Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: A Comet Gets a Little Gassy
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/hubble-sees-a-a-mess-of-stars"> ESA/Hubble and NASA and S. Smartt</a>01SPoW-Aug9-15-06
This is a photo of NGC 428, a barred spiral galaxy bursting with cosmic dust and stars. It’s located in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). The shape of the galaxy is a little warped and there are lots of stars forming, hinting at a possible collision with another galaxy.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/rosetta-comet-outburst-captured"> ESA/Rosetta/MPS</a>02SPoW-Aug9-15B
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko had an outburst, a shooting jet of gas and dust as the object reached perihelion (when the comet gets closest to the sun). When comets get near the sun, its icy surface begins to turn into gas which eventually forms the tail. Scientists have been following this comet for nearly a year and can now watch it more from its dormant to active phase.
<a href="http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1533/"> ICRAR/GAMA and ESO</a>03SPoW-Aug9-15-01
This composite shows a typical galaxy’s energy output in an array of filters, from ultraviolet to far-infrared. It shows that the energy created by the Universe is 50 percent less than two billion years ago. Astronomers are studying more than 200,000 galaxies and conclude the Universe is slowly dying.
<a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/28/"> NASA, ESA, and R. Foley (University of Illinois)</a>04SPoW-Aug9-15-02
Hubble Space Telescope captures an image of elliptical galaxy far away from home. This galaxy looks to have absorbed a smaller elliptical galaxy, and the “X” marks the spot of a supernova explosion. When galaxies merge, their supermassive black holes merge too, causing a supernova blast. The impact might have ejected them from their original location some 12,000 light-years away.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/good-morning-from-the-international-space-station"> NASA</a>05SPoW-Aug9-15-03
A shot of sunrise taken by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year on the International Space Station. ISS is orbiting Earth at 17,5000 miles per hour, meaning the station goes around the globe every 92 minutes. Kelly and the crew see 16 sunrises a day.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/cassini/pia18332/darkness-descending">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute</a>06SPoW-Aug9-15-05
This image of Saturn was taken using an infrared filter, which helps scientists determine clouds in the planet’s atmosphere. Taken by Cassini, this photo helps highlight wavelengths absorbed by methane. Darker areas show clouds that are lower in the atmosphere and under more methane and bright areas are higher altitude clouds. The swirling clouds help scientists map vertical air movements on Saturn.
