Galaxy in a Crystal Ball

A small crystal ball seems to hold a whole galaxy in this creative snapshot. Of course, the galaxy is our own Milky Way. Its luminous central bulge marked by rifts of interstellar dust spans thousands of light-years. On this long southern hemisphere night it filled dark Chilean skies over Paranal Observatory. The single exposure image did not require a Very Large Telescope, though. Experiments with a digital camera on a tripod and crystal ball perched on a handrail outside the Paranal Residencia produced the evocative, cosmic marble portrait of our home galaxy. via NASA https://ift.tt/2If0Ov0

Launching to Observe Our Sun

On June 21, 1975, NASA successfully launched the eighth Orbiting Solar Observatory aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This satellite was the final in a series of spacecraft specifically designed to look at the Sun in high-energy wavelength bands. via NASA https://ift.tt/2tseeyr

Launching to Observe Our Sun

On June 21, 1975, NASA successfully launched the eighth Orbiting Solar Observatory aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This satellite was the final in a series of spacecraft specifically designed to look at the Sun in high-energy wavelength bands. via NASA https://ift.tt/2tseeyr

Launching to Observe Our Sun

On June 21, 1975, NASA successfully launched the eighth Orbiting Solar Observatory aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This satellite was the final in a series of spacecraft specifically designed to look at the Sun in high-energy wavelength bands. via NASA https://ift.tt/2tseeyr

Launching to Observe Our Sun

On June 21, 1975, NASA successfully launched the eighth Orbiting Solar Observatory aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This satellite was the final in a series of spacecraft specifically designed to look at the Sun in high-energy wavelength bands. via NASA https://ift.tt/2tseeyr

Northern Lights and Noctilucent Clouds

Skies after the near-solstice sunset on June 17 are reflected in this calm lake. The tranquil twilight scene was captured near Bashaw, Alberta, Canada, northern planet Earth. Usually spotted at high latitudes in summer months, night shining or noctilucent clouds hang just above the horizon, transfusing light into a darker sky. Near the edge of space, the icy apparitions are condensations on meteoric dust or volcanic ash still in sunlight at extreme altitudes. Also near the edge of space on this short northern night, solar activity triggered the lovely apparition of aurora borealis or northern lights. via NASA https://ift.tt/2JTcUzv

Once in a Blue Dune

Sand dunes often accumulate in the floors of craters. In this region of Lyot Crater, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows a field of classic barchan dunes on Jan. 24, 2018. via NASA https://ift.tt/2M9bzkO