Solar Burst
Image courtesy SDO/NASA
Solar material dances on the sun in this image of a mid-level flare from NASA’sSolar Dynamics Observatory taken May 3.
Known
as a prominence eruption, the flare is a bright feature extending from
the sun’s surface. It forms over the course of a day and erupts when the
structure becomes unstable and releases the plasma held within.
An
increase in solar flares is to be expected as the sun’s 11-year
activity cycle ramps up toward the solar maximum, expected to reach its
peak in late 2013. (Related: “Solar Storm Heading Toward Earth—Kate Andries
Sunrise From Space
Photograph courtesy NASA
One of the Expedition 35 crew members aboard the International Space Station snapped this photo of the sun rising over the South Pacific Ocean. (See more pictures of the International Space Station.)
Taken between 4 and 5 a.m. on May 5, the Earth-orbiting spacecraft with a crew of six was hovering a few hundred miles east of Easter Island.
Plume of Ash
Image courtesy Robert Simmon/USGS/NASA
Ash spews out of the erupting Paluweh volcano in Indonesia on April 29, in this image captured by the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite. (Related video: “Volcanoes 101.”)
The five-mile-wide volcanic island was spotted by the satellite as it flew over the Flores Sea (map), capturing both a natural-color shot (pictured), as well as an infrared image.
The
infrared sensor revealed a hot spot where lava was oozing near the top
of the volcano and also indicated that ash pouring out of the volcano
was much cooler in temperature than the ocean’s surface below.
Invisible Ring
Illustration courtesy JHUAPL/NASA
This artist’s conception, released by NASA, shows Saturn’s embedded “ring current,” made up of an invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in the planet’s magnetic field.
The
electrically charged, doughnut-shaped field of particles surrounding
Saturn and its rings is mapped out here using data from the Cassini-Huygens mission.
Saturn is pictured in the center, with the red ring representing the
distribution of dense neutral gas outside of the planet’s icy rings.
Also
known as a plasma sheet, the magnetic field—imagined here in yellow and
green—acts like a magnet and traps these particles in Saturn’s system,
much like the magnetic fields that surround Earth. (Related: “Hidden Portals in Earth’s Magnetic Field.”)
Saturn After Dark
Image courtesy SSI/Caltech/NASA
A
lack of atmosphere to scatter light makes Saturn’s shadow upon its
rings much darker than shadows seen on Earth, as evidenced in this
striking image released by NASA’sCassini spacecraft May 6.
Taken
about 891,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers) from Saturn, this view
looks toward the unilluminated side of the planet’s rings—about 47
degrees below the plane of Saturn’s rings. (Related: “Saturn’s Rings Hit by Meteor Shower.”)
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