Image description: Based on recent observations from two observatories, this computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole destroying a star in a galaxy 2.7 billion light-years away. The victim in this stellar homicide was ripped apart by the gravitational forces of the black hole. Some of the star’s remains fell into the hole, while the rest was ejected at high speeds. Learn more about this discovery.
Image courtesy of NASA.
Image description: Venus passing across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.
Watch NASA’s live coverage of the Transit of Venus.
Image from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.
The planet Venus will pass in front of the sun today, a spectacle that won’t happen again this century.
As Venus passes, what looks like a small dot will appear on the face of the sun. NASA experts say the best time to view the event in the United States is around sunset.
If you can’t get outside to watch the transit of Venus live, NASA will be live-streaming the event.
At John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, space shuttle Enterprise was removed from NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) early Sunday morning. Enterprise will be placed on a barge that will move by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June.
The shuttle will be lifted by crane and placed on the flight deck of the Intrepid, where it will be on exhibit to the public starting this summer in a temporary climate-controlled pavilion. The Intrepid continues to work on a permanent exhibit facility to showcase Enterprise that will enhance the museum’s space-related exhibits and education curriculum.
Video from NASA
Image description: The SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft approaches the International Space Station on May 24, 2012 for a series of tests to clear it for its final rendezvous and grapple on May 25.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule, which on Tuesday became the first commercially developed and built spacecraft to launch to the International Space Station, is carrying among its cargo a suite of 15 science experiments designed by students.
Learn more about SpaceX from NASA.
