NASA: Image of the day

A cyclone is a low-pressure area of winds that spiral inwards. Although tropical storms most often come to mind, these spiraling storms can also form at mid- and high latitudes. Two such cyclones formed in tandem south of Iceland in November 2006.

This illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star. Astronomers have found the dimming of the star over long periods appears to be weaker at longer infrared wavelengths of light and stronger at shorter ultraviolet wavelengths.

The STS-129 crew members posed for a portrait following a joint news conference on Nov. 24, 2009, with the Expedition 21 crew members (out of frame) on the International Space Station. Pictured (clockwise) from bottom left are astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, commander; Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik, all mission specialists; along with Barry E. Wilmore, pilot; and Nicole Stott, mission specialist.

On Nov. 19, 1969, astronaut Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, begins to step off the ladder of the lunar module to join astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., mission commander, in a spacewalk. Conrad and Bean descended in the Apollo 12 lunar module to explore the moon while astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot, remained with the command and service modules in lunar orbit.

Participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch from the Banana Creek viewing site at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international team from Queens University – this year’s First Nations Launch grand prize teams – traveled to Kennedy for a VIP tour, culminating in viewing the Crew-7 launch.

NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launched on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission was the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems.

The 363-feet tall Apollo 12 space vehicle launches from Pad A, Launch Complex 39 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:22 a.m. EST, Nov. 14, 1969. Aboard the Apollo 12 spacecraft were astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot. Apollo 12 was the United States' second lunar landing mission.

With the Caribbean Sea and part of the Bahama Islands chain as a backdrop, two STS-51 crewmembers, NASA astronauts James H. Newman (left), and Carl E. Walz, evaluated procedures and gear to be used on an Hubble Space Telescope (HST)-servicing mission.

Five varieties of seeds provided by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma were pictured inside the cupola on Nov. 21, 2023, as the International Space Station orbited 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. The seeds were exposed to microgravity for several months then returned to Earth and planted next to the same seeds left on Earth for comparison. The space botany experiment is promoting STEM education among tribal members.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures the spiral galaxy NGC 1672 with a supernova.

As the International Space Station soared 257 miles above northern Mexico, NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Don Pettit captured this long-exposure photograph of city lights streaking across Earth while a green atmospheric glow crowned the horizon.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in its run stall at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, firing up its engine for the first time. These engine-run tests start at low power and allow the X-59 team to verify the aircraft’s systems are working together while powered by its own engine. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.

"[Now that I work for Safety and Mission Assurance,] it's really cool to read everything about the different types of the scenarios. I always get to see the task orders and the type of work that is going on to keep people safe on the ground and in the air.” — Miranda Meyer, Contract Specialist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The Space Shuttle Atlantis returned to work after a refurbishing and a two-year layoff, as liftoff for the mission occurred on Nov. 3, 1994. Five NASA astronauts and an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut were aboard for the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3) mission.

A witch appears to be screaming out into space in this image from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The infrared portrait shows the Witch Head nebula, named after its resemblance to the profile of a wicked witch.

NASA test pilot Joe Walker took the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) for its first spin 60 years ago today. NASA used the LLRV, also known as the flying bedstead, to train Apollo astronauts for the descent to the Moon's surface.

New Zealand’s stunning scenery has famously provided the backdrop for fictional worlds in fantasy films. A unique cloud that forms over the Otago region of the country’s South Island also evokes the otherworldly, while very much existing in reality.

Space science is fun! NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit fills this sphere of water with food coloring creating a Jupiter-like effect in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station.

The spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is IC 3225. It looks remarkably as if it was launched from a cannon, speeding through space like a comet with a tail of gas streaming from its disk behind it.

A super blue moon rises above NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Aug. 18, 2024. Although not actually appearing blue, as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, this is called a “blue” moon.