vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
One Night in Bangkok
City lights provide a visual indication of the high population density in and around the city center.
Laem Chabang is visible along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bangkok. It is the country’s largest deep seaport and sees most of the international shipping reaching Thailand.
The green dots sprinkled throughout the Gulf are fishing boats using lights to attract plankton and squid. Fishing is an important industry, as most of Thailand’s consumption of animal protein comes from seafood. Companies around the Gulf of Thailand are also among the largest foreign suppliers of fish to the United States.
Astronaut photograph ISS064-E-37842 was acquired on February 26, 2021, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 58 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 64 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Laura Phoebus, Jacobs, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

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Thailand’s capital and most populous city lights up southeast Asia.
Image of the Day for May 25, 2021

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Light Show Near the Limb
Lightning, fishing boats, and city lights frame an active night in Southeast Asia.

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Prague at Night
Infrastructure new and old glows across the Czech Republic’s capital city.

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Dusty Spring in the Tarim Basin
Dusty Spring in the Tarim Basin

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Dusty Spring in the Tarim Basin

May 19, 2024JPEG

A thick plume of sand and dust hung in the air over China’s Tarim Basin in May 2024. While spring dust storms in the basin look remarkable from above, they carry implications for air quality and the health of people on the ground.
The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image on May 19, 2024. Most of the Tarim Basin is visible within this scene, except for areas around the basin’s southwest perimeter that are obscured by airborne dust.
The Tarim Basin is hemmed in on three sides by the Tianshan, Kunlun, and Altun mountains. With very little rainfall and high rates of evaporation, the basin’s Taklimakan Desert has become one of the driest, most barren expanses on Earth. This desert accounts for more than a quarter of China’s desert area and is the largest single source of dust aerosols from East Asia.
Dust storms in the basin are most common in the spring and summer. In spring, strong cyclonic winds from the northeast easily pick up particles from the dry, loose surface.
Derecho Darkens Houston
Accessed May 22, 2024.
City of Houston Office of Emergency Management (2024) May 2024 Wind Event. Accessed May 22, 2024.
Houston Chronicle (2024, May 20) Live Updates. Accessed May 22, 2024.
NASA (2024) Black Marble. Accessed May 22, 2024.
NASA Earthdata (2024) Nighttime Lights. Accessed May 22, 2024
NASA ARSET(2020) ARSET - Introduction to NASA’s “Black Marble” Night Lights Data. Accessed May 22, 2024.
NASA Earth Observatory (2017, April 13) Night Light Maps Open Up New Applications. Accessed May 22, 2024.
National Weather Service (2024) Area forecast discussion. Accessed May 22, 2024.
Yale Climate Connections (2024, March 17) Houston area walloped by ferocious thunderstorm winds. Accessed May 22, 2024.

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Houston at Night
Astronauts on the Space Station had a glowing view of their professional home, as well as the site of Super Bowl 51.

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Galveston, Texas
Galveston Island has alternately been a home to Native Americans, a base for Mexico’s rebellion against Spain, a pirate kingdom, a sea port, and even the capital of the Republic of Texas. In September 1900, the city was largely destroyed by a powerful hurricane. This storm damage, combined with construction of the Houston Ship Channel and discovery of oil in eastern Texas, shifted the center of trade northwest to Houston. This astronaut photograph shows some of the human impacts in Galveston that are easily observed from the vantage point of low-Earth orbit. The city of Galveston dominates the eastern half of Galveston Island, appearing as the gray-white region at center right. A large seawall along the Gulf of Mexico—shown here along the southern coastline of Galveston Island—protects most of the city. To the west of Galveston, coastal wetlands are largely submerged by regional subsidence—sinking of the land as a result of ground water withdrawal by the petrochemical industry of Houston and Texas City.
Earth Matters
Read more about the image in our Image of the Day story, which describes several hypotheses for the creek’s orange hue. 
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The January 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting. 
How to answer. You can use a few words or several paragraphs. You might simply tell us the location, or you can dig deeper and offer details about what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure feature. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.
The prize. We cannot offer prize money or a trip on the International Space Station, but we can promise you credit and glory. Well, maybe just credit. Within a week after a puzzler image appears on this blog, we will post an annotated and captioned version as our Image of the Day. After we post the answer, we will acknowledge the first person to correctly identify the image at the bottom of this blog post. We also may recognize readers who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for or attend an institution that you would like to recognize, please mention that as well.
Recent winners. If you have won the puzzler in the past few months, or if you work in geospatial imaging, please hold your answer for at least a day to give less experienced readers a chance.
Releasing comments. Savvy readers have solved some puzzlers after a few minutes. To give more people a chance, we may wait 24 to 48 hours before posting comments. Good luck!

December Puzzler
December 26th, 2023 by Kathryn Hansen

Update on January 9, 2024: This image shows terrain near the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. Puzzler images are typically acquired by satellites, but this month we chose to feature a photograph taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station. Congratulations to Pierre-Luc Grenon for being the first to correctly identify both rivers.
Education News & Blogs – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Studying these regions of the Sun’s atmosphere can help scientists understand solar radiation, why the corona is hotter than the photosphere, and the process by which the Sun sends a steady stream of material and radiation into space. Annular solar eclipses provide opportunities for scientists to practice their observation methods so that they'll be ready when a total solar eclipse comes around. Citizen scientists can get involved in collecting data and participating in the scientific process during the eclipse through NASA’s GLOBE program. Anyone in the path of the eclipse and in partial eclipse areas can act as citizen scientists by measuring temperature and cloud cover data and report it using the GLOBE Observer app to help further the study of how eclipses affect Earth’s atmosphere. Visit NASA's Eclipse Science page to learn more about the many ways scientists are using the eclipse to improve their understanding of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun. Taking Eclipse Science Farther Eclipses also make a great jumping-off point to concepts and techniques used in astrophysics and our search for planets beyond our solar system. Similar to a solar eclipse, a transit occurs when a planet crosses in front of the face of a star. From Earth, the planets Venus and Mercury can occasionally be seen transiting in front of the Sun, appearing as small, dark dots. Transits are also useful for detecting exoplanets – distant planets around other stars. When an exoplanet passes in between its star and Earth, we can measure tiny dips in the star's brightness that tell scientists a planet is there even when it’s too small to see. Another way that eclipse concepts are used for astrophysics is with coronagraphs, mechanisms inside telescopes that block the light from a star. By creating a sort of artificial eclipse, coronagraphs help scientists search for exoplanets by making much dimmer planets orbiting a star easier to see. For example, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, slated for launch later this decade, will use an advanced coronagraph to analyze and directly image planets that orbit other stars. Learn more about the astrophysics involved in eclipses, including the use of gravitational lensing to study background objects, from NASA’s Universe of Learning.
All Resources | Terra
These resources, developed through funding of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), have undergone a peer-review process through which educators and scientists ensure the content is accurate and useful in an educational setting. Use NASA Wavelength to quickly and easily locate resources, create your own collections within NASA Wavelength, connect them to other websites using atom feeds, and even share resources through social media.
 
NASA Earth Observing Fleet (as of October 2018) – This animation shows the orbits of NASA’s fleet of Earth remote sensing observatories as of February 2015.
Atmosphere
Monthly Water Vapor (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS water vapor maps, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Cloud Water Content (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS cloud water content, January 2005 to 2013Monthly Cloud Fraction (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS cloud fraction, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Cirrus Reflectance (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS cirrus reflectance, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Cloud Optical Thickness (Terra/MODIS)  – Monthly Terra/MODIS Cloud Optical Thickness, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Cloud Particle Radius (Terra/MODIS)  – Monthly Terra/MODIS Cloud Particle Radius, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Aerosol Optical Thickness (Terra/MODIS)  – Monthly Terra/MODIS Aerosol Optical Thickness, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Carbon Monoxide (Terra/MOPITT) – Monthly Terra/MOPITT Carbon Monoxide, January 2005 to 2013.Monthly Aerosol Particle Radius (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS Aerosol Particle Radius, January 2005 to 2013.
Energy
Monthly Solar Insolation (Terra/CERES) – Monthly Terra/CERES solar insolation, July 2006 to 2013.Monthly Net Radiation (Terra/CERES) – Monthly Terra/CERES net radiation maps, July 2006 to 2013.Monthly Reflected Shortwave Radiation (Terra/CERES) – Monthly Terra/CERES reflected-shortwave radiation, 2006 to 2013.
Land Cover/Carbon Cycle
16-Day Vegetation Index (Terra/MODIS) – 16-Day Terra/MODIS vegetation index maps beginning February 18, 2000.Monthly Vegetation Index (Terra/MODIS) – Monthly Terra/MODIS vegetation index maps, February 2000 to 2013.
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 This page contains archived content and is no longer being updated. At the time of publication, it represented the best available science.

March 13, 2013TIFF

While observing the turbulent outer atmosphere of the Sun, or corona, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory B (STEREO-B) gathered a novel view of our home planet and a celestial visitor in the inner solar system. Comet PanSTARRS was visible to the naked eye from Earth’s northern hemisphere at the time, though STEREO might have had the better view.
The Heliospheric Imager (HI) on STEREO-B captured this image of PanSTARRS and Earth on March 13, 2013. At the time of the image, PanSTARRS was about 0.3 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun and about 1.1 AU from the Earth. Astronomical units are roughly the distance from the Sun to the Earth: 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles.
The HI instrument observes the area just off the limb of the Sun (left) in order to detect the faintly visible light of the solar wind and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as they blow out into the solar system. STEREO-B was on the far side of the Sun from the Earth, at about a 150 to 160 degree angle from the Earth-Sun line.
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Why We Search - NASA Science
Kepler-452b's star appears a bit larger and brighter.NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. PyleThe years and decades ahead will bring us ever closer to the ultimate in self-reflection: a mirror image of our own planet Earth. A small, rocky world with clouds, oceans and an atmosphere bearing signs of possible life. This might be a combination of gases – oxygen, carbon dioxide and methane – that, seen by themselves, don't tell us very much, but together speak volumes.Such a world might be hundreds of light-years away, perhaps forever out of reach. But the molecular evidence we read in its atmosphere, using ever more acute technology, could give us the answer we've awaited since the dawn of humanity: No, we are not alone.A photo of Earth taken Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s Voyager 1 at a distance of 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the Sun. The image inspired the title of scientist Carl Sagan's book, "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space," in which he wrote: "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us."NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA's search for lifeThe ultimate goal of NASA's Exoplanet Program is to find unmistakable signs of current life.Exoplanets’ own skies could hold such signs, waiting to be revealed by detailed analysis of the atmospheres of planets well beyond our solar system.When we analyze light shot by a star through the atmosphere of a distant planet, a technique known as transmission spectroscopy, the effect looks like a barcode. The slices missing from the light spectrum tell us which ingredients are present in the alien atmosphere. One pattern of black gaps might indicate methane, another, oxygen. Seeing those together could be a strong argument for the presence of life. Or we might read a barcode that shows the burning of hydrocarbons; in other words, smog.Light from exoplanets, if passed through a prism, can be spread out into a rainbow of colors called a spectrum. Different colors correspond to different wavelengths of light.
Education News & Blogs – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Tune into the broadcast from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT (1 to 4 p.m. EDT) on the day of the eclipse. Join NASA as a total solar eclipse moves across North America on April 8. Tune in from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT (1 to 4 p.m. EDT) for live views from across the path, expert commentary, live demos, and more. | Watch on YouTube What Solar Eclipses Mean for Science Solar eclipses provide a unique opportunity for scientists to study the Sun and Earth from land, air, and space, plus allow the public to engage in citizen science! NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, constantly observes the outer regions of the Sun’s corona using a coronagraph. Image credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO | + Expand image Scientists measure incoming solar radiation, also known as insolation, to better understand Earth’s radiation budget – the energy emitted, reflected, and absorbed by our planet. Just as clouds block sunlight and reduce insolation, eclipses create a similar phenomenon, providing a great opportunity to study how increased cloud cover can impact weather and climate. Solar eclipses can also help scientists study solar radiation in general and the structure of the Sun. On a typical day, the bright surface of the Sun, called the photosphere, is the only part of the Sun we can see. During a total solar eclipse, the photosphere is completely blocked by the Moon, leaving the outer atmosphere of the Sun (corona) and the thin lower atmosphere (chromosphere) visible. Studying these regions of the Sun’s atmosphere can help scientists understand solar radiation, why the corona is hotter than the photosphere, and the process by which the Sun sends a steady stream of material and radiation into space. Annular solar eclipses provide opportunities for scientists to practice their observation methods so that they'll be ready when a total solar eclipse comes around. Citizen scientists can get involved in collecting data and participating in the scientific process during the eclipse through NASA’s GLOBE program.
MISR | Terra
the amount and type of atmospheric aerosol particles, including those formed by natural sources and by human activities;
the amount, types, and heights of clouds; and
the distribution of land surface cover, including vegetation canopy structure

MISR Web Site (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
MISR in the News

 

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What's Up: May 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA - NASA Science
NASA/JPL-CaltechStay up to date on NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's What's Up for this month.Skywatching Resources​NASA's Night Sky NetworkNASA's Watch the Skies BlogDaily Moon Observing GuideFull Moon BlogAbout the What's Up production team"What's Up" is NASA's longest running web video series. It had its first episode in April 2007 with original host Jane Houston Jones. Today, Preston Dyches, Christopher Harris, and Lisa Poje are the science communicators and space enthusiasts who produce this monthly video series at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Additional astronomy subject matter guidance is provided by JPL's Bill Dunford, Gary Spiers, Lyle Tavernier, and GSFC's Molly Wasser.Return to topThe National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.About NASA's MissionJoin UsHomeNews & EventsMultimediaNASA+MissionsHumans in SpaceEarth & ClimateThe Solar SystemThe UniverseScienceAeronauticsTechnologyLearning ResourcesAbout NASANASA en EspañolFollow NASAMore NASA Social AccountsNASA NewslettersSitemapFor MediaPrivacy PolicyFOIANo FEAR ActOffice of the IGBudget & Annual ReportsAgency Financial ReportsContact NASAAccessibilityPage Last Updated:3 weeks agoPage Editor:SMD Content EditorsResponsible NASA Official for Science:Dana Bolles