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Friday, August 26, 2022

Dust Clouds in The Pac Man Nebula | Hubble

Dust Clouds in The Pac Man Nebula | Hubble

The yearly ritual of spring cleaning clears a house of dust as well as dust "bunnies", those pesky dust balls that frolic under beds and behind furniture. The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope has photographed similar dense knots of dust and gas in our Milky Way Galaxy. This cosmic dust, however, is not a nuisance. It is a concentration of elements that are responsible for the formation of stars in our galaxy and throughout the universe.

Distance: 9,000 light years

These opaque, dark knots of gas and dust are called Bok globules, and they are absorbing light in the center of the nearby emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. The globules are named after astronomer Bart Bok, who proposed their existence in the 1940's.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Acknowledgment: P. McCullough (STScI)

Release Date: April 4, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #EmissionNebula #PacmanNebula #NGC281 #StarCluster #IC1590 #Cassiopeia #Constellation #SMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Inside The Pac Man Nebula: An Arcade Adventure for Young Stars | Hubble

Inside The Pac Man Nebula: An Arcade Adventure for Young Stars | Hubble

Astronomers have used the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope to study the young open star cluster IC 1590, which is found within the star formation region NGC 281—nicknamed the Pacman Nebula due to its resemblance to the famous arcade game character. This image only shows the central part of the nebula, where the brightest stars at the core of the cluster are found, with part of the Pacman’s hungry mouth visible as the dark region below.

However, Pacman is not gobbling up these stars. Instead, the nebula’s gas and dust are being used as raw ingredients to make new stars. However, the stars in IC 1590 are still plotting their escape from the Pacman Nebula, as open clusters are only loosely bound together and the grouping will eventually disperse within a few tens of millions of years.

IC 1590 lies about ten thousand light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia (The Queen). Through small telescopes the core of the cluster that appears at the top of this picture shows up as a triple star, but the nebula that surrounds it is much fainter and very hard to see. The eagle-eyed American astronomer E. E. Barnard, using a 15 cm telescope, first recorded it in the late nineteenth century.

This picture was created from images taken using the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images though yellow (F550M, colored blue), orange (F660N, colored green) and red (F658N) filters were combined. The F658N filter isolates light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times per filter were 450 s, 1017 s and 678 s, respectively and the field of view is about 3.3 arcminutes across.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: April 11, 2011

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #EmissionNebula #PacmanNebula #NGC281 #StarCluster #IC1590 #Constellation #SMC #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Pac Man Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Pac Man Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

This wide-field view of the star-forming region NGC 281 in the constellation Cassiopeia was taken with the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ.

Distance: 9,000 light years

Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and WIYN/AURA/NSF

Release Date: April 4, 2006

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #EmissionNebula #PacmanNebula #NGC281 #Cassiopeia #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #UnitedStates #History #VideoGames #PacMan #STEM #Education

Artemis I Moon Rocket Flight Test is “Go for Launch” | This Week @NASA

Artemis I Moon Rocket Flight Test is “Go for Launch” | This Week @NASA

Our Artemis I flight test is “go for launch,” the first deep-space long-duration biology test, and the Webb Space Telescope captures new images of Jupiter . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 3 minutes, 47 seconds

Release Date: August 26, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #NASASLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #ArtemisGeneration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Pipe Nebula: Another View | ESO

The Pipe Nebula: Another View | ESO

Portrayed in this image is a picturesque dust lane obscuring some of the Milky Way stars, usually referred to as the Pipe Nebula due to its curious shape. Also known under the more technical names Barnard 59, Barnard 65-67, and Barnard 78, this dark spot is visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Ophiuchus, the Snake Holder.

Distance: 600 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Y. Beletsky

Release Date: December 3, 2009

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PipeNebula #Barnard59 #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket: The Roll to the Pad

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket: The Roll to the Pad

Before our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft can launch our nation into a new era of spaceflight, the duo must first undergo a wet dress rehearsal at the launch pad prior to liftoff.

Watch SLS and Orion continue on their path to the pad as they travel to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B for a full countdown rehearsal—an operation involving hundreds of engineers stationed all across the nation.

All about Artemis I: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 7 minutes, 43 seconds

Release Date: August 26, 2022

Panning across The Pipe Nebula | ESO

Panning across The Pipe Nebula | ESO

This pan video gives a close-up view of part of a vast dark cloud of interstellar dust called the Pipe Nebula. This very detailed image of what is also known as Barnard 59 was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory.

Distance: 600 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: August 15, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PipeNebula #Barnard59 #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming in on The Pipe Nebula | ESO

Zooming in on The Pipe Nebula | ESO

This video sequence starts with a broad panorama of the spectacular region in the direction of the center of the Milky Way. We then close in on a curious dark feature called the Pipe Nebula. Here dense clouds of interstellar dust are silhouetted against the rich star clouds in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer), close to the more familiar constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). We finally focus on one end of the pipe, a strange dark feature called Barnard 59. It is shown in a very detailed new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory.

Distance: 600 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger/S. Guisard

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: August 15, 2012

The Pipe Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO

The Pipe Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO

This picture shows Barnard 59, part of a vast dark cloud of interstellar dust called the Pipe Nebula. This new and very detailed image of what is known as a dark nebula was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory.

Distance: 600 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: August 15, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PipeNebula #Barnard59 #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education