Planetary Picture of the Day
Week of February 21, 2022
A year of earthquake visualizations, martian dunes, one of Saturn’s tiny moons and more – the universe is stunning when you take a moment to take a look.
Monday, February 21, 2022
CREDIT: NASA, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, SVS
Processing & Copyright: Jai & Neil Shet
Terminator Moon
In this image of our Moon, you can't directly see any terminator -- the line that divides the light of day from the dark of night. That's because the image is a digital composite of 29 near-terminator lunar strips. The original images and data were taken near the Moon by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Credit Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech, University of Arizona. False color image, blue filter to emphasize texture and composition.
Planetary Artistry
Some Martian dune fields look like crumpled satin. Scientists are studying the shape of these dunes to understand the geology of the Red Planet. Some of the curved ridges, for example, resemble barchans, crescent-shaped dunes that form when the wind blows steadily in a single direction - a common feature in Earth and Martian deserts. These dunes were imaged by HiRISE, the camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
CREDIT: Alon Lazarus and USGS data. Click image to interact.
A Year of Shaking
Fantastic visualization of earthquakes between January 2021 and 2022. There is also an interactive version here: https://lazarusa.github.io/Bea.../dashboards/earthquakeswgl/
Thursday, February 24, 2022
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/ Image Processing: Jason Major
Prometheus in Saturn's rings
Here is Saturn's tiny moon Prometheus orbiting the ringed planet from just inside the F-ring. The image is a color composite made from images taken with the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle ISS camera, April 13, 2007.
Friday, February 25, 2022
Credit Image: Nicolas Lefaudeux (https://buff.ly/36mkM8N)
"Beyond the Limb"
This image was the winning entry in last year's Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Taken from Forges-les-Bains, Île-de-France, France, the distant crescent world is Venus just before the Moon passes in front of it. Nicolas Lefaudeux used a Celestron C11 2800mm telescope to capture this moment.
