Research Gallery

MAP microwave background

Cosmic microwave background. Whole sky image of the cosmic microwave background made by the MAP (Microwave Anisotropy Probe) spacecraft. This map indicates that the age of the universe is around 13.7 billion years. The data also reveal that the universe is expanding at 71 kilometres per second per megaparsec (1 Mpc = 3262 light years). The colours reveal variations in the temperature of the universe in all directions. This correlates to the density of material at the time when the universe became transparent to radiation, about 380, 000 years after its creation. The denser regions (red, yellow) formed the seeds of galaxies and other structures. Data obtained in 2003

© NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Fusion research, tokamak device

Nuclear fusion research. Cutaway computer artwork of the planned ITER tokamak device. It will be the first full scale fusion device to produce energy at a level of an electricity-producing power station. It works by magnetically compressing a plasma so that the atoms fuse. The ITER consortium consists of Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe. ITER is an acronym for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, and is also Latin for "the way". Nuclear fusion is the joining (fusing) of light elements to form heavier elements, which releases large amounts of energy. It is hoped that fusion will be a clean, renewable energy source for the future

© ITER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Aurora over Antarctica, satellite image

Aurora over Antarctica, ultraviolet satellite image. Australia is at upper left. This is the aurora australis (green ring), the southern lights display. It is caused by interactions between charged particles from the Sun (the solar wind) and gas atoms and molecules about 100 kilometres above the Earth. On reaching Earth, the charged particles are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the poles, where they collide with gas atoms and molecules, causing them to emit light. This display, on 11 September 2005, was caused by a large solar flare. The aurora image was obtained by NASA's IMAGE satellite, which carried out a five year study of Earth's magnetic field

© NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY