National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

PHOTO: Black Forest Fire From Space

Jim Hill — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:06:11 +0000

The Black Forest Fire was confirmed to have grown radically in size overnight. This NASA photo shows the size of fire Wednesday.

See Six Wildfires Burning In Colorado And New Mexico From Space

Jim Hill — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:12:36 +0000

The southwest is dry and faces another long wildfire season. That's a reality demonstrated by this satellite photo posted by NASA Tuesday.

Huge Asteroid Makes Its Closest Pass To Earth Today

Bill Chappell — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:08:00 +0000

An asteroid nine times the size of a cruise ship is dropping by Earth on Friday, and it's not coming alone. Asteroid 1998 QE2 will be about 3.6 million miles from our planet at its closest approach.

Headed To Mars? Watch Out For Cosmic Rays

Thu, 30 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

There was great fanfare when the Mars Science Laboratory launched in November 2011, and again when its precious cargo — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity — touched down on the red planet in August 2012.

The eight months in between had drama of their own. Curiosity was constantly bombarded with radiation as it traveled through space — high-energy protons thrown out by the sun, and galactic cosmic rays slicing through the solar system from distant supernovas.

Here on Earth, the magnetic field and atmosphere shield us from most of this radiation.

Ring Nebula Is More Like A Jelly Doughnut, NASA Says

Bill Chappell — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:08:00 +0000

The Ring Nebula, whose iconic shape and large size make it a favorite of amateur astronomers, can now be seen in new detail, after NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a sharp image of the nebula. Researchers say the new clarity reveals details that were previously unseen, and a structure that's more complex than scientists had believed.

"The nebula is not like a bagel, but rather, it's like a jelly doughnut, because it's filled with material in the middle," says C. Robert O'Dell of Vanderbilt University, who leads a team of researchers studying the Ring Nebula.