SPRL at 60: Universities and Space Exploration: Image Credits

Image Credits

Mercury -- In Color!!: Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington; Description: During January 2008, the MESSENGER spacecraft transmitted to Earth the first high-resolution image of Mercury by a spacecraft in over 30 years, since the three Mercury flybys of Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975. MESSENGER's Wide Angle Camera (WAC), part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), is equipped with… read more at NASA
PIA10108: Plentiful Planetary System: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Description: This artist's concept shows four of the five planets that orbit 55 Cancri, a star much like our own. The most recently discovered planet, and the fourth out from the star, looms large in the… read more at NASA

Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula: Credit: NASA Center: Hubble Space Telescope Center; Description: Previously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the "Keyhole Nebula," obtained with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four… read more at NASA

Stars in the Tarantula Nebula: Credit: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA; NASA Center: Hubble Space Telescope Center; Description: In the most active starburst region in the local universe lies a cluster of brilliant, massive stars, known to astronomers as Hodge 301. Hodge 301, seen in the lower right hand corner of this image, lives inside the Tarantula Nebula in our galactic neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This star cluster is not the brightest, or youngest, or most populous star cluster in the Tarantula Nebula, that honor goes to the spectacular R136. In fact, Hodge 301 is… read more at NASA

MESSENGER in Orbit (with Sun): Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington; Description: Artist's impression of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft in orbit at Mercury. MESSENGER launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on August 3, 2004, and will begin a yearlong orbital… read more at NASA

PIA09117: Gas Giants Form Quickly: Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Description: This is an artist's concept of a hypothetical 10-million-year-old star system. The bright blur at the center is a star much like our sun. The other orb in the image is a gas-giant planet like Jupiter. Wisps of white throughout the image represent traces of gas… read more at NASA

Peering into the Heart of the Crab Nebula: Credit: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA OD; Description: In the year 1054 A.D., Chinese astronomers were startled by the appearance of a new star, so bright that it was visible in broad daylight for several weeks. Today, the Crab Nebula is visible at the site of the "Guest Star." Located about 6,500 light-years from Earth, the Crab Nebula is the remnant of a star that began its life with about 10 times the mass of our own Sun. Its life ended on July 4, 1054 when it exploded as a supernova. In this image, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has zoomed in on the center of the… read more at NASA