Image Scale Math

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

How to Use this Book

Teachers continue to look for ways to make math meaningful by providing
students with problems and examples demonstrating its applications in everyday life.
Space Mathematics offers math applications through one of the strongest motivatorsSpace. Technology makes it possible for students to experience the value of math,
instead of just reading about it. Technology is essential to mathematics and science for
such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample
collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and
communication of information. 3A/M2 authentic assessment tools and examples.
The NCTM standards include the statement that "Similarity also can be related to such
real-world contexts as photographs, models, projections of pictures" which can be an
excellent application for students to practice using the scale of an image..
Image Scale Math is designed to be used as a supplement for teaching
mathematical topics. The problems can be used to enhance understanding of the
mathematical concept, or as a good assessment of student mastery. This set of math
problems can be used as an application for students to gain mastery of scale of an
image using a variety of images.
The following scenario demonstrates how the series of math problems are used
in one classroom:
Ms. Jones teaches 5th grade math and science. She decided to use the Image Scale
Math Book to make the concept more interesting and demonstrate the application of
what they were learning. The class was divided into 5 groups; each group was given 2
math problems to solve. At the same time they were to write 2 facts they learned
about space from their math problem. Each group would share their results and facts
(teaching the class). The For Experts section was offered as extra credit for any
student who wanted the challenge.

Image Scale Math can be used as a classroom challenge activity, assessment

tool, enrichment activity or in a more dynamic method as is explained in the above
scenario. It is completely up to the teacher, their preference and allotted time. What it
does provide, regardless of how it is used in the classroom, is the need to be proficient
in math. It is needed especially in our world of advancing technology and physical
science.

This collection of activities is based on a weekly series of space science

problems distributed to thousands of teachers during the 2004-2008 school years.
They were intended as supplementary problems for students looking for additional
challenges in the math and physical science curriculum in grades 6 through 8. The
problems are designed to be one-pagers consisting of a Student Page, and Teachers
Answer Key. This compact form was deemed very popular by participating teachers.
The topic for this collection is Image Scaling, which is an important First Step
that all astronomers perform in understanding image-type data produced by satellites
in space, and telescopes on the ground.
General Procedure:
1) Each activity includes an image of some solar system feature, and an
indication of the physical field of view in meters or kilometers.
2) Students will use a metric ruler to measure the size of the image in
millimeters.
3) They will divide the physical size by the image size to calculate the image
scale in meters per millimeter, or kilometers per millimeter.
4) They will then investigate the image further by identifying the smallest
object they can discern, and determine its physical size.

This booklet was created by the NASA Space Math program

Dr. Sten Odenwald (NASA - Hinode)
Ms. Elaine Lewis (NASA - Education Specialist)
For more weekly classroom activities about astronomy and space science, visit

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov
Add your email address to our mailing list by contacting Dr. Sten Odenwald at

[email protected]

Cover credits: Tycho Crater (NASA/Orbiter); Saturn Ring (NASA/Cassini); Sombrero Galaxy
(NASA/Spitzer); Helix Nebula (NASA/Spitzer)

Inside credits: 1) Los Vegas (Digital Globe); Asteroid Eros (NASA/NEAR); 3)Washington DC
(NASA/ISS); 4) Mars (NASA/Mars Orbiter); 50 Mars land slide (NASA/Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter); 6) mars crater wall (NASA/JPL/MSSS); 7) Tycho (NASA/Orbiter), Denver (NASA/Landsat);
8) Moon surface (NASA/Orbiter III); 9) Sunspot detail (Swedish Vacuum Telescope/RSAS); 10)
Jupiter (NASA/Cassini); 11) Stephans Quintet (NASA/HST); 12) Asteroid Ikotawa
(JAXA/Hayabusha); 13) Mercury (NASA/MESSENGER); 14) hematite Spheres (NASA/Mars
Opportunity); 15) Io (NASA/Galileo); 16) Phobos (ESA/Mars Express); 17) Cluster of galaxies
(NASA/HST); 18) Thackeray's Globules (NASA/HST); 19) Helix Nebula (NASA/Spitzer)

Table of Contents
Introduction. ...
Table of Contents..
Alignment with Standards ..

i
ii
ii

Downtown Las Vegas..........

Asteroid Eros......
Washington D.C.........

1
2
3

Mars Rover Landing Site.........

Avalanche on Mars!..........
Water on Mars........

4
5
6

Craters on the Moon - I..

Craters on the Moon - II.....
Solar Surface Details.....

7
8
9

Jupiter and Io......

Extras for Experts
Author Notes...

10
11
19

Alignment with Standards

The problems have been developed to meet specific math and science
benchmarks as stated in the NSF Project 2061. Project 2061s benchmarks are
statements of what all students should know or be able to do in science,
mathematics, and technology by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12.
(http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/bolintro.htm)
2.B. The Nature of Mathematics; Grades 3 - 5 The interaction should become more
frequent and more sophisticated as students progress through the upper elementary and middle
grades. Graphing, making tables, and making scale drawings should become commonplace in
student inquiry and design projects, as should the use of geometric and mathematical concepts
such as perpendicular, perimeter, volume, powers, roots, and negative numbers. Problems that
are used to challenge students may take the form of contests and games, but at least some of
the problems should stem directly from the science and technology being studied. By the end
of 5th grade, students should know that scale drawings show shapes and compare
locations of things very different in size.

11.D Common Themes; Scale; Grades 3 - 5 Children at this level tend to be fascinated
by extremes. That interest should be exploited to develop student math skills as well as a sense
of scale. Students may not have the mathematical sophistication to deal confidently with ratios
and with differences among ratios but the observational groundwork and familiarity with talking
about them can begin. At the very least, students can compare speeds, sizes, distances, etc.,
as fractions and multiples of one another. Students should now be building structures and other
things in their technology projects. Through such experience, they can begin to understand both
the mathematical and engineering relationships of length, area, and volume. They can be
challenged to measure things that are hard to measure on account of being very small or very
large, very light or very heavy. By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that: 1)
Almost anything has limits on how big or small it can be; 2) Finding out what the biggest
and the smallest possible values of something are is often as revealing as knowing what
the usual value is.

A photograph of stars circling the North Celestial Pole (Author)

Downtown Las Vegas

This QuickBird Satellite image was taken of downtown Las Vegas Nevada from an altitude of 450
kilometers. Private companies such as Digital Globe (http://www.digitalglobe.com) provide images such as
this to many different customers around the world. The large building shaped like an upside-down 'Y' is the
Bellaggio Hotel at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The width of the image is 700
meters.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
700 meters wide.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter. Report your answer to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:

How long is each of the three wings of the Bellaggio Hotel in meters?
What is the length of a car on the street in meters?
How wide are the streets entering the main intersection?
What is the smallest feature you can see, in meters?
What kinds of familiar objects can you identify in this image?

Space Math

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1
Answer Key:
This QuickBird Satellite image was taken of downtown Las Vegas Nevada on October 14, 2005
from an altitude of 450 kilometers. Private companies such as Digital Globe (http://www.digitalglobe.com)
provide images such as this to many different customers around the world. The large building shaped like an
upside-down 'Y' is the Bellaggio Hotel at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The width
of the image is 700 meters.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
700 meters wide.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Answer: 150 millimeters.
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.
Answer: The information in the introduction says that the image is 700 meters long.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter.
Answer: 700 meters / 150 millimeters = 4.66 meters / millimeter. To two sig.fig this becomes 4.7
meters/mm
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1: How long is each of the three wings of the Bellaggio Hotel in meters?
Answer: About 25 millimeters on the image or 25 mm x (4.7 meters/mm) = 120 meters.
Question 2: What is the length of a car on the street in meters?
Answer: About 1 millimeter on the image or 1 mm x 4.7 meters/mm = 4.7 meters.
Question 3: How wide are the streets entering the main intersection?
Answer: About 8 millimeters on the image or 8 mm x 4.7 meters/mm = 37 meters.
Question 4: What is the smallest feature you can see, in meters?
Answer: Some of the small dots on the roof tops are about 0.2 millimeters across which equals 1 meter.
Question 5: What kinds of familiar objects can you identify in this image?
Answer: Will vary depending on student.
1. Cars, busses
2. swimming pools and reflecting ponds
3. Trees
4. lane dividers
5. Shadows of people walking across the plaza to the Hotel.

Note: Ask the students to use image clues to determine the time of day (morning, afternoon, noon); Whether
it is rush-hour or not; Time of year, etc.

Space Math

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Asteroid Eros

This NASA, NEAR image of the surface of the asteroid Eros was taken on February 12, 2001 from
an altitude of 120 meters (Credit: Dr. Joseph Veverka/ NEAR Imaging Team/Cornell University). The image
is 6 meters wide.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the image width is 6.0 meters.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in centimeters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in
centimeters to two significant figures.
Question 1: What are the dimensions, in meters, of this image?
Question 2: What is the width, in centimeters, of the largest feature?
Question 3: What is the size of the smallest feature you can see?
Question 4: How big is the stone shown by the arrow?

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2
Answer Key:
This NASA, NEAR image of the surface of the asteroid Eros was taken on February 12, 2001 from
an altitude of 120 meters (Credit: Dr. Joseph Veverka/ NEAR Imaging Team/Cornell University)). The image
is 6 meters wide.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the image width is 6 meters.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Answer: 144 millimeters
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Answer: 6.0 meters
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in centimeters per
millimeter.
Answer: 6.0 meters / 144 mm = 600 cm / 144 millimeters = 4.2 cm/mm
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in
centimeters.

Question 1: What are the dimensions, in meters, of this image?

Answer: Height = 80 mm = 336 cm or 3.4 meters so area is 6.0 m x 3.4 m

Question 2: What is the width, in centimeters, of the largest feature?

Answer: The big rock at the top of the image is about 60 mm across or 2.5 meters.

Question 3: What is the size of the smallest feature you can see?
Answer: The small pebbles are about 0.5 millimeters across or 2.1 centimeters (about 1 inch).

Question 4: How big is the stone shown by the arrow?

Answer: 4 millimeters or 17 centimeters (about 7 inches).

Space Math

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Washington, D.C.

This is a picture taken by International Space Station astronauts of Washington, DC, and can be
found among many other pictures at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Coll/EarthObservatory/PostedSort.htm. The
bridge at the bottom-center of the image is the George Mason Bridge (1) and it is 0.75 kilometers from end
to end across the main part of the Potomac River (2).
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. It is the most important number to determine because
without it, you don't know how big the objects in the image are!
Step 1: Measure the length of the George Mason Bridge with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is
the image of the bridge?
Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the bridge is actually 0.75 kilometers long. Convert this
number into meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1: About what is the distance between the US Capitol Building (3) and the Washington
Monument (4)?
Question 2: About how wide are the major boulevards and roadways?
Question 3: About how wide is the Potomac River?
Question 4: How big is the smallest feature you can measure, and what do you think it is?
Question 5: How big is the area covered by this image in kilometers rounded to the nearest tenth?
Question 6: What other features can you recognize in this image?

You can use GOOGLE-Earth to help find other interesting landmarks in the image!
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3
Answer Key:

The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the image
whose separation in physical units you know. It is the most important number to determine because without
it, you don't know how big the objects in the image are!
It is highly recommended that students use GOOGLE-Earth and dial-in 'Washington DC' to zoom-in on this
area in higher resolution. They can use the various tools to bring up the labels for roads, buildings and
geographic features.
Step 1: Measure the length of the Mason Bridge with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image
of the bridge? Answer: 15 millimeters
Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the bridge is actually 0.75 kilometers long. Convert this
number into meters. Answer: 750 meters
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: The image scale is 50 meters/mm
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1: About what is the distance between the US Capitol Building and the Washington Monument?
Answer: 72 millimeters on the image x 50 meters/mm = 3,600 meters or 3.6 kilometers.
Question 2: About how wide are the major boulevards and roadways?
Answer: The thick black lines are about 1.0 millimeter wide or 1.0mm x 50 meters/mm = 50 meters.
Question 3: About how wide is the Potomac River?
Answer: The river banks are about 12 millimeters apart along most of the river, so their true width is 12 mm
x 50 meters/mm = 600 meters or 0.6 kilometers.
Question 4: How big is the smallest feature you can measureand what do you think it is?
Answer: Students should be able to find many buildings that look like white spots with barely a square
shape. These would be about 1 millimeter wide or 50 meters in true physical size.
Question 5: How big is the area covered by this image in kilometers rounded to the nearest tenth?
Answer; The field is 169 millimeters by 97 millimeters which is 8.5 kilometers x 4.9 kilometers in true size.
Question 6: What other features can you recognize in this image?
Answer: Students should be able to figure out the following features without using GOOGLE:
1. Rivers and waterways
2. Large and small buildings
3. Major boulevards
4. Minor streets
5. Bridges
6. Areas with trees and plant life

Space Math

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Mars Rover Landing Site

This NASA, Mars Orbiter image of the Mars Rover, Spirit, landing area near Bonneville Crater. The
width of the image is exactly 895 meters. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS). It shows the various debris left over
from the landing, and the track of the Rover leaving the landing site.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the width of the image is 895
meters.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters wide is it?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert to meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:

About what is the diameter of Bonneville Crater rounded to the nearest ten meters?
How wide, in meters, is the track of the Rover?
How big is the Rover?
How small is the smallest well-defined crater to the nearest meter in size?
A boulder is typically 5 meters across or larger. Are there any boulders in this picture?

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4
Answer Key:
This NASA, Mars Orbiter image of the Mars Rover, Spirit, landing area near Bonneville Crater. The
width of the crater is 200 meters. (Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS). It shows the various debris left over from the
landing, and the track of the Rover leaving the landing site.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the width of the image is 895
meters.
Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters wide is it?
Answer: 157 millimeters.
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert to meters.
Answer: 895 meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: 895 m/157 mm = 5.7 meters / millimeter.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters.
Question 1: About what is the diameter of Bonneville Crater rounded to the nearest 10 meters?
Answer: Students answers for the diameter of the crater in millimeters may vary, but answers in the range
from 30-40 mm are acceptable. Then this equals 30x5.7 = 170 meters to 40x5.7=230 meters. Students
may average these two measurements to get (170+230)/2 = 200 meters.
Question 2: How wide, in meters, is the track of the Rover?
Answer: 0.2 millimeters = 1 meter.
Question 3: How big is the Rover?
Answer: 0.3 millimeters = 1.7 meters but since the measurement is only 1 significant figure, the answer
should be 2 meters.
Question 4: How small is the smallest well-defined crater in meters?
Answer: 2 millimeters x 5.7 = 11.4 meters, which to the nearest meter is 11 meters.
Question 5: A boulder is typically 5 meters across or larger. Are there any boulders in this picture?
Answer: Students answers may vary and lead to interesting discussions about what features are real, and
which ones are flaws in the printing of the picture. This is an important discussion because image artifacts
are very common in space-related photographs. 5 meters is about 1 millimeter, and there are no obvious
rounded objects this large or larger in this image.

Space Math

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Avalanche on Mars!

This image was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on February 19, 2008. It shows an
avalanche photographed as it happened on a cliff on the edge of the dome of layered deposits centered on
Mars' North Pole. From top to bottom this impressive cliff is over 700 meters (2300 feet) tall and reaches
slopes over 60 degrees. The top part of the scarp, to the left of the image, is still covered with bright (white)
carbon dioxide frost which is disappearing from the polar regions as spring progresses. The upper mid-toned
(pinkish-brownish) section is composed of layers that are mostly ice with varying amounts of dust. The dust
cloud extends 190 meters from the base of the cliff.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the cloud extends 190 meters
from the base of the cliff.
Step 1: Measure the length of the dust cloud with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the cloud?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:

What are the dimensions, in meters, of this image?

What is the smallest detail you can see in the ice shelf?
What is the average thickness of the red layers on the cliff?
What is the total width of the reddish rock cliff?

For experts: Two sides of the right triangle measure 700 meters, and your answer to Question 4. What is
the angle of the cliff at the valley floor?

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Answer Key:

The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the cloud extends 190 meters
from the base of the cliff.
Step 1: Measure the length of the dust cloud with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the cloud?
Answer: 60 millimeters.
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Answer: 190 meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: 190 meters / 60 mm = 3.2 meters / mm
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1: What are the dimensions, in meters, of this image?
Answer: 140 mm x 86 mm = 448.0 meters x 275.2 meters, but to two significant figures this becomes 450
meters x 280 meters.
Question 2: What is the smallest detail you can see in the ice shelf?
Answer: 0.2 mm = 0.6 meters
Question 3: What is the average thickness of the red layers on the cliff?
Answer: 1.0 millimeter = 3.2 meters.
Question 4: What is the total width of the reddish rock cliff?
Answer: 25 millimeters = 80 meters.
For experts: Two sides of the right triangle measure 700 meters, and your answer to Question 4. What is
the angle of the cliff at the valley floor?
Answer: Draw the triangle with the 700-meter side being vertical and the 80 meter side being horizontal.
The tangent of the angle is (80 / 700) = 0.11 so the angle is 6.5 degrees. This is the angle from the vertical,
so the incline angle from the floor of the valley is 90 - 6.5 = 84 degrees. This is a nearly vertical wall!

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Water on Mars!

This NASA, Mars Orbiter image was taken of a crater wall in the southern hemisphere of mars from
an altitude of 450 kilometers. It shows the exciting evidence of water gullies flowing downhill from the top
left to the lower right.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the length of the dark bar is a
distance of 300 meters.
Step 1: Measure the length of the bar with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the bar?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:

What are the dimensions, in kilometers, of this image?

How wide, in meters, are the streams half-way down their flow channels?
What is the smallest feature you can see in the image?
How wide is the top of the crater wall at its sharpest edge?

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6
Answer Key:
This NASA, Mars Orbiter image was taken of a crater wall in the southern hemisphere of mars from
an altitude of 450 kilometers. It shows the exciting evidence of water gullies flowing downhill from the top
left to the lower right.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the length of the dark bar is a
distance of 300 meters.
Step 1: Measure the length of the bar with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the bar?
Answer: 13 millimeters.
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.
Answer: 300 meters
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: 300 meters / 13 mm = 23 meters / millimeter.

Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.
Question 1: What are the dimensions, in kilometers, of this image?
Answer: 134 mm x 120 mm = 3.1 km x 2.8 km
Question 2: How wide, in meters, are the streams half-way down their flow channels?
Answer: 0.5 millimeters = 12 meters.
Question 3: What is the smallest feature you can see in the image?
Answer: Sand dunes in upper left of image = 0.3 millimeters or 7 meters wide.
Question 4: How wide is the top of the crater wall at its sharpest edge?
Answer: 0.2 millimeters or 4 meters wide.

Space Math

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Craters on the Moon

This is a NASA image taken by the Lunar Orbiter IV spacecraft as it captured close-up images of the
lunar surface in May, 1967. The large crater at the top-center is Tycho. Other images from the Lunar Orbiter
spacecrafts can be found at the Lunar Orbiter Photo Gallery (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/)
The satellite was at an altitude of 3,000 kilometers when it took this image, which measures 350 km x 270
km.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
250 kilometers x 270 kilometers.
Step 1: Measure the width of the lunar image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Step 2: Read the explanation for the image and note any physical scale information provided. The
information in the introduction says that the image is 350 kilometers along its largest dimension.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in kilometers per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in kilometers
to two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:

What is the diameter of the crater Tycho in kilometers?

How large is the smallest feature you can see?
How large are some of the smaller hills at the floor of the crater, in meters?
About how large are the most common craters in the field?
Which crater is about the same size as Denver, which has a diameter of about 25 km?

Space Math

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Answer Key:

Step 1: Measure the width of the lunar image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Answer: 150 millimeters.
Step 2: Read the explanation for the image and note any physical scale information provided. The
information in the introduction says that the image is 350 kilometers along its largest dimension.
Answer: 350 kilometers.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in kilometers per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: 350 kilometers / 150 millimeters = 2.3 kilometers / millimeter.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in kilometers
to two significant figures.
Question 1: What is the diameter of the crater Tycho in kilometers?
Answer: About 35 millimeters x 2.3 km/mm = 80.5 kilometers in diameter which is 80 kilometers to two
significant figures.
Question 2: How large is the smallest feature you can see?
Answer: There are many small details in the image, pits, hills, etc, that students can estimate 0.1 to 0.3
millimeters for a physical size of 0.2 to 0.7 kilometers since the measurement is only good to one significant
figure.
Question 3: How large are some of the smaller hills at the floor of the crater, in meters?
Answer: These small features are about 0.1 millimeters across or 200 meters in size.
Question 4: About how large are the most common craters in the field?
Answer: The answer may vary a bit, but the small craters that are 0.5 millimeters across are the most
common. These have a physical size of about 1 kilometer.
Question 5: Which crater is about the same size as Denver, which has a diameter of about 25 km?
Answer: In order to fit Denver into one of these lunar craters, it will have to appear to be about
25 km x (1.0 millimeter/2.3 km) = 11 millimeters across. There are three caters just to the right of Tycho
that are about this big. Students should not get 'lost' trying to exactly match up their estimate with a precise
lunar feature. 'Close-enough' estimates are good enough! See below comparison as a guide.

Space Math

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Craters on the Moon

This is a high resolution image of the lunar surface taken by NASA's Lunar Orbiter III spacecraft in
February 1967 as it orbited at an altitude of 46 kilometers. It is located near the lunar equator. The field of
view is 16.6 kilometers x 4.1 kilometers. Additional Orbiter images can be found at the Lunar Orbiter Gallery
(http:// www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/). Because of the low sun angle, craters look like circles that
are half-black, half-white inside!
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
16.6 kilometers x 4.1 kilometers.
Step 1: Measure the width of the lunar image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the image is 16.6 kilometers long. Convert this number
into meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to the nearest significant figure.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
the nearest significant figure.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:

How big is the largest crater in the image?

How big is the smallest crater in the image, in meters?
About what is the typical distance between craters in the image?
How far would you have to walk between the largest, and next-largest craters?

Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

8
Answer Key:
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
16.6 kilometers x 4.1 kilometers.

Step 1: Measure the width of the lunar image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Answer: 134 millimeters.
Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the image is 16.6 kilometers long. Convert this number
into meters.
Answer: 16600 meters.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to the nearest significant figure.
Answer: 16600 meters / 134 millimeters = 124 meters / millimeter.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
the nearest significant figure.

Question 1: How big is the largest crater in the image?

Answer: The one at the top is about 25 millimeters across. 25 mm x 124 meters/mm = 3,100 meters or 3.1
kilometers.
Question 2: How big is the smallest crater in the image, in meters?
Answer: The largest number of features are about 1 millimeter across or 100 meters to one significant figure.
Students may also go for the recognizable craters which are about 2 millimeters across or about 200 meters.

Question 3: About what is the typical distance between craters in the image?
Answer: The answer may vary, but the distance between obvious craters (about 2 mm in diameter) is about
5 millimeters or 5 mm x 124 meters/mm = 600 meters to one significant figure.
Question 5: How far would you have to walk between the largest, and next-largest craters?
Answer: The crater rims are about 35 millimeters apart or 35 mm x 124 meters/mm = 4,340 meters or 4.3
kilometers to two significant figures.

Space Math

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Solar Surface Details

The sun is our nearest star. From Earth we can see its surface in great detail. The images
below were taken with the 1-meter Swedish Vacuum Telescope on the island of La Palma, by
astronomers at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (http://www.astro.su.se/groups/solar/solar.html). The
image to the right is a view of sunspots on July 15, 2002. The enlarged view to the left shows neverbefore seen details near the edge of the largest spot. Use a millimeter ruler, and the fact that the
dimensions of the left image are 19,300 km x 29,500 km, to determine the scale of the photograph, and
then answer the questions. See the arrows below to identify the various solar features mentioned in the
questions.

Question 1 - What is the

scale of the image in km/mm?
Question 2 What is the
smallest feature you can see
in the image?
Question 3 What is the
average size of a Solar
Granulation region?
Question 4 How long and
wide are the Dark Filaments?
Question 5 How large are
the Bright Spots?
Question 6 Draw a circle
centered on this picture that is
the size of Earth (radius =
6,378 km). How big are the
features you measured
compared to familiar Earth
features?

Granulation
Boundary

Space Math

Dark Filament

Bright Spot

Solar Granulation

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Answer Key

Question 1 - What is the scale of the image in km/mm? Answer: the image is
about 108mm x 164mm so the scale is 19300/108 = 179 km/mm.
Question 2 What is the smallest feature you can see in the image? Answer:
Students should be able to find features, such as the Granulation Boundaries,
that are only 0.5 mm across, or 0.5 x 179 = 90 km across.
Question 3 What is the average size of a Solar Granulation region? Answer:
Students should measure several of the granulation regions. They are easier to
see if you hold the image at arms length. Typical sizes are about 5 mm so that
5 x 179 is about 900 km across.
Question 4 How long and wide are the Dark Filaments? Answer: Students
should average together several measurements. Typical dimensions will be
about 20mm x 2mm or 3,600 km long and about 360 km wide.
Question 5 How large are the Bright Spots? Answer: Students should average
several measurements and obtain values near 1 mm, for a size of about 180 km
across.
Question 6 Draw a circle centered on this picture that is the size of Earth
(radius = 6,378 km). How big are the features you measured compared to
familiar Earth features? Answer: See below.

Granulation Region Size of a large US

state.
Bright Spot Size of a small US state or
Hawaii
Filament As long as the USA, and as
narrow as Baja California or Florida.

Space Math

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Jupiter and Io

This NASA image of Jupiter with its satellite Io was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. (Credit:
NASA/Cassini Imaging Team). The satellite is 3,600 kilometers in diameter.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on
the image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the diameter of Io is
3,600 kilometers.
Step 1: Measure the diameter of Io with a metric ruler. How many millimeters in diameter?
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in kilometers per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in
kilometers to two significant figures.
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:

Space Math

What are the dimensions, in kilometers, of this image?

What is the width, in kilometers, of the largest feature in the atmosphere of Jupiter?
What is the width, in kilometers, of the smallest feature in the atmosphere of Jupiter?
What is the size of the smallest feature on Io that you can see?

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

10

Answer Key

10

This NASA image of Jupiter with its satellite Io was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. (Credit:
NASA/Cassini Imaging Team). The satellite is 3,600 kilometers in diameter.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the diameter of Io is 3,600
kilometers.
Step 1: Measure the diameter of Io with a metric ruler. How many millimeters in diameter?
Answer: 10 mm
Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length.
Answer: 3,600 km
Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in kilometers per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: 3600 km / 10 mm = 360 km/mm
Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in kilometers
to two significant figures.
Question 1: What are the dimensions, in kilometers, of this image?
Answer: 160 mm x 119 mm = 58,000 km x 19,000 km
Question 2: What is the width, in kilometers, of the largest feature in the atmosphere of Jupiter?
Answer: The width of the white equatorial band is 45 mm or 16,000 km
Question 3: What is the width, in kilometers, of the smallest feature in the atmosphere of Jupiter?
Answer: The faint cloud streaks are 0.5 mm wide or 200 km across to one significant figure.

Question 4: What is the size of the smallest feature on Io that you can see?
Answer: The white spots in the southern hemisphere are 0.5 mm across or 200 km to one significant figure.
This is a good time to mention that some details in an image can be artifacts from the printing process or
defects in the camera itself. Students may find photocopying artifacts at 0.5 mm or less.

Note to teachers: The correct scale for Io and Jupiter will be slightly different depending on how far away
the camera was when taking the picture. If the camera was very close to Io, then the scale you will infer for
Io will be very different than for the more distant Jupiter because Io will take up more of the field-of-view in
the image. Geometrically, for a fixed angle of separation between features on Io, this angle will subtend a
SMALLER number of kilometers than the same angle on the more-distant Jupiter. However, if the distance
from the camera to Jupiter/Io is very large, then as seen from the camera, both objects are at essentially the
same distance and so there will be little difference between the scales used for the two bodies. Students can
check this result with an inquiry assignment.

Space Math

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Extra for Experts

Image Name - Stephan's Quintet
Instrument - Hubble Space Telescope

Space Math

Image size = 60,000 LY x 90,000 LY

Distance - 270 million Light Years (LY)

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

11

11
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Ikotawa
Instrument - Hayabusa Spacecraft

Space Math

Image size = 535 meters long

Distance - 20 kilometers

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

12

12
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and why is
this image interesting?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Mercury Craters
Instrument - MESSENGER spacecraft

Space Math

Image size = 563 kilometers wide

Distance - 19,760 kilometers

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

13

13
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what
other object does it look similar to?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Hematite spheres
Instrument - Mars Rover Opportunity

Space Math

Image size = 20 millimeters wide

Distance - 1 centimeter above surface

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

14

14
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and how did
scientists get this picture?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Io
Instrument - Galileo Satellite

Space Math

Image size = 3660 kilometers diameter

Distance - 130,000 kilometers altitude

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

15

15
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what are
all those dark spots?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Phobos
Instrument - Mars Express satellite (ESA)

Space Math

Image size = Use clues!

Distance - 200 kilometers

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

16

16
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what do
scientists think those lines might be?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Cluster CL0024+17
Instrument - Hubble Space Telescope

Space Math

Image size = 2.6 million light years wide

Distance - 5 billion light years

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

17

17
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what
major discovery did astronomers make by studying it?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Thackeray's Globules in IC2944
Instrument - Hubble Space Telescope

Space Math

Image size = 4.5 light years wide

Distance - 5,900 light years

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

18

18
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what role
does it play in forming new stars?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts

Image Name - Helix Nebula
Instrument - Spitzer Space Telescope

Space Math

Image size = 2.5 light years diameter

Distance - 650 light years

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

19

19
From a GOOGLE search or other resource, what kind of object is this, and what
kinds of stars produce them?

What is the image scale?

Devise three questions and their answers that explore the contents of the image
based on the calculated image scale.

See the last page of the booklet for the Answer Key.
Space Math

http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov

Extra for Experts Answer Key

Stephan's Quintet - A cluster of galaxies - image scale = 60,000 ly/153mm = 392 lightyears/mm

Ikatawa - An asteroid with a surface strewn by boulders and no craters! - scale = 20 km/195 mm =
103 meters/mm.

Mercury Craters - The surface of the planet mercury resembles our very own moon! - Scale =
563 km/153mm = 3.7 km/mm

Hematite Spheres - Found on a rock on the surface of mars by instruments on the Mars Rover Scale = 20 millimeters/153 mm = 0.13 millimeters/mm

Io - The volcanically active satellite of Jupiter .The black spots are volcanic and geyser vents that
spew out sulfur compounds. Scale = 3660 km/153 mm = 24.0 km/mm

Phobos - One of two satellites of mars. The numerous straight lines are probably stress fractures
caused by the gravitational distortion of Phobos by mars. The scale can be deduced from the line
in the photo that says '5 km' which is 25 mm long so Scale = 5km/25mm = 0.2 km/mm or 200
meters/mm.

Cluster CL0024+17 - A cluster of galaxies that is held together by Dark Matter - One of the first
clusters of galaxies where Dark Matter has been clearly detected by its gravitational influences.
Scale = 2.6 million light years/153 mm = 17,000 light years/mm.

Thackeray's Globules - These dark clouds are dense collections of interstellar gas from which
new stars are formed as the gas collapses. Scale = 4.5 light years/153 mm = 0.03 light years/mm

Helix Nebula - This is a planetary nebula formed after a star like the sun reaches the end of its
evolution, ejecting much of its outer layers of gas into space as an expanding cloud. Students
estimates for the diameter of this nebula will vary within a probable range from 80 to 170
millimeters, so the scale will be 2.5 light years/80 mm = 0.03 light years/mm to 2.5/170 = 0.01
light years/mm.

There are a vast number of interesting questions that students may propose having to do
with the sizes of the various details that they find in the images, the distances between these
elements, especially compared to the sizes of other things they know that are more familiar.
Students should be encouraged to compare the scales of the images to each other and may find it
helpful to order the images from the highest scale to the lowest scale to study how the nature of
objects change as you go from one scale to the next. This is similar to the 'Powers of Ten'
approach to studying the structure of the universe.

Additional Resources
The scale of an image is similar to the scale of a map in that it determines
the relationship between the actual physical size of objects in the image, or their
separations, based on a measure of their size using a ruler or other measuring
tool. Often for digital pictures, the scale can be given in terms of kilometers per
pixel or similar units.
The issue of 'scale' is related to the more familiar terms Low-resolution and
High-resolution. A low-resolution image of the moon's surface may have a scale
of 10 kilometers per pixel or 10-kilometers per millimeter in the photograph, while
a high-resolution version of the same scene may have a scale of 100 meters per
pixel or 100 meters per millimeter.
There are a number of resources online that discuss mapmaking, and
which are similar to issues that occur in image analysis. For example,

Map Scale and Accuracy - is a document created by the Indiana Geographic

Information Council in 2001 that has interesting information on map scales and
frequently asked questions
http://www.in.gov/igic/standards/mapscaleaccuracystandard.pdf

Map Scales - The US Geological Service has a document that details the scales
used in its many different maps
http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs01502.html

Mathematics of Cartography - Cynthia Lanius has a short lesson on map

scales at Rice University
http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs01502.html

CHANDRA Images with Scale Bars - Is a gallery of images provided by this

NASA observatory, and an intriguing look at the universe from many different
scales!
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scalebar_images.html
Note: Any student that has tried to 're-size' a digital photograph to make a screensaver image has had to deal with image scaling. A computer monitor has a fixed
width and height in centimeters, but an image at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch and
one with 200 pixels/inch look very different. This is also true for the new HD TV
screens which come in two resolutions 1080p and 720p. If the screen is 30 inches
across its scale will be 36 pixels/inch or 24 pixels/inch. The former will provide a
higher-resolution rendition of the picture displayed compared to the later
resolution.

A note from the Author,

One of the most fun things I recall doing when I was in grade school is
looking at a picture and working out how big things were. This turned out to
be an important skill as I became a professional astronomer, even though it
only required the ability to use a millimeter ruler and do a simple division.
Every time you pick up a map, or look at a picture, your first challenge
is to decide how big things are. Most of the time, our brains do that silently
when we look at pictures in our family photo album. We have a sense for how
big things are in the photos that we take. But what happens when you are
taking pictures of something completely unfamiliar? This happens all the
time in astronomy, and there is no way we can intuitively gauge how big
things are unless we actually work out the math. Luckily, this is the same
math that you see when you look at a map of your home town. The
information is located in the map Legend as a bar measured out in miles,
kilometers or feet and meters.
This collection of satellite images show familiar (Las Vegas!) and
unfamiliar (craters on the moon) images, and the challenge is to work out
how big thins are in the images by calculating the image scale. The math is
really quite simple. Students will divide two whole numbers to get a third
decimal number, which is the image scale in kilometers per millimeter.
Challenge the students to find the smallest object photographed among all
10 images. Is it a car? A crater? A boulder? You might also organize the 10
images in order of increasing image scale as though you were looking through
a mathematical microscope and cranking up the magnifying power. When you
go from 100 meters per millimeter to 1 meter per millimeter, you are
actually magnifying the scene by 100-times!
But don't get too lost in the mathematics. Let the student enjoy
exploring the surface of another planet and appreciate the 'sense of scale'
as they look for the biggest, smallest or strangest features they can find.
This activity also helps them become better, critical, observers and
interpreters of image data; a skill that will serve them well as they read xrays and CAT scans as doctors, or become architects.

Sten Odenwald

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Space Math @ NASA
Goddard Spaceflight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov
www.nasa.gov