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Nebulae Messier 78 & (a bit of) Barnard's Loop in Orion
Astrophotographer Ian Inverarity: "The M78 nebula is another interesting little thing I have seen in my wider field shots that I wanted to capture! After 3 clear nights in a row, here it is!"
The reflection nebula Messier 78 is a vibrant nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust. It lies in the constellation of Orion within our Milky Way galaxy.
Barnard's Loop (catalogue designation Sh 2-276) is an emission nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is part of the Orion molecular cloud complex. It also contains the dark Horsehead and bright Orion nebulae. The loop takes the form of a large arc centered approximately on the Orion Nebula. The stars within the Orion Nebula are believed to be responsible for ionizing the loop.
Distance: ~1,400 light years
Image details: Takahashi FSQ106N telescope, QHY268M camera, Astronomik R, G & B filters, Warp Astron WD-20 EQ mount, PHD2 and NINA camera and mount control. Stacking and initial processing in APP, final processing in PS.
Image Credit: Ian Inverarity
Capture Location: Leigh Creek, South Australia. Release Date: Jan. 2, 2025
Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket: Preparing for First Launch
New Glenn’s inaugural mission (NG-1) is targeting no earlier than Friday, January 10, 2025, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The three-hour launch window opens at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).
"The payload is our Blue Ring Pathfinder. It will test Blue Ring’s core flight, ground systems, and operational capabilities."
"Our key objective is to reach orbit safely. We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious—but we’re going for it."
“This is our first flight and we’ve prepared rigorously for it,” said Jarrett Jones, SVP, New Glenn. “But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations are a replacement for flying this rocket. It’s time to fly. No matter what happens, we’ll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.”
"Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production and a full customer manifest. Customers include NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, several telecommunications providers, and a mix of U.S. government customers."
About New Glenn
New Glenn stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) high and features a seven-meter payload fairing, enabling twice the volume of standard five-meter class commercial launch systems. Its reusable first stage aims for a minimum of 25 missions and will land on Jacklyn, a sea-based platform located several hundred miles downrange. Reusability is integral to radically reducing cost-per-launch.
The vehicle is powered by seven of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines, the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engine ever flown. LNG is cleaner-burning and higher-performing than kerosene-based fuels, and the seven BE-4s generate over 3.8 million lbf of thrust. The vehicle’s second stage is powered by two BE-3Us, liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) engines designed to together yield over 320,000 lbf of vacuum thrust.
In addition to the BE-4 and BE-3U, Blue Origin manufactures BE-7 engines for our Blue Moon lunar landers and New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine.
Russian Soyuz rocket first stage re-entering Earth's atmosphere
European Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 57 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of Germany: "Watched a beautiful night launch of the Russian Progress MS-10 cargo vehicle while ISS was flying right above Baikonur (see 2nd photo lower left corner, then upper right of third photo). Destination: us. Reentry of 1st stage visible on last photo."
These are images of the International Space Station view of an uncrewed Russian Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft being launched by a Roscosmos Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to resupply the station on November 16, 2018. This was the 162nd flight of a Roscosmos Progress spacecraft.
The Progress MS-10 spacecraft delivered 2,564 kg of cargo and supplies to Expedition 57 of the International Space Station (ISS).
Here is a cargo breakdow:
Dry cargo: 1,330 kg
Fuel: 750 kg
Oxygen: 75 kg
Water: 440 kg
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Alexander Gerst Capture Date: Nov. 18, 2018
Russian Progress MS-10 Cargo Rocket Launch to International Space Station
This is a timelapse video International Space Station view of an uncrewed Russian Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft being launched by a Roscosmos Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to resupply the station on November 16, 2018. This was the 162nd flight of a Roscosmos Progress spacecraft.
The Progress MS-10 spacecraft delivered 2,564 kg of cargo and supplies to Expedition 57 of the International Space Station (ISS).
Here is a cargo breakdow:
Dry cargo: 1,330 kg
Fuel: 750 kg
Oxygen: 75 kg
Water: 440 kg
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Credit: NASA, ISS, Riccardo Rossi/Italian Space and Astronautics Association (ISAA) Duration: 1 minute, 36 seconds Release Date: Nov. 23, 2018
China Space Review 2024: Record-Breaking Rocket Launches, Lunar Samples Returned
In 2024, China launched a total of 68 carrier rockets, setting a new record. Chang'e 6 brought back the first samples from the far side, south pole of the Moon, and the Shenzhou-19 crew set a new record for spacewalk duration by Chinese astronauts.
Spoiler Alert: Crewed lunar landings are on the way . . .
China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe was launched on May 3, 2024, and carried four international payloads. Its lander-ascender combination touched down at the designated landing area in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on June 2, 2024.
The returner of the Chang'e-6 probe touched down safely on Earth, June 25, 2024, in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It brought back the world's first samples collected from the Moon's far side south polar region. These are critical for a better understanding of the Moon's origin, its geological history, and its interactions with our planet.
In 2020, Chang'e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.
Video Credit: CNSA/CMSA/CMS Group Duration: 3 minutes, 46 seconds Release Date: Dec. 29, 2024
SpaceX Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Undocking | International Space Station
This frame from a time-lapse video captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit shows the thrusters firing on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft after it undocked and backed away from the International Space Station's forward port on the Harmony module on December 16, 2024. The orbital outpost was soaring 259 miles above the Pacific Ocean west of the Hawaiian island chain at the time of this photograph.
Filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of crew supplies, science investigations, and equipment, the spacecraft arrived to the orbiting laboratory Nov. 5, 2024, after it launched Nov. 4 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the agency’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission.
Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) Image Date: Dec. 16, 2024
Vivid Green Earth Aurora | International Space Station
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Don Pettit has released this short timelapse video of aurora over Earth. Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]
Solid Colored Aurora
Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.
Element Emission Colors
Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.
Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.
Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.
Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit Duration: 8 seconds Release Date: Jan. 6, 2024
Distant Galaxy LEDA 803211 in Hydra: Ringing in The New Year | Hubble
This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture shows a tiny patch of sky in the constellation Hydra. The stars and galaxies depicted here span a mind-bending range of distances. Nearest to us in this image are stars within our own Milky Way galaxy that are marked by diffraction spikes. The bright star that sits just at the edge of the prominent bluish galaxy is only 3,230 light-years away, as measured by the European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory.
Behind this star is a galaxy named LEDA 803211. At 622 million light-years distant, this galaxy is close enough that its bright galactic nucleus is clearly visible, as are numerous star clusters scattered around its patchy disc. Many of the more distant galaxies in this frame appear star-like, with no discernible structure, but without the diffraction spikes of a star in our galaxy.
Of all the galaxies in this frame, one pair stands out in particular: a smooth golden galaxy encircled by a nearly complete ring in the upper-right corner of the image. This curious configuration is the result of gravitational lensing, where the light from a distant object is warped and magnified by the gravity of a massive foreground object, like a galaxy or a cluster of galaxies. Einstein predicted the curving of spacetime by matter in his general theory of relativity, and galaxies seemingly stretched into rings like the one in this image are called Einstein rings.
The lensed galaxy, whose image we see as the ring, lies incredibly far away from Earth: we are seeing it as it was when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years old. The galaxy acting as the gravitational lens itself is likely much closer. A nearly perfect alignment of the two galaxies is necessary to give us this rare kind of glimpse into galactic life in the early days of the Universe.
Image Description: Many mostly small, bright objects scattered over a dark background in space. In the top half on the right is an elliptical galaxy, a round light larger than the others, with a slightly warped ring of light around it. In the bottom half there is a barred spiral galaxy, big enough that we can see its bluish arms and its core in detail. Other objects include distant galaxies and nearby stars.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, D. Erb Release Date: Jan. 6, 2025
Close-up view: Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion| MPG/ESO Telescope
In this video, we pan across an image of Messier 78 from the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory. This provides a closer look at the many strange and fascinating structures hidden in this very detailed image. This color picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through a filter that isolates the light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively.
Messier 78: A Reflection Nebula in Orion | Wide-field view | MPG/ESO Telescope
This image of the reflection nebula Messier 78 was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. This color picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through a filter that isolates light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively.
Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit Release Date: Jan. 4, 2025
Shenzhou-19 Crew Tests New "Xiao Hang" Smart Assistant | China Space Station
Last week, the crew aboard the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft conducted a series of in-orbit verifications for China's first space station intelligent flight robot, "Xiao Hang."
During the mission, astronauts utilized Xiao Hang alongside human-robot collaborative interaction software. This allowed them to carry out a variety of experiments related to human-robot spatial relationships, robot behavior characterization, and multimodal interaction technologies. The goal of these experiments is to help improve mission efficiency through effective interaction between astronauts and robotic systems.
In the field of space life sciences and human research, the crew made significant progress on the "biological effects of fruit flies under sub-magnetic environment in space and molecular mechanisms" experiment.
Last week, the crew successfully completed tasks such as collecting fruit flies, emptying their culture containers, and organizing samples. With careful attention, the "fruit fly family" has grown and may become the first species to achieve "three generations under one roof" on China's space station.
The astronauts also performed a series of detailed movement measurements and related experiments using precision motion measurement devices and experimental software.
Tests focused on fine motor adaptation, force control, and object weight perception. The results will assist ground researchers in studying the changes in fine motor control and the adaptive learning mechanisms of astronauts during long-term space missions.
In addition to these experiments, the astronauts used specialized software to test their emotional states and assess their emergency decision-making abilities while in orbit. This data will be crucial for understanding how long-term spaceflight impacts astronauts' emotions and decision-making skills in high-pressure situations.
In the realm of space technology and applications, the crew completed the installation of the fourth batch of microbial sampling module test samples.
Research on space microbial control technology plays a crucial role in understanding and preventing microbial contamination and corrosion issues aboard the space station.
Currently, the findings in this field have been applied to spacecraft design and material selection for various mission models. This includes evaluating the antimicrobial and antifungal properties of spacecraft materials in orbit, as well as verifying the service performance of these materials under space conditions.
In the field of microgravity physical sciences, the crew carried out routine tasks such as replacing experimental samples in fluid physics and high-temperature materials cabinets.
They also cleaned non-container experimental chambers and performed maintenance on axis mechanisms and electrodes.
The astronauts followed their planned maintenance schedule for life-supporting systems and other station equipment. They used specialized noise measurement tools to assess noise levels in different areas of the station, contributing to the ongoing monitoring of the station's acoustic environment. In addition, they carried out cleaning and organizing tasks to ensure a clean and efficient workspace.
After more than two months in orbit, the crew has maintained a regular exercise routine and undergone periodic medical check-ups.
Last week, astronauts completed ultrasound exams of their abdomen and muscles, bone density measurements, as well as electrocardiogram and blood pressure tests. They also conducted maximum isometric strength tests using resistance exercise devices to measure muscle strength during isometric contractions. This is crucial for assessing the functional state of specific muscle groups under fixed postures.
The Shenzhou-19 mission continues to make significant strides in scientific research and technological advancements, paving the way for the future of human space exploration.
Saturn's Rings with Moons Janus & Titan | NASA Cassini Mission
Planet Saturn's Titan moon and tiny Janus moon almost appear to be embedded within Saturn's rings from the viewpoint of NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Janus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn X. It is named after the mythological Roman god, Janus. This natural satellite was first identified by French astronomer Audouin Dollfus on December 15, 1966, although it had been unknowingly photographed earlier by French optical engineer, Jean Texereau.
Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is the second largest moon in our solar system. Jupiter's moon Ganymede is just a little bit larger (by about 2 percent). Titan’s atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen, like Earth’s, but with a surface pressure 50 percent higher than Earth’s. Titan has clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons like methane and ethane. The largest seas are hundreds of feet deep and hundreds of miles wide. Beneath Titan’s thick crust of water ice is more liquid—an ocean primarily of water rather than methane. Titan’s subsurface water could be a place to harbor life as we know it, while its surface lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons could conceivably harbor life that uses different chemistry than we are used to—that is, life as we do not yet know it.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft arrived in the Saturn system in 2004 and ended its mission in 2017 by deliberately plunging into Saturn's atmosphere. This method was chosen because it is necessary to ensure protection and prevent biological contamination to any of the moons of Saturn thought to offer potential habitability.
The Cassini-Huygens mission was a cooperative project of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. The Cassini radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries.
Astrophotographer Michael Burch: "The Aurora was so brilliant and strong I was able to see the pink color dancing in the sky with my naked eye, it was an incredible start to the new year!"
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, but they typically originate with activity on the Sun. Occasionally, during explosions called coronal mass ejections, the Sun releases charged particles that speed across the solar system.
Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]
Solid Colored Aurora
Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.
Element Emission Colors
Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.
Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.
Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.
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