On 1 February NASA released the first video from GRAIL, its newest moon mission. As part of the mission twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow are orbiting the moon, and Ebb has captured a video of the moon’s far side. Awesome!
The Gravity Recover and Interior Laboratory or GRAIL for short consists of two robotic probes – GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B (named Ebb and Flow by school children in January 2012). The probes are orbiting the moon in tandem, using variations in the radio signals between them to help study the moon’s gravity with the overall goal of the mission understanding more about the formation of our solar system.
GRAIL is the first robotic planetary mission to carry equipment for the sole purpose of education. One piece of equipment that both probes carry is a MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students), which will allow students (in the U.S) to study specific parts of the moon helping inspire them to consider careers in science and engineering.
So here we are with the final five images from the ESO Top 100 Images series. The 340-million pixel starscape from Paranal at number 4 is without doubt one of our favourite from the series (view as 1280px × 734px image here). We hope you have enjoyed viewing these 100 images over the last few months as much as we have. Enjoy!
# 5 - NGC 2264 and the Christmas Tree cluster - Credit: ESO
# 4 - A 340-million pixel starscape from Paranal - Credit: ESO/S. Guisard (www.eso.org/~sguisard)
# 3 - VST image of the star-forming region Messier 17 - Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute
# 2 - The Helix Nebula - Credit: ESO
# 1 - VISTA's infrared view of the Orion Nebula - Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Only ten images to go now in this amazing image series and there are some crackers in the final two installments. Here are numbers 10 to 6 for your viewing pleasure.
# 10 - Messier 78: a reflection nebula in Orion - Credit: ESO/Igor Chekalin
# 9 - VST image of the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri - Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: A. Grado/INAF-Capodimonte Observatory
# 8 - The Horsehead Nebula - Credit: ESO
# 7 - NGC 2467 and Surroundings - Credit: ESO
# 6 - The Centre of the Milky Way - Credit: ESO/S. Gillessen et al.
Images from 15 to 11 now in the ESO Top 100 Images series. The 360-degree Panorama of the Southern Sky is amazing – just look how alive The Milky Way is as it arches across the night sky.
# 15 - Rare 360-degree Panorama of the Southern Sky - Credit: ESO/H.H. Heyer
# 14 - The future ALMA array on Chajnantor (artist’s rendering) - Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Calçada (ESO)
# 13 - Early Morning on Paranal - Credit: ESO/H.H. Heyer
# 12 - The hidden fires of the Flame Nebula - Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
# 11 - Panoramic view of the WR 22 and Eta Carinae regions of the Carina Nebula - Credit: ESO
Images 20 down to 16 for your enjoyment in the long-lasting ESO Top 100 Images series. Numbers 16 and 17 have to be my favourites in this installment. What do you think?
