Cassini’s awe-inspiring view of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io

Cassini’s awe-inspiring view of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA] How big is Jupiter’s moon Io? The most volcanic body in the Solar System, Io (usually pronounced “EYE-oh”) is 3,600 kilometers in diameter, about the size of planet Earth’s single large natural satellite. Gliding past Jupiter at the turn of the millennium, […]

Forty-five years ago, July 31 . . .

Forty-five years ago, July 31 . . .

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Apollo 15, USGS, NASA] On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Iwrin and Dave Scott deployed the first Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Using it to explore their Hadley-Apennine landing site they spent nearly three days on the Moon while Al Worden orbited above. This digitally stitched […]

For the next Summer solstice and full moon match-up, wait until 2062

For the next Summer solstice and full moon match-up, wait until 2062

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Laurie Hatch] A Full Moon sets as the Solstice Sun rises in this June 20 dawn skyscape. Captured from a nearby peak in central California, planet Earth, the scene looks across the summit of Mount Hamilton and Lick Observatory domes on a calendar date that marks an astronomical change […]

Salt Lake sky

Salt Lake sky

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Michael Wilson] This was a sky to show the kids. All in all, three children, three planets, the Moon, a star, an airplane and a mom were all captured in one image near Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA in early September of 2005. Minus the airplane, this busy […]

Super Blood Moon, Sept. 27, 2015

Super Blood Moon, Sept. 27, 2015

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION] On a hunch, photographer Laurene Morton drove to Dinosaur Hill Park in Pleasant Hill, California Sunday evening. Sure enough, “a huge crowd was waiting” for the clouds to clear and the total eclipse, on the moon’s closest pass to the Earth. “Everyone’s been talking about” the “Super Blood Moon,” […]

Apocalypse watch: The countdown to Sept. 28 has begun

Apocalypse watch: The countdown to Sept. 28 has begun

With the “blood moon” or total lunar eclipse expected to occur on Sept 28, the debate if the apocalyptic predictions that it is the end of the world would happen is once more resurrected barely three years after the Mayan calendar did. On one hand, NASA had issued a statement that the blood moon would […]

Last men on the moon

Last men on the moon

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Apollo 17 Crew, NASA] On the Moon, it is easy to remember where you parked. In December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This sharp image was taken […]