Space Contents Archive

On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy presented Alan Shepard with @NASA's Distinguished Service Medal after his Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) flight that made him the first American in space. https://t.co/NoNBpj2VGO

This has been posted before, but I can just stare at this for hours. This is the surface of Venus.

A Martian view of Earth #OTD in 2003 the Mars Global Surveyor captured this view of the Earth and our Moon from its orbit around Mars. By studying Mars over several years, this spacecraft observed the planet's weather patterns, new impact craters, and changes to its polar ice. https://t.co/LzNJHc68Fa

Astronaut Scott Kelly nursed dying space zinnias back to health on the International Space Station.

This Crater on Mars is Just a Couple of Years Old https://t.co/VEYju8GEE8 Image via @HiRISE article by @Nancy_A https://t.co/On8UDS2m5k

Ganymede, Jupiter's moon, as seen by the Juno probe in 2021. It is the largest moon in the solar system (more than 2x the mass of our moon), and has its own magnetic field.

Florals? In space? Groundbreaking 🌸

Happy #MothersDay from all of us at NASA. Orbiting 260 miles above our home planet comes with some pretty spectacular views, but life aboard the ISS is missing some of the creature comforts of home like a breeze, pizza or the sound of a gentle rainstorm.

Grown in 2015 by current #Crew4 astronaut astro_kjell, these zinnias were some of the first flowers to bloom in space. Growing plants can provide a nice reprieve from other experiments conducted on the orbiting laboratory—all of which help us learn about our planet, understand our place amongst the stars, and guide us towards new frontiers.

Gardening aboard the space station lets the astronauts express their inner green thumb, but it has a dual purpose: it also provides valuable intel on how to grow food for future missions, like the #Artemis program's journey to the Moon and beyond.   Credit: NASA   #Space #FlowerPower #NASA #Crew4 #GreenThumb

#ICYMI, our Sun has been a little busy lately! ☀️ In the past few weeks, the Sun has emitted several moderate-to-significant solar flares, or intense bursts of energy released from the solar atmosphere. Solar flares don't harm Earth's surface, thanks to our own atmosphere, but strong flares can temporarily impact radio communications. Read more about our favorite star's latest outbursts at the link in our bio! 📸 : A close-up of the lower left quadrant of the Sun, zooming in on a bright white-yellow eruption bursting from the solar surface. The Sun appears in deep golden yellow, with a mottled, swirling surface. Near the right side of the image, a lighter yellow swirl highlights another active region.

On the 77th anniversary of VE Day (the end of World War II in Europe), explore #WorldWarII aircraft in our collection: https://t.co/ldQiHJPrsw 📷: Supermarine Spitfire, P-61 Black Widow, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang https://t.co/7N2irwVekT

Night Sky & Star Trails over Santa Cruz Mountains

A Supermassive Black Hole Just Flipped its Entire Magnetic Field - https://t.co/2Ouw9Vz7K8 by @BrianKoberlein https://t.co/ffFZe6Hz6Y

What’s the dark spot? Collimation issue?

Milky Way and a meteor, Chile

Shot down by the 204th AAA Battalion in Eschwege, Germany, on this day in 1945, this German Junkers Ju 88 is believed to be the last enemy aircraft shot down by U.S. forces in Europe before the end of #WorldWarII: https://t.co/hXzHQtdao8 https://t.co/KfL0WL1DZX

How do I process multiple FITS files in Python?

Hi everyone, I’m a second semester astronomy student with limited python knowledge. I have around 180 fits files that I would like to process in python using calibration frames, but I’m not sure how to write a program that will process each file without having to define each file separately (never done this with more that 5 light frames). I also can’t seem to find an explanation on Google. Any suggestions/tips on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!