Even on the coldest of cold days, mornings are worth experiencing at #GrandTeton #NationalPark in #Wyoming. Josh Packer (@packtography) captured this stunning image last week at @grandtetonnps’s #SnakeRiver Overlook. It was a cold morning -- a blistering -24 degrees -- and everything was covered in hoar frost, making the landscape a dazzling white. Photo courtesy of Josh Packer (@packtography). ❄️❄️ by usinterior

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Wisdom is back! The 64-year-old Laysan #albatross returned to #MidwayAtoll National #WildlifeRefuge on November 19 after a year at sea. A few days later, she was observed with her mate. Wisdom departed soon after mating but refuge workers expect her back any day to lay her egg. Learn more about Wisdom, the oldest living, banded, wild bird at DOI.gov. Photo by Kiah Walker, @USFWS. 🐦💓🐦 by usinterior

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At more than 14,000 feet tall, #MountRainier stands as an icon in the #Washington landscape. Capped with glaciers, the peak is always a stunning white while the meadows and forests that ring the mountain offer visitors more colorful places to explore. Hiking trails range from easy to extreme, but all of them have incredible views of this amazing park. Photo by Kathy Chrestensen (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Dark Sand Cascades on Mars Dark Sand Cascades on Mars

They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The above image was taken in 2008 April near the North Pole of Mars. At that time, dark sand on the interior of Martian sand dunes became more and more visible as the spring Sun melted the lighter carbon dioxide ice. When occurring near the top of a dune, dark sand may cascade down the dune leaving dark surface streaks -- streaks that might appear at first to be trees standing in front of the lighter regions, but cast no shadows. Objects about 25 centimeters across are resolved on this image spanning about one kilometer. Close ups of some parts of this image show billowing plumes indicating that the sand slides were occurring even while the image was being taken. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Oo0Vot

#Sunrise from one of the most beautiful places on the east coast: Great Smoky Mountains #NationalPark. Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between #NorthCarolina and #Tennessee in @greatsmokynps. Santosh Kanthety snapped this photo of the park’s rolling mountains as first light illuminated the gorgeous fall colors. Photo by Santosh Kanthety (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Rosetta and Comet Outbound Rosetta and Comet Outbound

Not a bright comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko now sweeps slowly through planet Earth's predawn skies near the line-up of planets along the ecliptic. Still, this composite of telescopic images follows the comet's progress as it moves away from the Sun beyond the orbit of Mars, from late September (left) through late November (far right). Its faint but extensive coma and tails are viewed against the colorful background of stars near the eastern edge of the constellation Leo. A year ago, before its perihelion passage, the comet was less active, though. Then the Rosetta mission's lander Philae made it's historic landing, touching down on the surface of the comet's nucleus. via NASA http://ift.tt/1kYXBok

There’s something else in Cleveland that rocks -- #CuyahogaValley #NationalPark in #Ohio. It’s a quick drive from both #Cleveland and #Akron, so there’s no excuse not to #OptOutside. Take a hike, ride the scenic railroad or bike the towpath trail. #BlueHenFalls is a popular destination, too. It’s an easy #hike, so feel free to bring the family. Photo by Bob Trinnes (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Gravity's Grin Gravity's Grin

Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published 100 years ago this month, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass dominated by dark matter. In fact the two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away. via NASA http://ift.tt/1HskNFu

After a spectacular #sunset at #LakeMcDonald, visitors at #Glacier National Park in #Montana were greeted with some beautiful alpenglow last week. Photo @glaciernps by Jacob W. Frank, #NationalPark Service. by usinterior

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It’s #Thanksgiving week and for many of us, that means spending time with our family. If you’re ever deep in a food coma and your family starts to show the personalities like this group of cute (and weird looking) burrowing #owls, it’s time to #OptOutside. #RockyMountain Arsenal National #WildlifeRefuge is just outside of #Denver and is a great excuse to get out of the house and enjoy someone else’s awkward family. Photo by Rich Keen, DPRA. by usinterior

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Planets of the Morning Planets of the Morning

Planet Earth's horizon stretches across this recent Solar System group portrait, seen from the southern hemisphere's Las Campanas Observatory. Taken before dawn it traces the ecliptic with a line-up familiar to November's early morning risers. Toward the east are bright planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter as well as Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo. Of course the planets are immersed in the faint glow of zodiacal light, visible from the dark site rising at an angle from the horizon. Sometimes known as the false dawn, it's no accident the zodiacal light and planets both lie along the ecliptic. Formed in the flattened protoplanetary disk, the Solar System's planet's all orbit near the ecliptic plane, while dust near the plane scatters sunlight, the source of the faint zodiacal glow. via NASA http://ift.tt/1NvB8f9

Happy #Thanksgiving! Here at Interior, we’re thankful all year for America’s natural treasures, like #GrandCanyon #NationalPark in #Arizona. What #publicland are you most thankful for? #Sunset photo from @grandcanyonnps’s Cape Royal by Randy Langstraat (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Unusual Pits Discovered on Pluto Unusual Pits Discovered on Pluto

Why are there unusual pits on Pluto? The indentations were discovered during the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of the dwarf planet in July. The largest pits span a kilometer across and dip tens of meters into a lake of frozen nitrogen, a lake that sprawls across Sputnik Planum, part of the famous light-colored heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. Although most pits in the Solar System are created by impact craters, these depressions look different -- many are similarly sized, densely packed, and aligned. Rather, it is thought that something has caused these specific areas of ice to sublimate and evaporate away. In fact, the lack of overlying impact craters indicates these pits formed relatively recently. Even though the robotic New Horizons is now off to a new destination, it continues to beam back to Earth new images and data from its dramatic encounter with Pluto. via NASA http://ift.tt/1QHXIRV

Gobble, gobble! In honor of the #Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, here's a great pic of wild turkeys at the #Eufaula National #WildlifeRefuge in #Alabama. While #turkeys may look off-kilter -- tilting their heads and staring at the sky -- they’re fast. Turkeys can clock more than 12 miles per hour. Photo by Michael Padgett, National Wildlife Refuge Association (@refugeassociation). by usinterior

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After a few days of visiting friends in the concrete jungle of #NewYork City, you might need a breath of fresh air. #OptOutside for #JamaicaBay #WildlifeRefuge. Along the two main trails, you can see a wide variety of #wildlife in the air, on the land and in the water. Ospreys and diamondback turtles are some of the most visible residents. Photo by Micael Fano (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). Check out more amazing #publiclands near major cities in our @stellerstories at steller.co/interior. by usinterior

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Aurora over Clouds Aurora over Clouds

Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact the Earth's magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral along the Earth's magnetic field to strike atoms and molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere. An oxygen atom, for example, will glow in the green light commonly emitted by an aurora after being energized by such a collision. The lowest part of an aurora will typically occur at 100 kilometers up, while most clouds usually exist only below about 10 kilometers. The relative heights of clouds and auroras are shown clearly in the featured picture from Dyrholaey, Iceland. There, a determined astrophotographer withstood high winds and initially overcast skies in an attempt to capture aurora over a picturesque lighthouse, only to take, by chance, the featured picture along the way. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IdvuGN

Yosemite #NationalPark's Tenaya Lake is a magnificent High Sierra lake surrounded by granite domes, lodgepole forests and #Yosemite’s vast wilderness. With remarkable vistas, inviting blue water and a proximity to the park's Tioga Road, #TenayaLake is one of the most popular destinations for summer visitors in @yosemitenps. It’s also the perfect place to stargaze and see the #MilkyWay in all its glory. Photo courtesy of David Lane. by usinterior

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This Thanksgiving week, we’ll be sharing great places to explore over the long holiday. Chances are, there’s a park, wildlife refuge or other public lands a short drive away, making it easy to #OptOutside. A visit to #LosAngeles is not complete without going to the #beach. Take in the #PacificOcean at #SantaMonica Mountains National Recreation Area. Explore the shoreline or take it all in from the hills above. You might enjoy it almost as much as grandma’s potato salad. Photo of @santamonicamountainsnps by Steve Lanctot (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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A 212 Hour Exposure of Orion A 212 Hour Exposure of Orion

The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row. It is a direction in space that is rich with impressive nebulas. To better appreciate this well-known swath of sky, an extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and 2014. After 212 hours of camera time and an additional year of processing, the featured 1400-exposure collage spanning over 40 times the angular diameter of the Moon emerged. Of the many interesting details that have become visible, one that particularly draws the eye is Barnard's Loop, the bright red circular filament arcing down from the middle. The Rosette Nebula is not the giant red nebula near the top of the image -- that is a larger but lesser known nebula known as Lambda Orionis. The Rosette Nebula is visible, though: it is the red and white nebula on the upper left. The bright orange star just above the frame center is Betelgeuse, while the bright blue star on the lower right is Rigel. Other famous nebulas visible include the Witch Head Nebula, the Flame Nebula, the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if you know just where to look, the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula. About those famous three stars that cross the belt of Orion the Hunter -- in this busy frame they can be hard to locate, but a discerning eye will find them just below and to the right of the image center. via NASA http://ift.tt/1YplPWR

Here’s some serious cute to end the day: Two baby #foxes near the Bureau of Land Management field offices in Pocatello, #Idaho. 🐺🐺 This area is home to the #BlackfootRiver, which flows through a desert canyon of sagebrush and juniper habitat that is great for hiking. Anglers can set-up camp at one of five small campgrounds, lining the shores of the Blackfoot River. #Wildlife viewers will enjoy the area’s nesting golden eagles, prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks and great horned owls. Photo by Jeff Cundick, @mypubliclands. by usinterior

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This week, when you feel the need to push yourself away from the table and take a break from Thanksgiving events, we encourage you to #findyourpark. Chances are, there’s a park or wildlife refuge a short drive away. Just a few miles from Washington, D.C., #GreatFalls Park in #Virginia provides stunning views of the Potomac River as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and rushes through a narrow gorge. Anything to escape your family sitting around talking about politics, right? Photo by Yan Li (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl) by usinterior

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Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars

This moon is doomed. Mars, the red planet named for the Roman god of war, has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose names are derived from the Greek for Fear and Panic. These martian moons may well be captured asteroids originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps from even more distant reaches of the Solar System. The larger moon, Phobos, is indeed seen to be a cratered, asteroid-like object in this stunning color image from the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recorded at a resolution of about seven meters per pixel. But Phobos orbits so close to Mars - about 5,800 kilometers above the surface compared to 400,000 kilometers for our Moon - that gravitational tidal forces are dragging it down. A recent analysis of the long grooves indicates that they may result from global stretching caused by tides -- the differing force of Mars' gravity on different sides of Phobos. These grooves may then be an early phase in the disintegration of Phobos into a ring of debris around Mars. via NASA http://ift.tt/1XiNczv

Soft pastel clouds look inviting over the harsh landscape #JoshuaTree #NationalPark. With the #California desert stretching out for miles around you, this unique landscape is a place of wonder and contemplation. Marvel at the sky, explore the rock formations, but don’t try climbing the trees. @joshuatreenps pic by Manish Mamtani (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Recycling NGC 5291 Recycling NGC 5291

Following an ancient galaxy-galaxy collision 200 million light-years from Earth, debris from a gas-rich galaxy, NGC 5291, was flung far into intergalactic space. NGC 5291 and the likely interloper, also known as the "Seashell" galaxy, are captured near the center of this spectacular scene. The sharp, ground-based telescopic image looks toward the galaxy cluster Abell 3574 in the southern constellation Centaurus. Stretched along the 100,000 light-year long tidal tails, are clumps resembling dwarf galaxies, but lacking old stars, apparently dominated by young stars and active star forming regions. Found to be unusually rich in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, the dwarf galaxies were likely born in intergalactic space, recycling the enriched debris from NGC 5291 itself. via NASA http://ift.tt/1jcVCee

Located on the #Colorado Plateau in northern #Arizona, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (@mypubliclands) is a geologic treasure. This remote and unspoiled monument contains 280,000 acres of diverse landscapes -- including the colorful swirling stone of the #Wave (pictured here) -- making it an international hiking destination. For those who don't get a permit to the Wave, #WhitePocket in #VermillionCliffs has similar geologic features and is worth the visit! Photo by Phillip Noll (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Leonids and Friends Leonids and Friends

Leonid meteors rained down on planet Earth this week, the annual shower of dusty debris from the orbit of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Leonids streak through this composite night skyview from a backyard observatory in southern Ontario. Recorded with camera fixed to a tripod, the individual frames capture the bright meteor activity throughout the night of November 16/17, about a day before the shower's very modest peak. The frames are registered to the fixed field of view, so the meteor trails are not all aligned to the background star field recorded that same evening when nebula-rich Orion stood above the southern horizon. As a result, the trails don't appear to point back to the shower's radiant in Leo, situated off the left edge of the star field frame. In fact, some trails could be of Taurid meteors, a shower also active in November, or even sporadic meteors, including a bright fireball with its reflection near the horizon. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Mrzass

#Yosemite National Park’s #HalfDome looks extra pretty in pink. #Sunset photo @yosemitenps courtesy of Tiffany Nguyen (@tiffpenguin). #california by usinterior

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Did you know that a group of black footed ferrets is called a business? That’s just one interesting fact about these #endangered animals. In 1987, only 18 were known to exist. With recovery efforts led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there could be a thousand living in the wild now. Thanks to the #BlackFootedFerret #Conservation Center in #Colorado for their dedication to saving these unique and really #cuteanimals. Photo by Kimberly Tamkun, @USFWSMtnPrairie. by usinterior

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Centaurus A Centaurus A

What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A's fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, pinkish star forming regions, and imposing dark dust lanes are seen here in remarkable detail. The colorful galaxy portrait is a composite of image data from space- and ground-based telescopes large and small. Near the galaxy's center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A. via NASA http://ift.tt/1HaMCSx

Happy birthday, #Zion National Park! On this date in 1919, Zion became #Utah’s first #nationalpark. Today @zionnps preserves 229 square miles of red rock landscape, featuring high plateaus, a maze of sandstone canyons and waterfalls with colorful hanging gardens -- it’s so stunning it looks surreal. Photo taken from the #Grotto by Tom Morris (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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This cute little guy is the American pika. 🐹 Research by @usgs has found that #pika populations are now disappearing from numerous mountainous areas and some populations are migrating to higher elevations. This is likely to avoid reduced snowpacks and warmer summer temperatures. Unfortunately, pikas are strongly tied to a habitat that is limited and patchily distributed, which gives them few options as temperatures continue to rise. Learn more about #wildlife that are feeling the effects of climate change at DOI.gov. Photo of a pika at #Yellowstone #NationalPark by Jon LeVasseur (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Sunrise is gorgeous and easy to catch this time of year @LakeClarkNPS in #Alaska. With first light not appearing until around 9:30, you’ve got time to grab some coffee and find a great viewing spot. The sparkles on the water are a nice bonus. Photo by Buck Mangipane, National Park Service. Want to be featured on @USInterior’s account? We’re partnering with @CBSThisMorning to share amazing #sunrise photos from America’s #nationalparks and other #publiclands. Tag your photos with #SunriseThisMorning for a chance to have one of your photos appear on our feeds! by usinterior

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A Sudden Jet on Comet 67P A Sudden Jet on Comet 67P

There she blows! A dramatic demonstration of how short-lived some comet jets can be was documented in late July by the robotic Rosetta spacecraft orbiting the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The featured animation depicts changes in the rotating comet with three illuminating stills. Although the first frame shows nothing unusual, the second frame shows a sudden strong jet shooting off the 67P's surface only 20 minutes later, while the third frame -- taken 20 minutes after that -- shows but a slight remnant of the once-active jet. As comets near the Sun, they can produce long and beautiful tails that stream across the inner Solar System. How comet jets produce these tails is a topic of research -- helped by images like this. Another recent Rosetta measurement indicates that the water on Earth could not have come from comets like 67P because of significant differences in impurities. Comet 67P spans about four kilometers, orbits the Sun between Earth and Jupiter, and has been the home for ESA's Rosetta spaceship since 2014 August. Rosetta is currently scheduled to make a slow crash onto Comet 67P's surface in late 2016. via NASA http://ift.tt/1kEvF96

Gravity, it’s totally overrated for this bighorn #sheep at National Elk Refuge in #Wyoming. It definitely shows how nimble these animals are at navigating the cliffs! Photo by Ann Hough, @USFWS volunteer. 🐑🐑 #wildlife by usinterior

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Thousands of sandhill #cranes are arriving at Bosque del Apache National #WildlifeRefuge in #NewMexico this month to winter in this safe and stunning area. These gorgeous birds can stand four feet tall and have a wingspan greater than six feet. Fascinating to watch, their social behavior includes at least 10 different types of calls, various threatening postures and elaborate dances for everything from joy to courtship. Yesterday marked the start of the world-renowned Festival of the Cranes, an annual event hosted by the refuge. Photo by Kim Hang Dessoliers (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl) by usinterior

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The Pelican Nebula in Gas Dust and Stars The Pelican Nebula in Gas Dust and Stars

The Pelican Nebula is slowly being transformed. IC 5070, the official designation, is divided from the larger North America Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican, however, receives much study because it is a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The featured picture was produced in three specific colors -- light emitted by sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen -- that can help us to better understand these interactions. The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming the cold gas to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known as an ionization front, visible in bright orange on the right. Particularly dense tentacles of cold gas remain. Millions of years from now this nebula might no longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance and placement of stars and gas will surely leave something that appears completely different. via NASA http://ift.tt/1N8VqLd

Winter's #snow has arrived in #Arches National Park's backyard. It's like icing on the cake! Photo of @archesnps by #NationalPark Service. by usinterior

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It’s Take a Hike Day! Some of the best hiking trails in the world wind through America’s #publiclands. Whether you’re taking a day hike or spending the summer on the Appalachian Trail, you’re sure to see amazing sights and enjoy the fresh air. Pictured here is a hiker on the North Marshall Trail in #Virginia’s #Shenandoah National Park (@shenandoahnps). What’s your favorite hiking trail? Photo by #NationalPark Service. by usinterior

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#Fall hiking is definitely worth it on America’s #publiclands. At 9,127 feet, #MountShuksan towers over the alpine meadows and deep valleys of #NorthCascades National Park in #Washington. This photo of the snow-capped Mt. Shuksan (located in @ncascadesnps) was taken from nearby Picture Lake at Heather Meadows within Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Photo courtesy of Ed Cooper (@ed_cooper_photography). by usinterior

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A Blazing Fireball between the Orion Nebula and Rigel A Blazing Fireball between the Orion Nebula and Rigel

What's happening to that meteor? A few days ago, a bright fireball was photographed from the Alps mountain range in Switzerland as it blazed across the sky. The fireball, likely from the Taurids meteor shower, was notable not only for how bright it was, but for the rare orange light it created that lingered for several minutes. Initially, the orange glow made it seem like the meteor trail was on fire. However, the orange glow, known as a persistent train, originated neither from fire nor sunlight-reflecting smoke. Rather, the persistent train's glow emanated from atoms in the Earth's atmosphere in the path of the meteor -- atoms that had an electron knocked away and emit light during reacquisition. Persistent trains often drift, so that the long 3-minute exposure actually captured the initial wind-blown displacement of these bright former ions. The featured image was acquired when trying to image the famous Orion Nebula, visible on the upper left. The bright blue star Rigel, part of the constellation of Orion, is visible to the right. This week the fireball-rich Taurids meteor shower continues to be active even though it has passed its peak, while the more active Leonids meteor shower is just peaking. via NASA http://ift.tt/1ObABvI

#Snow fell last week covered #CraterLake National Park in #Oregon, leaving behind this winter wonderland. Gorgeous in every season, Crater Lake has sheer cliffs, two picturesque islands, and a deep, pure lake. It is a place of immeasurable beauty, and an outstanding outdoor laboratory and classroom. Photo by #NationalPark Service. ❄️❄️ by usinterior

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Leonids Over Monument Valley Leonids Over Monument Valley

There was a shower over Monument Valley -- but not water. Meteors. The featured image -- actually a composite of six exposures of about 30 seconds each -- was taken in 2001, a year when there was a very active Leonids shower. At that time, Earth was moving through a particularly dense swarm of sand-sized debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, so that meteor rates approached one visible streak per second. The meteors appear parallel because they all fall to Earth from the meteor shower radiant -- a point on the sky towards the constellation of the Lion (Leo). The yearly Leonids meteor shower peaks again this week. Although the Moon's glow should not obstruct the visibility of many meteors, this year's shower will peak with perhaps 15 meteors visible in an hour, a rate which is good but not expected to rival the 2001 Leonids. By the way -- how many meteors can you identify in the featured image? via NASA http://ift.tt/1MPLL5H

Nothing beats sunrise at Grand Teton #NationalPark in #Wyoming. Josh Packer (@packtography) took this stunning shot from the park’s #OxbowBend -- what’s not captured in the photo are the sights and sounds he experienced before this moment. “Before the sun came up, I got to enjoy the elk bugling near Oxbow Bend. Then pink clouds formed over Mt Moran, which doesn't happen often, making this one of my most memorable experiences at #GrandTeton.” Photo @grandtetonnps courtesy of Josh Packer (@packtography). by usinterior

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Wright Mons on Pluto Wright Mons on Pluto

Long shadows are cast by a low Sun across this rugged looking terrain. Captured by New Horizons, the scene is found just south of the southern tip Sputnik Planum, the informally named smooth, bright heart region of Pluto. Centered is a feature provisionally known as Wright Mons, a broad, tall mountain, about 150 kilometers across and 4 kilometers high, with a 56 kilometer wide, deep summit depression. Of course, broad mountains with central craters are found elsewhere in the Solar System, like Mauna Loa on planet Earth and Olympus Mons on Mars. In fact, New Horizons scientists announced the striking similarity of Pluto's Wright Mons, and nearby Piccard Mons, to large shield volcanoes strongly suggests the two could be giant cryovolcanoes that once erupted molten ice from the interior of the cold, distant world. via NASA http://ift.tt/1H20qyF

The majestic #SouthFork of the #SnakeRiver flows 66 miles across southeastern #Idaho, through high mountain valleys, rugged canyons and broad flood plains to its confluence with the Henry's Fork near Menan Buttes. Located near some of the world's best known recreation areas -- including #Yellowstone and #GrandTeton National Parks -- the South Fork is home to 126 bird species, moose, deer and an impressive array of other wildlife. Plus, it's a great place to see fall colors in full bloom! Photo by Jessica Gottlieb, @mypubliclands. by usinterior

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The Tadpoles of IC 410 The Tadpoles of IC 410

This telescopic close-up shows off the otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410. It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond of gas and dust below and right of center, the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. Composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star formation. Sculpted by winds and radiation from the cluster stars, their heads are outlined by bright ridges of ionized gas while their tails trail away from the cluster's central region. IC 410 lies some 10,000 light-years away, toward the nebula-rich constellation Auriga. via NASA http://ift.tt/1OIsvOj

Located in south-central #Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef #NationalPark is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes and bridges. Pictured here are cottonwood trees in front of the Castle in #CapitolReef. Photo by Glenn Nagel (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl) by usinterior

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Kenya Morning Moon, Planets and Taurid Kenya Morning Moon, Planets and Taurid

On November 8, a waning crescent Moon joined the continuing parade of planets in Earth's early morning skies. Captured here from Amboseli National Park, Kenya, even the overexposed moonlight can't washout brilliant Venus though, lined up near the ecliptic plane with faint Mars and bright Jupiter above. As if Moon and planets aren't enough, a comparably bright Taurid meteor also streaks through the scene. In fact November's Taurid meteor showers have had a high proportion of bright fireballs. Apparently streaming from radiants in Taurus, the meteors are caused by our fair planet's annual passage through debris from Comet 2P/Encke. The comet's dust grains are catching up with Earth's atmosphere at a relatively low speed of about 27 kilometers per second. via NASA http://ift.tt/1O5pLr7

How many #baldeagles can you fit in a single tree? Apparently, at least 50! Chuck Hilliard took this pic back in 2012 along the #NooksackRiver near Deming, #Washington. The eagles gather here for the early winter to feed on spawning chum salmon. Chuck’s explanation of why there were so many eagles the tree: The eagle parents appeared to be supervising their young as they fed on the salmon. “If an adult from outside this area flew in and harassed the young, the parental adults would fly down and run it off. It was pretty cool watching and listening,” he said. Photo courtesy of Chuck Hilliard. by usinterior

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From the summit of Haleakalā, it can seem like you’re on top of the world. Above the clouds, the sun rising below you, the beauty of #Haleakalā #NationalPark in #Hawaii is truly inspiring. This special place vibrates with stories of ancient and modern Hawaiian culture and protects the bond between the land and its people. Photo courtesy of Chris Archer (@archer357). Want to be featured on @USInterior’s account? We’re partnering with @CBSThisMorning to share amazing sunrise photo from America’s national parks and other public lands. Tag your photos with #SunriseThisMorning for a chance to have one of your photos appear on our feeds! by usinterior

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