Panorama From The Apollo 15 Mission

Southern NGC7000

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Philae found!

Less than a month before the end of the mission, Rosetta’s high-resolution camera has revealed the Philae lander wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.  The images were taken on 2 September by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera as the orbiter came within 2.7 km of the surface and clearly show the main body of the lander, along with two of its three legs.  The images also provide proof of Philae’s orientation, making it clear why establishing communications was so difficult following its landing on 12 November 2014. Philae was last seen when it first touched down at Agilkia, bounced and then flew for another two hours before ending up at a location later named Abydos, on the comet’s smaller lobe.After three days, Philae’s primary battery was exhausted and the lander went into hibernation, only to wake up again and communicate briefly with Rosetta in June and July 2015 as the comet came closer to the Sun and more power was available.  The discovery comes less than a month before Rosetta descends to the comet’s surface. On 30 September, the orbiter will be sent on a final one-way mission to investigate the comet from close up, including the open pits in the Ma’at region, where it is hoped that critical observations will help to reveal secrets of the body’s interior structure. 

Credit: ESA

Saturn and Mars visit Milky Way Star Clouds

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47 Tucanae

Galaxy Trio Arp 286:

NGC 5566 (bottom), NGC 5569 (left), & NGC 5560 (center)

Nebula NGC 3603

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TODAY IN HISTORY: The spectacular rings of Saturn, August 23, 1981, observed by the Voyager 2 space probe.

I Zwicky 18 - One of the Strangest Known Irregular Galaxies

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Our Moon along with Jupiter and it’s 4 largest moons.

Image Credit & Copyright: Cristian Fattinnanzi

 Solar filaments a.k.a. prominences – when observed at the solar limb (above), are long clouds of partially ionized plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface by strongly sheared magnetic structures, called filament channels, that can support the dense plasma against solar gravity. Filaments may form at various locations on the Sun, however, they are always found within preexisting filament channels above polarity inversion lines which separate areas of opposite magnetic polarity regions.

Credit: NASA/SDO/LMSAL