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Friday, May 08, 2026

NASA's X-59 Flight Tests Expand to Two-Flight Days over Mojave Desert

NASA's X-59 Flight Tests Expand to Two-Flight Days over Mojave Desert

As NASA accelerates flight test operations for its quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft, its team is picking up the testing tempo. NASA recently completed two test flights of the X-59 in a single day for the first time, marking significant progress toward later phases of the Quesst Mission. Here we see the X-59's first flight of the day, and 11th overall.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst Mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.”

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

For more information about the X-59 and NASA's Quesst Mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/
www.nasa.gov/quesst

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Duration: 34 seconds
Release Date: May 8, 2026

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Sonicbooms #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Antarctica’s Hektoria Glacier: Record Melting Observed | NASA Earth Science

Antarctica’s Hektoria Glacier: Record Melting Observed | NASA Earth Science

Antarctica’s Hektoria Glacier retreated at a record-setting pace. Between January 2022 and March 2023, the glacier lost about 15 miles (25 km) in length, including a 2-month period when grounded ice retreated more than 5 miles (8 km)—the highest rate observed in modern history.

Hektoria Glacier (65°3′S 61°31′W) is a glacier flowing south from the area around Mount Johnston between Mount Quandary and Zagreus Ridge into Vaughan Inlet next west of Brenitsa Glacier and east of Green Glacier, on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The name "Hektoria Fiords" was given by Sir Hubert Wilkins during his flight of December 20, 1928, after the SS Hektoria that brought him to Deception Island. Following survey by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) in 1947, the feature could not be identified; however, during further survey by FIDS in 1955, Wilkins' "long ice-filled fiords" were found to be this glacier and two short unnamed ones.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Release Date: May 7, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #SouthernHemisphere #Antarctica #Glaciers #HektoriaGlacier #AirborneScience #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #ClimateChange #Climate #GlobalHeating #Environment #STEM #Education #Animation #GIF

Tianzhou-10 Cargo Spacecraft Rolled Out to Launch Pad in Hainan

Tianzhou-10 Cargo Spacecraft Rolled Out to Launch Pad in Hainan

The Long March-7 rocket, carrying China's Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft, has been successfully transferred to the launch area at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on May 8, 2026. The mission will deliver fresh supplies to China's Tiangong Space Station, including a new extravehicular spacesuit and a space treadmill. CGTN reporter Chen Yilin reports from the ground.

The cargo spacecraft will be launched at a proper time in the coming days, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Currently, the facilities and equipment at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site are in good condition, and comprehensive functionality checks and joint tests are scheduled to proceed as planned ahead of the launch, the CMSA added.

The cargo ship carries over 220 items of supplies weighing nearly 6.3 tons, including 700 kilograms of propellants, to support the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 astronaut crews' on-orbit life and work.

Its predecessor Tianzhou-9 separated from the orbiting Tiangong Space Station combination on Wednesday and re-entered the atmosphere under controlled conditions on Thursday. The space station has thus cleared a docking port to make room for the Tianzhou-10, the CMSA noted.

Video Credit: CGTN
Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds
Release Date: May 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #LongMarch7Rocket #Tianzhou10 #TianzhouCargoSpacecraft #CargoSpacecraft #Shenzhou21 #神舟二十一号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #LongDurationSpaceflight #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #HumanSpaceflight #WenchangSLS #Hainan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Prepares for Mars Flyby | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Prepares for Mars Flyby | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will pass about 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the Martian surface at 12,328 mph (19,840 kph) on May 15, 2026. The Red Planet will provide a crucial gravity assist, enabling the spacecraft to reach its namesake destination in the main asteroid belt.

Known as a gravitational slingshot, the propellant-saving maneuver harnesses Mars’ gravity to boost the spacecraft’s speed and adjust its trajectory toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche for a 2029 arrival.

The mission team will use the encounter to calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments. By capturing thousands of observations of Mars with the multispectral imager, engineers can hone the precise imaging and navigation techniques required to orbit Psyche and study what scientists believe is the exposed nickel-iron core of an ancient planet. This flyby represents a critical intersection of orbital mechanics and deep-space instrument testing on the mission’s journey to a metal world.

For more information, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
https://psyche.asu.edu/

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Produced by True Story Films
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: May 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Planets #Earth #Moon #PsycheAsteroid #16Psyche #Asteroids #Science #PsycheMission #PsycheSpacecraft #Mars #MarsFlyby #Jupiter #AsteroidBelt #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #ASU #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tianzhou-10 Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at Hainan Launch Site | China Space Station

Tianzhou-10 Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at Hainan Launch Site | China Space Station

The combination of the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 carrier rocket was vertically transferred to a launch site in the southern island province of Hainan on May 8, 2026, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The cargo spacecraft will be launched at a proper time in the coming days, the CMSA said.

The cargo ship carries over 220 items of supplies weighing nearly 6.3 tons, including 700 kilograms of propellants, to support the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 astronaut crews' on-orbit life and work.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 27 seconds
Release Date: May 8, 2026

Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission Arrives at South American Launch Pad

Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission Arrives at South American Launch Pad

A photo showing a lorry driving along a narrow road with a large rocket nose cone standing upright on its trailer. Ahead of the lorry (to the left in this image) is a tall rectangular cream-colored building with European Space Agency and Vega logos on its side. The building is surrounded by metal pylons.

A photo showing the nose cone of a rocket hanging from a crane in front of an open technical building. Inside the building stands the rest of the rocket, with a platform at the top where people stand, waiting for the nose cone to arrive.

A photo showing a rocket launch pad at night. At the center of the image is a tall rectangular cream-colored building with a thin white rocket inside. Platforms at various heights give people access to parts of the rocket. The building is surrounded by metal pylons.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). SMILE is due to launch on May 19, 2026. Preparations are taking place on the launch pad with the rocket’s four stages already assembled inside the mobile building on the left of this image. About four hours before launch, the building will roll away to reveal the complete rocket inside.

The fairing (a nose cone that splits into two parts after launch) sits on top of the rocket’s fourth stage. The fairing will protect Smile during its ascent to space through Earth’s atmosphere. Almost five minutes after liftoff, the fairing will open, revealing Smile inside. At that point, Smile will still be attached to the third and fourth stages of the Vega-C.

Find out more about the Vega launch site at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, a European spaceport:
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/Vega_launch_site

Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America.

The Vega-C program is led by ESA, working with Avio as prime contractor and design authority.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing SMILE’s payload module (carrying three of the four science instruments), one of the spacecraft’s four science instruments (the soft X-ray imager, SXI), the launcher, and the Assembly Integration and Testing facilities and services. ESA contributes to a second science instrument (the ultraviolet imager, UVI) and the mission operations once SMILE is in orbit.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences provides the other three science instruments and the spacecraft platform, and is responsible for operating the spacecraft in orbit.

Image Credit: ESA-M. Pédoussaut

Release Date: May 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #Earth #SpaceWeather #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #Europe #China #中国 #CAS #中国科学院 #SMILEMission #Heliophysics #Physics #VegaCRocket #GuianaSpaceCentre #KourouSpaceport #FrenchGuiana #ArianeGroup #STEM #Education

Return to Earth with NASA's Artemis II Moon Crew | Canadian Space Agency

Return to Earth with NASA's Artemis II Moon Crew | Canadian Space Agency

Experience what it was like inside the Orion spacecraft alongside the Artemis II crew during Earth atmospheric reentry and splashdown. 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/

Video Credits: Canadian Space Agency/NASA

Duration: 2 minutes, 18 seconds

Date: May 8, 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 #HD #Video

Thursday, May 07, 2026

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch Receives Congratulations from Students

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch Receives Congratulations from Students

Students and teachers from The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) and North Carolina State University, astronaut Christina Koch's high school and college, congratulated Christina after she set a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman on the International Space Station back in 2019.

While living in space for 328 days, NASA astronaut Christina Koch spent many of her hours on science activities aboard the International Space Station and wore many hats: farmer, biologist, physicist, engineer, test subject and many more.

Learn more about the research being conducted on Station: https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/

Six years before her Artemis II Moon Mission, NASA astronaut, scientist, mission specialist, flight engineer, and spacewalker Christina Koch spent almost a year in space on International Space Station Expeditions 59-61 (March 2019-February 2020), before coming home. During the longest-ever single spaceflight by a female astronaut, NASA astronaut Christina Koch also completed six spacewalks.

When Koch returned to Earth, she set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Additionally, Christina participated in the first all-female spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, currently serving aboard the International Space Station on Expedition 74.

Christina Koch Biographies:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-h-koch
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-hammock-koch/biography

Artemis II mission specialist and NASA astronaut Christina Koch joined NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a nearly 10-day lunar flyby mission, surpassing the Apollo 13 record for farthest crewed spaceflight and observing the lunar surface like never before, capturing iconic views.

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

How to Become a NASA Astronaut:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/become-an-astronaut/

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 33 seconds
Release Date: Dec. 28, 2019

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #Expedition59 #Expedition60 #Expedition61 #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #Scientists #ElectricalEngineers #WomenInSTEM #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #NCSU #NCSSM #NorthCarolina #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Loneliest of Galaxies: MCG+01-02-015 in Pisces | Hubble

The Loneliest of Galaxies: MCG+01-02-015 in Pisces | Hubble

Only three local stars appear in this image, quartered by right-angled diffraction spikes. Everything besides them is a galaxy; floating like a swarm of microbes in a drop of water, and brought into view here not by a microscope, but by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope.

In the foreground, the spiral arms of MCG+01-02-015 seem to wrap around one another, cocooning the galaxy. The scene suggests an abundance of galactic companionship for MCG+01-02-015, but this is a cruel trick of perspective. Instead, MCG+01-02-015’s unsentimental naming befits its position within the cosmos. It is a void galaxy, the loneliest of galaxies.

The vast majority of galaxies are strung out along galaxy filaments—thread-like formations that make up the large-scale structure of the Universe—drawn together by the influence of gravity into sinuous threads weaving through space. Between these filaments stretch shallow but immense voids; the Universe’s wastelands, where, outside of the extremely rare presence of a galaxy, there is very little matter—about one atom per cubic meter. One such desolate stretch of space is what MCG+01-02-015 reluctantly calls home. The galaxy is so isolated that if our galaxy, the Milky Way, were to be situated in the same way, we would not have known of the existence of other galaxies until the 1960s.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Grogin (STScI)
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Release Date: Nov. 9, 2015

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #MCG0102015 #VoidGalaxy #PiscesConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

SpaceX Super Heavy V3 Static Test Fire: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Super Heavy V3 Static Test Fire: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Update: This was a full duration and full thrust 33-engine static fire test of the Super Heavy Version 3. The Super Heavy reusable rocket booster is Starship's reusable first-stage.

As of October 13, 2025, the SpaceX Starship has been "launched 11 times with 6 successes and 5 failures." SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale. It aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.

"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

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Duration: 1 minute

Date: May 7, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipFlight12 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Testing the Next Generation of Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades | NASA/JPL

Testing the Next Generation of Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades | NASA/JPL

NASA is pushing the limits of flight on Mars—by spinning helicopter rotor blades so fast, they are breaking the sound barrier. During recent tests at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers accelerated the tips of next-generation rotor blades beyond Mach 1 inside a special chamber that simulates the atmospheric conditions of the Red Planet.

The faster a Mars helicopter’s rotors spin, the more it can carry and the farther it can fly. However, flying on Mars is incredibly challenging. Its atmosphere is just 1% as dense as Earth’s. This makes generating lift difficult. Data from 137 test runs show that these rotor blade tips can exceed the speed of sound without coming unglued, an important step toward designing aircraft capable of carrying significantly heavier science payloads. The rotors were developed and manufactured by AeroVironment in Simi Valley, California.

These advancements build on the legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a technology demonstration that made history but did not carry science instruments. Future concepts, including NASA’s SkyFall project, are being designed to carry small payloads—like instruments and sensors—to collect data in support of future human and robotic missions.

By pushing rotors beyond the speed of sound, engineers are unlocking new possibilities for low-altitude aerial exploration on Mars. These next-generation helicopters could travel farther, carry more, and help scientists and mission planners better understand the Martian surface, paving the way for the next era of exploration.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: May 7, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planets #Atmosphere #Robotics #IngenuityHelicopter #MarsHelicopters #Aircraft #SolarPowered #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Comet C/2025R3 Panstarrs: View from Namibia

Comet C/2025R3 Panstarrs: View from Namibia

C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is a hyperbolic Oort cloud comet. It passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on April 19, 2026, when it was 0.499 AU (75 million km) from the Sun. The comet was discovered by PanSTARRS in images obtained on September 8, 2025.

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, USA, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that is surveying the sky for moving or variable objects on a continual basis, and also producing accurate astrometry and photometry of already-detected objects. The Pan-STARRS Project is a collaboration between the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Maui High Performance Computing Center and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The NASA Near Earth Object Observation Program is the main funder for the operation of the Pan-STARRS telescopes.

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the northeast, approximating a quadripoint, Zimbabwe lies less than 200 meters (660 feet) away along the Zambezi River near Kazungula, Zambia.

Image Credit: Gerald Rhemann, Michael Jäger
Location: Farm Tivoli, Namibia
Image Details: Telescope: ASA Astrograph 12" f3.6 Camera: ZWO ASI 6200 MM Pro Exp.Time: LRGB 12/6/6/6 min
Gerald's website: https://www.astrostudio.at
Date: May 3, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025R3Panstarrs #OortCloud #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #GeraldRhemann #MichaelJäger #Astrophotographers #FarmTivoli #Namibia #Africa #STEM #Education

Mars Images: April 30-May 6, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 4881

Mars 2020 - sol 1851

Mars 2020 - sol 1852

MSL - sol 4883

Mars 2020 - sol 1851

Mars 2020 - sol 1848

Mars 2020 - sol 1852

Mars 2020 - sol 1850

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Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2025)

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 5+ 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

Release Dates: April 30-May 6, 2026

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

A Tour of Galaxy Messier 77: A Beacon of Light in Swirls of Dust | Webb Telescope

A Tour of Galaxy Messier 77: A Beacon of Light in Swirls of Dust | Webb Telescope

This picture from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features Messier 77 (M77), a barred spiral galaxy famous and appreciated among astronomers for its combination of relative proximity and spectacular features to study. It is located 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). This new image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) highlights its swirling spiral arms, the dust in its disc and its piercingly bright core like never before.

At the heart of M77 is a compact region filled with hot gas that handily outshines the rest of the galaxy put together, even overcoming the light-gathering capacity of Webb’s cameras. This is an active galactic nucleus (AGN), and it is powered by M77’s central supermassive black hole, eight million times as massive as our Sun. Gas in the galaxy’s central regions is pulled by the strong gravity into a tight and rapid orbit around the black hole, where it crashes together and heats up, releasing tremendous amounts of radiation.

The bright orange lines appearing to radiate out from the center of M77 are not actually a feature of the galaxy. They are a type of distortion that arises from the optical design of the telescope. Called diffraction spikes, they are created because the intense light from the unresolved AGN is bent (“diffracted”) very slightly at the edges of Webb’s hexagonal mirror panels and around one of the struts that hold up its secondary mirror. This distinctive six-plus-two-pointed pattern is the same for any image taken by Webb. For diffraction spikes to appear, the light source has to be very bright and very concentrated, so they are most often seen on stars. However, in galaxies like this one, the nucleus is bright and compact enough to make diffraction spikes appear as well.

M77 is not just known for its easily visible AGN, but also as a prolific star-forming galaxy. The near-infrared image of M77 reveals a bar spanning across the central region that does not appear in visible-light images of the galaxy. The bar is enclosed by a bright ring, called a starburst ring, formed by the inner ends of M77’s two spiral arms. Starburst regions in galaxies are typified by extremely high star-formation rates. This ring is more than 6,000 light-years across and displays intense and widespread starbursts, visible in this image by the densely concentrated orange bubbles all around the ring. Since M77 is relatively close to Earth, this starburst ring is a very well-studied example of the phenomenon.

As an active spiral galaxy, M77’s disc is filled with gas and dust which is both a product of and fuel for future star formation. Webb’s MIRI fills out our view of the galaxy with the glow of interstellar dust grains emitted at longer wavelengths, shown here in blue. The dust forms a huge vortex of smoky, swirling filaments with cavities in between. The glowing orange bubbles carved out by newly formed star clusters are also prominently visible out along the galaxy’s arms.

Beyond Webb’s quite focused view, M77’s arms join into a faint extended ring of hydrogen gas thousands of light-years wide, where yet more star formation is taking place. Vast, tenuous filaments of hydrogen gas stretch across this ring and out into intergalactic space, forming an outermost layer around the galaxy. For the tentacle-like appearance of these filaments, M77 is also named the Squid Galaxy.

The data used to create this image are from an observing program (#3707) that surveyed massive, nearby, star-forming galaxies to create a rich dataset useful for many scientific investigations. As can be seen here, the stunning resolution of Webb’s instruments reveals star clusters and rich reservoirs of gas. They can be used to explore the cycle of star formation, life and death in these and other galaxies.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy
Duration: 1 minute, 39 seconds
Release Date: May 7, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Messier77 #M77 #SquidGalaxy #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #ActiveGalacticNuclei #AGNs #StarburstRings #CetusConstellation #Universe #JWST #InfraredAstronomy #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy Messier 77: A Beacon of Light in Swirls of Dust | Webb Telescope

Spiral Galaxy Messier 77: A Beacon of Light in Swirls of Dust | Webb Telescope

Image Description: A spiral galaxy shown in mid-infrared light. The image is dominated by an extremely bright glow from the galaxy’s nucleus. Six large and two smaller rays of light emit from the center. These are diffraction spikes created by the telescope’s optics. The galaxy’s spiral arms are visible by two lines of glowing orange bubbles which whirl out into the disc. Swirling blue clouds of dust make up the rest of the galaxy.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy
Release Date: May 7, 2026

NASA Astronauts Koch & Meir Answer Your Questions | International Space Station

NASA Astronauts Koch & Meir Answer Your Questions | International Space Station

What would you want to see or do on the Moon? What does the International Space Station smell like? Do you ever take a break and just enjoy the view?

From space, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir answered questions from social media back in September 2019.

When NASA astronaut Christina Koch was living and working on the International Space Station, she spoke in a media interview about her extended mission, what she has been working on and other details about her time on the orbiting laboratory.

Learn more about the research being conducted on Station: https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/

Christina Koch Biographies:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-h-koch
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-hammock-koch/biography

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

How to Become a NASA Astronaut:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/become-an-astronaut/

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 7 minutes
Release Date: Sept. 30, 2019

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #Expedition59 #Expedition60 #Expedition61 #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #JessicaMeir #Scientists #EVAs #Spacewalks #WomenInSTEM #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

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Friday, May 08, 2026

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