2015 February 10

Explanation: Yesterday, the Sun exhibited one of the longest filaments ever recorded. It may still
be there today. Visible as the dark streak just below the center in the featured image, the enormous
filament extended across the face of the Sun a distance even longer than the Sun's radius -- over
700,000 kilometers. A filament is actually hot gas held aloft by the Sun's magnetic field, so that
viewed from the side it would appear as a raised prominence. The featured image shows the
filament in light emitted by hydrogen and therefore highlights the Sun's chromosphere. Sun-
following telescopes including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) are tracking this
unusual feature, with SDO yesterday recording a spiraling magnetic field engulfing it. Since
filaments typically last only from hours to days, parts of this one may collapse or erupt at any time,
either returning hot plasma back to the Sun or expelling it into the Solar System. Is the filament still
there? You can check by clicking on SDO's current solar image.
 2015 February 11

Explanation: Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design
spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is
similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of
galaxies, M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years distant toward the constellation of
Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices). This Hubble Space Telescope image of M100 was made in 2006
and reveals bright blue star clusters and intricate winding dust lanes which are hallmarks of this
class of galaxies. Studies of variable stars in M100 have played an important role in determining the
size and age of the Universe. If you know exactly where to look, you can find a small spot that is a
light echo from a bright supernova that was recorded a few months before the image was taken.
Explanation: What caused these Martian rocks to be layered? The leading hypothesis is an ancient
Martian lake that kept evaporating and refilling over 10 million years -- but has now remained dry
and empty of water for billions of years. The featured image, taken last November by the robotic
Curiosity rover, shows one-meter wide Whale Rock which is part of the Pahrump Hills outcrop at
the base of Mount Sharp. Also evident in the image is cross-bedding -- rock with angled layers --
which were likely facilitated by waves of sand. Curiosity continues to find many layered rocks like
this as it continues to roll around and up 5.5-km high Mount Sharp.
Explanation: Our solar system's ruling giant planet Jupiter and 3 of its 4 large Galilean moons are
captured in this single Hubble snapshot from January 24. Crossing in front of Jupiter's banded cloud
tops Europa, Callisto, and Io are framed from lower left to upper right in a rare triple-moon
conjunction. Distinguishable by colors alone icy Europa is almost white, Callisto's ancient cratered
surface looks dark brown, and volcanic Io appears yellowish. The transiting moons and moon
shadows can be identified by sliding your cursor over the image, or following this link. Remarkably,
two small, inner Jovian moons, Amalthea and Thebe, along with their shadows, can also be found in
the sharp Hubble view. The Galilean moons have diameters of 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers or so,
comparable in size to Earth's moon. But odd-shaped Amalthea and Thebe are only about 260 and
100 kilometers across respectively.
Explanation: The striking spiral galaxy M104 is famous for its nearly edge-on profile featuring a
broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in silhouette against an extensive bulge of stars, the swath
of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy suggesting the more
popular moniker, The Sombrero Galaxy. Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based Subaru data
have been reprocessed with amateur color image data to create this sharp view of the well-known
galaxy. The processing results in a natural color appearance and preserves details often lost in
overwhelming glare of M104's bright central bulge when viewed with smaller ground-based
instruments. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen across the spectrum and is
thought to host a central supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million
light-years away, M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy
Cluster.
 2015 February 3

Explanation: Where do comet tails come from? Although it is common knowledge that comet tails
and comas originate from comet nuclei, exactly how that happens is an active topic of research. One
of the best images yet of emerging jets is shown in the featured image, taken last November by the
robotic Rosetta spacecraft in orbit around the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet CG),
and released last month. The overexposed picture shows plumes of gas and dust escaping numerous
places from the Comet CG's nucleus as it nears the Sun and heats up. Although Comet CG is
currently further out from the Sun than Mars, its orbit will take it almost as close as the Earth this
coming August, at which time its jet activity is expected to increase by a factor of about 100. You've
likely seen some debris from comet nuclei before but in another form -- when sand-sized bits end
their journey through the Solar System by impacting the atmosphere of Earth as meteors.
Inside the Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA);
Acknowledgment: D. Carter (LJMU) et al. and the Coma HST ACS Treasury Team

Explanation: Almost every object in the above photograph is a galaxy. The Coma Cluster of
Galaxies pictured above is one of the densest clusters known - it contains thousands of galaxies.
Each of these galaxies houses billions of stars - just as our own Milky Way Galaxy does. Although
nearby when compared to most other clusters, light from the Coma Cluster still takes hundreds of
millions of years to reach us. In fact, the Coma Cluster is so big it takes light millions of years just
to go from one side to the other! The above mosaic of images of a small portion of Coma was taken
in unprecedented detail in 2006 by the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate how galaxies in rich
clusters form and evolve. Most galaxies in Coma and other clusters are ellipticals, although some
imaged here are clearly spirals. The spiral galaxy on the upper left of the above image can also be
found as one of the bluer galaxies on the upper left of this wider field image. In the background
thousands of unrelated galaxies are visible far across the universe.
Pluto and Charon

Explanation: Will the New Horizons spacecraft survive its closest approach to Pluto and return
useful images and data? Humanity will know in a few hours. Regardless of how well it functions,
New Horizon's rapid speed will take it whizzing past Pluto and its moons today, with the time of
closest approach being at 11:50 UT (7:50 am EDT). To better take images and data, though, the
robotic spacecraft was preprogrammed and taken intentionally out of contact with the Earth until
about 1:00 am UT July 15, which corresponds to about 9:00 pm EDT on July 14. Therefore, much
of mankind will be holding its breath through this day, hoping that the piano-sized spacecraft
communicates again with ground stations on Earth. Hopefully, at that time, New Horizons will
begin beaming back new and enlightening data about a world that has remained remote and
mysterious since its discovery 85 years ago. Featured above is a New Horizons composite image of
the moon Charon (left) and Pluto (right) taken 3 days ago, already showing both worlds in
unprecedented detail.
 Pluto
Explanation: New Horizons has survived its close encounter with Pluto and has resumed sending
back images and data. The robotic spacecraft reported back on time, with all systems working, and
with the expected volume of data stored. Featured here is the highest resolution image of Pluto
taken before closest approach, an image that really brings Pluto into a satisfying focus. At first
glance, Pluto is reddish and has several craters. Toward the image bottom is a surprisingly
featureless light-covered region that resembles an iconic heart, and mountainous terrain appears on
the lower right. This image, however, is only the beginning. As more images and data pour in today,
during the coming week, and over the next year, humanity's understanding of Pluto and its moons
will likely become revolutionized.
 Pluto surface

Explanation: A 50 mile (80 kilometer) trip across Pluto would cover the distance indicated by the
scale bar in this startling image. The close-up of the icy world's rugged equatorial terrain was
captured when the New Horizons spacecraft was about 47,800 miles (77,000 kilometers) from the
surface, 1.5 hours before its closest approach. Rising to an estimated 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) the
mountains are likely composed of water ice. Suggesting surprising geological activity, they are also
likely young with an estimated age of 100 million years or so based on the apparent absence of
craters. The region pictured is near the base of Pluto's broad, bright, heart-shaped feature.
 Charon

Explanation: Icy world Charon is 1,200 kilometers across. That makes Pluto's largest moon only
about 1/10th the size of planet Earth but a whopping 1/2 the diameter of Pluto itself. Charon is seen
in unprecedented detail in this image from New Horizons. The image was captured late July 13
during the spacecraft's flight through the Plutonian system from a range of less than 500,000
kilometers. For reference, the distance separating Earth and Moon is less than 400,000 kilometers.
Charonian terrain, described as surprising, youthful, and varied, includes a 1,000 kilometer swath of
cliffs and troughs stretching below center, a 7 to 9 kilometer deep canyon cutting the curve of the
upper right edge, and an enigmatic dark north polar region unofficially dubbed Mordor.