Comet C/2016 R2 (now With A Biparted Tail) Passing California Nebula

26 de Abril de 2016 começa com Lua, planeta Saturno, planeta Marte, estrela Antares e chuva de meteoros Alfa-Escorpídeas. Um começo celeste bastante comemorativo! (em Parintins)

Juno: Inside the Spacecraft

Our Juno spacecraft was carefully designed to meet the tough challenges in flying a mission to Jupiter: weak sunlight, extreme temperatures and deadly radiation. Lets take a closer look at Juno:

It Rotates!

Roughly the size of an NBA basketball court, Juno is a spinning spacecraft. Cartwheeling through space makes the spacecraft’s pointing extremely stable and easy to control. While in orbit at Jupiter, the spinning spacecraft sweeps the fields of view of its instruments through space once for each rotation. At three rotations per minute, the instruments’ fields of view sweep across Jupiter about 400 times in the two hours it takes to fly from pole to pole.

It Uses the Power of the Sun

Jupiter’s orbit is five times farther from the sun than Earth’s, so the giant planet receives 25 times less sunlight than Earth. Juno will be the first solar-powered spacecraft we’ve designed to operate at such a great distance from the sun. Because of this, the surface area of the solar panels required to generate adequate power is quite large.

Three solar panels extend outward from Juno’s hexagonal body, giving the overall spacecraft a span of about 66 feet. Juno benefits from advances in solar cell design with modern cells that are 50% more efficient and radiation tolerant than silicon cells available for space missions 20 years ago. Luckily, the mission’s power needs are modest, with science instruments requiring full power for only about six out of each 11-day orbit.

It Has a Protective Radiation Vault

Juno will avoid Jupiter’s highest radiation regions by approaching over the north, dropping to an altitude below the planet’s radiation belts, and then exiting over the south. To protect sensitive spacecraft electronics, Juno will carry the first radiation shielded electronics vault, a critical feature for enabling sustained exploration in such a heavy radiation environment.

Juno Science Payload:

Gravity Science and Magnetometers – Will study Jupiter’s deep structure by mapping the planet’s gravity field and magnetic field.

Microwave Radiometer – Will probe Jupiter’s deep atmosphere and measure how much water (and hence oxygen) is there.

JEDI, JADE and Waves – These instruments will work to sample electric fields, plasma waves and particles around Jupiter to determine how the magnetic field is connected to the atmosphere, and especially the auroras (northern and southern lights).

JADE and JEDI

Waves

UVS and JIRAM – Using ultraviolet and infrared cameras, these instruments will take images of the atmosphere and auroras, including chemical fingerprints of the gases present.

UVS

JIRAM

JunoCam – Take spectacular close-up, color images.

Follow our Juno mission on the web, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Have a nice Pi-Day! In memory of Stephen Hawking!

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Here are a few things you should know about our solar system this week:

1. Gearing Up for a Grand Finale

There’s just a year left until the Cassini mission begins its Grand Finale – the final phase of its mission, during which the spacecraft will dive repeatedly between the planet and the rings. To get ready, the Cassini team has launched an enhanced, mobile device-friendly version of the mission website. The site includes information about Cassini, Saturn, the moons and the rings – but it also tells the human stories behind one of the most ambitions expeditions of all time.

2.Caught in Transit

On Monday, May 9, the planet Mercury will cross directly in front of the sun, an event that hasn’t occurred since 2006 and won’t happen again until 2019. Find out how to watch HERE.  

3. A Moon for Makemake

Our Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a small, dark moon orbiting Makemake (pronounced “MAH-kay MAH-kay). Make make is the second brightest icy dwarf planet – after Pluto – in the faraway Kuiper Belt.

4. The Age of the Aquarids

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is the first of two showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley’s Comet. This year, it should peak on the night of May 5/6. Get tips for watching HERE.

5. The Southern Lights of Saturn

On May 4, Cassini will reach periapse, the closest point to Saturn in the spacecraft’s orbit. At about this time, Cassini’s cameras will monitor Saturn’s south polar aurorae, and also image the bright limb of the planet to better understand its upper haze layers.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

O que está acontecendo com o Sol? Algumas vezes parece que estamos vendo o Sol através de uma lente gignatesca, contudo, na verdade, estamos vendo ele através de milhões de pequenas lentes, os cristais de gelo. A água pode se congelar na atmosfera formando pequenos, achatados cristais de gelo hexagonais. Quando esses cristais flutuam, a maior parte do tempo eles passam com suas faces achatadas e parelelas ao solo. Um observador pode se encontrar no mesmo plano dos cristais de gelo perto do nascer ou do pôr do Sol. Durante esse alinhamento, cada cristal pode agir como uma lente em miniatura, refratando a luz do Sol e criando um fenômeno chamado de parélio, ou sundog. O vídeo acima foi feito a um mês atrás numa região perto de Estocolmo, na Suécia que é uma estação de ski e é conhecida como Vamdalen Ski Resort. Bem no centro está o Sol, enquanto que os proeminentes sundogs brilham à esquerda e à direita dele. Também visível nesse vídeo está o halo de 22 graus, bem como o mais raro e mais apagado, halo de 46 graus, halos esses que também são criados pela reflexão do Sol nos cristais de gelo na atmosfera.

Fonte:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180101.html

É hoje pessoal! 🤩

🔭 Logo mais às 4:30 da manhã vai ocorrer a "super" conjunção entre todos os planetas do sistema solar.

✨ Dos planetas visíveis a olho nu em ordem ascendente, são: Mercúrio, Vênus, Marte, Júpiter e Saturno.

✨ Dos planetas que não estão visíveis, mas que estão acompanhando, são: Urano e Netuno.

📷 Créditos da Imagem: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid09eF4zUQy47zDfGrguVwDEny8vut32ZphgyifThgejTEoujRK7G8iwNHoMQxh1LKbl&id=213098328862069

Arte Da Natureza

📅 Data de registro: 5 de agosto de 2024 às 18:26

Feliz Aniversário, Mãe!

Feliz Aniversário, Mãe! Sempre vou estar ao seu lado, independente das situações em que a vida nos impõe! 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

#Eclipse2017 . A mecânica do eclipse explicada numa figura do século 13.

Solar System: Things to Know this Week

On May 22 Mars will be at opposition. That’s when Mars, Earth and the sun all line up, with Earth directly in the middle. A few days later, Mars and Earth will reach the points in their orbits around the sun where they are nearest to each other. The closer Mars comes to Earth in its orbit, the larger and brighter it appears in the sky.

It’s an opportunity for backyard skywatchers—and a good time to catch up on all the exploration now underway at the Red Planet. Here are a few things to know this week about Mars:

1. Red Star Rising

The best time to see Mars at its brightest is when it’s highest in the sky, which is around midnight during May. Look toward the south in the constellation Scorpius (where right now you can also catch the planet Saturn). If you have a telescope, you may be able to pick out some of the features on its surface. But don’t fall for Internet rumors claiming that Mars will appear as big as the full moon. Instead, it will look like a bright, reddish or orange star. Get Mars viewing tips HERE.

2. Roving Weather Reporter

Our Mars Curiosity mission has now been roving across the floor of Gale Crater for two full Martian years—that’s four Earth years. This robotic geologist is a meteorologist, too, and its long journey has allowed it to observe the local weather for two full seasonal cycles. During that time, the rover’s instruments have recorded temperatures ranging from 60.5 degrees Fahrenheit (15.9 degrees Celsius) on a summer afternoon, to minus 148 F (minus 100 C) on a winter night. They also detected an intriguing spike in methane gas—but it hasn’t happened since.

3. Increasing Clouds, with a Chance of Dust Storms

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter keeps an eye on Martian weather, too, but on a global scale. Every week, you can see the latest weather report, including an animation showing storms and clouds across the face of Mars.

4. Walking the Ancient Shoreline

Mars explorers have studied evidence for years that the early history of the planet included times where liquid water flowed and pooled freely. But just how deep those ancient lakes were, and how long they lasted, remains a topic of debate. A new study offers a more detailed picture of the rise and fall of standing bodies of water.

5. Wish Upon a Star

It’s true that Mars will be especially bright in the sky this week. But did you ever consider that Earth often shines for Mars as well? This image from the Curiosity rover shows our whole world as a single point of light. When people finally do stand on Mars, they’ll be able to look at the twilight sky—and see home. Left: the Earth and the Moon in the evening sky of Mars, as seen by the Curiosity rover. Right: Mars rising over Salt Lake City. Mars credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/TAMU. Earth credit: Bill Dunford.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com