space panel 2003

Slide1: 

Astronomy Component of Space Exploration Discussion for Texas A&M Honors Program Roland E. Allen, Physics Department

Slide2: 

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 as taken with the Wide-Field/Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide3: 

animation depicting the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, in July 1994 http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Comet.html Space Telescope Science Institute Artist: Walt Feimer, STScI

Slide4: 

These four Hubble images are (top row, left to right) spiral galaxy NGC 7742, Saturn, and (bottom row, left to right) the Sagittarius Star Cloud, and the Bubble Nebula. [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]

Slide5: 

A pair of eagle-eyed NASA spacecraft — the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Hubble Space Telescope — are giving amazed astronomers a ringside seat to the biggest global dust storm seen on Mars in several decades. The Martian dust storm, larger by far than any seen on Earth, has raised a cloud of dust that has engulfed the entire planet for several months. [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]

Slide6: 

In January 2002, a dull star in an obscure constellation suddenly became 600,000 times more luminous than our Sun, temporarily making it the brightest star in our Milky Way galaxy. The mysterious star, called V838 Monocerotis, has long since faded back to obscurity. But observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of a phenomenon called a "light echo" around the star have uncovered remarkable new features. These details promise to provide astronomers with a CAT-scan-like probe of the three-dimensional structure of shells of dust surrounding an aging star. [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]

Slide7: 

Astronomers using the Hubble telescope have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that the planet-making process is common in the Milky Way Galaxy. Observations clearly reveal that great disks of dust — the raw material for planet formation — are swirling around at least half and probably many more of the stars in the Orion Nebula, a star-forming region only 1,500 light-years from Earth [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]

Slide8: 

A rare and spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies appears in this Hubble telescope picture of the Cartwheel Galaxy, located 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Sculptor. The striking ring-like feature is a direct result of a smaller intruder galaxy — possibly one of two objects to the right of the ring — that careened through the core [close-up image at lower left] of the host galaxy. Like a rock tossed into a lake, the collision sent a ripple of energy into space, plowing gas and dust in front of it. Expanding at 200,000 mph, this cosmic tsunami leaves in its wake a firestorm of new star creation. Hubble resolves bright blue knots that are gigantic clusters of newborn stars [close-up image at upper left] and immense loops and bubbles blown into space by exploding stars (called supernovae) going off like a string of firecrackers. [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]

Slide9: 

This mosaic of Mercury was taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft during its approach on 29 March 1974. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide10: 

One of the images of the surface of Venus obtained by the Magellan spacecraft. Lava flows extend for hundreds of kilometers across the fractured plains shown in the foreground, to the base of Maat Mons, a 5 mile high volcano. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide11: 

Probably the most requested picture of the Earth, this picture was taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts as they left earth orbit en route to the Moon. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide12: 

Viking 2 panorama of the Martian surface. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide13: 

The asteroid Gaspra, imaged by Galileo spacecraft [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide14: 

Montage of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Images acquired by Voyager 1 spacecraft. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide15: 

Voyager 1 Montage of Saturn and several of its satellites: Dione, Tethys, Mimas, Enceladus, Rhea, and Titan. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide16: 

These two pictures of Uranus - one in true color (left) and the other in false color - were compiled from images returned on January 17, 1986, by the narrow-angle camera of Voyager 2. The picture on the right uses false colors and contrast enhancement to bring out subtle details in the polar region of Uranus. Images obtained through ultraviolet, violet, and orange filters were respectively converted to blue, green, and red colors. [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide17: 

Voyager 2 color image of Neptune, showing its "Great Dark Spot". [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide18: 

This is the clearest view yet of the distant planet Pluto and its moon, Charon, as revealed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery]

Slide19: 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the largest object discovered in the solar system since the discovery of Pluto 72 years ago. Approximately half the size of Pluto, the icy world is called "Quaoar" (pronounced kwa whar). Quaoar is about 4 billion miles away, more than a billion miles farther than Pluto. Like Pluto, Quaoar dwells in the Kuiper belt, an icy belt of comet-like bodies extending 7 billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit. [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive]