Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope
Distance: 55 million light years from Earth
Release Date: Feb. 3, 2012
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Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope
Distance: 55 million light years from Earth
Gulf of California & Mexico's Baja California Peninsula | International Space Station
The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, separates mainland Mexico from the Baja California Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above California. Geologically, it is Earth’s youngest sea, formed around 5 million years ago due to tectonic activity. In 2005, the Gulf was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its unique oceanographic processes and extraordinary biodiversity.
Wide-field view of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus
This image from a ground-based telescope shows the region surrounding NGC 1055, seen side-on, in the lower right-hand corner. Can you spot it? The spiral galaxy at the center of this picture is NGC 1073 in the Cetus constellation.
Several other galaxies are also visible here, such as Messier 77 located nearly at the bottom of the frame.
The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) through its Guide Star Survey group.
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #NGC1055 #SpiralGalaxies #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #STScI #DSS #DSS2 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. Notice the pinkish star forming regions and young blue star clusters scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
The Crescent Nebula in Cygnus: NGC 6888
NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is about 25 light-years across. It is a cosmic bubble blown by winds from its central, massive star. This deep telescopic image includes narrowband image data, to isolate light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the nebula's detailed folds and filaments. Visible within the nebula, NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. In fact, the Crescent Nebula's complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life, this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away.
'Frosty' Aurora over Anchorage, Alaska
Astrophotographer Todd Salat: ". . . Caught a nice little aurora dancing over Anchorage, Alaska, last night for about 15 minutes and took this shot from our back deck at 12:30 am on November 25, 2025."
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]
Earth auroras have different names depending on the pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.
Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of the Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south.
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #ToddSalat #Astrophotographer #Anchorage #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft after Docking | International Space Station
Expedition 73 Flight Engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Astronaut Kimiya Yui: "Hello, everyone! Three new crew members have arrived at the ISS aboard the Soyuz spacecraft! In this photo, too, the two spacecraft are parked side by side so amicably, aren't they? With 10 crew members on the ISS during the handover period, it's quite lively. I fondly remember how enjoyable the handover period with Mr. Onishi and the others was."
Waiting for Soyuz | International Space Station
Cloudy with a Chance of Star Formation: Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy
This is an image of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy that appears cloud-like in the Southern Hemisphere. This image was captured by photographer Petr Horálek, a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador, using a wide-aperture telephoto lens on a commercial camera. Petr photographed the LMC over about four hours during three nights on Cerro Pachón in Chile, home of Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab.
The LMC is one of the 60+ satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. Satellite galaxies are usually smaller than their host galaxy. Case in point, the LMC consists of around 20 billion stars, while our Milky Way galaxy holds between 100–400 billion stars. The LMC is also considered an irregular galaxy because of its indistinct shape. Its central bright bar is geometrically off-center, which has led astronomers to believe this galaxy was once a barred spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way. The LMC’s once well-defined spiral arms have been warped by the pull of gravity, likely from the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), another dwarf galaxy visible near the LMC.
Like most irregular galaxies, the LMC is a prime site for star formation. It even hosts the most active star-forming region among our nearby galaxies, the nebula Doradus 30 (Tarantula Nebula). The LMC also has an extra advantage: the more massive LMC has been observed to “steal” gas and stars from the neighboring SMC. As the stellar materials are pulled from the SMC, they collide with the LMC’s own materials and form an intergalactic gaseous bridge between the clouds. These collisions pressurize and concentrate the gas, making star formation much more likely in the LMC and the bridge itself.
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #LargeMagellanicCloud #LMC #IrregularGalaxies #Dorado #Constellations #Universe #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiSouthTelescope #GMOS #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #Astrophotographer #PetrHorálek #Astrophotography #CerroPachón #Chile #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
Black Hole Enviroments Explained | NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
If light cannot escape black holes, how do we know where they are? The regions around them tell an incredible story. From blazing coronas and swirling accretion disks to powerful jets that stretch millions of miles, these extreme environments reveal black holes' secrets and how these mysterious objects affect the universe.
Join host Sophia Roberts as she talks with researchers Jenna Cann and Cecilia Chirenti at NASA Goddard about how scientists study these unusual structures, the challenges of observing the unseeable, and the discoveries that continue to change our understanding of black holes.
Expedition 74 Launch Day: Behind The Scenes (Extended) | International Space Station
A Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft launched to the International Space Station (ISS) with two Russians and an American on Thursday, November 27, 2025. The Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:28 pm Moscow time (0928 GMT).
The crew included Russian commander Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, making his second spaceflight, fellow Russian cosmonaut Sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, both flying to space for the first time.
After lift-off, the Soyuz was scheduled to orbit the Earth twice before performing an automated docking with the ISS Rassvet module at 1238 GMT later on Thursday.
The trio are due to spend the next eight months aboard the ISS. Their return to Earth is currently planned for late July 2026.
Moon, Earth & Spacecraft Views | International Space Station
Expedition 73 wrapped up the work week on November 27, 2025, at 10:16 a.m. EST, the hatch opened between the International Space Station and the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.
The spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 7:34 a.m., after launching at 4:27 a.m. (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev aboard. The trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the space station before returning to Earth in summer 2026.
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
Release Dates: Nov. 25-27, 2025
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education
2025 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season Wrap Up | NOAA/NASA/CIRA
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30, 2025. It demonstrated near-normal activity, marked by periods of very strong storms. While the climatological peak of the hurricane season (September 10) was quiet with no tropical activity, the season as a whole generated three Category 5 hurricanes. No other year with similar or less total activity has had three Category 5 storms. The Atlantic season was notable for its striking contrast—wavering between periods of relative calm and bursts of intense activity, generating very powerful storms.
Nevertheless, the overall season fell within the predicted ranges for named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes issued by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in the August Outlook.
The Atlantic basin produced 13 named storms (winds of 39 mph or greater), of these five became hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) and four intensified to major hurricanes with winds reaching 111 mph or greater. No hurricanes made landfall in the continental U.S. for the first time since 2015. An average season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.
Artemis III Moon Rocket Liquid Oxygen Tank | NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility
The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.
Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff: Russian Soyuz Spacecraft | International Space Station
Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff & Prelaunch Highlights | International Space Station