Sunday, May 14, 2017

Merging Galaxies Have Enshrouded Black Holes | NASA


Image: This illustration compares growing supermassive black holes in two different kinds of galaxies. A growing supermassive black hole in a normal galaxy would have a donut-shaped structure of gas and dust around it (left). In a merging galaxy, a sphere of material obscures the black hole (right).

May 9, 2017: Black holes get a bad rap in popular culture for swallowing everything in their environments. In reality, stars, gas and dust can orbit black holes for long periods of time, until a major disruption pushes the material in.

A merger of two galaxies is one such disruption. As the galaxies combine and their central black holes approach each other, gas and dust in the vicinity are pushed onto their respective black holes. An enormous amount of high-energy radiation is released as material spirals rapidly toward the hungry black hole, which becomes what astronomers call an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

A study using NASA's NuSTAR telescope shows that in the late stages of galaxy mergers, so much gas and dust falls toward a black hole that the extremely bright AGN is enshrouded. The combined effect of the gravity of the two galaxies slows the rotational speeds of gas and dust that would otherwise be orbiting freely. This loss of energy makes the material fall onto the black hole.

"The further along the merger is, the more enshrouded the AGN will be," said Claudio Ricci, lead author of the study published in the Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society. "Galaxies that are far along in the merging process are completely covered in a cocoon of gas and dust."

Ricci and colleagues observed the penetrating high-energy X-ray emission from 52 galaxies. About half of them were in the later stages of merging. Because NuSTAR is very sensitive to detecting the highest-energy X-rays, it was critical in establishing how much light escapes the sphere of gas and dust covering an AGN.

The study was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Researchers compared NuSTAR observations of the galaxies with data from NASA's Swift and Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton observatories, which look at lower energy components of the X-ray spectrum. If high-energy X-rays are detected from a galaxy, but low-energy X-rays are not, that is a sign that an AGN is heavily obscured.

The study helps confirm the longstanding idea that an AGN's black hole does most of its eating while enshrouded during the late stages of a merger.

"A supermassive black hole grows rapidly during these mergers," Ricci said. "The results further our understanding of the mysterious origins of the relationship between a black hole and its host galaxy."

NuSTAR is a Small Explorer mission led by Caltech and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. NuSTAR was developed in partnership with the Danish Technical University and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Virginia. NuSTAR's mission operations center is at UC Berkeley, and the official data archive is at NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center. ASI provides the mission's ground station and a mirror archive. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA.

For more information on NuSTAR, visit:
www.nasa.gov/nustar
www.nustar.caltech.edu

Credits: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Release Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #BlackHoles #Galaxies #AGN #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #Xrays #Swift #XMMNewton #NUSTAR #JPL #Caltech #ASI #STEM #Education #Illustration #Artist

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Mars: Slope Monitoring in Hale Crater's Central Peaks | NASA


Observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), approximately 252 kilometers above the surface. Enhanced color scene is less than 1 km across;
This image was acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Image Date: December 2016
Release Date: May 10, 2017


#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Crater #Hale #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Camera #JPL #STEM #Education

Friday, May 12, 2017

Jack Fischer Preps for First Spacewalk | International Space Station


U.S. Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer have reviewed procedures for Friday morning’s spacewalk. The duo will replace an avionics box that sends electricity and data to science experiments installed outside the space station. Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet will assist the spacewalkers from inside the station. This will be the 200th spacewalk at the station for assembly and maintenance, the ninth for Whitson and the first for Fischer.

ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "Not very common to see a spacesuit INSIDE the ISS! We verified 2fish’s fit check, so that everything is ready for Friday when he and Peggy will go out. He seized the opportunity to explore a little bit inside! I guess it’s the first ever IVA (intra vehicular activity) in the history of the ISS program!"

"Ce n’est pas tous les jours qu’on voit un astronaute dans un scaphandre DANS la Station ! Dans la perspective de la sortie extravéhiculaire de Peggy et Jack vendredi prochain, nous avons procédé à une vérification des combinaisons… Et mon coéquipier en a profité pour explorer un peu la Station vêtu tel quel ! Probablement la première activité « intravéhiculaire » de l’histoire du programme ISS ;)"

Credit: ESA/NASA
Image Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Spacesuit #EVA #IVA #Spacewalk #Astronauts #JackFischer #PeggyWhitson #ThomasPesquet #Proxima #Expedition51 #Technology #Photography #JSC #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Pacific Ocean Storm | International Space Station


ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "This storm looks like it will crush everything in its path, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean."

"Cette tempête a l’air de tout écraser sur son passage, en plein océan Pacifique"

Credit: ESA/NASA
Release Date: April 13, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Weather #Storm #Pacific #Ocean #Astronaut #ThomasPesquet #Proxima #Expedition51 #Technology #Photography #JSC #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Earth in moonlight | International Space Station


ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "When there is a full moon you can see almost as clearly as during daylight, especially when there are city lights to illuminate the night as well! Our satellite is reflected on the sea and gives the Station a gray aura that distinguishes us from that of the sun."

"Par nuit de pleine lune, on voit presque comme en plein jour, les lumières des villes en plus ! Notre satellite naturel se reflète sur la mer et donne à la Station une aura grise qui nous change de celle du soleil..."

Credit: ESA/NASA
Release Date: April 2, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Moon #Moonlight #Science #Astronaut #ThomasPesquet #Proxima #Expedition51 #Technology #Photography #JSC #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Observatories Combine to Crack Open the Crab Nebula


Colorful New Portrait Shows Energetic Details Embedded in Supernova Remnant
In the summer of the year 1054 AD, Chinese astronomers saw a new "guest star," that appeared six times brighter than Venus. So bright in fact, it could be seen during the daytime for several months. Halfway around the world, Native Americans made pictographs of a crescent moon with the bright star nearby that some think may also have been a record of the supernova.

This "guest star" was forgotten about until 700 years later with the advent of telescopes. Astronomers saw a tentacle-like nebula in the place of the vanished star and called it the Crab Nebula. Today we know it as the expanding gaseous remnant from a star that self-detonated as a supernova, briefly shining as brightly as 400 million suns. The explosion took place 6,500 light-years away. If the blast had instead happened 50 light-years away it would have irradiated Earth, wiping out most life forms.

In the late 1960s astronomers discovered the crushed heart of the doomed star, an ultra-dense neutron star that is a dynamo of intense magnetic field and radiation energizing the nebula. Astronomers therefore need to study the Crab Nebula across a broad range of electromagnetic radiation, from X-rays to radio waves. This composite picture from five observatories captures the complexity of this tortured-looking supernova remnant.

Credits:
NASA, ESA, G. Dubner (IAFE, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires) et al.; A. Loll et al.; T. Temim et al.; F. Seward et al.; VLA/NRAO/AUI/NSF; Chandra/CXC; Spitzer/JPL-Caltech; XMM-Newton/ESA; and Hubble/STScI
Release Date: May 10, 2017


#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Nebula #Crab #Supernova #Remnant #Neutron #Stars #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #STScI #Goddard #GSFC #STEM #Education

Orbital sunrise | International Space Station


The International Space Station orbits toward another sunrise as it travels around Earth at more than 17,500 miles per hour.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: May 1, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Roscosmos #Russia #Россия #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #JSC #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #International #Cooperation #STEM #Education

Madrid, Spain | International Space Station


ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "Here is Madrid in the morning light. Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is in the center of this pic. Too bad, tonight's big derby against Atletico Madrid is in Vicente Calderón Stadium!"

"Madrid dans la lumière du matin et ses deux stades en un cliché ! C’est le Bernabéu au centre de la photo, pas de chance, le derby de ce soir se joue au Calderón ;)"

Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. (Source: Wikipedia)

Credit: ESA/NASA
Release Date: April 12, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Madrid #Capital #City #Spain #España #Astronaut #ThomasPesquet #Proxima #Expedition51 #Technology #Photography #JSC #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Soyuz Crew Spacecraft | International Space Station


The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft that carried Expedition 51 crew members Oleg Novitskiy, Thomas Pesquet and Peggy Whitson to space is pictured docked to the Rassvet module.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: April 26, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Soyuz #MS03 #Crew #Spacecraft #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Россия #Russia #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #JSC #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Soyuz Crew & Progress Cargo Spacecraft | International Space Station


The Soyuz MS-03 crew ship (foreground) and the Progress 66 cargo craft are pictured as the International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above Earth.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: May 2, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Soyuz #MS03 #Crew #Cargo #Spacecraft #Progress #Progress66 #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Россия #Russia #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #JSC #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education


Russian Progress Cargo Spacecraft | International Space Station


The Progress 66 cargo craft is seen docked to the Pirs docking compartment as the International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above Earth.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: May 1, 2017


#NASA #ESA #ISS #Earth #Science #Cargo #Spacecraft #Progress #Progress66 #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Россия #Russia #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #JSC #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Tuesday, May 09, 2017

Cloud Bands Streak Across Saturn's moon Titan | NASA Cassini



May 9, 2017: This view was obtained during a distant flyby, above the moon's surface. Although NASA's Cassini will have no further close, targeted flybys of Titan, the spacecraft continues to observe the giant moon and its atmosphere from a distance.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this view of bands of bright, feathery methane clouds drifting across Saturn's moon Titan on May 7, 2017.

The view was obtained during a distant (non-targeted) flyby, during which Cassini passed 303,000 miles (488,000 kilometers) above the moon's surface. Although Cassini will have no further close, targeted flybys of Titan, the spacecraft continues to observe the giant moon and its atmosphere from a distance.

The dark regions at top are Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and seas.

Two versions of this image are presented here, one with stronger enhancement (top image) and one with much softer enhancement (bottom image).

The image was taken on May 7, 2017, at a distance of 316,000 miles (508,000 kilometers). The view is an orthographic projection centered on 57 degrees north latitude, 48 degrees west longitude. An orthographic view is most like the view seen by a distant observer. Image scale is about 2 miles (3 kilometers) per pixel.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at https://ciclops.org.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Date: May 7, 2017


#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Titan #Moon #Atmosphere #Clouds #Methane #Hydrocarbon #Lakes #Seas #GrandFinale #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #History #STEM #Education

Mars: Those Sleek Dunes | NASA MRO





Observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), approximately 252 kilometers above the surface. Enhanced color image is less than 1 kilometer across. This image was acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Image Date: December 2016
Release Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Dunes #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Camera #JPL #STEM #Education

Tropical Cyclone Donna, South Pacific | International Space Station


Cyclone Donna was photographed just East of Australia as the International Space Station orbited about 250 miles above. Donna is the strongest South Pacific cyclone in the month of May ever recorded.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: May 7, 2017
Release Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #Earth #Science #Cyclone #Tropical #Donna #Weather #Storm #Pacific #Ocean #Fiji #Australia #Astronauts #Expedition51 #Technology #JSC #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education 

Auroras over Europe | International Space Station

Happy Europe Day!

ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "We also have auroras in Europe (and they are the best auroras, it is true): a bit to the north, though. The big city in the foreground is Berlin, and over there I see Copenhagen."

"L’Europe aussi offre de belles aurores boréales, du moins au nord. Au premier plan, Berlin et derrière, la Belgique se distingue comme toujours nettement"

Credit: ESA/NASA
Image Date: March 27, 2017
Release Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #ESA #Earth #Science #Aurora #Borealis #Berlin #Germany #Deutschland #Copenhagen #Denmark #Danmark #EuropeDay #Astronaut #ThomasPesquet #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #LightPollution #STEM #Education

European Triangle | International Space Station

Happy Europe Day!

ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "London, Paris and Brussels form a very European triangle."

"Londres, Paris et Bruxelles forment un triangle très européen"

Credit: ESA/NASA

Image Date: April 2, 2017
Release Date: May 9, 2017


#NASA #ESA #Earth #Science #EuropeDay #Astronaut #ThomasPesquet #Expedition51 #Technology #UnitedStates #CNES #France #Europe #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #LightPollution #STEM #Education