NASA Shares the 20 Best Pics from space.

Photograph by Scott Kelly / NASA

On March 27, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly launched to the International Space Station. He surpassed the previous record for time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut on Oct. 16, 2015. After his return, he will have spent a total of 520 days in space across four space missions.

During the 340 days of this mission – which spanned four space station expeditions – Kelly and his one-year crewmate, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, have participated in a variety of research that will help scientists better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight. That knowledge will play a critical role in future NASA missions deeper into the solar system and on the Journey to Mars, in which a round-trip mission is likely to last 500 days or longer.
In the last 340 days, Kelly has shared hundreds of incredible photos from space on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

NASA recently shared a 45-picture Flickr gallery entitled, Best Pics from #c. You can find all of the stunning images below.

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Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of the polar vortex taken from the International Space Station  “That #polarvortex even looks cold from here! #Burr! #YearInSpace”

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Earth observation taken during a night pass by the Expedition 46 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, “Day 318. Over a #Shanghai night. Wishes for a happy #ChineseNewYear! #GoodNight from @iss! #YearInSpace #LunarNewYear #YearoftheMonkey #China #earth #space #spacestation #iss”

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Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo taken inside the International Space Station after a cargo delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables on Instagram with the caption, “#TuesdayTransformation Enjoying the fruits of labor, literally. #YearInSpace #zeroG #fresh #fruit #ISSCargo #HTV5 #spacefood #space”.

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Night Earth observation of Japan taken by Expedition 44 crewmember Scott Kelly, with a Soyuz Spacecraft connected to the Mini Research Module 1 (MRM1), and a Progress Spacecraft visible. “#Goodevening #Japan. Showing @Astro_Kimiya how to take pictures of #Earth at night. #YearInSpace.”

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Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of Spain taken from the International Space Station on Instagram with the caption, “Color palette of the #Spanish coast is an appealing morning view. #GoodMorning from @ISS! #YearInSpace #colors #colorful #earth #space #spacestation #iss #morning”.

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Earth observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 46 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo on Twitter with the caption, “Cool frozen lake in #Himalayas! #YearInSpace”

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“Glass bottom spaceship over the #Bahamas! #GoodMorning from @Space_Station! #YearInSpace”.

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“Of all the sunrises I’ve seen on my #YearInSpace, this was one of the best! One of the last too. Headed home soon.”

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GoodMorning #Egypt! Your colors never cease to amaze! 

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#MilkyWay. You’re old, dusty, gassy and warped. But beautiful. Good night from @space_station! 

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Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of the Hurricane Patricia taken from the International Space Station

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NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took a photo of Houston and the Gulf Coast as the International Space Station flew overhead.

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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft dominates the center of the view as it sits docked to the station. 

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GoodMorning to the Holy City of #Mecca #Makkah! 

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GoodMorning to those in the western #USA. Looks like there’s a lot going on down there

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Italy and the #Alps

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Twistedsifter. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

SEE JUPITER’S AURORAS LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Updated today: 29/05/2021

Huge, endless auroras cap Jupiter's poles, now brought into better view by Hubble's latest image.

First discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, the auroras were then photographed in collaboration with Cassini in 2000 and again in 2007 when New Horizons flew by.

Jupiter's auroras discovered by NASA Juno spacecraft - SlashGear

This is the first time, however, that we've seen Jupiter's aurora with the Hubble Space Telescope's ultraviolet capabilities. The north pole aurora covers an area larger than Earth, and is hundreds of times more energetic than Earth's own auroras. Jupiter's strong magnetic field and particles thrown by its moon Io help fuel the colorful display.

Auroras form when high energy particles collide with atoms of gas in the atmosphere around a planet's poles. This is important to study, since its components could reveal reactions happening within Jupiter's solar wind, a stream of charged particles ejected from the Sun.

Jupiter's vividly glowing auroras have a mysterious power source - The Verge

The images coincide with work done in Juno's approach. The spacecraft will collect data in Jupiter's solar wind, and will eventually fly over the planet's north pole in its early July close-pass, which should allow for even more stunning views. Hubble will continue to study the auroras for about a month, and the information each gathers will help better understand this mysterious giant.

Hubble Captures Vivid Auroras in Jupiter's Atmosphere 

This composite video illustrates the auroras on Jupiter relative to their position on the giant planet. As on Earth, auroras are produced by the interaction of a planet's magnetic field with its atmosphere. The Jupiter auroras observed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are some of the most active and brightest ever caught by Hubble, reaching intensities over a thousand times brighter than those seen on Earth. Hubble's sensitivity to ultraviolet light captures the glow of the auroras above Jupiter's cloud top. The auroras were photographed on May 19, 2016, during a series of far-ultraviolet-light observations taking place as NASA's Juno spacecraft approaches and enters into orbit around Jupiter. 

Jupiter: Auroras Light Up Poles Time Magazine

The aim of the program is to determine how Jupiter's auroras respond to changing conditions in the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted from the sun. The full-color disk of Jupiter in this video was separately photographed at a different time by Hubble's Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program, a long-term Hubble project that annually captures global maps of the outer planets. Auroras are formed when charged particles in the space surrounding the planet are accelerated to high energies along the planet's magnetic field.

Rare glimpse of two of Jupiter's auroras reveal they're dancing to different beats - The Verge

 When the particles hit the atmosphere near the magnetic poles, they cause it to glow like gases in a fluorescent light fixture. Jupiter's magnetosphere is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's. These observations will reveal how the solar system's largest and most powerful magnetosphere behaves. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), and G. Bacon (STScI) Acknowledgment: A. Simon (NASA/GSFC) and the OPAL team.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by NASA. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.