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Magnetic map of our Milky Way Galaxy

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Milky Way - NASA
Magnetic map of the Milky Way Galaxy

Given the vastness of space and the universe, it is difficult to fathom the size of or the dimensions of these regions. But measuring and mapping the magnetic field, from light which was polarized when it was emitted by or scattered off dust and other surfaces, makes it possible to create a “map” using the technique of convolution. The ESA and NASA joint venture Planck satellite helped compile this view of the magnetic field of the Milky Way galaxy.

The dark band running horizontally across the center of the image corresponds to the galactic plane.  The darker regions in the rest of the image correspond to stronger polarized emissions, and the striations indicate the direction of the magnetic field projected onto the plane of the sky.

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Earth and Moon as seen from Mars

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Earth and Moon - NASA
Earth and Moon as seen from Mars

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) looked back and took this picture of the Earth and Moon from Mars, using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. Taken from approximately 142 million miles (88 million km) away, one can barely make out the west coast of South America in the lower right hand portion of the partial Earth image.

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Cygnus Loop Supernova

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Cygnus - NASA
Cygnus Loop Supernova Blast Wave

This very “psychedelic” looking image didn’t originate in any human mind, no matter how stimulated. Instead it gives us a peek into the marvel that is our universe. This composite image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and shows a stunning supernova in a part of the northern constellation Cygnus, the Swan.

The bubble-like expanding blast wave is believed to have resulted from a colossal stellar explosion, that occurred about 15,000 years ago. The supernova remnant is within the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and is 2,600 light-years away. Data from Hubble allowed astronomers to directly compare the actual structure of the shock with their theoretical model calculations. The supernova image shows the blast wave overrunning dense clumps of gas, where the different colours represent different gases at certain temperatures (red=sulfur; green=hydrogen; and blue=oxygen atoms).

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Sun’s north pole

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North Pole Sun - NASA
North Pole of the Sun as photographed by the SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) mounted on the STEREO-B spacecraft

Recent missions by NASA have provided us with brand new and unique views of the Sun. These three dimensional views of structures in the Sun’s atmosphere have resulted in an increased understanding of solar physics and better space weather forecasting. The above picture is the “virtual left eye” image of the Sun’s north pole; taken by SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) mounted on the STEREO-B spacecraft. STEREO-B is located behind the Earth and follows it in orbit around the Sun while STEREO-A is ahead of the Earth, leading it around the Sun. The EUVI imager is sensitive to wavelengths of light in the extreme ultraviolet portion of the spectrum (including bands at wavelengths of 304, 171 and 195 Angstroms).

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Khyber Pass from space

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Khyber Pass - NASA
NASA photograph of the Khyber Pass from outer space.

The Khyber Pass cuts through the Hindu Kush mountains (at an altitude of 3,500 feet) and connects Afghanistan and Pakistan. This rugged and historic route was photographed in October 2007 by NASA’s Terra spacecraft – looking from the Afghan side, eastwards into Pakistan. The Terra spacecraft took this thermal infrared image using its Japanese built ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) instrument.

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