Space Pictures This Week: Seagull Nebula, Quasar, More

Roiling Quasar

Illustration courtesy M. Kornmesser, ESO

Quasars—such as the one in this illustration released September 26 by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)—are luminous, energetic areas around giant, active black holes at the centers of galaxies. For the first time, these mysterious cosmic phenomena have been captured igniting after galaxy mergers, according to a new study.

Among the new findings: As galaxies develop, they appear to undergo a burst of star growth before quasars fire up—before their roiling winds can disperse the relatively cold gases needed for stellar gestation, according to JPL. (See "First Triple Quasar Found, May Shed Light on Early Universe.")

Published October 2, 2012

Mars Crater

Image courtesy U. Arizona/NASA

The uplifted bedrock of Mars's Luki Crater is seen in a picture released by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera team on September 26.

HiRISE, which began showing us the Martian surface in breathtaking color back in 2007, now includes thousands of images that deliver unprecedented scientific data. The orbiting eye even snapped a shot of the Curiosity Mars-Rover Landing in August.

Published October 2, 2012

Starry Arch

Photograph by Chloe Rae, Your Shot

The Milky Way curves through the night sky over Figueroa Mountain, California, in a picture submitted September 21 to National Geographic's Your Shot photography community.

"This part of the Milky Way is only around during the summer, and it rises and sets every single night," Chloe Rae, who took the 360° panorama, said with her submission.

All the stars in the night sky are part of the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy in which we live. For many star-watchers, however, the term refers specifically to the glowing, cloudy band that humans have pondered since ancient times.

Published October 2, 2012

Scorched Earth

Image courtesy Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, EO-1/NASA

Scorched earth shines red in a September 11 false-color image taken after the lightning-triggered Bagley fire by NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite. The Bagley fire blazed through Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California, in August and September.

Pinkish spots in the image's lower right depict another type of forest destruction—clear-cut logging.

According to the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center, in terms of acres burned, 2012 is on track to be the most destructive U.S. fire season since record-keeping began in 1960. (See "In Rocky Mountain Forests, More Fires and More People.")

Published October 2, 2012

Pioneering Capsule

Photograph by Garth Milan, Red Bull/AFP/Getty Images

The capsule of the Red Bull Stratos Project is seen in the pressure chamber at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, on September 24.

On October 8 adventurer Felix Baumgartner is set to ascend from Roswell, New Mexico, to an estimated 120,000 feet (36,580 meters) in this capsule, using a stratospheric balloon.

He'll then simply open the door, step out, and free-fall, likely falling faster than the speed of sound before opening a parachute and gliding to the ground.

In addition to breaking the record for the highest sky dive, a Baumgartner and team hope the attempt will provide scientific data on the limits of both the human body and extreme equipment that could prove useful for future space exploration.

(See "'Jet Man' to Set Flight Record Over English Channel [2008].")

Published October 2, 2012

Bird's Eye

Image courtesy ESO

Adrift in an ocean of stars, the Seagull Nebula encompasses a young, hot star dubbed HD 53367, as seen in a picture released September 26 by the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Published October 2, 2012

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Photograph by Sheri Locke, NASA

Published October 2, 2012