Irregular Starburst Galaxy M82 in Ursa Major | Subaru Telescope

Irregular Starburst Galaxy M82 in Ursa Major | Subaru Telescope

This image captures the irregular galaxy Messier 82 (M82) in the constellation Ursa Major with the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC). The bluish-white region extending toward the upper right traces the galaxy’s disk, while the filamentary structures stretching toward the upper left and lower right are “galactic winds,” streams of hot gas flowing outward.

Although the gas in these winds emits red H-alpha light, it appears green here because the default RGB color composite used in HSC images is green. The galaxy’s central region, where star formation is occurring at an exceptionally high rate, is heavily obscured by dust and cannot be seen in visible light. On the left side of the image, a faint, stream-like arrangement of blue stars is visible. Could these stars have formed within the galactic wind?

This image is a color composite created from the g (green, 470 nanometers), r (red, 630 nanometers), and i (infrared, 760 nanometers) bands. As the default RGB color composite used in many HSC images, the g, r, and i bands are displayed in blue, green, and red, respectively. 

Distance from Earth: 12 million light-years

Learn more about Japan's Subaru Telescope: 
https://subarutelescope.org/en/

Image Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
Release Date: April 26, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Messier82 #M82 #CigarGalaxy #StarburstGalaxies #UrsaMajorConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #SubaruTelescope #すばる望遠鏡 #NAOJ #国立天文台 #HyperSuprimeCam #HSC #Japan #日本 #MaunaKea #Hawaii #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Mechanical Engineer Emanuela Ciattaglia Works on Extremely Large Telescope

Mechanical Engineer Emanuela Ciattaglia Works on Extremely Large Telescope

In this video, we meet the European Southern Observatory's Emanuela Ciattaglia, a native of Italy. She is a mechanical engineer currently working on ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile. From our headquarters in Garching, Germany, she coordinates activities for the assembly, integration and verification phase of the ELT.

This is the first of a new series of videos, featuring people at ESO working in a range of roles across departments and topics.

This soon-to-be telescope is located at the top of Cerro Armazones. At 3046 meters above sea level, and with very dry conditions, the ELT is in the perfect location for astronomical observations under one of the most pristine skies on Earth. Its dome, planned to be fully completed in 2027, protects the telescope and its sensitive components from the extreme desert environment, and from the Sun during daytime. At night, its two massive sliding doors will open to allow the telescope to observe the night sky, while still protecting it from the wind.

Inside the dome, the construction of the main structure of what will be the world's largest optical and near-infrared telescope is very advanced. With the first light planned for the end of the decade, the ELT and its groundbreaking 39-meter main mirror will take on some of the biggest challenges in astronomy and, ultimately, help us understand our place in the Universe.

Learn more about the ELT: https://elt.eso.org

Video Credits: ESO
Director & Writer: Angelos Tsaousis
Editing: Angelos Tsaousis, Tanguy Citron
Footage and photos: ESO, Luis Calçada, Martin Kornmesser,  Angelos Tsaousis, Jose Porte, Max Morales, Herbert Zodet, Fred Kamphues, Liam Young, Ikuo Nakamura, Babak Tafreshi
Duration: 1 minute, 47 seconds
Release Date: March 25, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #MechanicalEngineers #EmanuelaCiattaglia #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Construction #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Germany #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pre-launch: Russia's New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

Pre-launch: Russia's New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

A new Russian medium-class launch vehicle Soyuz-5 was launched for the first time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2 pm EDT (18:00 UTC) on Thursday, April 30, 2026, as part of its first flight tests, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz-5 flight went well on its suborbital test. “The first and second stages of Soyuz 5 performed as planned, and a mockup was launched onto the calculated suborbital trajectory, followed by a reentry into an area in the Pacific Ocean previously closed to shipping and aviation,” according to Roscosmos.

The Soyuz-5 is a replacement for the medium-class Zenit rocket using domestic components for its fuel tanks. The Soyuz-5 uses the same basic type of Russia-built RD-171 engine that flew on its Zenit rocket. Soyuz-5’s performance slots it in-between Russia’s smaller legacy Soyuz-2 rocket and the heavy-lift Angara-A5.

Image Credit: Roscosmos

Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Rockets #RocketLaunches #Soyuz5 #Soyuz5Rockets #MediumLiftRockets #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Spaceflight #SuborbitalFlight #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis II Orion Crew Module Returns to Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Orion Crew Module Returns to Kennedy Space Center

From left, Meagan Jones, engineer, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and Howard Hu, manager, Orion Program, looks at NASA’s Orion spacecraft

Howard Hu, manager, NASA's Orion Program, poses with NASA’s Orion spacecraft following its arrival

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the agency’s Artemis II Mission arrived at the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) in Florida on Thursday, April 30, 2026, for de-servicing operations on the spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down on Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean following its approximate 10-day journey around the Moon carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

The crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Image Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MPPF #MerrittIsland #Florida #Spaceport #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

New Dawn, New Possibilities . . . 16 times a day! | International Space Station

New Dawn, New Possibilities . . . 16 times a day! | International Space Station

This picture was shared by Expedition 74 flight engineer European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot with the following caption: "Day 080, orbit 1241—New dawn, new possibilities . . . 16 times a day! From orbit, just like on Earth, each sunrise and sunset is a quiet reminder of how dynamic and beautiful our planet is. At sunrise, the deep black of night gives way to fiery reds, warm oranges and the thin blue line of our atmosphere."

"No two sunrises are ever the same, depending on the clouds, their shapes, and whether we’re flying over ocean or land . . . I can’t help but think of the way Monet or Van Gogh studied lighhowt . . . much they would have loved this view!"

Crew members aboard the International Space Station see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day due to their high orbital velocity (greater than 28,000 km per hour). The multiple chances for photography are fortunate because at that speed, each sunrise or sunset only lasts a few seconds.

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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.

Credits: NASA/ESA – S. Adenot
Image Date: April 5, 2026
Release Date: May 5, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #Earth #OrbitalSunrises #OrbitalSunsets #ISS #Astronauts #SophieAdenot #AstronautPhotography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Galaxy IC 4870 in Pavo: Threads of Blue | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxy IC 4870 in Pavo: Threads of Blue | Hubble Space Telescope

The central galaxy streaked with color, IC 4870, was discovered by DeLisle Stewart in 1900 and is located approximately 28 million light-years away. It contains an active galactic nucleus, or AGN: an extremely luminous central region so alight with radiation that it can outshine the rest of the galaxy put together. AGNs emit radiation across the complete electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma-rays, produced by the action of a central supermassive black hole that is devouring material getting too close to it. IC 4870 is also a Seyfert galaxy, a particular kind of AGN with characteristic emission lines.

IC 4870 has been imaged by Hubble for several studies of nearby active galaxies. By using Hubble to explore the small-scale structures of AGN in nearby galaxies, astronomers can observe the traces of collisions and mergers, central galactic bars, nuclear starbursts, jets or outflows, and other interactions between a galactic nucleus and its surrounding environment. Images such as this can help astronomers understand more about the true nature of the galaxies we see throughout the cosmos.

Image Description: A ripple of bright blue threads through this galaxy like a misshapen lake system. The foreground of this image is littered with nearby stars with their gleaming diffraction spikes. A keen eye can also spot a few other galaxies that, while masquerading as stars at first glance, reveal their true nature on closer inspection.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: June 4, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #IC4870 #SeyfertGalaxies #ActiveGalacticNuclei #AGNs #PavoConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Liftoff of Russia's New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

Liftoff of Russia's New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

A new Russian medium-class launch vehicle Soyuz-5 was launched for the first time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2 pm EDT (18:00 UTC) on Thursday, April 30, 2026, as part of its first flight tests, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz-5 flight went well on its suborbital test. “The first and second stages of Soyuz 5 performed as planned, and a mockup was launched onto the calculated suborbital trajectory, followed by a reentry into an area in the Pacific Ocean previously closed to shipping and aviation,” according to Roscosmos.

The Soyuz-5 is a replacement for the medium-class Zenit rocket using domestic components for its fuel tanks. The Soyuz-5 uses the same basic type of Russia-built RD-171 engine that flew on its Zenit rocket. Soyuz-5’s performance slots it in-between Russia’s smaller legacy Soyuz-2 rocket and the heavy-lift Angara-A5.

Video Credit: Roscosmos

Duration: 1 minute
Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Rockets #RocketLaunches #Soyuz5 #Soyuz5Rockets #MediumLiftRockets #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Spaceflight #SuborbitalFlight #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Russia Test Launches New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

Russia Test Launches New Medium-lift Soyuz-5 Rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome

A new Russian medium-class launch vehicle Soyuz-5 was launched for the first time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2 pm EDT (18:00 UTC) on Thursday, April 30, 2026, as part of its first flight tests, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz-5 flight went well on its suborbital test. “The first and second stages of Soyuz 5 performed as planned, and a mockup was launched onto the calculated suborbital trajectory, followed by a reentry into an area in the Pacific Ocean previously closed to shipping and aviation,” according to Roscosmos.

The Soyuz-5 is a replacement for the medium-class Zenit rocket using domestic components for its fuel tanks. The Soyuz-5 uses the same basic type of Russia-built RD-171 engine that flew on its Zenit rocket. Soyuz-5’s performance slots it in-between Russia’s smaller legacy Soyuz-2 rocket and the heavy-lift Angara-A5.

Image Credit: Roscosmos
Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Rockets #RocketLaunches #Soyuz5 #Soyuz5Rockets #MediumLiftRockets #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Spaceflight #SuborbitalFlight #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #STEM #Education

Moon & Planet Earth Views—New Photos | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

Moon & Planet Earth Views—New Photos | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth. Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc—except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. Earth is in a crescent phase, with sunlight coming from the right. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime.

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:37 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is in nighttime.

Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space in this photo taken by an Artemis II crew member through an Orion spacecraft window on the second day of the mission.

A thin arc glowing in the darkness of space. Sunlight traces the curves of the ocean and clouds, while the rest of the planet fades into shadow.

A sliver of the edge of Earth is brightly illuminated against the vast darkness of space.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce. The crew has begun their postflight reconditioning, medical and human performance evaluations, and lunar science debriefs.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Image Credit: NASA
Dates: April 2-6, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

Detoxifying Water on Planet Mars | NASA Space Technology

Detoxifying Water on Planet Mars | NASA Space Technology

Great news for human space exploration! Scientists have confirmed there is frozen water on Mars but there remians a major challenge. Martian water is full of toxic chemicals called perchlorates. Molecules of chlorine mix in with the upper Martian soil, contaminating water that is present there. These chemicals are harmful to humans and corrode equipment. Before humans could use this water, these toxins must be removed. 

However, the amount of water needed for long-term stays on Mars makes traditional approaches impractical. Thus, a team of NASA researchers is developing a new solution that uses biology instead of chemistry to detoxify the water. The proposed bioreactor would use specially engineered bacteria to clean the water and turn the contaminants into consumables. The process is sustainable, scalable, and would eliminate the need to dump the waste material somewhere else. This clean water could be used for irrigation, human hydration, and propellent production. This concept could help sustain a human presence on Mars and may lead to improved water purification solutions here on Earth. 

For more information visit: https://go.nasa.gov/3Ue1Tv6

"Explore–Innovate–Inspire"

This video represents a research study within the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. NIAC is a visionary and far-reaching aerospace program, one that has the potential to create breakthrough technologies for possible future space missions. However, such early-stage technology developments may never become actual NASA missions.

Video Credit: NASA Space Technology
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: May 4, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #Chemistry #Perchlorates #Chlorine #WaterPurification #Bioreactor #NAIC #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: A Galaxy Far, Far Away: May the Fourth Be with You | Hubble

Close-up: A Galaxy Far, Far Away: May the Fourth Be with You | Hubble

May 4th, known as Star Wars Day, celebrates the Star Wars franchise with the pun “May the 4th be with you,” a play on the iconic line “May the Force be with you.” 

In this European Space Agency Hubble picture, a spiral galaxy glittering with star clusters is the center of attention. NGC 3137 is located 53 million light-years away in the constellation Antlia (The Air Pump). As a nearby spiral galaxy, this target offers astronomers an excellent opportunity to study the cycle of stellar birth and death, as well as giving researchers a glimpse of a galactic system similar to our own.

NGC 3137 is of particular interest to astronomers because it travels through space with a group of galaxies that is thought to be similar to the Local Group, the galaxy group that contains the Milky Way. Similar to the Local Group, the NGC 3175 group contains two large spiral galaxies: NGC 3137 and NGC 3175 that Hubble has also observed. In the Local Group, the largest members are the Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda, another spiral galaxy. In addition to two large spiral galaxies, both groups also contain a number of smaller dwarf galaxies, although it is not yet known how many of these tiny companions the NGC 3175 group has; researchers have found more than 500 dwarf galaxy candidates. By studying this nearby galaxy group, astronomers can learn about the dynamics of our own galactic home.

NGC 3137 is revealed in fantastic detail by Hubble. This image is crafted from observations in six color bands, creating a view that highlights several facets of this beautiful spiral. The galaxy’s center, encircled by a network of fine, dusty clouds, hosts a black hole estimated to be 60 million times more massive than the Sun. NGC 3137 is highly inclined from our point of view, giving a unique perspective on its loose, feathery spiral structure. A couple of photobombing Milky Way stars and a smattering of far more distant background galaxies complete the image.

As stunning as each of these features may be, it is the galaxy’s brilliant star clusters that steal the show. The galaxy is peppered with dense clusters of bright blue stars and glowing red gas clouds. These signal the presence of hot, young stars still encased in their birth nebulae.

Unsurprisingly, these star clusters are exactly what has drawn Hubble’s keen eye. Researchers are using Hubble to carry out an observing program (#17502; PI: D. Thilker) focusing on star clusters in 55 nearby galaxies. The data collected will help astronomers identify star clusters and the glowing nebulae that surround them, providing a way to measure the ages of stars in galaxies like NGC 3137. These observations give an in-depth view of stellar life in spiral galaxies, from the young stars still in the process of forming to the ancient stellar populations that grew up in the early years of their galactic hosts.

These observations were taken for the PHANGS-HST program, part of a larger effort by the most powerful observatories on (and around) Earth. Hubble contributes greatly to this massive undertaking, combining data from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Together, Hubble’s powerful optical and ultraviolet capabilities, Webb’s sensitive infrared eyes, and ALMA’s broad network of radio dishes bring us an unmatched view of star formation in the local Universe.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen close up and tilted at an angle, so that its disc fills the view from corner to corner. Its disc is yellow near to the center and pale blue farther out, showing cooler and hotter stars, respectively. Thin brown clouds of dust, glowing pink spots of star formation, and sparkling blue patches filled with star clusters swirl through the galaxy. Behind it, small orange dots are very distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker and the PHANGS-HST Team

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #MayThe4th #Galaxies #NGC3137 #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #StarClusters #AntliaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Galaxy Far, Far Away: May the Fourth Be with You | Hubble Space Telescope

A Galaxy Far, Far Away: May the Fourth Be with You | Hubble Space Telescope

May 4th, known as Star Wars Day, celebrates the Star Wars franchise with the pun “May the 4th be with you,” a play on the iconic line “May the Force be with you.” 

In this European Space Agency Hubble picture, a spiral galaxy glittering with star clusters is the center of attention. NGC 3137 is located 53 million light-years away in the constellation Antlia (The Air Pump). As a nearby spiral galaxy, this target offers astronomers an excellent opportunity to study the cycle of stellar birth and death, as well as giving researchers a glimpse of a galactic system similar to our own.

NGC 3137 is of particular interest to astronomers because it travels through space with a group of galaxies that is thought to be similar to the Local Group, the galaxy group that contains the Milky Way. Similar to the Local Group, the NGC 3175 group contains two large spiral galaxies: NGC 3137 and NGC 3175 that Hubble has also observed. In the Local Group, the largest members are the Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda, another spiral galaxy. In addition to two large spiral galaxies, both groups also contain a number of smaller dwarf galaxies, although it is not yet known how many of these tiny companions the NGC 3175 group has; researchers have found more than 500 dwarf galaxy candidates. By studying this nearby galaxy group, astronomers can learn about the dynamics of our own galactic home.

NGC 3137 is revealed in fantastic detail by Hubble. This image is crafted from observations in six color bands, creating a view that highlights several facets of this beautiful spiral. The galaxy’s center, encircled by a network of fine, dusty clouds, hosts a black hole estimated to be 60 million times more massive than the Sun. NGC 3137 is highly inclined from our point of view, giving a unique perspective on its loose, feathery spiral structure. A couple of photobombing Milky Way stars and a smattering of far more distant background galaxies complete the image.

As stunning as each of these features may be, it is the galaxy’s brilliant star clusters that steal the show. The galaxy is peppered with dense clusters of bright blue stars and glowing red gas clouds. These signal the presence of hot, young stars still encased in their birth nebulae.

Unsurprisingly, these star clusters are exactly what has drawn Hubble’s keen eye. Researchers are using Hubble to carry out an observing program (#17502; PI: D. Thilker) focusing on star clusters in 55 nearby galaxies. The data collected will help astronomers identify star clusters and the glowing nebulae that surround them, providing a way to measure the ages of stars in galaxies like NGC 3137. These observations give an in-depth view of stellar life in spiral galaxies, from the young stars still in the process of forming to the ancient stellar populations that grew up in the early years of their galactic hosts.

These observations were taken for the PHANGS-HST program, part of a larger effort by the most powerful observatories on (and around) Earth. Hubble contributes greatly to this massive undertaking, combining data from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Together, Hubble’s powerful optical and ultraviolet capabilities, Webb’s sensitive infrared eyes, and ALMA’s broad network of radio dishes bring us an unmatched view of star formation in the local Universe.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen close up and tilted at an angle, so that its disc fills the view from corner to corner. Its disc is yellow near to the center and pale blue farther out, showing cooler and hotter stars, respectively. Thin brown clouds of dust, glowing pink spots of star formation, and sparkling blue patches filled with star clusters swirl through the galaxy. Behind it, small orange dots are very distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker and the PHANGS-HST Team
Release Date: April 30, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #MayThe4th #Galaxies #NGC3137 #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #StarClusters #AntliaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Milky Way View with Airglow | International Space Station

Milky Way View with Airglow | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Chris Williams: "One question I get a lot is can you see the stars differently from up in space. When we orbit on the night side of the planet, we get a view of the stars very much like being in a very dark place on Earth. And because of our orbital inclination, we get to see the stars of both the northern and southern hemisphere. I captured this shot of our galactic plane from one of the windows of the Crew Dragon Freedom that is docked to the zenith docking port."

You will notice layers of yellow and green airglow in this image. Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation. 

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/JSC/Chris Williams
Release Date: May 4, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #OrbitalNight #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-21 Crew Begins One-Month Extended Mission | China Space Station

Shenzhou-21 Crew Begins One-Month Extended Mission | China Space Station

The Shenzhou-21 crew—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—has begun their one-month extended mission aboard China's Tiangong Space Station.

The three astronauts entered the space station on Nov 1, 2025. Having completed a full six-month stay in orbit with excellent conditions, the trio will now work an extra month there.

The extension aims to further verify technologies for long-duration human spaceflight. During the extra month, the astronauts will focus on five key tasks.

First, they will prepare for handover. This includes wrapping up scientific experiments, sorting data, and thoroughly checking payloads, cabin systems and life support equipment to get prepared for the arrival of the next crew.

Second, they will pack experimental samples and equipment for return to Earth, while transferring waste to the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft for later disposal.

Third, they will conduct detailed inspections of the spacecraft. This includes verifying airtight seals on hatches, checking the return module's life support systems, communication equipment, portholes, and structural integrity to rule out any risks from space debris impacts.

Fourth, the crew will intensify physical training to adapt to Earth's gravity and enhance monitoring of their biorhythms, psychological state, and crew compatibility to support future long-term missions.

Fifth, they will review all return procedures to ensure a safe journey.

With this extension, the Shenzhou-21 crew is set to break the previous record of 204 days in orbit set by Shenzhou-20.

So far, they have completed three spacewalks and conducted 27 scientific projects. In the coming month, the crew will also welcome the arrivals of Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-23 crew.

Shenzhou-21 Crew
Zhang Lu (张陆) - Commander & Pilot - 2nd spaceflight
Wu Fei (武飞)  Flight Engineer - 1st spaceflight
Zhang Hong Zhang (张洪章) - Payload Specialist - 1st spaceflight

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 12 seconds
Release Date: May 4, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Shenzhou21Mission #神舟二十一号 #Shenzhou21 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #LongDurationMission #ZhangLu #WuFei #ZhangHongzhang #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #MicrogravityExperiments #SpaceLaboratory #CNSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

What’s in a name? Galaxy SDSS J103512.07+461412.2 in Ursa Major | Hubble

What’s in a name? Galaxy SDSS J103512.07+461412.2  in Ursa Major | Hubble

This Hubble picture includes the pithily-named galaxy SDSS J103512.07+461412.2, visible in the center of this image as a dispersed sweep of dust and stars with a denser, brighter core. SDSS J103512.07+461412.2 is located 23 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. The seemingly rambling name is because this galaxy was observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), a massive survey that began in the year 2000 with the aim of observing and cataloging vast numbers of astronomical objects. So far, it has recorded several hundred million astronomical objects.

In the early days of astronomy catalogs, astronomers painstakingly recorded individual objects one by one. As an example, the Messier catalog includes only 110 objects, identified by the astronomer Charles Messier because they were all getting in the way of his comet-hunting efforts. As the Messier catalog is so limited, it is sufficient to simply refer to those objects as M1 to M110. In contrast, when a survey as massive in scope as the SDSS is involved, and when huge volumes of data need to be processed in an automated manner, the names assigned to objects need to be longer, and more informative. 

To that end, every SDSS object has a designation that follows the format of: ‘SDSS J’, followed by the right ascension (RA), and then the declination (Dec). RA and Dec define the position of an astronomical object in the night sky. RA is analogous to longitude here on Earth, while the Dec corresponds to latitude. To be more exact, RA measures the longitudinal distance of an astronomical object from the point where the celestial equator (the mid-point between the north and south celestial poles) intersects with the ecliptic (the plane in which Earth orbits around the Sun). The entire night sky is then carved into 24 slices, known as ‘hours’, measured eastwards from that starting point (designated as zero hour). This means that the RA can be expressed in ‘hours’, ‘minutes’ and ‘seconds’. Dec is the angle north or south of the celestial equator, and is expressed in degrees.

Thus, the SDSS J103512.07+461412.2 name simply tells us that the galaxy can be found 10 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds east of the zero-hour point on the celestial equator, and just over 46 degrees to the north of the celestial equator. Therefore, that lengthy name is really an identifier and a detailed location in one.

Image Description: A galaxy in the center of a wide view of space. It is surrounded by a variety of distinctly-shaped small galaxies. A wide and very flat spiral galaxy, and one star with four prominent diffraction spikes, are noticeable. The galaxy itself is a broad horizontal streak of tiny stars, extending left and right from a dense and bright core of stars in the center.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully
Release Date: Sept. 25, 2023

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Progress MS-34 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Russian Progress MS-34 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Russian Progress MS-34 (Progress 95) spacecraft approaches the International Space Station

International Space Station Configuration: Five spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL, the Soyuz MS-28 crew ship, and the Progress 94 and 95 resupply ships.

Expedition 74 station commander and cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov: "Last night, the Progress MS-34 spacecraft docked with us automatically! We were eagerly awaiting this ship. In addition to the usual fuel, air, water, and other necessary supplies, it brought a new spacesuit for EVA, experiment materials, and long-awaited parcels from home."

The uncrewed Russian Roscosmos Progress 95 (also known as "Progress MS-34") spacecraft docked to the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda module at 8 p.m. EDT Monday.

The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew. It will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about six months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.

It launched at 6:21 p.m. EDT April 25, 2026 (3:21 a.m. Baikonur time April 26) on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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: Roscosmos

Release Date: April 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #SoyuzCargoSpacecraft #ProgressMS34 #Progress95 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #CosmonautPhotography #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education