Eyes to the skies as Comet PANSTARRS becomes visible during March

Luis Argerich from Buenos Aires, Argentina, captured Comet PANSTARRS in the sky above Mercedes, Argentina, on February 11, 2013. The comet shone at magnitude 4.5 to the left of an Iridium flare.

The long wait is nearly over. Northern Hemisphere skygazers haven’t seen a bright comet with a long tail since Comet Hale-Bopp graced the night sky in 1997. But if predictions hold, Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) should be a nice naked-eye object and look impressive through binoculars after sunset starting in the second week of March.

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Ireland, UK And Earth From Space, 8 September 2012

Ireland and Britain, as seen from space by the MODIS Terra satellite at 1pm on Saturday, 08 September 2012.

Planet Earth, as seen in this RGB composite image from Dundee Satellite, at midday on Saturday, 08 September 2012.

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WORLD FROM SPACE - 23 August 2012

Planet Earth as seen from space at 1pm. Click on the image for a larger view.  Image Sat.dundee.co.uk. 

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WORLD FROM SPACE Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

In this photograph from astronauts on the International Space Station, the image is rotated so that north is to the right.

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the largest in Patagonia at 30 kilometers long. The glacier descends from the Southern Patagonian Icefield (image top)—2100 meters elevation (6825 feet) in the Andes Mountains—down into the water and warmer altitudes of Lago Argentino at 180 meters above sea level.

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WORLD FROM SPACE - Laguna del Maule Volcanic Complex

In the Andean mountain range, stretching across the border between Chile and Argentina, lies a volcanic caldera named Laguna del Maule, roughly 15 by 25 kilometers (9 by 15 miles) across.

Within the northern part of the caldera lies Maule Lake, which is surrounded by a complex volcanic landscape.

This perspective image is made from data acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite on April 9, 2003. ASTER produces images using infrared, red, and green wavelengths of light. In this image, vegetated areas range in color from red to pink, snow is white, water is black, and bare rock is earth-toned.

Laguna del Maule holds an assortment of volcanic features, including small stratovolcanoes, lava domes, and cinder cones. Some of the most prominent features surrounding Lake Maule are lava flows. Some of those lava flows protrude into the lake, looking a little like dough spreading under its own weight.

Volcanologists estimate that volcanoes at this site have been active over the past 10,000 years, but the date of the last eruption at Laguna del Maule is unknown.

NASA image courtesy of GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra - ASTER

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