On June 5-6, 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured beautiful, high-definition images of an astronomical event that occurs only twice every hundred years or so: the transit of Venus, when the planet passes directly between the sun and Earth. Such images could not have been envisioned when a ground telescope was first used to see the transit in 1639. Indeed, the imagery even improves on that captured during the last transit in 2004, before SDO was in orbit. During the event, scientists used the precise details about the position of Venus and the sharpness of its edges to help calibrate space telescopes, ensuring even better observations in the future. In the videos below, watch Venus dance across the face of the sun, as viewed by SDO in multiple wavelengths, and see the planet's approach leading up to the transit. ||

Lakes on another world are strange enough. But lakes without waves? Scientists studying Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, have never seen a wave in the hundreds of liquid pools discovered at its poles. Some of these pools are comparable in size to Earth’s biggest lakes. However, unlike our planet, Titan's lakes are not made of water. Data collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft show they're filled with a mix of methane, ethane and other complex hydrocarbons. Such molecules freeze at very low temperatures and can still exist as a liquid in Titan’s frigid minus 290°F weather. Cassini has surveyed Titan since it arrived at the Saturn system in 2004. Any wave, even millimeters high, would appear as a bright spot in its radar images. So why isn’t the surf up on these alien lakes? Researchers have put forth a new theory that may explain their calm surface. Watch the video to learn more. ||

On February 26, 2014, scientists using NASA's Kepler space telescope announced the discovery of 715 new planets within our region of the Milky Way. The number practically doubles the list of planets known to humanity. Kepler spotted 3,600 potential planets within the first two years of operation by detecting slight dips in the brightness of more than 100,000 nearby stars. The challenge, however, is distinguishing the real planets from the fakes, a laborious process that involves sifting through the candidate planets, one by one. But by employing a new method that can verify multiple planets at once, researchers were able to speed up their search. About 95 percent of the newly discovered worlds are smaller than Neptune, with four orbiting within the habitable zones of their host stars. The findings suggest that small, Earth-like planets may be more abundant in our galaxy than previously thought. Watch the video to learn more. ||

A NASA spacecraft provides a new look at a place humans could only dream of seeing a few decades ago. || cm-1024.jpg (1024x576) [234.5 KB] || cm-1920.jpg (1920x1080) [591.2 KB] || cm-1280.jpg (1280x720) [346.9 KB] || cm-1024_print.jpg (1024x576) [222.2 KB] || cm-1024_searchweb.png (320x180) [104.4 KB] || cm-1920_thm.png (80x40) [18.0 KB] ||

A NASA mission reveals how gases in Mars' upper atmosphere are stripped away by the sun's solar wind. || c-1920.jpg (1920x1080) [991.0 KB] || c-1280.jpg (1280x720) [567.7 KB] || c-1024.jpg (1024x576) [389.5 KB] || c-1024_print.jpg (1024x576) [397.5 KB] || c-1024_searchweb.png (320x180) [121.3 KB] || c-1024_web.png (320x180) [121.3 KB] || c-1024_thm.png (80x40) [7.2 KB] ||

Mars' magnetic tail is shaped and twisted by the solar wind. || Mars_vs_Solar_Storm_1024x576.jpg (1024x576) [131.3 KB] || Mars_vs_Solar_Storm_print.jpg (1024x576) [145.9 KB] || Mars_vs_Solar_Storm.png (3840x2160) [9.8 MB] || Mars_vs_Solar_Storm_searchweb.png (320x180) [96.6 KB] || Mars_vs_Solar_Storm_thm.png (80x40) [6.4 KB] ||

Saturn’s moon, Titan, may have a building block for potential cell membranes. || PIA14909_16x9.jpg (1024x576) [86.6 KB] || PIA14909_16x9_print.jpg (1024x576) [86.1 KB] || PIA14909_16x9_searchweb.png (320x180) [34.1 KB] || PIA14909_16x9_thm.png (80x40) [3.2 KB] ||

This visualization of the topography of Mars was created for Maria Zuber's Carl Sagan Lecture. The camera flies over several areas of interest. The south pole, Tharsis Rise, the north pole, and Valles Marineris. This animation was created using Maya and Renderman, using MOLA Topography data. The colors represent height - dark blue is about 8km deep and white is over 14km high (as measured from an arbitrary location picked as 'sea-level'). ||

Print resolution still images in support of the MOLA: Seasonal Snow Variation story || The north pole of Mars shown colored by elevation || marsNPoleFalseCol.jpg (2730x2048) [791.2 KB] || marsNPoleFalseCola_web.png (320x240) [83.6 KB] || marsNPoleFalseCola_thm.png (80x40) [5.0 KB] || marsNPoleFalseCola_searchweb.png (320x180) [62.0 KB] || marsNPoleFalseCol.tif (2730x2048) [6.1 MB] || marsNPoleFalseCol.tif.hwshow [189 bytes] ||

The weight of the Earth's atmosphere exerts pressure on the surface of the Earth. This pressure varies from place-to-place and from time-to-time due to surface irregularities, uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and the Earth's rotation. Differences in pressure from place-to-place cause winds to try to flow from high pressure to low pressure regions to even out the differences, but the Earth's rotation and wind friction with the surface act to slow or divert the winds. This animation shows the surface wind speeds for the whole globe from September 1, 2004, through September 5, 2004, during the period of Hurricane Frances in the western Atlantic Ocean and Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific Ocean. The highest, smoothest winds occur over the oceans where there are no surface irregularities to break up the flow, while flows over land tend to be irregular and highly variable. The highest winds occur in Hurricane Frances and Typhoon Songda, but note that the hurricane's wind speeds reduce dramatically when crossing Florida. ||