Data Suggest Explosion Created Youngest Black Hole
New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The remnant appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star.
Landsat 'Doing Great' in Orbit
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission spacecraft is safely in orbit and sending telemetry back to Earth after a 1:02 p.m. EST liftoff. After about three months of testing, the U.S. Geological Survey will take control and the mission, renamed Landsat 8, will extend more than 40 years of global land observations critical to energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture.
Mars Rock Takes Unusual Form
On Mars, as on Earth, sometimes things can take on an unusual appearance. A case in point is a shiny-looking rock seen in a recent image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
Some casual observers might see a resemblance to a car door handle, hood ornament or some other type of metallic object.
Satellite Views of Nor'easter Lifespan
NASA and NOAA satellites have provided animations and images of the coupling of two low pressure areas that created the now historic winter-time nor'easter that brought more than two feet of snow to portions of the New England states on Feb. 8 and 9, 2013. NASA released an animation of NOAA satellite imagery that shows the lifetime of the historic nor'easter.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 – Earth Flyby Reality Check
Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on Feb. 15, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites.
NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth.