Physics in Pictures by Topic
Space & the Universe
Don't Eat This! A Recipe for "Nuclear Pasta"
The interior of a neutron star plays host to strange phases of matter unlike anything seen here on Earth.
An Astronomically Powerful Debut: Herbig-Haro Objects
The birth of a star produces spectacularly fast-moving bursts of particles.
Black Hole Sun: Quasi-Stars
Stars are powered by nuclear fusion, but the early universe may have played host to quasi-stars, astronomical behemoths with black holes at the center.
Coronal Loops
Plasma arcs from the surface of the sun, guided back down by powerful magnetic field lines.
Jupiter's Little Red Spot
On its way to Pluto, New Horizons caught a glimpse of Jupiter's smaller blemish
Perihelion and Eccentricity
Learn about the Earth's farthest point from the sun with a lesson in eccentricity
Watery Blue Sunset
An artistically adapted image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory reveals the sun in a new light
Spooky Nebula
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory snapped this photo of the haunting SH2 136 Nebula.
Cassini's View of Alpha Centauri
An image of our nearest star system neighbor, Alpha Centauri, taken by the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn.
Endeavour's Flight Home
The retired Space Shuttle Endeavour stopped in Houston, Texas before heading to Los Angeles for permanent display.
Dream Chaser
The Dream Chaser spacecraft performs a test flight over Boulder, Colorado's flatiron rock formations.
Dark Energy Camera
A 570-megapixel camera attached to a telescope will help scientists uncover the mysteries of dark energy.
Rover Debris
Before landing on Mars' surface, the Curiosity Rover images its parachute's crash site.
Topographic Moon Map
This is the highest resolution topographic map of the moon to date taken from information gathered by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
The Aurora Borealis
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake, Eielson Air Force Base. Find out about the physics behind this phenomenon.
Moon Tracks
This isn’t a new flavor of ice cream. No, this photo taken from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the marks left behind by Apollo 17.
MESSENGER Measures Up
The Sun’s closest neighbor, Mercury, now has a spacecraft zooming around its orbit. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury on Thursday , March 17th, 2011 around 9 p.m. EDT. This is the first spacecraft to begin orbiting Mercury, a milestone for US space exploration.
Rocky Planet: Kepler 10b
The Kepler Spacecraft, after nearly 8 months of collecting data (May 2009 – January 2010), discovered an exoplanet, Kepler 10b, that orbits a star other than our sun.
It’s Raining Antimatter… Upward?
The electrons produce so many gamma rays that they shoot electrons and positrons out of the atmosphere and NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope intercepts these particles, showing evidence that thunderstorms may be producing antimatter.
Shoot the Moon!
Lasers are used to track satellites. At the Goddard Space Flight Center lasers are used to track the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is collecting data as it orbits the Moon.
It’s Raining Gamma Rays
If you happen to step outside into a thunderstorm, I bet the last thing you are concerned about is getting hit by gamma rays. A team of scientists has been using satellite data to find out where gamma ray pulses are coming from with a great deal of accuracy in order to clarify if these pulses are related to lightening.
Gamma Ray All-Sky Map
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is our high energy eye in orbit keeping a look out for big events in the universe and creating an extensive detailed map in the process. A high energy map of our universe reveals many interesting objects such as pulsars, super-massive black holes and possibly clues to its beginning.
Perfect Spheres to Test Einstein
Einstein is looking at you through a near perfect glass sphere. In fact this is the most precise sphere that humans have ever created. The surface of this little marble is so smooth that any bumps or scratches are no higher than 40 atoms. Cool! But why?
Dust devils on Mars!
What does this image look like to you? Could it be a close up of a tattoo or a lizard's back or even silly putty that was rubbed on a newspaper?
Exploding White Dwarf Star
Astrophysicists are able to "explode a star" in a virtual computational laboratory by applying physics to calculate the mechanism and progression of the explosion.
Supernovae Surprise
There's no avoiding the tragic end of a large star's life; it dies in a catastrophic explosion called a supernova.
Red Rover, Red Rover
With dwindling hope, scientists at the European Space Agency have awaited a nine-note musical message, much like the sound I hear on my daughter's cellphone when it receives a call.
Thanks for the Memories
On September 21, 2003 the spacecraft Galileo ended a 14-year mission exploring Jupiter and its four largest moons.
Structures of the Early Universe
Enormous structures in the early universe which are invisible to the unaided eye become apparent when observed using a telescope sensitive to mm-wave light.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Tadpole
Against a stunning backdrop of thousands of galaxies, this odd-looking galaxy with the long streamer of stars appears to be racing through space, like a runaway pinwheel firework.
High-Speed Chase
Relativity theory insists that no matter what speed you choose for your spaceship--snail-like or close to light speed--the laws of physics always look the same.
Galaxies Galore
Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute today unveiled the deepest portrait of the visible universe ever achieved by humankind.
Plasma Jets
From the surface of the sun to the violent cores of quasars, many astrophysical objects shoot plasma in sharply defined streams, guided by magnetic fields.
Photonic Phocus
Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute today unveiled the deepest portrait of the visible universe ever achieved by humankind.
Wholly Ozone
According to recent research, cosmic rays may be enlarging the hole in the ozone layer.
The Circle Game
Like a planet orbiting the sun, some ideas keep coming around. In the 1920s, the inventors of quantum mechanics scuttled the notion that an atom behaves like a tiny solar system.
Corona... Gasp!
In late October 2002, the time that some parts of the world were observing autumn’s explosion of color, the Sun gave a colorful show of its own to solar physicists.
