Sequence illustrating the probable origin of the solar system starting from a cloud of gas and rotating gas. In the frames: aggregation of planets.
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The Earth and the Moon.
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In 1986 Voyager 2 flew by Uranus, transmitting pictures and scientific information to the Earth.
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Jupiter's ring taken by Voyager 2.
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The great surprise of Neptune's atmosphere are these high-altitude cirrus clouds made of frozen methane.
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Iapetus, Saturn's farthest moon.
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The pressure in Titan's atmosphere is 60% greater than on the surface of the Earth.
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Titan is Saturn's largest moon and the only one in the solar system that has a stable atmosphere, consisting mainly of nitrogen.
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Voyager's instruments to measure plasma, cosmic rays and low-energy particles.
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Voyager's infrared and ultraviolet instruments and photopolarimeter.
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Jupiter and the four Galilean Satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Photomontage.
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Saturn and its major satellites: Titan, Iapetus, Tethys, Mimas, Enceladus, Dione and Rhea. Photomontage.
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From a geological point of view, Enceladus is Saturn's most highly evolved moon.
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The satellite Mimas has a huge crater that encircles an icy peak higher than Mount Everest.
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The moon Dione.
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The moon Rhea has lighter streaks which might have been created by recent flows of ice from under the surface.
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The moon Tethys has a vast canyon (Ithaca Chasma) that extends for three quarters of its circumference.
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Some small nameless satellites of Saturn.
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Volcanic eruption on Io. Nine volcanoes were erupting while the Voyager 1 probe flew by the moon.
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An illuminated half of Iapetus (northern hemisphere), Saturn's moon.
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Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
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Titan has a dense atmosphere consisting of nitrogen and methane.
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Mimas, one of Saturn's frozen satellites.
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Satellite 1980S26 of Saturn.
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The surface of Ganymede, consisting of iced water and rocks.
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Callisto is the second largest Galilean satellite with a diameter of 4 820 Km. and is bigger than Mercury and Pluto.
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The 27 antennas near Socorro in New Mexico ready to receive data transmitted from Voyager.
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Three large antennas located in three different points around the world tracked the Voyager missions.
This one, 64 meters high, is located in the California desert.
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Parkes Radio Observatory near Tidbinbilla, Australia.
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Pictures of Neptune taken over a 5-hour period in July 1988 from the Mauna Kea Observatory.
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Voyager.
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One hour before Voyager 2 moves alongside Triton at its closest rendez-vous point.
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The Voyager 2 probe facing Neptune.
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Neptune seen from Triton (National Geographic Magazine).
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Uranus' ring system consists of dust, large chunks of rock and ice.
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This photograph was taken with a wide-angle exposure of 96 seconds while Voyager was in Uranus' shadow.
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The photograph of the delta ring was taken during the passage of the star Sigma Sagittarius behind it.
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Surface of Miranda, Uranus' moon, with real and reprocessed colors.
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Ariel, Uranus' moon.
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Dawn on Uranus taken from a distance of 600 000 miles.
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The axis of Uranus' magnetic fields.
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Uranus' molten core is surrounded by an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.
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To eliminate disturbances during data transmissions from the probes, and especially during explorations of Uranus, an electronic link was created among the largest antennas in the world (Deep Space Network).
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The DSN antennas (Deep Space Network) in Camberra, Australia, were of primary importance during Voyager 2's approach to Uranus.
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Photomontage showing Voyager 2 close to Uranus.
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The Viking launch.
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Challenger photographed by Bruce McCandless during the tenth Shuttle mission in February 1984.
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Launch of a Space Shuttle.
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Eta Carinae Nebula.
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The Rose nebula in Monoceros shows a central area in which the interstellar matter was used to create new stars.
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This X-ray image taken from Nasa's HEAO-2 Astronomical Observatory shows a recently discovered object (top left): it is the only quasar ever observed that emits X-rays.
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Space Shuttle 35 Columbia takes off from Pad.39-B on December 2, 1990.
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The components of the payload Astro 1 against the backdrop of the Earth photographed from the stern of the Space Shuttle 35 Columbia.
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View of the Earth (France and England) from the Space Shuttle 41-G.
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Space Shuttle 38 Atlantis flies off into the night.
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Photo taken by the crew of Space Shuttle 31 showing the Space Telescope
opened on April 25, 1990.
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Space Shuttle 35 Columbia rises from Pad.38-B on December 2, 1990.
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The Discovery control system lifts the Space Telescope above the Earth's horizon before opening the antennas and the solar panels.
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The Space Telescope pointing towards Cuba and the Bahamas.
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The Space Shuttle Discovery rises into the Florida sky carrying the Space Telescope (Hubble Space Telescope).
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January 9, 1980: the Space Shuttle Columbia takes off from the Kennedy Space Center Pad.39-A into the Florida sky.
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Aldrin poses for a photograph next to the USA flag during the Apollo 11 Eva.
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New view of the Milky Way obtained from the DIRBE experiment on the COBE satellite (Cosmic Background Explorer).
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Reconstruction of the main space explorations.
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Five hours after its encounter with Neptune, Voyager 2 passes by the moon Triton.
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It is believed that Neptune's interior consists of melted ice and rock.
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Uranus' atmosphere consists of various layers of clouds.
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Triton's thin methane atmosphere.
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Triton, Neptune's largest moon: it rotates in the opposite direction of the planet, indicating that it is a wandering body that was probably captured by a comet.
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The southern hemisphere of Triton with a rough frozen surface.
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Neptune's system contains two moons, Triton and Nereide: the first satellite rotates clockwise very close to the planet, while the second one follows an elongated orbit in the opposite direction.
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A picture of Neptune's rings, obtained with a long exposure: the irregular distribution of dust in the rings had made its seem that these were incomplete arcs.
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While the Voyager probe moves away, it takes this interesting picture of Neptune (at the top) and Triton.
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Perspective view of Neptune from the south pole: the black spot can also be seen.
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The main instruments on board the Voyager 2 probe.
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Neptune: the enormous black spot is visible just below the equator, a gigantic cyclone rotating around itself in a counterclockwise direction. Photo using three filters: blue, green and a filter that is absorbed by the methane gas. (Voyager 2)
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This is how Neptune, with the large moon Triton, appears from Earth telescopes.
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Drawing illustrating the arrangement of Uranus' moons and satellites.
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Picture of Uranus taken with blue, green and orange filters.
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Oblique view of the plane of the rings taken from Voyager 2.
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Saturn's F ring.
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The Earth and the Moon: September 18, 1977 (11.66 million Km.)
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View of the crater Golubkina (Russian sculpture).
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A structure that is difficult to interpret: there are two sets of parallel lines which intersect almost at a right angle. Faults in the crust or other volcanic formations? Similar structures have never been seen before in the solar system.
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The Pioneer Venus probe made it possible to create the first altimetric map of the planet: light-blue represents the depressed areas, green the lowlands and so on, yellows, browns and reds for the higher areas.
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It was decided that the feminine planet par excellence would not have any ma
