Planetary Picture of the Day
Week of April 26, 2021
Welcome to our weekly recap of our Planetary Picture of the Day (PPOD)!
From the Faroe Islands to Mars and more! The universe astounds!
Monday, April 26, 2021
Giant concretion in the Bisti Badlands, New Mexico
The terrain is composed of volcanic ash, deltaic, and other sedimentary materials dating back to the end of Jurassic.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Jupiter by Juno
Speechless.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands
The rocks in the Faroe Islands are mostly basaltic lava, which erupted as a part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province about 55 to 60 million years ago and mark the time period when the North Atlantic opened up. At that time, the Faroe Islands were still attached to what is now Greenland.
Bonus
Nobody will ask how Perseverance took that selfie! She did not. Little Ingenuity captured the picture of big sis Percy while in flight five meters above the ground. Those two are having way too much fun! Robotic ballets on Mars...
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Io, the most geologically active body in the solar system
Although the Earth is trying to catch up these days with the number of active volcanoes (see here: https://buff.ly/2R6hYoW). Here, a volcanic plume erupts from the surface of Io, Jupiter's third largest moon and the most geologically active body in the solar system, in a picture taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Io’s powerful eruptions can produce plumes of epic proportions, sometimes reaching heights of 300 miles.
Friday, April 30, 2021
Mars Express view of Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra
This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows a beautiful slice of the Red Planet from the northern polar cap downwards, and highlights cratered, pockmarked swathes of the Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra regions. It comprises data gathered on 17 June 2019 during orbit 19550.
