City Lights of Southeast Asia with Lightning Flashes | International Space Station

City Lights of Southeast Asia with Lightning Flashes | International Space Station

The International Space Station soars 259 miles above Cambodia in this long-duration photograph revealing star trails, lightning storms, and the city lights of Southeast Asia streaking below.

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. 

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineers (Japan): Takuya Onishi, Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Kirill Peskov, Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center 
Date: June 21, 2025 

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Airglow #SoutheastAsia #Cambodia #Meteorology #Weather #LightningStorms #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Multi-engine Static Test Fire Pre-10th Flight | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Multi-engine Static Test Fire Pre-10th Flight | Starbase Texas

This was the first Starship to be static fired on the orbital launch mount that was modified by engineers and technicians at Starbase Texas.

Read SpaceX's Ninth Test Flight Report: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-9

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 39 seconds

Date: Aug. 3, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship10 #StarshipTestFlight10 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: The Tarantula Nebula in nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble

Close-up: The Tarantula Nebula in nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble

A scene from a star-forming factory shines in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture. It captures incredible details in the dusty clouds in a star-forming region called the Tarantula Nebula. What is possibly the most amazing aspect of this detailed image is that this nebula is not even in our galaxy. Instead, it is in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy that is located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. 

The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and within the entire group of nearby galaxies that the Milky Way belongs to.

The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known—a portion are roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. The scene pictured here is located away from the center of the nebula, where there is a super star cluster called R136, but very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds.

This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing program called Scylla. It is named for a multi-headed sea monster from the Greek myth of Ulysses. The Scylla program was designed to complement another Hubble observing program called Ultraviolet Legacy library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULYSSES). It targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars.

Image Description: A nebula. The top-left is dense with layers of fluffy pink and greenish clouds. Long strands of green clouds stretch out from here; a faint layer of translucent blue dust combines with them to create a three-dimensional scene. A sparse network of dark dust clouds in the foreground adds reddish-black patches atop the nebula. Blue-white and orange stars, from our galaxy and beyond, are spread amongst the clouds.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 4, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Nebulae #TarantulaNebula #StellarNursery #Stars #WolfRayetStars #Dorado #Constellation #LargeMagellanicCloud #LMC #DwarfGalaxies #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earthbound: Japanese Astronaut Takuya Onishi | International Space Station

Earthbound: Japanese Astronaut Takuya Onishi | International Space Station

Expedition 73 flight engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi: "The Earth . . . everything feels so nostalgic."

JAXA Astronaut Takuya Onishi Biography:

https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/astronaut/onishi-takuya/

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia are preparing to return to Earth inside their Dragon spacecraft they launched to the station in as Crew-10 members.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineers (Japan): Takuya Onishi, Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Kirill Peskov, Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Image Credit: T. Onishi/JAXA
Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Crew10 #Astronauts #TakuyaOnishi #日本 #Japan #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Moon Minute: Artemis II Ascent Abort Recovery Training | Kennedy Space Center

Moon Minute: Artemis II Ascent Abort Recovery Training | Kennedy Space Center

Here's the latest update for NASA's Artemis campaign. NASA rehearsed recovery procedures for an ascent abort scenario off the coast of Florida. 

The Artemis II crew will be sent on a ten-day Moon journey no earlier than April 2026.

The Artemis II test flight is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.

The Artemis II test flight will be sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a ten-day journey around the Moon and back.

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Video Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Aug. 6, 2025 

#NASA #Space #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #ArtemisIICrewModule #Astronauts #AstronautTraining #CrewedMission #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #SpaceEngineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Mars Images: Aug. 4-6, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: Aug. 4-6, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - Sol 1585

Mars 2020 - Sol 1584

Mars 2020 - Sol 1585

Mars 2020 - Sol 1584

Mars 2020 - Sol 1585

Mars 2020 - Sol 1585

MSL - Sol 4621

MSL - Sol 4620

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 4+ Years on Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: Aug. 4-6, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Gas & Dust Surround Unique Red Supergiant Star Stephenson 2 DFK 52 | ESO

Gas & Dust Surround Unique Red Supergiant Star Stephenson 2 DFK 52 | ESO

This picture is reminiscent of the 3D images that you require flimsy paper red and cyan glasses to properly view. What we are seeing in this photo is actually a red supergiant star expelling a cloud of gas and dust as it nears the end of its life. These nebulae are common around supergiant stars; however, this particular cloud presents an unexpected and considerable mystery for astronomers. 

This is the largest cloud of ejected material to have been found around a supergiant star at an enormous 1.4 light years across. Astronomers studied this star, Stephenson 2 DFK 52, with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) while studying other supergiants in its vicinity. DFK 52 is rather similar to Betelgeuse, another famous red supergiant, so they were expecting to see a similar cloud around it. However, if DFK 52 was as close to us as Betelgeuse is, the cocoon around it would be as wide in the sky as a third of a full Moon.  

These new ALMA observations allow astronomers to measure how much material surrounds the star and how fast it is moving. The parts that are moving towards us are highlighted in blue, and the sections that are moving away, in red. The data show that about 4,000 years ago the star went through an episode of extreme mass shedding, and then slowed down to its current rate, more similar to that of Betelgeuse. DFK 52 is estimated to be 10-15 times more massive than the Sun, and by now it has already lost 5-10% of its mass. 

It is still a mystery as to how the star managed to expel so much material in such a short timeframe. Could it be an odd interaction with a companion star? Why is the shape of the cloud so unusually complex? Are there more supergiants like this out there? Deciphering why DFK 52 has already shed so much material will help astronomers understand how it will meet its end—a supernova explosion sometime in the next million years.

Image Description: A fuzzy ball of gas and dust is central in this image with sections overlapping of red and blue. The background is completely black. In the center towards the top of the cloud is a lighter patch of whitish red. This is where the red supergiant is.

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. Siebert et al.
Release Date: Aug. 4, 2025

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #RedSupergiants #Nebulae #CircumstellarMaterials #Stephenson2DFK52 #Stephenson2DFK52A #Scutum #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #ALMA #NRAO #UnitedStates #NAOJ #Japan #日本 #STEM #Education

NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers: Hair Wash Day | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers: Hair Wash Day | International Space Station

To wash their hair in space, astronauts can use a special no-rinse shampoo, a water-filled pouch with a one-way valve, and a towel. They squirt warm water onto their scalp and work it through to the ends of their hair, applying the shampoo and then drying it with a towel. The water used in the process is recycled. This method ensures that astronauts maintain their hygiene needs while living in space. 

Astronaut Nichole Ayers NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-nichole-ayers
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/nasa-astronaut-nichole-ayers/

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: JAXA Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi

JAXA Flight Engineer: Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center 
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 4, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Crew10 #Astronauts #NicholeAyers #HairWashing #WashingHair #UnitedStates #Japan #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10: Exploring Science | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10: Exploring Science | International Space Station

During their mission on the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia performed numerous investigations to advance our understanding of biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology, providing the foundation for continuing human exploration beyond low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

Learn more about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 science mission:
https://go.nasa.gov/4m0yU9Z

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: JAXA Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi

JAXA Flight Engineer: Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center 
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Crew10 #Astronauts #NicholeAyers #AnneMcClain #JonnyKim #UnitedStates #TakuyaOnishi #Japan #JAXA #Cosmonauts #KirillPeskov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Highlights of Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Highlights of Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Abell 3667—an actively merging galaxy cluster—is featured in this image assembled from over 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. This collage shows examples of Abell 3667's interesting features.

1. Jellyfish Galaxy JO171
Similar to the iconic Hoag’s Object, JO171 is an example of a ring galaxy, characterized by a completely detached ring of young stars surrounding a central old spheroid. JO171’s fall into the dense Abell 3667 galaxy cluster is stripping it of gas, creating the striking jellyfish-like tendrils seen trailing off to one side of the galaxy. Analysis of the galaxy’s stellar population and its gas and stellar dynamics shows that the origin of the ring is related to an interaction with another galaxy in the distant past, prior to its accretion onto Abell 3667. More recently, since infall into the cluster, the gas in the ring has been stripped by ram pressure, causing the quenching of star formation in the stripped half of the ring. This is the first observed case of ram-pressure stripping in action in a ring galaxy. Both of the events (accretion and stripping) caused dramatic transformations in this galaxy.

2. Jellyfish Galaxy LEDA 64246
LEDA 64246 is another example of extended galaxy tails formed by ram-pressure stripping. Their blue glow indicates that the stripping has triggered star formation in the trails.

3. Brightest cluster galaxy IC 4965 and infalling group
The central galaxy in this cutout is referred to as the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). The formation of BCGs has been an astronomical mystery for decades. The mystery has been partially answered by the detection of intracluster light. This provides evidence that BCGs generally form through the gradual stripping of stars from less massive galaxies in the cluster, which then accrete onto the BCG.

4. Seyfert Galaxy NGC 6862
NGC 6862 is a Seyfert galaxy that is partially obscured by Milky Way cirrus, or integrated flux nebulae.

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: Anthony Englert (Brown University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell3667 #JellyfishGalaxies #SeyfertGalaxies #Pavo #Constellation #DarkMatter #IntraclusterLight #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DECam #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Deep View of Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Deep View of Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

The final image shows Abell 3667—an actively merging galaxy cluster. It was assembled from over 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Within Abell 3667, two smaller galaxy clusters are actively merging together, evidenced by the glowing bridge (yellow) of stars stretching across the center of this image. This bridge connects the hearts of the two galaxy clusters, known as their brightest cluster galaxies, and forms out of material stripped from the galaxies as they merge to form one massive conglomerate. 

Galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in our Universe, consisting of hundreds or thousands of galaxies that have become gravitationally bound together over billions of years. Astrophysicists have long been eager to understand the formation of these imposing structures. The histories of galaxy clusters not only help us understand how the Universe formed, but they also provide constraints on the properties of dark matter—an invisible material that does not emit or reflect light and is found in high concentrations around clusters of galaxies.

One clue astronomers look for to understand the history of a galaxy cluster is intracluster light—the faint glow emitted by stars that have been stripped from their original galaxies by the immense gravity of a forming galaxy cluster. These stars serve as whispering evidence of past galactic interactions, though most existing telescopes and cameras struggle to capture them.

Dark Energy Camera (DECam)

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: Anthony Englert (Brown University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell3667 #Pavo #Constellation #DarkMatter #IntraclusterLight #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DECam #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Journey to Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Journey to Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

The final image shows Abell 3667—an actively merging galaxy cluster. It was assembled from over 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Within Abell 3667, two smaller galaxy clusters are actively merging together, evidenced by the glowing bridge (yellow) of stars stretching across the center of this image. This bridge connects the hearts of the two galaxy clusters, known as their brightest cluster galaxies, and forms out of material stripped from the galaxies as they merge to form one massive conglomerate. 

Galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in our Universe, consisting of hundreds or thousands of galaxies that have become gravitationally bound together over billions of years. Astrophysicists have long been eager to understand the formation of these imposing structures. The histories of galaxy clusters not only help us understand how the Universe formed, but they also provide constraints on the properties of dark matter—an invisible material that does not emit or reflect light and is found in high concentrations around clusters of galaxies.

One clue astronomers look for to understand the history of a galaxy cluster is intracluster light—the faint glow emitted by stars that have been stripped from their original galaxies by the immense gravity of a forming galaxy cluster. These stars serve as whispering evidence of past galactic interactions, though most existing telescopes and cameras struggle to capture them.

Dark Energy Camera (DECam)

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: Anthony Englert (Brown University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell3667 #Pavo #Constellation #DarkMatter #IntraclusterLight #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DECam #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Close-up: Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Abell 3667—an actively merging galaxy cluster—is featured in this image assembled from over 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Within Abell 3667, two smaller galaxy clusters are actively merging together, evidenced by the glowing bridge (yellow) of stars stretching across the center of this image. This bridge connects the hearts of the two galaxy clusters, known as their brightest cluster galaxies, and forms out of material stripped from the galaxies as they merge to form one massive conglomerate. 

Galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in our Universe, consisting of hundreds or thousands of galaxies that have become gravitationally bound together over billions of years. Astrophysicists have long been eager to understand the formation of these imposing structures. The histories of galaxy clusters not only help us understand how the Universe formed, but they also provide constraints on the properties of dark matter—an invisible material that does not emit or reflect light and is found in high concentrations around clusters of galaxies.

One clue astronomers look for to understand the history of a galaxy cluster is intracluster light—the faint glow emitted by stars that have been stripped from their original galaxies by the immense gravity of a forming galaxy cluster. These stars serve as whispering evidence of past galactic interactions, though most existing telescopes and cameras struggle to capture them.

Dark Energy Camera (DECam)

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: Anthony Englert (Brown University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell3667 #Pavo #Constellation #DarkMatter #IntraclusterLight #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DECam #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo | Victor Blanco Telescope

Merging galaxy cluster Abell 3667 in Pavo constellation

Labeled view of Abell 3667 galaxy cluster

Abell 3667—an actively merging galaxy cluster—is featured in this image assembled from over 28 hours of observations with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Within Abell 3667, two smaller galaxy clusters are actively merging together, evidenced by the glowing bridge (yellow) of stars stretching across the center of this image. This bridge connects the hearts of the two galaxy clusters, known as their brightest cluster galaxies, and forms out of material stripped from the galaxies as they merge to form one massive conglomerate. 

Galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in our Universe, consisting of hundreds or thousands of galaxies that have become gravitationally bound together over billions of years. Astrophysicists have long been eager to understand the formation of these imposing structures. The histories of galaxy clusters not only help us understand how the Universe formed, but they also provide constraints on the properties of dark matter—an invisible material that does not emit or reflect light and is found in high concentrations around clusters of galaxies.

One clue astronomers look for to understand the history of a galaxy cluster is intracluster light—the faint glow emitted by stars that have been stripped from their original galaxies by the immense gravity of a forming galaxy cluster. These stars serve as whispering evidence of past galactic interactions, though most existing telescopes and cameras struggle to capture them.

Dark Energy Camera (DECam)

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: Anthony Englert (Brown University)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell3667 #Pavo #Constellation #DarkMatter #IntraclusterLight #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DECam #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Farewell & Command Change | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Farewell & Command Change | International Space Station

[Event starts at 2 minute mark] After nearly five months aboard the International Space Station, the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission—NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia—are sharing their farewell remarks from space as they prepare to return home, followed by a change of command ceremony aboard the station.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: JAXA Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi

JAXA Flight Engineer: Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Credit: NASA
Duration: 17 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 5, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Crew10 #Astronauts #NicholeAyers #AnneMcClain #JonnyKim #UnitedStates #TakuyaOnishi #Japan #JAXA #Cosmonauts #KirillPeskov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Comparing Webb infrared image with Hubble Ultra Deep Field | NASA/ESA

Comparing Webb infrared image with Hubble Ultra Deep Field | NASA/ESA

This video provides a unique comparison to highlight the visible and infrared observations of one of the most iconic regions of the sky, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. 

When the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field was released by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope in 2004, it was the deepest image of the Universe ever taken. In 2025, Webb’s new view of this field is now one of the deepest views ever obtained of the Universe to date.

By returning to this legacy field first made famous by Hubble, Webb is continuing and expanding the deep field tradition—revealing new details, uncovering previously hidden galaxies, and offering fresh insights into the formation of the first cosmic structures.

The first image shown in this video a new infrared view of this field through the eyes of two of Webb’s instruments. The result is a detailed view that reveals thousands of distant galaxies, some dating back to the earliest periods of cosmic history. The field, known as the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) region, was observed with the shortest-wavelength filter of Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for nearly 41 hours. Combined with data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), this image allows astronomers to explore how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years.

The second image shown in this video a portion of the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This image, originally released in 2012, was taken of a patch of sky within the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field, released in 2004.

Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (Leiden University), and the HUDF09 Team, ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Östlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, the MIDIS collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 1, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #NASAWebb #Galaxies #HubbleUltraDeepField #Fornax #Constellation #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #JWST #NIRCam #MIRI #InfraredAstronomy #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video