Colorful Glows: Aurora & Milky Way Galaxy over Australia

Colorful Glows: Aurora & Milky Way Galaxy over Australia

This is a view of the Aurora Australis and our Milky Way Galaxy in southern Australia near the town of Tarlee.

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Image Credit: Ian Inverarity
Location: Tarlee, South Australia, Australia
Date: May 11, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #CitizenScience #IanInverarity #Astrophotographer #Astrophotography #SolarSystem #Tarlee #SouthAustralia #Australia #STEM #Education

The Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

The Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

This two-color image shows 3.7 x 2.7 degrees of the surroundings around the Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as Messier 101 (M101). It was composed from Digitized Sky Survey 2 images.

Distance from Earth: 25 million light-years 

The giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas is 170,000 light-years across—nearly twice the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate that M101 contains at least one trillion stars. The galaxy’s spiral arms are sprinkled with large regions of star-forming nebulas. These nebulas are areas of intense star formation within giant molecular hydrogen clouds. Brilliant, young clusters of hot, blue, newborn stars trace out the spiral arms.

Pierre Méchain, one of Charles Messier’s colleagues, discovered the Pinwheel galaxy in 1781. Located in the constellation Ursa Major, M101 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9. It can be spotted through a small telescope and is most easily observed during June.

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 through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2
Acknowledgements: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
Release Date: Feb. 28, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier101 #M101 #PinwheelGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Europe #GSFC #DSS2 #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-21 Astronauts Complete Second Series of Spacewalks | China Space Station

Shenzhou-21 Astronauts Complete Second Series of Spacewalks | China Space Station

The Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) on March 16, 2026, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The astronaut trio—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang—worked for roughly seven hours and completed their tasks at 19:35 (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.

Zhang Lu has so far carried out six EVAs, making him one of the Chinese astronauts with the most spacewalks to date.

The trio completed the installation of a space debris protection device for the space station along with other tasks. Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, who have conducted spacewalk operations, returned to the Wentian lab module safely, according to the CMSA.

Since completing the first series of EVAs on Dec. 9, 2025, the Shenzhou-21 crew has carried out equipment inspection and maintenance, environmental monitoring, and health management aboard the space station. The crew members have also conducted in-orbit training exercises, including rendezvous and docking, medical rescue, and emergency lifesaving.

The scientific experiment and test projects they undertook, covering space life science and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technologies, have been progressing steadily. They also celebrated the Spring Festival in Year of the Horse while in orbit.

The CMSA said the three astronauts have been working in orbit for more than four months. According to the mission plan, additional EVAs will be carried out by the crew during the Shenzhou-21 mission with relevant scientific experiments and technical tests continuing as scheduled.

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: 30 seconds
Release Date: March 17, 2026

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

The Pinwheel Galaxy: M101 in Ursa Major | Hubble, Spitzer & Chandra Telescopes

The Pinwheel Galaxy: M101 in Ursa Major | Hubble, Spitzer & Chandra Telescopes

This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 is a composite of views from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Each wavelength region shows aspects of celestial objects and often reveals new objects that could not otherwise be studied. The red color shows Spitzer's view in infrared light. It highlights the heat emitted by dust lanes in the galaxy where stars can form. The yellow color is Hubble's view in visible light. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes. The blue color shows Chandra's view in X-ray light. Sources of X-rays include million-degree gas, exploded stars, and material colliding around black holes. Such composite images allow astronomers to see how features seen in one wavelength match up with those seen in another wavelength. It is like seeing with a camera, night vision goggles, and X-ray vision all at once.

The giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas is 170,000 light-years across—nearly twice the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate that M101 contains at least one trillion stars. The galaxy’s spiral arms are sprinkled with large regions of star-forming nebulas. These nebulas are areas of intense star formation within giant molecular hydrogen clouds. Brilliant, young clusters of hot, blue, newborn stars trace out the spiral arms.

Pierre Méchain, one of Charles Messier’s colleagues, discovered the Pinwheel galaxy in 1781. Located 25 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M101 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9. It can be spotted through a small telescope and is most easily observed during June.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, SSC and STScI
Release Date: Feb. 10, 2009

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier101 #M101 #PinwheelGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #NASASpitzer #InfraredAstronomy #NASAChandra #XrayAstronomy #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #SpaceTelescopes #Europe #GSFC #STScI #CXC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Spacewalker Jessica Meir: Suit-up Practice | International Space Station

NASA Spacewalker Jessica Meir: Suit-up Practice | International Space Station

Experienced NASA astronaut Jessica Meir can be seen practicing tool-use in her spacesuit ahead of a scheduled spacewalk.

NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, on his first spaceflight, assists experienced NASA spacewalker Jessica Meir with her spacesuit on her second.

A spacewalk by NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at the International Space Station. The team has reviewed the spacewalking tools and tasks necessary to install a modification kit and route cables on the port side of the orbital outpost. This external maintenance work will enable the next roll-out solar array to be installed on a future spacewalk after it is delivered on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

This is Jessica Meir's second spaceflight. After her arrival to the International Space Station, she joined Expedition 74/75, kicking off a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. The Caribou, Maine, native earned a bachelor’s degree in biology Brown University, a master’s degree in space studies from the International Space University, and a doctorate in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. 

On her first spaceflight, Meir spent 205 days as a flight engineer during Expedition 61/62, and she completed the first three all-woman spacewalks with fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch, totaling 21 hours and 44 minutes outside of the station. Since then, she has served in various roles, including assistant to the chief astronaut for commercial crew (SpaceX), deputy for the Flight Integration Division, and assistant to the chief astronaut for the human landing system.

NASA Astronaut/Dr. Jessica Meir's Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/jessica-u-meir/

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.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Release Date: March 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #ISS #Planets #Earth #Spacesuits #EVAs #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 101 in Ursa Major | Webb & Hubble Telescopes

The Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 101 in Ursa Major | Webb & Hubble Telescopes

The heart of Messier 101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, shines in this image that combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.

A close-up view shows a galaxy’s bright, yellow center, surrounded by patches of glowing orange-brown dust and pink stars.

This image shows the location of Messier 101's galactic core.

 At lower left, an image shows a spiral galaxy with a yellow core and winding arms full of brown dust and blue star formation. A rectangle graphic outlines the core, and lines extend to a larger image at upper right, showing a closer view of the galaxy’s center, surrounded by patches of glowing orange-brown dust and pink stars.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of spiral galaxy Messier 101

This star chart for M101 represents the view from mid-northern latitudes for the given month and time.

In the first image, the heart of Messier 101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, in the constellation Ursa Major, shines. It combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. At 25 million light-years away, M101 is one of the closest “face-on” spiral galaxies to us. With that in mind, Hubble’s ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared data were taken as part of studies to find out more about its stellar population and galactic structure. Webb’s near- and mid-infrared observations helped astronomers study the formation and evolution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These are complex, carbon-based molecules, and the smallest dust grains that glow in infrared light.

The second image shows Messier 101—one of the largest images Hubble has captured of a spiral galaxy. Assembled from 51 exposures taken during various studies over nearly ten years, this infrared and visible-light image measures 16,000 by 12,000 pixels. Ground-based images were used to fill in the portions of the galaxy that Hubble did not observe.

The giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas is 170,000 light-years across—nearly twice the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate that M101 contains at least one trillion stars. The galaxy’s spiral arms are sprinkled with large regions of star-forming nebulas. These nebulas are areas of intense star formation within giant molecular hydrogen clouds. Brilliant, young clusters of hot, blue, newborn stars trace out the spiral arms.

Pierre Méchain, one of Charles Messier’s colleagues, discovered the Pinwheel galaxy in 1781. Located 25 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M101 has an apparent magnitude of 7.9. It can be spotted through a small telescope and is most easily observed during June.

Image 1 Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts - Amherst), C. Clark (Space Telescope Science Institute - ESA - JWST), K. Kuntz (The John Hopkins University), and B. Shappee (University of Hawaii) ; Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Image 2 Credit: HST Image: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) and STScI; CFHT Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum; NOAO Image: G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, M. Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF; HST + JWST Image: NASA, CSA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts - Amherst), C. Clark (Space Telescope Science Institute - ESA - JWST), K. Kuntz (The John Hopkins University), and B. Shappee (University of Hawaii); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Image 3 Credit: Stellarium

Release Date: March 16, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier101 #M101 #PinwheelGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #InfraredAstronomy #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST  #SpaceTelescopes #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

How to Make Planet Jupiter | International Space Station

How to Make Planet Jupiter | International Space Station

Expedition 71/72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "How to make planet Jupiter:

1) Be on the International Space Station

2) Make a thin film sphere of water

3) Add food coloring

4) Blow on the edge to create swirls

This is way cool!"

NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on April 19, 2025, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station. Pettit spent 220 days in space, earning him a total of 590 days in space over the course of his four spaceflights. He orbited the Earth 3,520 times, traveling 93.3 million miles in low-Earth orbit.

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's Johnson Space Center/D. Pettit

Duration: 37 seconds
Release Date: March 12, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Jupiter #MicrogravityExperiments #FluidPhysics #Astronauts #DonPettit #AstronautVideography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pictor Constellation: 2nd-Gen Star Found in Ancient Dwarf Galaxy | NOIRLab

Pictor Constellation: 2nd-Gen Star Found in Ancient Dwarf Galaxy | NOIRLab

Photo of the constellation Pictor produced by NOIRLab in collaboration with Eckhard Slawik, a German astrophotographer.

Photo of the constellation Pictor with annotations from International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Sky & Telescope

This is a photo of the constellation Pictor produced by NOIRLab in collaboration with Eckhard Slawik, a German astrophotographer. 

Astronomers have discovered one of the most chemically primitive stars ever identified—an ancient stellar relic that preserves the chemical imprint of the very first stars in the Universe. This star, named PicII-503, resides in the tiny, ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Pictor II located in the constellation Pictor. The discovery was enabled by the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, at the National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Pictor II contains several thousand stars and is more than ten billion years old. PicII-503 lies on the outskirts of the galaxy, and it contains less iron than any other star ever measured outside of the Milky Way, while also having an extreme overabundance of carbon. These signatures unmistakably match those of carbon-enhanced stars found in the outer reaches of the Milky Way, whose origins have, until now, been a mystery.

Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
Release Date: March 16, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #PicII503 #Galaxies #PictorII #DwarfGalaxies #PictorIIConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #NSF #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #IAU # #Astrophotography #EckhardSlawik #Astrophotographer #STEM #Education

Rare 2nd-Gen Star Discovered inside Ancient Relic Dwarf Galaxy | NOIRLab

Rare 2nd-Gen Star Discovered inside Ancient Relic Dwarf Galaxy | NOIRLab

This image shows the star PicII-503 with the lowest iron content ever measured outside of the Milky Way.

This image shows stars in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, Pictor II. Pictor II is a satellite galaxy of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). LMC is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

This image shows stars in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, Pictor II. Pictor II is a satellite galaxy of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, and is located in the constellation Pictor. The system is made up of several thousand stars and is more than ten billion years old.

Astronomers have discovered one of the most chemically primitive stars ever identified—an ancient stellar relic that preserves the chemical imprint of the very first stars in the Universe. This star, named PicII-503, resides in the tiny, ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Pictor II. The discovery was enabled by the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, at the National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Pictor II is located in the constellation Pictor. It contains several thousand stars and is more than ten billion years old. PicII-503 lies on the outskirts of the galaxy, and it contains less iron than any other star ever measured outside of the Milky Way, while also having an extreme overabundance of carbon. These signatures unmistakably match those of carbon-enhanced stars found in the outer reaches of the Milky Way, whose origins have, until now, been a mystery.

The study was led by Anirudh Chiti, Brinson Prize Fellow at Stanford University, and the results are presented in a paper appearing in Nature Astronomy.

The first stars in the Universe formed from gas that contained only the simple elements, hydrogen and helium. Within their fiery cores, this first generation of stars created the first elements heavier than helium, such as carbon and iron, that astronomers refer to as “metals.” When these stars exploded, they released their heavy elements into the interstellar medium to be recycled into the next generation of stars.

Second-generation stars are like time capsules, preserving the low amounts of heavy elements released during the explosive deaths of first-generation stars. By searching for these rare, low-metallicity stars and deriving their chemistry, scientists can better understand the mechanisms of initial element production in the Universe.

PicII-503 is the first unambiguous example of a second-generation star in an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. It was uncovered in data from the DECam Mapping the Ancient Galaxy in CaHK (MAGIC) survey, a 54-night observing program designed to identify the oldest and most chemically primitive stars in the Milky Way and its dwarf galaxy companions. Using a specialized narrow-band filter sensitive to calcium absorption features, astronomers were able to estimate the metal content of thousands of stars from imaging data alone.

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Acknowledgments: PI: Anirudh Chiti, Alex Drlica-Wagner

Date: March 16, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #PicII503 #Galaxies #PictorII #DwarfGalaxies #PictorIIConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #DECam #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China Launches New Earth Remote Sensing Satellite | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center

China Launches New Earth Remote Sensing Satellite | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center

China successfully launched a remote sensing satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Sunday, March 15, 2026. 

The Yaogan-50 02 satellite was launched at 21:22 Beijing time aboard a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket and has entered its planned orbit. The launch mission was a complete success.

The satellite will be mainly used for land survey, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and relief.

This launch marked the 633rd flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: March 15, 2026  

#NASA #Space #Planets #Earth #Satellites #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #Agriculture #DisasterPrevention #China #中国 #Yaogan5002Satellite #LongMarch6Rocket #TaiyuanSatelliteLaunchCenter #TSLC #Shanxi #山西 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Nebula NGC 6188: The "Dragons of Ara"

Nebula NGC 6188: The "Dragons of Ara"

Are these sky dragons, along with a dragon's egg? 

Although it might appear that way, these dragons are illusions made of thin gas and dust. The emission nebula NGC 6188, home to the glowing clouds, is found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large molecular cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar). Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions from previous generations of massive stars that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. 

Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas, visible toward the lower right, is rare emission nebula NGC 6164, also created by one of the region's massive O-type stars. Similar in appearance to many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking, symmetric gaseous shroud and faint halo surround its bright central star near the bottom edge. 

The reddish glow of the dragons’ backs is ionized hydrogen, ‘lit up’ by light from the bright young stars—only a few million years old—in the nebula. Of these young stars, 27 form the beaming open cluster NGC 6193. This gives a background glow that further defines the outline of the dragons. These young stars have also been blowing off intense stellar winds since they ignited, sculpting and shaping the gas and dust into the mythical scene we see today.

Image Credit: Ian Inverarity

Text Credit: NASA Goddard
Release Date: April 9, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebula #Nebulae #EmissionNebulae #NGC6188 #NGC6164 #NGC6193 #PlanetaryNebulae #AraConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotographers #IanInverarity #Astrophotography #Hawker #SouthAustralia #Australia #STEM #Education

Globular Star Cluster Messier 10 in Ophiuchus: ultraviolet view | Hubble

Globular Star Cluster Messier 10 in Ophiuchus: ultraviolet view | Hubble

This image of Messier 10 was created with ultraviolet light gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The data is from an observing program that established an archive of globular clusters in ultraviolet light. This ultraviolet light image compliments the visible and infrared light image below, and highlights the energetic, bright, young, blue stars that dot the cluster.

Messier 10 is a ball of stars that lies about 15,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). Approximately 80 light-years across, it should therefore appear about two thirds the size of the Moon in the night sky. However, its outer regions are extremely diffuse, and even the comparatively bright core is too dim to see with the naked eye.

Hubble, having fewer problems seeing many faint objects, has observed the brightest part of the center of the cluster in this image, a region that is about 13 light-years across.

Like many of the most famous objects in the sky, globular cluster Messier 10 was of little interest to its discoverer. Charles Messier, the 18th century French astronomer, cataloged over 100 galaxies and clusters, but was primarily interested in comets. Through the telescopes available at the time, comets, nebulae, globular clusters and galaxies appeared just as faint, diffuse blobs and could easily be confused for one another.

Only by carefully observing their motion—or lack of it—were astronomers able to distinguish them: comets move slowly relative to the stars in the background, while other more distant astronomical objects do not move at all.

Messier’s decision to catalog all the objects that he could find that were not comets was a pragmatic solution that would have a huge impact on astronomy. His catalog of just over 100 objects includes many of the most famous objects in the night sky. Messier 10, seen here in an image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, is one of them. Messier described it in the very first edition of his catalog, published in 1774 and included the first 45 objects he identified.

Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Piotto (Universita degli Studi di Padova); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Release Date: June 18, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #GlobularClusters #Messier10 #OphiuchusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #UltravioletAstronomy #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Globular Star Cluster Messier 10 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Globular Star Cluster Messier 10 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Messier 10 is a ball of stars that lies about 15,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). Approximately 80 light-years across, it should therefore appear about two thirds the size of the Moon in the night sky. However, its outer regions are extremely diffuse, and even the comparatively bright core is too dim to see with the naked eye.

Hubble, having fewer problems seeing many faint objects, has observed the brightest part of the center of the cluster in this image, a region that is about 13 light-years across.

Like many of the most famous objects in the sky, globular cluster Messier 10 was of little interest to its discoverer. Charles Messier, the 18th century French astronomer, cataloged over 100 galaxies and clusters, but was primarily interested in comets. Through the telescopes available at the time, comets, nebulae, globular clusters and galaxies appeared just as faint, diffuse blobs and could easily be confused for one another.

Only by carefully observing their motion—or lack of it—were astronomers able to distinguish them: comets move slowly relative to the stars in the background, while other more distant astronomical objects do not move at all.

Messier’s decision to catalog all the objects that he could find that were not comets was a pragmatic solution that would have a huge impact on astronomy. His catalog of just over 100 objects includes many of the most famous objects in the night sky. Messier 10, seen here in an image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, is one of them. Messier described it in the very first edition of his catalog, published in 1774 and included the first 45 objects he identified.

This image is consists of observations made in visible and infrared light using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The observations were carried out as part of a major Hubble survey of globular clusters in the Milky Way.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: June 18, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #GlobularClusters #Messier10 #OphiuchusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2023 A3 | International Space Station

Comet C/2023 A3 | International Space Station

Expedition 71/72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Comet C/2023 A3 framed by the ISS Canadarm, SpaceX Crew Dragon and the sunlit rim of Earth near orbital dawn."

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the solar system's Oort cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory east of Nanjing, China, on January 9, 2023, and independently found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa on February 22, 2023. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. C/2023 A3 passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million miles) on September 27, 2024.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on April 19, 2025, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station. Pettit spent 220 days in space, earning him a total of 590 days in space over the course of his four spaceflights. He orbited the Earth 3,520 times, traveling 93.3 million miles in low-Earth orbit.

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's Johnson Space Center/D. Pettit
Release Date: March 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SolarSystem #Comets #C2023A3 #Earth #Canadarm2  #SpaceXDragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #DonPettit #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Sounding Rockets for NASA Science: Solar Eclipses | Wallops Flight Facility

Sounding Rockets for NASA Science: Solar Eclipses | Wallops Flight Facility

In March 1970, more than 30 sounding rockets launched from Wallops during a total solar eclipse to study changes in the atmosphere. In the decades since, Wallops has launched thousands of rockets, from sounding rockets all the way to Antares missions resupplying the Space Station. All of these rocket launches owe inspiration to our parent facility's namesake: Robert Goddard. One hundred years ago, Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket, carrying us into the space age. These launches and many other following helped shape NASA's goals of reaching the Moon and beyond.

Wallops Flight Facility is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and primarily serves to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other federal agencies. 

Learn more about Wallops: 
https://www.nasa.gov/wallops/

Video Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility
Producer/Editor: Madison Griffin
Duration: 1 minute, 30 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 17, 2026

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Extracting Oxygen from Moon Soil using Concentrated Sunlight | NASA Science

Extracting Oxygen from Moon Soil using Concentrated Sunlight | NASA Science

NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project completed an important step toward using local resources to support human exploration on the Moon. The CaRD team performed integrated prototype testing that used concentrated solar energy to extract oxygen from simulated lunar soil, while confirming the production of carbon monoxide through a solar-driven chemical reaction. Lunar soil, or regolith, is a fine, unconsolidated layer of rock fragments, mineral grains, and dust covering the Moon, formed primarily by meteoroid impacts and space weathering.

If deployed on the Moon, this technology could enable the production of propellant using only lunar materials and sunlight, significantly reducing the cost and complexity of sustaining a long-term human presence on the lunar surface. The same downstream systems used to convert carbon monoxide into oxygen can also be adapted to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and methane on Mars.  

The integrated prototype brought together a carbothermal oxygen production reactor developed by Sierra Space, a solar concentrator designed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, precision mirrors produced by Composite Mirror Applications, and avionics, software, and gas analysis systems from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston led project management, systems engineering, testing, and development of key hardware and ground support systems.

The CaRD project was funded by NASA’s Game Changing Development program under the Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Image Description: A solar concentrator is tested as part of the Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project. It aims to produce oxygen from simulated lunar regolith for use at the Moon’s south pole. During this integrated test, the team combined the concentrator, mirrors, and control software and confirmed the production of carbon monoxide.

Image Credit: NASA/Michael Rushing
Text Credit: Johnson Space Center Office of Communications
Release Date: Feb. 13, 2026

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