Added 1 new A* page:
image by NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Laboratory/Guillermo Stenborg and Brendan Gallagher
That's the night side of the planet Venus, captured from 7,693 miles away by NASA's Parker Solar Probe on July 11th, 2020 during its third of seven passes for gravity assist, moving closer to the Sun.
Aside from the planet, what struck me in the image are the many streaks that appear to be shooting past—like you might see in, well, a science fiction spaceflight scene. Of the streaks, NASA says they're "typically caused by a combination of charged particles — called cosmic rays — sunlight reflected by grains of space dust, and particles of material expelled from the spacecraft's structures after impact with those dust grains. The number of streaks varies along the orbit or when the spacecraft is traveling at different speeds."
With the streaks, the black and white, and the blurry look of the planet due to the thick, even cloud cover, the photo makes me think of an old space serial like Flash Gordon, where the planet would be a painted foam ball hanging from fishing wire. ^_^
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The original 16" x 6.75" watercolor art for today's new A* page is up for auction on eBay. : )
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