Moon Shadows on Saturn

Saturn’s wide, but very thin, rings are tilted with respect to its plane of orbit around the Sun. Once every 15 years, the rings are edge-on (perpendicular) to the Sun. During those times, some of Saturn’s moons can cast shadows across the rings.... Read More

The True Shape of Orion

Constellations are drawn as stick figures connecting bright stars in the sky. This two-dimensional representation gives the impression that the stars are all at the same distance. In addition, the idea of a “bright star” can be misleading, as the apparent brightness we see depends upon both the star’s intrinsic brightness and its distance from Earth. This scientific visualization addresses both of these issues by viewing the Orion constellation from a three-dimensional perspective. The true space distribution of the constellation as well as how stellar brightness changes with viewing position is revealed by circling around the stars.... Read More

Mystic Mountain: Bright Pillar in the Carina Nebula

The Carina Nebula is a vast, star-forming region in our Milky Way Galaxy. Within the nebula, new stars form out of dense, dark clouds of gas and dust. The bright, high-energy radiation from massive young stars erodes away the dark gas. Tall pillars, such as the ones featured in this sequence, form when dense pockets of gas resist that erosion. The illuminating stars for these pillars are located well off the top of the image. At the peaks of two pillars, jets of emission serve as the birth announcements of new stars buried within the clouds. The image is nicknamed “Mystic Mountain” and was released in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.... Read More

Flyby of JWST at L2 Point

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the next of NASA’s Great Observatories; following in the line of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. JWST combines qualities of two of its predecessors, observing in infrared light, like Spitzer, with fine resolution, like Hubble.... Read More

Pan Past JWST at L2 Point

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the next of NASA’s Great Observatories, following in the line of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. JWST combines qualities of two of its predecessors, observing in infrared light, like Spitzer, with fine resolution, like Hubble.... Read More