Jeff Keeping It Real!: 09/01/2017

Concept Plane: Supersonic Green Machine

What will passenger airplanes be like in the future? To help brainstorm desirable and workable attributes, NASA sponsors design competitions. Shown here is an artist's depiction of a concept plane that was suggested in 2010. This futuristic plane would be expected to achieve supersonic speeds, possibly surpassing the speeds of the supersonic transport planes that ran commercially in the late twentieth century. In terms of noise reduction, the future aircraft has been drawn featuring an inverted V wing stretched over its engines. The structure is intended to reduce the sound from annoying sonic booms. Additionally, future airplanes would aim to have relatively little impact on our environment, including green limits on pollution and fuel consumption. Aircraft utilizing similar design concepts might well become operational by the 2030s. via NASA http://ift.tt/2x3UJfa

▶ Matt Cain receives standing ovation as he leaves the mound in his final game (ESPN)

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Final: Padres 3 Giants 2. WP: SD B Baumann (2-1) LP: SF S Dyson (4-10) SV: SD B Hand (21) (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 8 Padres 0. WP: SF C Stratton (4-4) LP: SD J Lyles (1-5) (ESPN)

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95 Minutes Over Jupiter

This sequence of color-enhanced images shows how quickly the viewing geometry changes for NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it swoops by Jupiter. via NASA http://ift.tt/2yMOui7

Puppis A Supernova Remnant

Driven by the explosion of a massive star, supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away. At that distance, this colorful telescopic field based on broadband and narrowband optical image data is about 60 light-years across. As the supernova remnant (upper right) expands into its clumpy, non-uniform surroundings, shocked filaments of oxygen atoms glow in green-blue hues. Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red. Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by the collapse of the massive star's core, would have reached Earth about 3,700 years ago. The Puppis A remnant is actually seen through outlying emission from the closer but more ancient Vela supernova remnant, near the crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Still glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum Puppis A remains one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xOgBiH

This Week in NASA History: Second Crewed Skylab Mission Splashes Down – Sept. 25, 1973

This week in 1973, the second crewed Skylab mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean following a successful 59-day mission in the orbiting laboratory. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wWUaUt

Final: Diamondbacks 4 Giants 3. WP: ARI J Hoover (3-1) LP: SF S Dyson (4-9) (ESPN)

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Giants: Matt Cain will retire after Saturday's start vs. Padres (ESPN)

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Rift on Pine Island Glacier

A new iceberg calved from Pine Island Glacier—one of the main outlets where ice from the interior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet flows into the ocean. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured this natural-color image on September 21, 2017, just before the break. via NASA http://ift.tt/2yGFCud

Final: Diamondbacks 11 Giants 4. WP: ARI R Ray (15-5) LP: SF M Moore (6-15) (ESPN)

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Giants plan to extend protective netting behind home plate going into next year (ESPN)

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OSIRIS-REx Views the Earth During Flyby

A color composite image of Earth was taken on Sept. 22, 2017, by the MapCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xD7UHx

Final: Giants 9 Diamondbacks 2. WP: SF J Cueto (8-8) LP: ARI Z Godley (8-9) (ESPN)

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Cassinis Last Ring Portrait at Saturn

How should Cassini say farewell to Saturn? Three days before plunging into Saturn's sunny side, the robotic Cassini spacecraft swooped far behind Saturn's night side with cameras blazing. Thirty-six of these images have been merged -- by an alert and adept citizen scientist -- into a last full-ring portrait of Cassini's home planet for the past 13 years. The Sun is just above the frame, causing Saturn to cast a dark shadow onto its enormous rings. This shadow position cannot be imaged from Earth and will not be visible again until another Earth-launched spaceship visits the ringed giant. Data and images from Cassini's mission-ending dive into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15 continue to be analyzed. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wMUGtg

Phantom Limb

The brightly lit limb of a crescent Enceladus looks ethereal against the blackness of space. This image is a composite of images taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 29, 2017, using filters that allow infrared, green, and ultraviolet light. via NASA http://ift.tt/2y49TX6

Final: Dodgers 3 Giants 1. WP: LAD C Kershaw (18-4) LP: SF C Stratton (3-4) SV: LAD B Morrow (2) (ESPN)

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How to Identify that Light in the Sky

What is that light in the sky? Perhaps one of humanity's more common questions, an answer may result from a few quick observations. For example -- is it moving or blinking? If so, and if you live near a city, the answer is typically an airplane, since planes are so numerous and so few stars and satellites are bright enough to be seen over the din of artificial city lights. If not, and if you live far from a city, that bright light is likely a planet such as Venus or Mars -- the former of which is constrained to appear near the horizon just before dawn or after dusk. Sometimes the low apparent motion of a distant airplane near the horizon makes it hard to tell from a bright planet, but even this can usually be discerned by the plane's motion over a few minutes. Still unsure? The featured chart gives a sometimes-humorous but mostly-accurate assessment. Dedicated sky enthusiasts will likely note -- and are encouraged to provide -- polite corrections. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xAZSQ5

Final: Giants 2 Dodgers 1. WP: SF M Bumgarner (4-9) LP: LAD H Ryu (5-8) SV: SF S Dyson (14) (ESPN)

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A Conjunction of Comets

A conjunction of comets is captured in this pretty star field from the morning of September 17. Discovered in July by a robotic sky survey searching for supernovae, comet C/2017 O1 ASASSN is at the lower left. The visible greenish glow of its coma is produced by the fluorescence of diatomic carbon molecules in sunlight. Nearing its closest approach to the Sun, the binocular comet was only about 7.2 light-minutes from Earth. In the same telescopic field of view is the long-tailed, outbound comet C/2015 ER61 PanSTARRS at the upper right, almost 14 light-minutes away. Many light-years distant, the starry background includes faint, dusty nebulae of the Milky Way. The well-known Pleiades star cluster lies just off the top right of the frame. via NASA http://ift.tt/2hkU6fa

Final: Dodgers 4 Giants 2. WP: LAD R Hill (11-8) LP: SF J Samardzija (9-15) SV: LAD K Jansen (40) (ESPN)

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Soaring Over Jupiter

This striking image of Jupiter was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant planet. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xzDw1k

Rumor Central: Giants scouting Japanese star Shohei Otani - San Francisco Chronicle (ESPN)

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X-plane Preliminary Design Model Tests Quiet Supersonic Technology

Test Engineer Samantha O’Flaherty finalizes the set-up of the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) Preliminary Design Model inside the 14- by- 22 Foot Subsonic Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. The QueSST Preliminary Design is the initial design stage of NASA’s planned Low-Boom Flight Demonstration experimental airplane, or X-plane. via NASA http://ift.tt/2w9GhD4

A September Morning Sky

The Moon, three planets, and a bright star gathered near the ecliptic plane in the September 18 morning sky over Veszprem Castle, Hungary. In this twilight skyscape, Mercury and Mars still shine close to the eastern horizon, soon to disappear in the glare of the Sun. Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo, is the bright point next to a waning crescent Moon, with brilliant Venus near the top of the frame. The beautiful morning conjunction of Moon, planets, and bright star could generally be followed by early morning risers all around planet Earth. But remarkably, the Moon also occulted, or passed directly in front of, Regulus and each of the three planets within 24 hours, all on September 18 UT. Visible from different locations, timing and watching the lunar occultations was much more difficult though, and mostly required viewing in daytime skies. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xhaqlg

Final: Giants 4 Rockies 0. WP: SF M Moore (6-14) LP: COL T Chatwood (8-13) (ESPN)

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Suomi NPP Satellite Captures Thermal Image of Hurricane Maria

The VIIRS instrument on NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured a thermal image of Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20 at 2:12 a.m. EDT. The image showed very cold cloud top temperatures in the powerful thunderstorms in Maria’s eyewall. Maria’s eye was just east of the American Virgin Islands, and its northwestern quadrant stretched over Puerto Rico. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xn5mNK

Final: Giants 4 Rockies 3. WP: SF S Dyson (4-8) LP: COL C Rusin (5-1) (ESPN)

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The Big Corona

Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the Sun's corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar eclipse is unparalleled. The human eye can adapt to see coronal features and extent that average cameras usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age. The featured picture is a combination of forty exposures from one thousandth of a second to two seconds that, together, were digitally combined and processed to highlight faint features of the total solar eclipse that occurred in August of 2017. Clearly visible are intricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot gas and magnetic fields in the Sun's corona. Looping prominences appear bright pink just past the Sun's limb. Faint details on the night side of the New Moon can even be made out, illuminated by sunlight reflected from the dayside of the Full Earth. via NASA http://ift.tt/2hbq0KU

▶ Hunter Pence comes up clutch with 9th-inning sac fly for 4-3 walk-off win over Rockies (ESPN)

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Northern Lights Over Canada

The spectacular aurora borealis, or the “northern lights,” over Canada is sighted from the International Space Station near the highest point of its orbital path. The station’s main solar arrays are seen in the left foreground. This photograph was taken by a member of the Expedition 53 crew aboard the station on Sept. 15, 2017. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xNXbeZ

Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Exploded Star

Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright as a crescent Moon, remaining visible for weeks to people living at the dawn of recorded history. Today, the resulting supernova remnant, also known as the Cygnus Loop, has faded and is now visible only through a small telescope directed toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus). The remaining Veil Nebula is physically huge, however, and even though it lies about 1,400 light-years distant, it covers over five times the size of the full Moon. The featured picture is a Hubble Space Telescope mosaic of six images together covering a span of only about two light years, a small part of the expansive supernova remnant. In images of the complete Veil Nebula, even studious readers might not be able to identify the featured filaments. via NASA http://ift.tt/2fckF5B

Long Way From Home

This picture of a crescent-shaped Earth and Moon - the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft - was recorded Sept. 18, 1977, by NASA's Voyager 1 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. The moon is at the top of the picture and beyond the Earth as viewed by Voyager. via NASA http://ift.tt/2fe9adV

Bright Spiral Galaxy M81

One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth's sky is similar in size to our Milky Way Galaxy: big, beautiful M81. This grand spiral galaxy can be found toward the northern constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major). This superbly detailed view reveals M81's bright yellow nucleus, blue spiral arms, and sweeping cosmic dust lanes with a scale comparable to the Milky Way. Hinting at a disorderly past, a remarkable dust lane actually runs straight through the disk, to the left of the galactic center, contrary to M81's other prominent spiral features. The errant dust lane may be the lingering result of a close encounter between M81 and its smaller companion galaxy, M82. Scrutiny of variable stars in M81 has yielded one of the best determined distances for an external galaxy -- 11.8 million light-years. via NASA http://ift.tt/2x9X8bS

Final: Diamondbacks 2 Giants 0. WP: ARI Z Greinke (17-6) LP: SF M Bumgarner (3-9) SV: ARI F Rodney (38) (ESPN)

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Final: Diamondbacks 3 Giants 2. WP: ARI R Ray (14-5) LP: SF J Samardzija (9-14) SV: ARI F Rodney (37) (ESPN)

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Cassini End of Mission

Cassini program manager at JPL, Earl Maize, left, and spacecraft operations team manager for the Cassini mission at Saturn, Julie Webster embrace after the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. via NASA http://ift.tt/2foCj37

100 Steps Forward

A beautiful conjunction of Venus and Moon, human, sand, and Milky Way is depicted in this night skyscape from planet Earth. The scene is a panorama of 6 photos taken in a moment near the end of a journey. In the foreground, footsteps along the wind-rippled dunes are close to the Huacachina oasis in the southwestern desert of Peru. An engaging perspective on the world at night, the stunning final image was also chosen as a winner in The World at Night's 2017 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wYuhaU

Orion Parachutes Measure Up in High Pressure Test

Orion’s three main orange and white parachutes help a representative model of the spacecraft descend through sky above Arizona, where NASA engineers tested the parachute system on Sept. 13, 2017, at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma. NASA is qualifying Orion’s parachutes for missions with astronauts. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xBoGYR

Flare Well AR2673

Almost out of view from our fair planet, rotating around the Sun's western edge giant active region AR2673 lashed out with another intense solar flare followed by a large coronal mass ejection on September 10. The flare itself is seen here at the right in an extreme ultraviolet image from the sun-staring Solar Dynamics Observatory. This intense flare was the fourth X-class flare from AR2673 this month. The active region's most recent associated coronal mass ejection collided with Earth's magnetosphere 2 days later. Say farewell to the mighty AR2673, for now. For the next two weeks, the powerful sunspot group will be on the Sun's far side. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xwBDDn

Final: Dodgers 4 Giants 1. WP: LAD Y Darvish (9-12) LP: SF M Moore (5-14) (ESPN)

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Dreamy Swirls on Saturn

NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazed toward the northern hemisphere of Saturn to spy subtle, multi-hued bands in the clouds there. via NASA http://ift.tt/2jppZUF

NGC 6334: The Cats Paw Nebula

Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible in Scorpius. At 5,500 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula or NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years. Pictured here is a deep field image of the Cat's Paw Nebula in light emitted by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wUOfn6

Final: Dodgers 5 Giants 3. WP: LAD C Kershaw (17-3) LP: SF J Cueto (7-8) SV: LAD K Jansen (37) (ESPN)

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Expedition 53 Launches to the International Space Station

The Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft launches with Expedition 53 crewmembers Joe Acaba of NASA, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, (Kazakh time) (Sept. 12, U.S. time). via NASA http://ift.tt/2wYcZs9

Expedition 53 Crew Waves Farewell

Expedition 53 flight engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA, top, flight engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, and Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, bottom, wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft for launch, Tuesday, Sept. 12. Launch is scheduled at 5:17 p.m. EDT. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xizkTr

Ryan Vogelsong to retire as member of Giants, will be honored before Sunday's game vs. Diamondbacks (ESPN)

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So Far from Home

With this view, Cassini captured one of its last looks at Saturn and its main rings from a distance. via NASA http://ift.tt/2eQeBMc

Final: White Sox 8 Giants 1. WP: CHW C Fulmer (2-1) LP: SF M Bumgarner (3-8) (ESPN)

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Final: White Sox 13 Giants 1. WP: CHW J Shields (3-6) LP: SF J Samardzija (9-13) (ESPN)

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Calm Waters and Geomagnetic Storm

Very recognizable stars of the northern sky are a backdrop for calm waters in this moonlit sea and skyscape off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Taken on September 7, the photo also records a colorful display of northern lights or aurora borealis triggered by a severe geomagnetic storm. Visible crossing the Sun, the giant solar active region responsible, AR 2673, is much larger than planet Earth. It has produced the strongest flare of the current solar cycle and and the Earth-directed coronal mass ejection in the last few days. via NASA http://ift.tt/2gRH9cN

▶ Pablo Sandoval snaps 39 at-bat drought with massive 3-run HR in 9-2 win vs. White Sox (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 9 White Sox 2. WP: SF M Moore (5-13) LP: CHW L Giolito (2-2) (ESPN)

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Giants: Mark Melancon to undergo season-ending forearm surgery Tuesday (ESPN)

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Rumor Central: Giants likely to pick up Matt Moore's option - San Francisco Chronicle (ESPN)

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Geocolor Image of Hurricane Irma

The NOAA-NASA satellite GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Irma passing the eastern end of Cuba at about 8:00 a.m. EDT, Sept. 8, 2017. Created by NOAA's partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, the experimental imagery enhancement displays geostationary satellite data in different ways for day or night. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wf8UxT

The Great Gig in the Sky

There were no crowds on the beach at Phillips Lake, Oregon on August 21. But a few had come there to stand, for a moment, in the dark shadow of the Moon. From the beach, this unscripted mosaic photo records their much anticipated solar eclipse. In two vertical panels it catches the last few seconds of totality and the first instant of 3rd contact, just as the eclipse ends and sunlight faintly returns. Across the US those gathered along the path of totality also took pictures and shared their moment. And like those at Phillips Lake they may treasure the experience more than any planned or unplanned photograph of the total eclipse of the Sun. via NASA http://ift.tt/2vND1kt

Staggering Structure

This view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows a wave structure in Saturn's rings known as the Janus 2:1 spiral density wave. via NASA http://ift.tt/2gKui8n

▶ Joe Panik smacks 5 hits, drives in 2 runs during 11-3 win over Rockies (ESPN)

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Final: Giants 11 Rockies 3. WP: SF J Cueto (7-7) LP: COL K Freeland (11-10) (ESPN)

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Prospecting from Orbit

The combination of morphological and topographic information from stereo images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xOVHxu

Expedition 53 Qualification Exams

Expedition 53 crew members: Joe Acaba of NASA, left, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, center, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA answer questions from the press outside the Soyuz simulator ahead of their Soyuz qualification exams, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wHF3zZ

The Climber and the Eclipse

What should you do if your rock climbing picture is photobombed by a total eclipse of the Sun? Rejoice -- because your planning paid off. After months of considering different venues, and a week of scouting different locations in Oregon's Smith Rock State Park, a group of photographers and rock climbers led by Ted Hesser, Martina Tibell, and Michael Shainblum settled on picturesque 100-meter tall Monkey Face tower as the dramatic foreground for their images of the pending total solar eclipse. Tension mounted as the eclipse time approached, planned juxtapositions were scrutinized, and the placement of rock climber Tommy Smith was adjusted. Right on schedule, though, the Moon moved in front of the Sun, and Smith moved in front of the Moon, just as planned. The solar eclipse image displayed here actually shows a diamond ring, an eclipse phase when a bit of the distant Sun is still visible beyond the Moon's surface. via NASA http://ift.tt/2vIebmd

Final: Rockies 9 Giants 6. WP: COL C Rusin (4-0) LP: SF T Blach (8-12) SV: COL G Holland (37) (ESPN)

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Voyager 1 Launches Aboard Titan III/Centaur

The Voyager 1 aboard the Titan III/Centaur lifted off on September 5, 1977, joining its sister spacecraft, the Voyager 2, on a mission to the outer planets. via NASA http://ift.tt/2gJoEad

▶ Barry Bonds hits 762nd and final homer of career on Sept. 5, 2007 (ESPN)

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Final: Rockies 4 Giants 3. WP: COL G Holland (3-5) LP: SF S Okert (1-1) (ESPN)

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Saturns Rings from the Inside Out

What do Saturn's rings look like from Saturn? Images from the robotic spacecraft Cassini are providing humanity with this unprecedented vantage point as it nears the completion of its mission. Previous to Cassini's Grand Finale orbits, all images of Saturn's majestic ring system were taken from outside of the rings looking in. Pictured in the inset is the remarkable video, while the spacecraft's positions are depicted in the surrounding animation. Details of the complex rings are evident as the short time-lapse sequence begins, while the paper-thin thickness of the rings becomes apparent near the video's end. The featured images were taken on August 20. Cassini has only a few more orbits around Saturn left before it is directed to dive into the giant planet on September 15. via NASA http://ift.tt/2gtDrSt

Final: Cardinals 7 Giants 3. WP: STL L Weaver (4-1) LP: SF M Bumgarner (3-7) (ESPN)

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A Waterspout in Florida

What's happening over the water? Pictured here is one of the better images yet recorded of a waterspout, a type of tornado that occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning columns of rising moist air that typically form over warm water. Waterspouts can be as dangerous as tornadoes and can feature wind speeds over 200 kilometers per hour. Some waterspouts form away from thunderstorms and even during relatively fair weather. Waterspouts may be relatively transparent and initially visible only by an unusual pattern they create on the water. The featured image was taken in 2013 July near Tampa Bay, Florida. The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active area in the world for waterspouts, with hundreds forming each year. Some people speculate that waterspouts are responsible for some of the losses recorded in the Bermuda Triangle. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xFhdVC