by Matt Williams

Our Solar System is a pretty picturesque place. Between the Sun, the Moon, and the Inner and Outer Solar System, there is no shortage of wondrous things to behold. But arguably, it is the eight planets that make up our Solar System that are the most interesting and photogenic. With their spherical discs, surface patterns […]

Take a Look Through Curiosity’s ChemCam

22 Aug , 2012 by Jason Major

This (adjusted) image was taken by ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager on Sol 15 (NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL) While Curiosity has been getting a good look around its landing spot on Mars, taking in the sights and sending back some impressive views of distant hills and Gale Crater’s enormous central peak, it’s also been peering very closely at some tiny […]

New Submillimetre Camera Sheds Light on the Dark Regions of the Universe

11 Dec , 2011 by Amy Shira Teitel

[/caption] The stars and faint galaxies you see when you look up at the night sky are all emitting light within the visible light spectrum — the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum we can see with our unaided eyes or through optical telescopes. But our galaxy, and many others, contain huge amounts of cold dust […]

Historic Photos Commemorate First and Last Shuttle Crews

16 Nov , 2011 by Amy Shira Teitel

[/caption] In an historic photo shoot earlier this month, NASA commemorated the space shuttle’s retirement, personifying the thirty-year program with the first and last astronaut crews to fly the vehicle. The shuttle program has certainly come a long way from STS-1 to STS-135. John Young and Robert Crippen launched on STS-1 in the shuttle Columbia […]

Best Images from STS-133: Discovery’s Final Mission in Pictures

8 Mar , 2011 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] As space shuttle Discovery prepares to return home from its final mission to space, let’s take a look back at the STS-133 mission, an historic “last” for the program’s most-traveled shuttle. “I think the legacy that this shuttle has made for herself is just nothing short than cause for celebration,” said mission specialist Michael […]

Spitzer, the Wallpaper Factory, Does it Again

17 Feb , 2010 by Jean Tate

At the end of the proverbial day, space-based missions like Spitzer produce millions of observations of astronomical objects, phenomena, and events. And those terabytes of data are used to test hypotheses in astrophysics which lead to a deeper understanding of the universe and our home in it, and perhaps some breakthrough whose here-on-the-ground implementation leads […]

Cassini Survives Close Encounter of the Death Star Kind!

15 Feb , 2010 by Jean Tate

[/caption] On February 13, 2010, Cassini flew by Saturn’s moon Mimas, coming as close as 9,500 km. It passed directly over Herschel, a giant crater whose creation almost shattered the moon … and which, in its appearance in some earlier images, earned Mimas the nickname “Death Star”, after the iconic Star Wars prop. The Cassini […]

Beautiful Pics

3 Feb , 2010 by Fraser Cain

Here are some beautiful pics of space and astronomy. [/caption] This is a picture of NASA Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless floating free above the Earth. He was testing out a new backpack that let astronauts perform spacewalks without the need for a cumbersome tether. This is a very oblique angle view of craters on the […]

Amazon Rainforest Pictures

28 Jan , 2010 by Fraser Cain

Here are Amazon forest pictures from space. Satellite observation of the Amazon is the best way to keep track on the ongoing deforestation of the region. Here’s a cool picture that shows how the Amazon has a dry period too, where the skies have nice fluffy clouds. The Amazon River is up at the top […]

Nebula Wallpaper

13 Jan , 2010 by Fraser Cain

Want a nebula wallpaper to put as the background image of your computer desktop? Here’s a handful of nebula images. To make any of them your computer’s background image, just click on the image to see a larger version. Then right-click on the image and choose to set the image as your desktop background. The […]

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