Put an ice ring on it 💍⁣
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For several decades,
scientists and astronauts observing Lake Baikal have noticed giant rings in the spring ice on one of the world’s oldest and deepest lakes.
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While the rings have attracted speculation and a few conspiracy theories,
decades of satellite data and field-based studies have shed light on why they form.
Warm eddies of water circulate in a clockwise direction under the ice cover.
The ice melts near the eddy boundary,
but not at the eddy center where the currents are weak.
The research team is still investigating what causes the eddies,
but data suggests that they typically get going in autumn,
before ice has covered the lake.⁣
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Image Credit:
Lauren Dauphin,
using Landsat data from the U.S.
Geological Survey and MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.⁣
⁣ #NASA #Earth #Ice

What's happening in the night sky this month?
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Mercury is on the rise ⁣
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Mars dons a lunar disguise ⁣
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Betelgeuse has a big surprise?
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Watch this video to discover when and where to look up!
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⁣ #NASA #SkyWatcher #Mercury #Mars #LookUp

The perfect place to raise some baby stars 👶
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The galaxy depicted in this @NASAHubble image is a barred spiral in the constellation of Pisces.⁣
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A barred spiral is a galaxy with pinwheeling arms and a bright center that is intersected by a bar of gas and stars.
This bar cuts directly through the galaxy’s central region and is thought to fuel star formation.
As a result,
spiral bars are theorized to be excellent stellar nurseries for new baby stars.⁣
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We think bars exist in up to two-thirds of all spiral galaxies,
including our own home,
the Milky Way.⁣
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Click the link in the bio for more info ⬆️⁣
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Image credit:
ESA/Hubble &
NASA,
A.
Riess et al.⁣
⁣ #NASA #Galaxy #BabyStars