Jbrackettssa - John Brackett, NASA / JPL Solar System Ambassador

As @kuiperkat said, all the cool kids are doing it. #tothemoonandback https://www.instagram.com/p/CMBSVo9j58l/?igshid=1r2ifm8ptjqss

My Jupiter image from yesterday has been selected as a featured image on the front page of NASA’s Mission Juno site almost one year after another one of my images was featured. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-I85-DtzV/?igshid=17bv4zigqmnrw

Jupiter and Saturn from my driveway earlier this evening. #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CUWWZIDsNzg/?utm_medium=tumblr

Venus - April, 2020 Celestron 127slt mak, iPhone 8 #celestron127slt #backyardastronomy #backyardastrophotography https://www.instagram.com/p/B-lSrmqnBO6/?igshid=652ixl3c34xx

My latest Mission Juno image, “Down South”... PJ33 Southern Latitudes. Color/Contrast adjusted, denoised Image Credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / John Brackett #nasa #missionjuno #jupiter #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUbXIJDlji/?utm_medium=tumblr

I waited 44 years to be this close to an Orbiter. Nice to meet you, Atlantis. You look amazing! #spaceshuttleatlantis #spaceshuttle #ksc #kennedyspacecenter #nasa #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CP_DCSCDQtg/?utm_medium=tumblr

OSIRIS-REx Captures Laser 3D View of Bennu

NASA - OSIRIS-REx Mission patch. April 8, 2019

This three-dimensional view of asteroid Bennu was created by the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA), contributed by the Canadian Space Agency, on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. From Feb. 12 through 17, OLA made more than 11 million measurements of the distance between OSIRIS-REx and Bennu’s surface as the spacecraft flew less than 1.2 miles (2 km) above the surface – the closest orbit ever achieved by spacecraft. OLA obtained these measurements by firing laser pulses at Bennu and measuring the amount of time it takes for the light to bounce off the asteroid’s surface and return to the instrument. That time measurement is then translated into altitude data. Using this data, the OLA team created the 3-D model of Bennu’s surface.

OSIRIS-REx orbiting Bennu

The colors represent the distance from the center of Bennu: dark blue areas lie approximately 197 feet (60 meters) lower than peaks indicated in red. Some parts of the asteroid have not yet been measured, which creates gaps in the image. OLA will take nearly a billion more measurements throughout 2019 to complete the first-ever high-resolution 3D lidar map of a near-Earth asteroid. OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/osiris-rex/index.html Animation, Image, Text, Credits: NASA/Karl Hille/University of Arizona/CSA/York/MDA. Greetings, Orbiter.ch Full article

What a day! Video from the landing! Raw images to work with! This is so cool! @nasajpl @nasa @nasasolarsystem #perseverance #percy #mars2020 #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CLn80E2D2Jx/?igshid=j6nbbbsv9hbr

NASA is asking for volunteers to help find the hypothetical Planet 9. The project, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, has users check telescope images the same way Clyde Tombaugh found Pluto. So far, volunteers have already found over 100 brown dwarfs.

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Saturn...

Took the telescope rig out to see if I could finally get a look at Saturn this Summer. It seemed every time I wanted to go out, it was cloudy, rainy, or I was already exhausted from the day. Other times, it would be a perfect evening, but I was nowhere near my home and scope.

On Tuesday, 8/6/2019, I saw the rings of Saturn for the first time through my own scope. There’s almost an emotional aspect added when it’s your own equipment you’re observing through. Anyway, here is my first ever capture of Saturn taken with an iPhone 8 and a Celestron 127slt mak.