Time-lapse animation of Jupiter's moon Io in eclipse

Type: Animated GIF

As the Cassini spacecraft passed through the Jovian system on its way to Saturn, it captured more than 500 images of Io during the eclipse of January 2001 where Io passed through Jupiter's shadow. Glowing aurorae can be seen around the edge of the disk, bright points indicate hot lava, and the prominent glow in the lower right portion of the disk is the volcano Pele.

For information, images, and more animations:
Cassini Observations of Io's Visible Aurorae

Apollo 11 Panorama

Type: QuickTime VR (free QTVR viewer)

This panorama was collected by Neil Armstrong from a spot east of the landing module while Buzz Aldrin was unloading the science packages. The object with the handle between Neil and the lander is the Gold Camera, which was used to take close-up photos of the very top layer of the lunar soil.

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See more panoramas and images:
The View from an Astronaut's Eyes: Apollo Mission Lunar Exploration Media Gallery

Comet Borrelly Animation

Type: Animated GIF

The Deep Space 1 (DS-1) spacecraft flew by the comet Borrelly on September 22, 2001, providing the highest resolution imagery ever collected of a comet to date. MICAS Images with phase angles ranging from approximately 80° to 50° were used to produce this animated movie.

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For more images and animations of comet Borrelly:
Deep Space 1 MICAS Data and Information

Mars Summer Polar Cap

Type: Animated GIF

The animation is composed of two composite albedo images of the martian north polar cap from the martian mid-summer in 1999 (May 9-21) and 2001 (March 27 - April 7). The color scheme represents albedo (surface brightness) where red is the brightest and purple is the darkest. Regions with albedo less than .23 are soil (purple-blue). Regions brighter than 0.23 are covered with water ice. The brightest regions (red) are covered with frost from condensing water in the atmosphere. The animation shows interannual variations in the cap brightness, suggesting a variation in frost formation from year to year. A greater understanding of the processes that cause summer frost formation on the northern cap will help NASA and the scientific community discover how water on Mars is transported.

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For information, images, and more animations:
Mars Global Surveyor: Thermal Emission Spectrometer