Aurora on Ice Aurora on Ice

Not from a snowglobe, this expansive fisheye view of ice and sky was captured on February 1, from Jökulsárlón Beach, southeast Iceland, planet Earth. Chunks of glacial ice on the black sand beach glisten in the light of a nearly full moon surrounded by a shining halo. The 22 degree lunar halo itself is created by ice crystals in high, thin clouds refracting the moonlight. Despite the bright moonlight, curtains of aurora still dance through the surreal scene. In early February, their activity was triggered by Earth's restless magnetosphere and the energetic wind from a coronal hole near the Sun's south pole. Bright Jupiter, also near opposition, is visible at the left, beyond the icy lunar halo. via NASA http://ift.tt/1B4UFfv

This weekend, have some fun in the great outdoors with free entry to America’s public lands, like #JoshuaTree #NationalPark in #California (pictured here). All weekend, entrance fees will be waived for national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands in celebration of Presidents Day. Photo @joshuatreenps by Manish Mamtani (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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Every year thousands get engaged and married on America’s public lands — making these special places part of their love story. Thank you for loving our national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands so much. Visit http://ift.tt/1wfqlHt to watch the sweetest #Valentine’sDay video ever! Photo of #Glacier #NationalPark (@glaciernps) in Montana. by usinterior

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Exploring the Antennae Exploring the Antennae

Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. The stars in the two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide in the course of the ponderous cataclysm, lasting hundreds of millions of years. But their large clouds of molecular gas and dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning about 500 thousand light-years, this stunning composited view also reveals new star clusters and matter flung far from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal forces. The remarkable collaborative image is a mosaic constructed using data from small and large ground-based telescopes to bring out large-scale and faint tidal streams, composited with the bright cores imaged in extreme detail by the Hubble Space Telescope. Of course, the suggestive visual appearance of the extended arcing structures gives the galaxy pair its popular name - The Antennae. via NASA http://ift.tt/1F0oGhN

America's public lands are full of stunning sights, like this early morning shot of #GrandTeton #NationalPark in #Wyoming. Low clouds blanket Mount Moran after the park's first snow of the season. This weekend, visit America's national parks (including @grandtetonnps), wildlife refuges and other public lands for free! Photo by Daniel D'Auria (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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#VirginIslands National Park is a tropical paradise with breathtaking hills, valleys and beaches. With 7,000-plus acres on the island of St. John, Virgin Islands #NationalPark offers snow-white sand dotted by palm trees, coral reefs, pre-historic sites and Bay Rum Tree forests. Pictured here is the park's Trunk Bay at #sunset. Trunk Bay is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and features a 225-yard long underwater snorkeling trail. Photo by Kerry Childers (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years distant toward the constellation of Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices). This Hubble Space Telescope image of M100 was made in 2009 and reveals bright blue star clusters and intricate winding dust lanes which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies. Studies of variable stars in M100 have played an important role in determining the size and age of the Universe. If you know exactly where to look, you can find a small spot that is a light echo from a bright supernova that was recorded a few years before the image was taken. via NASA http://ift.tt/1vixXcG

There is no place quite like Bryce Canyon #NationalPark in #Utah. Bryce is famous for its worldly unique geology, consisting of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters and spires of rocks. In honor of President's Day, experience the beauty of #BryceCanyon first hand with free entrance to the park (and all other public lands) this weekend. #Sunrise photo of Bryce Canyon National Park by Emmett Quaine (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl). by usinterior

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About halfway between #Hawaii and #AmericanSamoa lies Palmyra Atoll National #WildlifeRefuge — a remote, tropical getaway. #PalmyraAtoll consists of a circular string of about 50 islets nestled among several lagoons and encircled by 15,000 acres of shallow turquoise reefs and deep blue submerged reefs. The refuge’s lush vegetation supports over a million birds of 29 species — including the second largest red-footed booby colony in the world — and is the only nesting habitat for migratory seabirds and shorebirds within 450,000 square miles of ocean. Recreational diving and snorkeling programs offer visitors a chance to view the area’s colorful coral reef ecosystem, while hiking and kayaking tours give visitors the opportunity to see some of the refuge’s wildlife. @USFWS photo. by usinterior

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An Extremely Long Filament on the Sun An Extremely Long Filament on the Sun

Yesterday, the Sun exhibited one of the longest filaments ever recorded. It may still be there today. Visible as the dark streak just below the center in the featured image, the enormous filament extended across the face of the Sun a distance even longer than the Sun's radius -- over 700,000 kilometers. A filament is actually hot gas held aloft by the Sun's magnetic field, so that viewed from the side it would appear as a raised prominence. The featured image shows the filament in light emitted by hydrogen and therefore highlights the Sun's chromosphere. Sun-following telescopes including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) are tracking this unusual feature, with SDO yesterday recording a spiraling magnetic field engulfing it. Since filaments typically last only from hours to days, parts of this one may collapse or erupt at any time, either returning hot plasma back to the Sun or expelling it into the Solar System. Is the filament still there? You can check by clicking on SDO's current solar image. via NASA http://ift.tt/1E0Wes9