保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2019 August 4 Rumors of a Dark Universe Image Credit: High-Z Supernova Search Team, HST, NASA Explanation: Twenty-one years ago results were first presented indicating that most of the energy in our universe is not in stars or galaxies but is tied to space itself. In the language of cosmologists, a large cosmological constant — dark energy — was ...
美国航空航天局（NASA）最新的行星猎手，凌星系外行星巡天卫星“苔丝”（Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite，TESS），发现了一个全新的三行星世界：其中一颗行星半径略大于地球，另外两颗的大小属于我们的太阳系中没有的行星类型，共同围绕邻近我们的一颗恒星运转。 太阳系内的行星个头要么大要么小，比如水星、金星、地球和火星属于小型岩质行星，木星、土星属于气态巨行星，终年寒冷的天王星和海王星则属于冰态巨行星。新发现的3颗行星填补了可观测的已知行星大小空白，有望成为未来多项研究的探索对象。 天文学家将这3颗行星所在的星系称为“苔丝”感兴趣的对象（TESS Object of Interest，TOI）270系统，主星TOI 270是一颗光芒较弱的低温星体，它还有一个更常见的系统目录命...
2019 August 3 Mimas in Saturnlight Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA Explanation: Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Mimas lies in near darkness alongside a dramatic sunlit crescent. The mosaic was captured near the Cassini spacecraft’s final close approach on January 30, 2017. Cassini’s camera was poi...
Lost in the glare following the Apollo 11 Moon landing, two intrepid robotic spacecraft flew by Mars in the summer of 1969 and returned photographs and a trove of scientific information. Launched on Feb. 25 and March 27, respectively, Mariner 6 and 7 arrived at Mars just five days apart despite being launched a month apart. After a flight of 156 days from Ea...
Chamaeleon II Dark Cloud Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman Explanation: A small constellation hiding near the south celestial pole, The Chamaeleon boasts no bright stars. Stars are forming within its constellation boundaries though, in a complex of dark, dusty molecular clouds. Some 500 light-years distant, the Chamaeleon II dark nebula inhabits this...
2017年9月，野火肆虐美国西部，产生的烟雾弥漫全国。这幅自然色彩的马赛克图像是由索米国家极地轨道合作伙伴号卫星上的可见光红外成像辐射计套件于2017年9月4日拍摄的几幅场景组合而成。 版权：NASA地球天文台的图片，图像由约书亚•斯蒂文斯（Joshua Stevens）和杰西•艾伦（Jesse Allen）使用来自索米国家极地轨道伙伴关系号卫星的VIIRS数据生成。 美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的DC-8空中实验室于7月22日起飞，开始对美国火灾烟雾的生命周期进行为期两个月的调查，旨在更好地了解烟雾对天气和气候的影响，并提供有助于改善空气质量预测的信息。 NASA、NOAA和大学合作伙伴正面向天空和地面来跟踪美国各地发生的火灾所产生的烟雾。FIREX-AQ行动始于爱达荷州的博伊西，其长期目标是提高我们对火灾...
NASA astronaut candidate Raja Chari climbs into a NASA T-38 aircraft, Friday, July 12, 2019, at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. Chari was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class and reported for duty in August 2017. The Iowa native graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in astronautical engineering an...
This week in 1971, Apollo 15 became the first mission to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle. The LRV was a lightweight, electric vehicle designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon. It was capable of traversing the lunar surface, allowing Apollo astronauts to extend the range of their extravehicular activities. Here, the LRV is photographed alone aga...
2019 August 1 Elements in the Aftermath Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO Explanation: Massive stars spend their brief lives furiously burning nuclear fuel. Through fusion at extreme temperatures and densities surrounding the stellar core, nuclei of light elements ike Hydrogen and Helium are combined to heavier elements like Carbon, Oxygen, etc. in a progression wh...
北京时间20时10分，俄罗斯的Soyuz-2.1a型火箭携带MS-12货运飞船（或称进步73号货运飞船），从哈萨克斯坦拜科努尔航天发射场升空，给空间站送去了大约3吨的食物，燃料和补给，包括705千克的推进剂，50千克的氧气和400千克的水。