Scary Space: New Halloween Poster Treats From NASA

#InternationalCatDay? Try #IntergalacticCatDay. 

Check out features of our feline friends that have come to life as interstellar phenomena! 

Pictured first, the Cat’s Paw Nebula is located about 4,200-5,500 light-years from Earth – situated in our very own Milky Way Galaxy. It was named for the large, round features that create the impression of a feline footprint and was captured by our Spitzer Space Telescope. After gas and dust inside the nebula collapse to form stars, the stars may in turn heat up the pressurized gas surrounding them. This process causes the gas to expand into space and form the bright red bubbles you see. The green areas show places where radiation from hot stars collided with large molecules called "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," causing them to fluoresce.

Next, you’ll find the Cat’s Eye Nebula. Residing 3,000 light-years from Earth, the Cat’s Eye represents a brief, yet glorious, phase in the life of a sun-like star. This nebula's dying central star may have produced the simple, outer pattern of dusty concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers in a series of regular convulsions. To create this view, Hubble Space Telescope archival image data have been reprocessed. Compared to well-known Hubble pictures, the alternative processing strives to sharpen and improve the visibility of details in light and dark areas of the nebula and also applies a more complex color palette. Gazing into the Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.

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What’s Up for June 2017?

Have a planet party and compare Saturn and Jupiter! We’ll show you where and when to point your telescope or binoculars to see these planets and their largest moons. 

Meet at midnight to have a planetary party when Jupiter and Saturn are visible at the same time!

The best time will be after midnight on June 17. To see the best details, you’ll need a telescope.

Saturn will be at opposition on June 15, when Saturn, the Earth and the sun are in a straight line.

Opposition provides the best views of Saturn and several of its brightest moons. At the very least, you should be able to see Saturn’s moon Titan, which is larger and brighter than Earth’s moon.

As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to see Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky this month. Through a telescope, you’ll be able to see the cloud bands on both planets. Saturn’s cloud bands are fainter than those on Jupiter. 

You’ll also have a great view of Saturn’s Cassini Division, discovered by astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1675, namesake of our Cassini spacecraft.

Our Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting the planet since 2004 and is on a trajectory that will ultimately plunge it into Saturn’s atmosphere on September 15, 2017, bringing the mission to a close. 

Our Juno spacecraft recently completed its sixth Jupiter flyby. Using only binoculars you can observe Jupiter’s 4 Galilean moons - Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.

To learn about What’s Up in the skies for June 2017, watch the full video:

For more astronomy events, check out NASA's Night Sky Network at https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/.

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Blizzard 2016 from Space

As an intense winter storm approaches the mid-Atlantic this weekend, our satellites watch from above. The storm is expected to produce a wade swath of more than 2 feet of snow in some areas.

The below supercomputer simulation crunched the data to provide a look at the flow of clouds from storm systems around the globe, including the developing blizzard across the eastern United States.

This storm won’t only have a snowy impact on the mid-Atlantic region, but will also cause severe weather in the Gulf Coast. Satellites observe extreme rainfall in the area.

Data from NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite and NOAA’s GOES-East satellite are being used to create images and animation of the movement of this powerful storm. For updates, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-sees-major-winter-storm-headed-for-eastern-us

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Earth By The Numbers

Ahhh, Earth. Our home planet and oasis in space. You’re probably very familiar with this world, but here are a few things you may not know about our “Pale Blue Dot” of a planet.

From the vantage point of space, we are able to observe our planet globally using sensitive instruments to understand the delicate balance among its oceans, air, land and life. Satellite observations help study and predict weather, drought, pollution, climate change and many other phenomena that affect the environment, economy and society. 

1. Known to Harbor Life

Of the nine planets, countless asteroids and meteors in our solar system, Earth is the only one known to harbor life. It has a thin layer of atmosphere that separates us from the coldness of space.

2.  All By Its Lonesome

Unlike some other planets in the system that have three or more rings, the Earth has zero, but we do have one lonely moon that orbits us.

3. Moving At The Speed Of Life

Earth is the third planet from the sun and is located about 93,000,000 miles away from it. At this distance, the Earth moves at 66,000 miles per hour through space to complete its 365 day rotation.

4. You Can Breathe Easy

Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and about 1% other ingredients. Most other planets in our solar system have an atmosphere, but Earth’s is the only one that’s breathable. 

5. For Real?

Did you grow up thinking that each calendar year was 365 days long? It’s actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds...in other words, it’s 365.2564 days long. This is why an extra day is add during a leap year: to help offset this time difference. 

6. Far Out

We measure the distance of planets in our solar system in a measurement known as an Astronomical Unit, or AU. This measurement is based on the distance of the Earth from the sun. Earth is one AU from the sun, while Mars is 1.52 AU and Jupiter is 5.2 AU.

7. Taking Selfies...Before It Was Cool

The first ever photo of Earth was captured on October 24, 1946 when a V-2 test rocket was launched into space from New Mexico.

8. Slumped Over Already

The Earth doesn’t sit upright like you would think. It’s actually sitting on its side a bit, or rotational axis as it’s called, the Earth sits at a 23.45 degree rotational axis spin.

9. How Original...

How did it get the name Earth? The name “Earth” is at least 1,000 years old. All the planets in our system are named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, except for Earth. The name itself is of English and German origin and simply means “ground”.

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Colors of Earth

When we think of our globe from a distance, we generally visualize two colors: blue and green. Water and land. Mostly water, consequently, our planet’s nickname of the blue marble.

Traveling around the globe every 90 minutes covering millions of miles with a focused lens on our beautiful planet from 250 miles above, I’ve captured many beautiful colors beyond blue and green that showcase Earth in new and interesting ways. Some colors are indicative of nature like desert sands and weather like snow. Other colors tell stories of Earth’s climate in bright splashes of yellows and greens of pollen and muted grey tones and clouded filters of pollution.

Blue and green still remain vivid and beautiful colors on Earth from the vantage point of the International Space Station, but here are some other colors that have caught my eye from my orbital perspective.

African violet

Bahamas blues

Tropical in Africa

Yellow desert

Orange in Egypt

Red surprise 

Snow white 

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Why Do We Study Ice?

Discover why we study ice and how this research benefits Earth. 

We fly our DC-8 aircraft very low over Antarctica as part of Operation IceBridge – a mission that’s conducting the largest-ever airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice.

Records show that 2015 was the warmest year on record, and this heat affects the Arctic and Antarctica – areas that serve as a kind of air conditioner for Earth and hold an enormous of water.

IceBridge flies over both Greenland and Antarctica to measure how the ice in these areas is changing, in part because of rising average global temperatures.

IceBridge’s data has shown that most of Antarctica’s ice loss is occurring in the western region. All that melting ice flows into the ocean, contributing to sea level rise.

IceBridge has been flying the same routes since the mission began in 2009. Data from the flights help scientists better measure year-to-year changes.

IceBridge carries the most sophisticated snow and ice instruments ever flown.  Its main instrument is called the Airborne Topographic Mapper, or ATM.The ATM laser measure changes in the height of the ice surface by measuring the time it takes for laser light to bounce off the ice and return to the plane – ultimately mapping ice in great detail, like in this image of Antarctica's Crane Glacier.

For the sake of the laser, IceBridge planes have to fly very low over the surface of snow and ice, sometimes as low as 1,000 feet above the ground. For comparison, commercial flights usually stay around 30,000 feet! Two pilots and a flight enginner manage the many details involved in each 10- to 12-hour flight.

One of the scientific radars that fly aboard IceBridge helped the British Antarctic Survey create this view of what Antarctica would look like without any ice.

IceBridge also studies gravity using a very sensitive instrument that can measure minuscule gravitational changes, allowing scientists to map the ocean cavities underneath the ice edges of Antarctica. This data is essential for understanding how the ice and the ocean interact. The instrument’s detectors are very sensitive to cold, so we bundle it up to keep it warm!

Though the ice sheet of Antarctica is two miles thick in places, the ice still “flows” – faster in some places and slower in others. IceBridge data helps us track how much glaciers change from year-to-year.

Why do we call this mission IceBridge? It is bridging the gap between our Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat – which gathered data from 2003 to 2009 – and ICESat-2, which will launch in 2018.

Learn more about our IceBridge mission here: www.nasa.gov/icebridge and about all of our ice missions on Twitter at @NASA_Ice.

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Is your health affected from being in outer space?

Celebrate Today’s Solar Eclipse With NASA

Today, Aug. 21, the Moon’s shadow is sweeping across North America. People across the continent have the chance to see a partial solar eclipse if skies are clear.

For those within the narrow path of totality, stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, that partial eclipse will become total for a few brief moments. 

Make sure you’re using proper solar filters (not sunglasses) or an indirect viewing method if you plan to watch the eclipse in person.

Wherever you are, you can also watch today’s eclipse online with us at nasa.gov/eclipselive. Starting at noon ET, our show will feature views from our research aircraft, high-altitude balloons, satellites and specially-modified telescopes, as well as live reports from cities across the country and the International Space Station.

Learn all about today’s eclipse at eclipse2017.nasa.gov.

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Space Food

Food: everyone needs it to survive and in space there’s no exception. Let’s take a closer look at what astronauts eat while in space. 

Since the start of human spaceflight, we’ve worked to improve the taste, texture and shelf life of food for our crews. Our food scientists are challenged with developing healthy menus that can meet all of the unique requirements for living and working in the extreme environment of space.

Consider the differences of living on Earth and in space. Food scientists must develop foods that will be easier to handle and consume in a microgravity environment. These food products require no refrigeration and provide the nutrition humans need to remain healthy during spaceflight.

Freeze drying food allows food to remain stable at ambient temperatures, while also significantly reducing the weight.

Fun Facts About Space Food:

Astronauts use tortillas in many of their meals

Tortillas provide an edible wrapper to keep food from floating away. Why tortillas and not bread? Tortillas make far less crumbs and can be stored easier. Bread crumbs could potentially float around and get stuck in filters or equipment.

The first food eaten by an American astronaut in space: Applesauce

The first American astronaut to eat in space dined on applesauce squeezed from a no-frills, aluminum toothpaste-like tube. Since then, food technology has cooked up better ways to prepare, package and preserve space fare in a tastier, more appetizing fashion.

All food that is sent to the space station is precooked

Sending precooked food means that it requires no refrigeration and is either ready to eat or can be prepared simply by adding water or by heating. The only exception are the fruit and vegetables stowed in the fresh food locker.

Salt and pepper are used in liquid form on the International Space Station

Seasonings like salt and pepper have to be used in liquid form and dispensed through a bottle on the space station. If they were granulated, the particles would float away before they even reached the food.

Food can taste bland in space

Some people who live in space have said that food is not the same while in microgravity. Some say that it tastes bland, some do not like their favorite foods and some love to eat foods they would never eat on Earth. We believe this phenomenon is caused by something called “stuffy head” This happens when crew member’s heads get stopped up because blood collects in the upper part of the body. For this reason, hot sauce is used A LOT on the space station to make up for the bland flavor.

Astronaut ice cream is not actually eaten on the space station

Even though astronaut ice cream is sold in many science centers and enjoyed by many people on Earth, it’s not actually sent to the space station. That said, whenever there is space in a freezer heading to orbit, the astronauts can get real ice cream onboard! 

Instead of bowls there are bags and cans

Most American food is stored in sealed bags, while most Russian food is kept in cans. 

Here’s what the crew aboard the space station enjoyed during Thanksgiving in 2015: 

Smoked Turkey

Candied Yams

Rehydratable Corn

Potatoes Au Gratin 

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Who's ready to #UnfoldTheUniverse? The James Webb Space Telescope Answer Time with expert Dr. Naomi Rowe-Gurney is LIVE! Stay tuned for talks about the science goals, capabilities, and hopes for the world's most powerful telescope. View ALL the answers HERE.

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