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x ray solar winds
—Picture courtesy Chandra X-ray Center/NASA
In this composite image, Chandra X-Ray Observatory data (blue) is combined with visible-light data from the Hubble Space Telescope (red and green) to reveal a divided neighborhood in the nearby M33 galaxy which houses some 200 huge, hot stars.
On the right side of the image, hot gas found in bubbles is about 4,300 times the mass of the sun, and young stars completely power the area's winds.
On the left side, the bubble gas is 1750 times the sun's mass and was likely created by young stars and supernovae in the past.Published December 3, 2009
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axel moon mars
—Photograph by David McNew/Getty Images
Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and graduate students from Caltech constructed this prototype planetary rover, the likes of which could someday traverse the moon, Mars, and other far-flung destinations.
Above, the device, named Axel, demonstrates its ability to handle steep slopes and rocky surfaces in Pasadena, California. Axel can also descend and ascend cliffs via a tethered cable.Published December 3, 2009
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methane microbes life
Picture courtesy Susan Twardy/NASA
An artist's conception shows simple, translucent life-forms producing methane (blue spheres) under the Martian surface.
Recent images of Mars revealed seasonal methane plumes on the red planet, some releasing as much as 19,000 metric tons of the gas.
One theory is that active methane emissions could be signs of life on Mars—microbes deep underground could be giving off the gas as waste or using it as a food source.Published December 3, 2009
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mars field frost
Picture courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Seen in a new image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, channels--some new, some faint and filled in--zigzag down a dune dusted with seasonal carbon dioxide frost on Mars.
What liquid or gas carved the gullies remains a mystery.Published December 3, 2009
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