Some cool earth image images:
Shadow of the Moon, Pacific Ocean (NASA, International Space Station, 05/20/12)
Image by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Photographed by the Expedition 31 crew aboard the International Space Station and easily spotted at top center in this image is the gray shadow of the moon, cast on bright clouds of the northern Pacific Ocean, as the May 20 solar eclipse point tracked towards the Aleutian Islands and then on to northern California. The eclipse is seen obliquely so it appears as a flattened circle. The eclipse was visible for about 3.5 hours, and since the ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes there was a chance that the ISS crew would see (if not the total eclipse by looking directly overhead), some evidence at least in the form of a partial eclipse. Only since the start of human spaceflight could such an image have been shot, looking back at the moon's shadow projected against Earth. As it happened, say NASA scientists, the timing was almost as good as if it had been planned. The space station passed "behind" the eclipse on May 20, that is, the shadow of the eclipse passed the point in the Northwest Pacific Ocean only three minutes before the station crossed the same point. But the crew was still able to see the densest part of the shadow a little more than 600 kilometers to the northeast of their position when they shot this photograph. The edge of the shadow looks diffused because of the partial eclipse zone—the wide area where more or less of the sun can be seen around the edge of the moon. The zone of partial eclipse covers a far wider area than the area covered by the total eclipse. Twenty-six minutes later, as they approached Antarctica in the other hemisphere, the six-member crew saw the sun set as they passed onto the dark side of the planet.
Image credit: NASA/JSC
Original image:
spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-31/html/...
More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
There's a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join! www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/
View more than 400 photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Mount Shasta, California (NASA, International Space Station, 09/20/12)
Image by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Mount Shasta, California is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 33 crew member on the International Space Station. The Cascade Range includes many impressive stratovolcanoes along its north-south extent, some active over the past few hundred years. Mount Shasta in northern California is among the largest and most active (over the past 4,000 years) of the volcanoes in the Cascades. The summit peak of the volcanic structure is at an elevation of 4,317 meters above sea level, and is formed by the Hotlum cone -- the location of the most recently recorded (1786) volcanic activity. The summit is high enough to retain snow cover throughout the year, and several small glaciers are present along the upper slopes of Shasta. Immediately to the west of the summit peak, but still on the upper slopes of Shasta, is the Shastina lava dome complex, reaching 3,758 meters above sea level. Two dark lava flows that originated from the Shastina complex and flowed downslope (toward the northwest) are visible in the lower part of this image. These contrast sharply with the surrounding vegetated (green) lower slopes and the barren upper slopes (gray) of Shasta. The Black Butte lava dome complex forms another, isolated hill on the lowermost slopes of Shasta near the town of Weed, CA (right). Geologists have mapped prehistoric pyroclastic flow and mudflow (also known as lahars) deposits from Hotlum cone and the Shastina and Black Butte lava dome complexes to distances of 20 kilometers from the summit of Shasta. As Mount Shasta has erupted within the past 250 years and several communities are within this hazard radius, the United States Geological Survey's California Volcano Observatory actively monitors the volcano for signs of activity.
Image credit: NASA/JSC
Original image:
spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-33/html/...
More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
There's a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join! www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/
View more than 400 photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
One Earth: Driveway to Street
Image by cobalt123
This is one of the options I had for my ONE-only image to add to the One Earth group pool. I like this one for transitions from driveway pavement in a gentle slope to the street, the gutter area shows a bit of the bottles that were thrown from a car during the night a few days ago. My roomate woke from sleep in the middle of the night thinking he heard windows breaking. We did not know what it was, then. But today, since I looked DOWN for a change, I saw the glass shards from the sidewalk to the driveway to the asphalt on the street. This little pile is swept away now... The image I settled on for the group pool is here.
