[{"source":"remote","image-id":"GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736","title":"Iceberg in North Star Bay, Greenland","caption":"For five years, Jeremy Harbeck has worked as a support scientist for NASA\u2019s Operation IceBridge, an airborne mission to study polar ice. The data processing that he does typically takes place in an office at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. However, to speed the process of delivering data to the Arctic sea ice forecasting community, Harbeck traveled to Greenland for the first time in spring 2015. He had just arrived at Greenland\u2019s Thule Air Base on March 20 when a mechanical issue grounded the aircraft. No science flight could happen for a few days. As teams in the United States and Greenland scrambled to locate and deliver a replacement part, researchers on the ground waited. Some of them hiked to what was locally known as \u201cthe iceberg.\u201d The unnamed berg pictured above has been frozen in place by sea ice in North Star Bay. Harbeck shot the photograph\u2014a composite of four 49-second images\u2014on March 21 at about 2:30 a.m. local time. The sun never fully sets at this time of year in the Arctic, so sunlight appears on the left side of the image. Lights from Thule are visible on the right side. Look for the Milky Way (top left) and a few very faint meteors visible in the early morning sky. Harbeck left the dock at Thule with sea ice scientist (and current IceBridge project scientist) Nathan Kurtz and a local recreation officer at about 10 p.m. From there, the group hiked 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) across the still-thick sea ice in weather that Harbeck called a \u201cpleasant\u201d minus 18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit). They paused frequently on the way, and they even circled the berg to check for polar bears. \u201cYou don\u2019t have a sense of scale of this berg until you get up to it,\u201d Harbeck said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the size of my apartment building, and that\u2019s only the part protruding from the water.\u201d Assuming the berg is ungrounded (which is uncertain), about one-tenth of its mass is above water. Photograph by Jeremy Harbeck, support scientist for NASA's Operation IceBridge mission. Caption by Kathryn Hansen. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory<\/a><\/b> NASA image use policy.<\/a><\/b> NASA Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a><\/b> enables NASA\u2019s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA\u2019s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency\u2019s mission. Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/b> Like us on Facebook<\/a><\/b> Find us on Instagram<\/a><\/b> ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736\/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000736~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"PIA13843","title":"The Case of the Disappearing Continent","caption":"This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a swirling landscape of stars known as the North America nebula. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","alt-text":"This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a swirling landscape of stars known as the North America nebula. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13843\/PIA13843~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13843\/PIA13843~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13843\/PIA13843~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"PIA13844","title":"An Extended Stellar Family","caption":"This visible light\/infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a swirling landscape of stars known as the North America nebula. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","alt-text":"This visible light\/infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows a swirling landscape of stars known as the North America nebula. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13844\/PIA13844~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13844\/PIA13844~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13844\/PIA13844~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"PIA13659","title":"Mars Odyssey All Stars: Chasma Boreale","caption":"Chasma Boreale is a long, flat-floored valley that cuts deep into Mars north polar icecap. This image is part of an All Star set marking the occasion of NASA Mars Odyssey as the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history.","alt-text":"Chasma Boreale is a long, flat-floored valley that cuts deep into Mars north polar icecap. This image is part of an All Star set marking the occasion of NASA Mars Odyssey as the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history.","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13659\/PIA13659~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13659\/PIA13659~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13659\/PIA13659~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"PIA13845","title":"North America Nebula in Different Lights","caption":"This view of the North America nebula combines both visible and infrared light observations, taken by the Digitized Sky Survey and NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","alt-text":"This view of the North America nebula combines both visible and infrared light observations, taken by the Digitized Sky Survey and NASA Spitzer Space Telescope. Clusters of young stars about one million years old can be found throughout the image.","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13845\/PIA13845~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13845\/PIA13845~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/PIA13845\/PIA13845~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"ED08-0067-35","title":"Wispy clouds are illuminated by a bright quarter moon behind the tail of NASA's SOFIA flying observatory during telescope characterization testing in 2008","caption":"The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-35\/ED08-0067-35~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-35\/ED08-0067-35~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-35\/ED08-0067-35~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"ED08-0067-51","title":"Scientists and telescope operators focus on data readouts set up inside NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory during telescope characterization tracking tests","caption":"The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-51\/ED08-0067-51~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-51\/ED08-0067-51~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-51\/ED08-0067-51~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"ED08-0067-53","title":"As SOFIA's large telescope assembly slowly rotates, scientists and telescope operators review data readouts and imagery on their monitors during tracking tests","caption":"The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-53\/ED08-0067-53~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-53\/ED08-0067-53~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-53\/ED08-0067-53~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"ED08-0067-24","title":"The 2.5-meter infrared telescope in the rear fuselage of NASA's SOFIA flying observatory tracked the star Polaris during characterization tests in March 2008","caption":"The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-24\/ED08-0067-24~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-24\/ED08-0067-24~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-24\/ED08-0067-24~large.jpg"}},{"source":"remote","image-id":"ED08-0067-10","title":"This backlit photo of SOFIA's infrared telescope during characterization testing shows the cell-like construction of the telescope's 2.5-meter primary mirror","caption":"The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. ","alt-text":"","images":{"small":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-10\/ED08-0067-10~small.jpg","medium":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-10\/ED08-0067-10~medium.jpg","large":"http:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/ED08-0067-10\/ED08-0067-10~large.jpg"}}]

The North Star

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