Happy #VeteransDay from Interior! Every year, our nation's #publiclands welcome thousands of veterans and active-duty servicemen and women -- providing them with a place to recreate, recover and help restore mind and body. Pictured here is Army veteran Erin Shae Johns with other veterans at #CedarMesa in #Utah. With many miles of spectacular canyons lined with cliffs cut across the mesa, Cedar Mesa is a popular area for hiking and backpacking. For more photos of military members enjoying public lands, check out our Veterans Day video at http://ift.tt/1wfqlHt. by usinterior

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The Protoplanetary Disk of HL Tauri from ALMA The Protoplanetary Disk of HL Tauri from ALMA

Why does this giant disk have gaps? The exciting and probable answer is: planets. A mystery is how planets massive enough to create these gaps formed so quickly, since the HL Tauri star system is only about one million years old. The picture on which the gaps were discovered was taken with the new Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of telescopes in Chile. ALMA imaged the protoplanetary disk, which spans about 1,500 light-minutes across, in unprecedented detail, resolving features as small as 40 light minutes. The low energy light used by ALMA was also able to peer through an intervening haze of gas and dust. The HL Tauri system lies about 450 light years from Earth. Studying HL Tauri will likely give insight into how our own Solar System formed and evolved. via NASA http://ift.tt/1tZI60q

Known for majestic mountains and beautiful lakes, Rocky Mountain #NationalPark in Colorado includes a range of climates and environments -- from wooden forests to mountain tundra. Celebrate #VeteransDay tomorrow with free entrance to all national parks (including #RockyMountain), wildlife refuges and other public lands. Photo of a #rainbow at @RockyNPS by Anne Barhyte (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Happy birthday, #Badlands National Park in #SouthDakota. First established as a national monument in 1939, Badlands was redesignated as a #nationalpark in 1978. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets live today. This photo was captured by Harlan Humphrey at #sunrise in the South Unit of Badlands National Park. From http://ift.tt/18oFfjl by usinterior

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The Cat's Eye Nebula from Hubble The Cat's Eye Nebula from Hubble

To some, it may look like a cat's eye. The alluring Cat's Eye nebula, however, lies three thousand light-years from Earth across interstellar space. A classic planetary nebula, the Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) represents a final, brief yet glorious phase in the life of a sun-like star. This nebula's dying central star may have produced the simple, outer pattern of dusty concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers in a series of regular convulsions. But the formation of the beautiful, more complex inner structures is not well understood. Seen so clearly in this digitally sharpened Hubble Space Telescope image, the truly cosmic eye is over half a light-year across. Of course, gazing into this Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years. via NASA http://ift.tt/1slJkh9

#KingsCanyon National Park in #California testifies to nature's size, beauty and diversity with huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns and the world's largest trees. The park lies side-by-side to #Sequoia #NationalPark in the southern Sierra Nevada. This #VeteransDay, you can visit to all national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands for free. Pictured here is Bullfrog Lake by David Palefsky (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660 Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660

NGC 660 is featured in this cosmic snapshot, a sharp composite of broad and narrow band filter image data from the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea. Over 20 million light-years away and swimming within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces, NGC 660's peculiar appearance marks it as a polar ring galaxy. A rare galaxy type, polar ring galaxies have a substantial population of stars, gas, and dust orbiting in rings nearly perpendicular to the plane of the galactic disk. The bizarre-looking configuration could have been caused by the chance capture of material from a passing galaxy by a disk galaxy, with the captured debris eventually strung out in a rotating ring. The violent gravitational interaction would account for the myriad pinkish star forming regions scattered along NGC 660's ring. The polar ring component can also be used to explore the shape of the galaxy's otherwise unseen dark matter halo by calculating the dark matter's gravitational influence on the rotation of the ring and disk. Broader than the disk, NGC 660's ring spans over 50,000 light-years. via NASA http://ift.tt/1uKiA1h

One of five national #wildlife refuges in #RhodeIsland, Sachuest Point is a 242-acre #refuge that is a popular spot for birdwatching. The refuge is home to the second largest wintering population of harlequin ducks on the Atlantic coast, along with other colorful birds. Experience the beautiful of #SachuestPoint first hand with free entrance to the refuge (and all other public lands) on #VeteransDay. Photo by Chris Hunter (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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The Map of Dione The Map of Dione

This cylindrical projection global map is one of six new color maps of Saturn's midsized icy moons, constructed using 10 years of image data from the Cassini spacecraft. Discovered by Cassini (the astronomer) in 1684, Dione is about 1,120 kilometers across. Based on data extending from infrared to ultraviolet, the full resolution of this latest space-age map is 250 meters per pixel. The remarkable brightness difference between the tidally locked moon's lighter leading hemisphere (right) and darker trailing hemisphere clearly stands out. Like other Saturn moons orbiting within the broad E-ring, Dione's leading hemisphere is kept shiny as it picks up a coating of the faint ring's icy material. The E-ring material is constantly replenished by geysers on moon Enceladus' south pole. Lighter, younger surface fractures also appear to cross the dark, cratered trailing hemisphere. via NASA http://ift.tt/1tjB9lM

Known for its expansive sand beaches, diverse landscape and spectacular ocean views, #PointReyes #NationalSeashore has more than 150 miles of hiking trails to explore this coastal beauty. And it can all be found about an hour from San Francisco. Photo by James McCool (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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