![expose-the-light:
A geyser sprays water vapor from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus
We’ve known for some time that geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus sprays water vaporthat eventually finds its way to Saturn. But this striking image lets us see that water vapor spilling into space.
Michael Benson composited this image from image fragments sent by the Cassini spacecraft, just one of the incredible bits of space porn from his upcoming book Planetfall: New Solar System Visions. The Enceladus geysers can blast 500 pounds of water vapor per second, and some of that water finds its way into Saturn’s atmosphere. It’s also believed that the vapor helps form one of Saturn’s outer rings, the “E” ring, in the form of ice. So far, this relationship of a satellite feeding materials into its planet, is unique to Enceladus and Saturn. We don’t know yet of other moons and planets with a similar relationship. (Note: Moralltach notes in the comments that materials from Io’s volcanic eruptions form the Io torus, a gas ring around Jupiter. Enceladus is believed to be responsible for the water that exists in Saturn’s atmosphere as well as around the planet, which is what makes it so unusual.)
For now, though, we can just focus in on the incredible beauty of Enceladus itself, and the glow of water vapor shooting into space. To see an enormous, detailed version of this image (and for details on how Benson assembled the image), head over to North Country Public Radio.
Volcano Shoots Geyser Of Water Up Into Space [North Country Public Radio via It’s Okay to be Smart]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maji2cpdgb1qbkzabo1_500.jpg)
A geyser sprays water vapor from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus
We’ve known for some time that geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus sprays water vaporthat eventually finds its way to Saturn. But this striking image lets us see that water vapor spilling into space.
Michael Benson composited this image from image fragments sent by the Cassini spacecraft, just one of the incredible bits of space porn from his upcoming book Planetfall: New Solar System Visions. The Enceladus geysers can blast 500 pounds of water vapor per second, and some of that water finds its way into Saturn’s atmosphere. It’s also believed that the vapor helps form one of Saturn’s outer rings, the “E” ring, in the form of ice. So far, this relationship of a satellite feeding materials into its planet, is unique to Enceladus and Saturn. We don’t know yet of other moons and planets with a similar relationship. (Note: Moralltach notes in the comments that materials from Io’s volcanic eruptions form the Io torus, a gas ring around Jupiter. Enceladus is believed to be responsible for the water that exists in Saturn’s atmosphere as well as around the planet, which is what makes it so unusual.)
For now, though, we can just focus in on the incredible beauty of Enceladus itself, and the glow of water vapor shooting into space. To see an enormous, detailed version of this image (and for details on how Benson assembled the image), head over to North Country Public Radio.
Volcano Shoots Geyser Of Water Up Into Space [North Country Public Radio via It’s Okay to be Smart]
List of Full Moons At Least As Interesting, If Not More Interesting, Than “Blue Moon”
- Wolf Moon: First full moon in January, and inspiration for some great t-shirts
- Worm Moon: Full moon in March, as the ground thaws, earthworms emerge, point themselves towards the moon’s light, and lament their lack of arms and spaceships
- Egg Moon: Full moon in April, which legend says was pulled down from the heavens by a mischievous rabbit and hidden under a bush
- Catfish Moon: First full moon after the summer solstice, when catfish supposedly bite hillbillies’ outstretched hands more often than on other nights
- Corn Moon: Full moon in September, it marked when corn was ready for harvest in order to become corn moonshine
- Beaver Moon: Full moon in November, a reminder that you should always wear underwear
The Cassini spacecraft monitors Titan’s developing south polar vortex, which is a mass of swirling gas around the pole in the atmosphere of the moon.
Valles Marineris - Mars - Poster by Ron Guyatt
Deviant Art || My Store || Facebook || Twitter || Flickr
A Fantasy Digital Painting.
Midnight in Paris
This single-exposure image has captured the setting moon over the Arc de Triomphe (Etoile) and the well-known Champs-Elysees avenue.
‘Supermoon’ Alert: Biggest Full Moon of 2012 Occurs This Week
The moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month’s full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year’s biggest.
The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon.
And not only does the moon’s perigee coincide with full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year, as the distance of the moon’s close approach varies by about 3 percent, according to meteorologist Joe Rao, SPACE.com’s skywatching columnist. This happens because the moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular.
CREDIT: Tim McCord
agree to call it megamoon or ultramoon, and baby we’ve got a date
Airplane transit in front of the Moon.
This photo consists of three continuous stacked shots taken approximately at 1/3 second intervals. After many attempts I was successful in capturing my best transit photo so far. I haven’t used any sophisticated devices. The recipe for this shot is simple. A camera attached to an 8” dob telescope and a lot of patience. Each an every time on my previous attempts there was something I didn’t like. The camera focus or the focal length or the seeing conditions or the timing wasn’t perfect. Also the fact that the photo was taken during the day and the Sun was low, about 7 degrees above the horizon, resulted to an ideal lighting balance between the Moon and the plane.
Medium Moonrise Over Doha by Doha Sam on Flickr.
