NASA's Earth Observatory has tracked down images resembling all 26 letters of the English alphabet using only NASA satellite imagery and astronaut photography. In this image, the letter 'Y' is for yardangs, elongated landforms sculpted by erosion and similar to sand dunes, but instead comprised of sandstone or siltstone. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) photographed the Alps from orbit on Dec. 27, 2015 and later shared the image with his social media followers, writing, "There may not be much snow in the Alps this winter but they still look stunning from here! #Principia" (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA's Nuclear Spectroscope Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has imaged a swath of the Andromeda galaxy -- the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Space Station Flyover of British Columbia's Coast Mountains
ESA astronaut Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) took this photograph over the west coast of Canada from the International Space Station on Dec. 31, 2015, and shared it with his Twitter followers on Jan. 5, writing, "I was lucky enough to fly a helicopter in these Rocky Mountains once – I’m a bit higher this time! #Principia" (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Astronomers have made the most detailed study yet of an extremely massive young galaxy cluster using three of NASA’s Great Observatories. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Hubble Sees a Supermassive and Super-hungry Galaxy
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4845, located over 65 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin). The galaxy’s orientation clearly reveals the galaxy’s striking spiral structure: a flat and dust-mottled disk surrounding a bright galactic bulge. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Mars' seasonal cap of carbon dioxide ice has eroded many beautiful terrains as it sublimates (goes directly from ice to vapor) every spring. In the region where the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image on Feb. 4, 2009, we see troughs that form a starburst pattern. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) shared this photo taken aboard the International Space Station on Jan. 11, 2015, during preparations for a spacewalk, or extra-vehicular activity (EVA). Peake wrote, "Final suit fit check prior to Friday's EVA – feels just great! #Principia #spacewalk" (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features
An international scientific team recently published a new map of the ocean floor based on Earth’s gravity field, and it is a particularly useful tool. The maps were created through computer analysis and modeling of new satellite data from ESA’s CryoSat-2 and from the NASA-CNES Jason-1, as well as older data from missions flown in the 1980s and 90s. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission have assembled this highest-resolution color view of one of two potential cryovolcanoes spotted on the surface of Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
In the SpaceX Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Jason-3 satellite is prepared for encapsulation in its payload faring. Liftoff of Jason-3 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for the opening of a 30-second launch window at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42 EST) on Sunday, Jan. 17. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen as it launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 4 East with the Jason-3 spacecraft onboard, , Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
First Flower Grown in Space Station's Veggie Facility
On Jan. 16, 2016, Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly shared photographs of a blooming zinnia flower in the Veggie plant growth system aboard the International Space Station. Kelly wrote, "Yes, there are other life forms in space! #SpaceFlower #YearInSpace" (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and ESA astronaut Tim Peake shared a series of aurora photographs taken from the International Space Station on Jan. 20, 2016. Kelly wrote, "#goodmorning #aurora and the Pacific Northwest! #YearInSpace" and Peakefollowed up with, "Getting a photo masterclass from @StationCDRKelly – magical #aurora" (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA and NOAA satellites are tracking a large winter storm that is expected to bring heavy snowfall to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region on Jan. 22 and 23. Data from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP and NOAA's GOES-East satellite were used to create images and an animation of the movement of the powerful storm. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite snapped this image of the blizzard approaching the U.S. East coast around 2:35 a.m. EST on Jan. 22, 2016 using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument's Day-Night band. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
This half-lit view of Enceladus bears a passing resemblance to similar views of Earth's own natural satellite, but the similarities end there. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
The NASA Image of the Day for 2016 can be found here...