Planetary Picture of the Day
Week of September 27, 2021
Monday, September 27, 2021
Cumbre Vieja Eruption
The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, Canary Islands, began its most recent eruption on 19 September, with two new fissures opening up after over a week of earthquakes and surface deformation. This marks the first eruption on the island since 1971. Over 5,000 people have been evacuated.
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Golden Moon and Volcano
Photographer Yuri Beletsky captured the Harvest Moon over Licancabur volcano in the Chilean Andes. This stratovolcano rises to 5,916 meters and has a 400-meter crater at the summit which contains Licancabur Lake, one of the highest lakes in the world.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Mimas Blues
One of the iconic images of the Cassini mission, Mimas is pictured here in front of Saturn in this image taken on Nov. 7, 2004.
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Additional Processing: Stuart Atkinson
Cometary Cliffs
The Cliffs of 67P/Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko are almost 1 km high! These high cliffs occur on the surface of a comet. They were discovered to be part of the dark nucleus by Rosetta, a robotic spacecraft launched by ESA which orbited the comet from August 2014 through September 2016.
Friday, October 1, 2021
Shepherd Moon Among the Rings
Saturn's tiny moon Prometheus is captured in this image taken on January 14, 2009, by the Cassini mission. The shepherd moon is pulling at the inner edges of the brightly forward-scattering F ring.
