Stunning Astronaut Photos Capture Beauty of Earth from Space

[Buster's Uncle]

Spectacular Auroras Captivate Astronaut in Space (Photos)
SPACE.com
by Megan Gannon, News Editor  30 minutes ago



NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman captured this view from the International Space Station on Aug. 19, 2014.



The northern lights illuminated the night sky near the Arctic Circle earlier this week in a stunning display that could even be appreciated by astronauts living on the International Space Station.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this," NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman wrote in a Twitter post Tuesday evening (Aug. 19) alongside a photo of the amazing green auroras.

Wiseman — who is a flight engineer, and perhaps Expedition 40's most prolific shutterbug — took pictures of the spectacle as the space station flew past North America around 7:30 p.m. EDT.



This diagram from the Community Coordinated Modeling Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, shows where auroras might have glowing as the International Space Station (ISS) flew over Earth on Aug. 19, 2014.

Reid Wiseman        ✔   @astro_reid 
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Unbelievable.
 
7:04 PM - 19 Aug 2014

The auroras started glowing just hours after Earth's magnetic field was bombarded with a giant cloud of gas known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, which erupted from the sun on Aug. 15. The collision kicked off a geomagnetic storm responsible for the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

As a statement from NASA explains, the magnetic fields surrounding Earth compress and release like a spring during a geomagnetic storm. This type of disturbance can trigger reactions that excite ions of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere, producing electrifying bands of color in the night sky.

The same phenomenon occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, too, where it is known as the aurora australis, or southern lights. Auroras can even occur on other planets. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken pictures of swirling auroral displays of UV light in the upper atmosphere over Jupiter's north pole.

NASA models show that auroras indeed would have been visible in parts of Canada as Wiseman flew overhead Aug. 19. Photos on Spaceweather.com show that skywatchers from northern climes in Lithuania, Sweden, Michigan and Canada also had a good view of auroras from the ground.

Though the CME that occurred Aug. 15 sparked intense auroras, its impact was otherwise quite weak, according to Spaceweather.com. When aimed directly at earth, strong CMEs could potentially cause radio and power blackouts as well as disrupt GPS systems and satellites.


http://news.yahoo.com/spectacular-auroras-captivate-astronaut-space-photos-123504058.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Stunning Astronaut Photos Capture Beauty of Earth from Space
SPACE.com
by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer  2 hours ago



Stars shine above Earth in this amazing time-lapse photo from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman. It was taken from the International Space Station.



NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman seems to be having a great time living in space, and he is using social media to share his experience with the world.

Wiseman has taken some truly amazing pictures of Earth and the cosmos from the International Space Station since he boarded the orbiting outpost in May. The astronaut usually uses Twitter to beam back pictures from his life in space.

"Enjoying the view on a Sunday afternoon," Wiseman wrote in a post on Twitter (@Astro_Reid) on Aug. 17. "Hard to believe this is real." The image attached to the post shows the astronaut gazing out the cupola, a seven-sided Earth-gazing window on the bottom of the space station.

Sometimes Wiseman's images show cities from space or science experiments on the station, but other posts foster engagement with space fans by asking about the origins of objects and geological formations he spots from the lab.

"Anyone been to this circular island chain near India? I want to know more about this!" Wiseman wrote in an Aug. 13 post. The post included a photo of a blue chain of islands partially obscured by cloud cover.

Almost immediately, Twitter users from around the world started to answer Wiseman's question. It turns out the circular island chain is actually the Maldives. "I was born and raised there," Mauzoom Ali said in reply to Wiseman. "It's an atoll of Maldives. Called Huvadhu Atoll. And its [sic] the largest Atoll on earth."



NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman floats in the cupola of the International Space Station.


Wiseman also asked his more than 216,000 Twitter followers to help him identify some odd green lights in the ocean outside of Bangkok, and the crowd happily replied. Many of the NASA astronaut's fans suggested that the green lights are actually attached to fishing boats off the coast of the country.

The green lights attract phytoplankton, which, in turn, attract fish to the boats, according to a Wall Street Journal blog shared by a Twitter user in response to Wiseman's query.

Wiseman has also released some breathtaking, artistic photos of the planet. He has recently started tagging the artful images with the hashtag #EarthArt. In one such photo, the Bahamas are awash in different shades of blue and yellow.

"The #Bahamas make for amazing #EarthArt," Wiseman wrote on Aug. 17.

He also recently posted an image taken during nighttime from the station on a 3-second shutter delay. A multitude of stars and Earth's atmosphere are visible in the photo.

Space fans can also see the photographic ghost of the station in the image posted on Aug. 18. Two objects that look like satellites are actually the edges of the space laboratory's giant solar panels. Wiseman captured the objects due to the longer exposure time set on his camera and the movement of the station.

NASA's Steve Swanson, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst and cosmonauts Maxim Suraev, Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov join Wiseman on the space station. Wiseman is expected to stay onboard the station until November.


http://news.yahoo.com/stunning-astronaut-photos-capture-beauty-earth-space-123204425.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Astronauts See Mount Etna Volcano's Lava and Steam from Space (Photos)
SPACE.com
by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer  August 22, 2014 5:59 PM



NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this photo of the volcanoes Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli on Aug. 14, 2014.



Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station have captured a one-two punch of incredible views from space of Mount Etna and another active volcano in Italy spewing steam and lava.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst managed to photograph both Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli from their positions on the space station earlier this month. Gerst caught sight of the two Italian volcanoes and their lava flows at night, while Wiseman captured the mountains during daylight.

Both photos give viewers a different perspective of the massive volcanoes. The images were taken from the same angle, and thanks to that specific shot alignment, space fans can orient themselves to see the red lava flows in Gerst's photo. Without the context provided by Wiseman's daytime image, the lava would be much more difficult to spot.

"You can see the red glowing lava of 2 volcanoes on this photo!" Gerst wrote when he posted his photo on Twitter (@Astro_Alex). "Spot them on @astro_reid's day photo!"

"#Etna and #Stromboli erupting by day," Wiseman wrote in his Twitter (@Astro_Reid) post. "@astro_alex took the exact same shot at night, with lava. #teamwork."

Gerst has quite a bit of experience with volcanoes. Before flying to space, he was awarded his doctorate for research he did investigating volcanic eruptions and active volcanoes. While working toward his master's degree, Gerst also developed new techniques that could help scientistsbetter predict when volcanoes might erupt, according to ESA.



European astronaut Alexander Gerst uploaded this photo of two volcanoes, Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli, by night on Aug. 1, 2014.


Mount Etna was actually the first erupting volcano Gerst climbed, according to a Twitter post sent out in July.

Alexander Gerst        ✔   @Astro_Alex 
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Mt. Etna looks pretty active today! She was the first erupting #volcano I set foot on. #BlueDot

6:54 AM - 22 Jul 2014

208 Retweets   334 favorites

 
Mount Etna is the largest volcano in Europe, standing at 10,900 feet (3,328 meters) high. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but it hasn't had a major eruption since 1992. The active volcano is almost always discharging gas, ash or lava.

This isn't the first time Mount Etna's active phase has been seen from space. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg caught sight of the volcano from her post aboard the international Space Station in October 2013. That same year, Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield also snapped an amazing image of the active volcano's ash floating through clouds and out to sea.

Both Gerst and Wiseman are about halfway through with their first spaceflight. They launched to the space station in May and are expected to return to Earth in November. Wiseman and Gerst are joined on the station by NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and three cosmonauts: Maxim Suraev, Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov.


http://news.yahoo.com/astronauts-see-mount-etna-volcanos-lava-steam-space-215919397.html