Dr. Marek Kukula (Marek Kukula), an astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, invites readers to make a space trip by these photographs, which depicted the most vivid "tourist" attractions of our solar system. This collection of photographs was provided in connection with the start of the contest "Best Photographer astronomer-2011» (Astronomy Photographer of the Year), conducted by the Royal Observatory.The competition is only the photos taken by people.
Snapshot of the Sun in the extreme ultraviolet region, made March 30, 2010 in Solar Dynamics Observatory (Solar Dynamics Observatory) with a special device Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. From the images we can determine the temperature of gas at the solar surface and its atmosphere: red are cooler gases (about 60 000 degrees Celsius), blue and green give off gases, which have a higher temperature (above 1 million degrees). In the upper left side of the visible prominence.
"This space equipment, which has an observatory, allows us to" see "the wavelength of light that are inaccessible to the human eye," - says Dr. Kukula. "In the ultraviolet familiar to all of us face the sun seems dark, but now we see that he is surrounded by thin ribbons of gas, and on the surface of visible bright spot the size of Earth - an area of intense solar activity."
2. Sunset on Mars. Snapshot of the sky in the west, made from Gusev Crater rover "Spirit» (Spirit). Around the sun could be seen a bluish glow. Such reflection is still for two hours after sunset and again becomes visible for two hours before dawn. This phenomenon is caused by an accumulation of dust at high altitude, reflecting the sunlight on the night side of the planet. The rest of the sky is red in color, also caused by the large amount of dust in the atmosphere. Such images help us understand the Martian atmosphere. "Spirit» (Spirit), and another rover, "Opportunity» (Opportunity), were launched in summer 2003. "Spirit" landed on Mars on Jan. 3, 2004. His task is to analyze soil and rock, as well as search for water. This photo was taken at the 489-th day of his stay on Mars, May 19, 2005.
"NASA's Mars rover" Spirit »(Spirit) gives us the opportunity to imagine what the future will see the astronauts when they first set foot on the Red Planet. Sun on Mars looks smaller than Earth, since Mars is further away from him "- says Dr. Kukula.
3. Close-up shot of the crater Stickney on Phobos, a satellite made by NASA. Phobos is the largest of the two satellites of Mars and has an irregular shape - 19x21x27 km.Stickney crater has a diameter of 10 km. Phobos orbits at an altitude of 9400 km above the Martian surface and makes a complete turn around in just 7.6 hours.
Dr. Kukula said: "Phobos whole pitted with craters, which have emerged from collisions with space debris. Its largest crater, called Stickney, is 10 km in diameter - almost one third of the Phobos. A little more, and Phobos would simply collapsed after the impact. "
4. Color image of Martian sand dunes, made with the Mars Reconnaissance satellites (MRO) HiRISE camera through August 24, 2009.
Dr. Kukula explains: "At the kilometer stretch of Martian desert noticed that the sand dunes to cross the country with dark markings. Just as on Earth, these patterns creates wind. Sand slides down the steep slopes, leaving dark streaks, and a mini tornado, known as "sand demons", prescribing meandering paths on the surface and mixed layers of sand of different colors. "
5. Color image of the North Rift (Chasma Boreale) on Mars, made with the Mars Reconnaissance satellites (MRO) HiRISE camera using the September 13, 2008.
"The satellite is directly above the dizzyingly steep cliff located in the region near the pole of the Red Planet. Right in the photo are visible layer of red dust and pale blotches of ice, which, like the layers of the Earth, store information about changes in the Martian climate. "
6. Snapshot of the Great Red Spot and South Equatorial belt, made by the spacecraft Voyager 2 »(Voyager 2).
Dr. Kukula said: "If we move farther from the sun, we will come to the vortex cloud giant planet Jupiter. A huge ball of gas with no solid surface, Jupiter is just out of the atmosphere, and therefore images can be at least partially, to imagine the most extreme weather conditions in the solar system. The Great Red Spot is an Earth-sized storm raging for centuries and is not going to subside. "
7. Snapshot of the northern hemisphere of Saturn, made in the infrared spacecraft Cassini-Huygens »(Cassini-Huygens). The photograph was taken April 5, 2007 using a camera with a wide angle lens from a distance of 1.4 million km. Top left partially visible rings of Saturn (blue).
Dr. Kukula said: "The Cassini cameras have been installed, which perceive infrared light, which captures these features of Saturn, which otherwise would have remained invisible to us. In this photograph of bystrobeguschih clouds were very contrasting - in different colors are allocated different chemical elements contained in the atmosphere. In the color palette selected for the conversion of infrared radiation, Saturn's rings have turned blue. "
8. Snapshot of Saturn's rings made spacecraft Cassini-Huygens »(Cassini-Huygens). The rings are composed of solid particles of ice and stone. The wide gap between the rings called the Cassini division ", she shared the ring A (outer right)) and B (inner, left).Spacecraft Cassini-Huygens was launched in 1997 to study Saturn, its rings and satellites. This photograph was taken a narrow-angle camera 18 May 2005 at a distance of 2.4 million km from Saturn.
Dr. Kukula, explains: "This picture can be considered close to the ring, which are divided into many thin rings, between which the dark bands are visible empty space. The rings themselves are made up of billions of ice blocks, each with a diameter of several meters.Perhaps this is debris satellite destroyed long ago. "
9. The image of Hyperion, moon of Saturn (in false color), made on Sept. 26, 2005 The Cassini-Huygens, the robot spacecraft. When shooting were used infrared, green and ultraviolet filters, combined in such a way as to obtain an image of Hyperion, which is located at a distance of approximately 62000 km.
Dr. Kukula (Dr Kukula) says: "Hyperion"-like floating in space, a huge sponge bath - one of the most unusual moons of Saturn. On its surface, many craters filled with something similar to soot. Scientists believe that within this moon is also porous, as well as outside, and full of cavities and caves. Strange object can be simply a giant cobblestones, one of those that remained after the destruction of a larger moon. "
10. Image of Saturn and Mimas, one of his companions. Shadows from Saturn's rings are visible on the surface of the planet. This image was made Cassini January 18, 2005, at a distance of 1.4 million km from Saturn.
Dr. Kukula comment: "This fantastic picture - Saturn from above the upper edge of the clouds, bluish surface raspolosovannaya the shadows of its rings. In the lower part of the picture - Mimas, a small moon, about the size of Scotland, serenely spinning on top of the atmosphere of its giant parent. "
11. A snapshot of the surface of Enceladus (Saturn), made the robotic Cassini at a distance 25,700 km.
Explanation of Dr. Kukula: Cassini, rotating near Enceladus, has made this a close-up, slipping on his frozen landscape. The satellite is covered with scars and cracks due to the gravity of Saturn, but it's ill-treatment facilitated the understanding of the internal structure of the satellite. Scientists believe that, under the outer layer of ice can be hidden pockets of water. Are these underground reservoirs inhabit living organisms?Nobody knows for sure. "
12. Dion and the shadows from Saturn's rings (Cassini picture was taken). The diameter of Dione is approximately 1,123 km and the orbit lies at a distance of 377,000 km from Saturn. Band in the center photo below Dione - it rings of Saturn "in the profile." Due to the high inclination of the latter during the shooting, the shadows of its rings are falling on a large surface area of the cloud (top photo). Different shades of shadows caused by different densities of the Rings. The photograph was taken September 22, 2005, when Cassini was at a distance of 803,000 km from Dione.
Dr. Kukula said: "The thin line in the middle of the picture - it's actually a grand system of rings, the view from the edge. Although the far edge of Saturn's rings is separated from the more than 100,000 miles, they are incredibly thin - just a few dozen meters from edge to edge. Dion is at the center of this picture - a dwarf against a background of the huge Saturn.
13. Combined image (in false color) of Saturn's moon Iapetus, Cassini made-Huygens mission at a distance of 73000 km, 10 September 2007.
Dr. Kukula said: "Iapetus - one of the strangest moons in the solar system, half black and half white. The side you see here is covered with pure ice, but the other hemisphere black as soot. In the lower part of the image visible crater the size of Britain. "
14. Image of Saturn's moon Enceladus on the rings of Saturn. Picture taken January 18, 2006 Cassini-Huygens mission.
Dr. Kukula comment: "Another form of Saturn's rings' edge-on", this time in the company of Enceladus. Sunlight streamed, illuminating the bottom of the rings and the icy surface of Enceladus, which represents itself one of the white places the solar system. Behind the clouds of Saturn's satellite dusk fell and the ring shadows cast strip.
15. The largest of Saturn's moons - Titan, shot Cassini on Dec. 26, 2005 at a distance of 26000 km.
Explanations Dr. Kukula: Giant Moon of Saturn Titan is larger than Mercury. And yet it is very strange: a thick layer of orange smog covers the surface of Titan - for decades, scientists could only speculate about what lies behind it. NASA Cassini is equipped with special cameras that can penetrate the fog. And, in addition, on-board apparatus was Huygens - research probe lowered onto the surface of Titan. Together, these two devices showed landscape of mountains and sand dunes, as well as oily hydrocarbon seas - very alien, and at the same time, eerily similar to the Earth. "
16. The explosion on the surface of the comet's nucleus 9P/Tempelya 1, after 1.67 seconds after the probe Deep Impact vehicle rammed its surface.
Dr. Kukula said: "In 2005, the Deep Impact - The device, designed by NASA, met with the comet Tempel 1 and dropped a probe for the collision with the impactor semikilometrovoy lump of rock and ice, moving at several miles per second. The result was this impressive release of dust and vapor from inside the comet's nucleus. When a comet crashed into Earth and perhaps one of them is to blame for the disappearance of the dinosaurs. You would think that the purpose of Deep Impact - revenge, but in fact at the probe was more serious challenge: to learn what makes up a comet. "
17. Moon in damages against Earth's horizon and the atmosphere made by a member of the ISS-16, November 3, 2007 at the International Space Station, which rotates above the Earth at an altitude of 350 km.
18. Dr. Kukula said: "ISS - it is our manned outpost in space, but it barely rises above the Earth's surface, compared with the distance to the moon (400,000 km). It took 42 years, but it still remains the most distant objects in space, which had gone before. " Dr. Marek Kukula said: "It is very cool - to live in an era of research, when our knowledge of the universe so quickly grow. By studying the cosmos, we learn more about Earth, its origin and special conditions that contributed to the origin of life. Hopefully, it will also teach us to appreciate our fragile planet and take responsibility for what we do with it. "
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