Space Pictures This Week: Star Jets, Saturn Moons

Volcano Ripples

Image courtesy JPL-Caltech/ASI/NASA/

Psychedelic ripples illustrate the relative deformation of the ground around Hawaii's Kilauea volcano following recent eruptions. Created by a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the picture is based on radar data captured between February 11 and March 7 by a suite of Italian satellites.

The highly active Kilauea started spouting lava during the latest round of eruptions on March 5 (pictures).

NASA launched its own radar-carrying plane on April 3 to make followup observations of the volcano and its effects on Earth's surface.

Published April 8, 2011

Cloud Vortex

Image courtesy the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory/NASA Johnson Space Center

Scattered clouds trace a whirlpool in the skies over the northeastern Pacific Ocean, as seen in a picture released April 4 and taken by an astronaut from the cupola of the International Space Station.

The cupola is a dome-shaped observatory that was added to the ISS last year. (See pictures: "Space Station's Observation Deck Unveiled.")

Seen through one of the cupola's six windows, the clouds are part of a low-pressure system that spanned the Pacific Coast from southern California to Canada's Vancouver Island on March 20.

Published April 8, 2011

Baby Star's Jets

Image courtesy JPL-Caltech/NASA

Two identical jets (green) sprout from either side of a budding star in a new infrared picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope released April 4.

The jets are ejecting knots of gas and dust from a sphere of material surrounding the still-forming star. Spitzer's data helped astronomers figure out that one jet spurts material from the sphere 4.5 years before its counterpart, an unexpected discovery that may shed light on the process of star formation.

Published April 8, 2011

French Swirls

Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team/GSFC/NASA

Colorful swirls form in the Bay of Biscay off the French coast in an April 1 image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite.

In early spring, rivers laden with sediment flow from the French mainland into the Bay of Biscay, discoloring the blue water with shades of tan, according to NASA.

Upwelling water also rises along the coasts in spring and summer, bringing sediment from the floor of the continental shelf toward the surface. This nutrient-rich water contributes to algae blooms, adding shades of green to the bright display. (See "'Crazy Green' Algae Pools Seen in Antarctic Sea.")

Published April 8, 2011

Matching Moons

Image courtesy Space Science Institute/JPL/NASA/

Both sporting large craters in their northern hemispheres, Saturn's moons Rhea (left) and Dione look like carbon copies of each other in a newly released picture from NASA's Cassini orbiter.

At 949 miles (1,528 kilometers) wide, Rhea is one of Saturn's largest moons, second only to hazy Titan. Although it appears significantly smaller in this image, Dione is actually 698 miles (1,123 kilometers) wide.

Published April 8, 2011

New Mexico Blaze

Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team/Goddard Space Flight Center

Smoke rises from a wildfire—outlined in red—north of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, (map) that started April 3, as seen in a picture from NASA's Aqua satellite taken that day.

The fire grew quickly due to strong winds, and by the following day it had burned through about 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of forest in steep, rocky terrain, destroying five homes and several outbuildings, according to New Mexico Fire Information.

Published April 8, 2011