NASA Gallery

Behemoth Black Hole

This computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. The black region in the center represents the black hole's event horizon, where no light can escape the massive object's gravitational grip. The black hole's powerful gravity distorts space around it like a funhouse mirror. Light from background stars is stretched and smeared as the stars skim by the black hole.
Credits: NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (STScI)

© NASA

Artwork, Asteroid, Astronomy, Colliding, Color Image, Concepts, Cosmology, Creativity

Artwork, Asteroid, Astronomy, Colliding, Color Image, Concepts, Cosmology, Creativity, Danger, Destruction, Digitally Generated Image, Discovery, Emergencies And Disasters, Exploding, Exploration, Galaxy, Horizontal, Illustration And Painting, Illustrative Technique, Impact, Mystery, Natural Disaster, No People, Planet, Planetary Science, Polar Climate, Science, Science And Technology, Space, Space Exploration, Star, The End, Universe, Space, NASA, 85758217

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Martian Impact Crater

A dramatic, fresh impact crater dominates this image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 19, 2013.
The crater spans approximately 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter and is surrounded by a large, rayed blast zone. Because the terrain where the crater formed is dusty, the fresh crater appears blue in the enhanced color of the image, due to removal of the reddish dust in that area. Debris tossed outward during the formation of the crater is called ejecta. In examining ejecta's distribution, scientists can learn more about the impact event. The explosion that excavated this crater threw ejecta as far as 9.3 miles (15 kilometers)

© NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona