A Halloween Pumpkin Pair of Galaxies | Hubble

A Halloween Pumpkin Pair of Galaxies | Hubble

What looks like two glowing eyes and a crooked carved smile in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope snapshot is the early stages of a collision between two galaxies. Residing in the constellation Canis Major, the entire view is 109,000 light-years across, approximately the diameter of our Milky Way.

The overall pumpkin-ish color corresponds to the glow of aging red stars in two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 2292 and NGC 2293, which only have a hint of spiral structure.

The ghostly arm making the “smile” may be just the beginning of the process of rebuilding a spiral galaxy, say researchers. The arm embraces both galaxies. It most likely formed when interstellar gas was compressed as the two galaxies began to merge. The higher density precipitates new star formation.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and W. Keel (University of Alabama)

Release Date: October 29, 2020

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #Galaxies #NGC2292 #NGC2293 #CanisMajor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Red Spider Nebula | Hubble

The Red Spider Nebula | Hubble

Huge waves are sculpted in this two-lobed nebula some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. This warm planetary nebula harbors one of the hottest stars known and its powerful stellar winds generate waves 100 billion kilometers high. 

The waves are caused by supersonic shocks, formed when the local gas is compressed and heated in front of the rapidly expanding lobes. The atoms caught in the shock emit the spectacular radiation seen in this image.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA) & Garrelt Mellema (Leiden University, the Netherlands)

Release Date: July 24, 2001

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#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #PlanetaryNebula #Nebula #RedSpiderNebula #NGC6537 #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Spirals & Supernovae: Galaxy NGC 1015 | Hubble

Spirals & Supernovae: Galaxy NGC 1015 | Hubble

This spectacular image from Hubble shows the majestic galaxy NGC 1015, found nestled within the constellation of Cetus (The Whale) 118 million light-years from Earth. In this image, we see NGC 1015 face-on, with its beautifully symmetrical swirling arms and bright central bulge creating a scene akin to a sparkling Catherine wheel firework.

NGC 1015 has a bright, fairly large center and smooth, tightly wound spiral arms and a central “bar” of gas and stars. This shape leads NGC 1015 to be classified as a barred spiral galaxy—just like our home, the Milky Way. Bars are found in around two-thirds of all spiral galaxies, and the arms of this galaxy swirl outwards from a pale yellow ring encircling the bar itself. Scientists believe that any hungry black holes lurking at the center of barred spirals funnel gas and energy from the outer arms into the core via these glowing bars, feeding the black hole, fueling star birth at the center and building up the galaxy’s central bulge.

In 2009, a Type Ia supernova named SN 2009ig was spotted in NGC 1015—one of the bright dots to the upper right of the galaxy’s center. These types of supernovae are extremely important: they are all caused by exploding white dwarfs which have companion stars, and always peak at the same brightness—5 billion times brighter than the Sun. Knowing the true brightness of these events, and comparing this with their apparent brightness, gives astronomers a unique chance to measure distances in the Universe.

Credit: European Space Agency  (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess (STScl/JHU)

Release Date: March 12, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #Galaxy #Barred #Spiral #NGC1015 #Supernova #SN2009ig #Cetus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #JHU #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Cosmic Ice Sculptures: Dust Pillars in The Carina Nebula | Hubble

Cosmic Ice Sculptures: Dust Pillars in The Carina Nebula | Hubble

Enjoying a frozen treat on a hot summer day can leave a sticky mess as it melts in the Sun and deforms. In the cold vacuum of space, there is no edible ice cream, but there is radiation from massive stars that is carving away at cold molecular clouds, creating bizarre, fantasy-like structures.

These one-light-year-tall pillars of cold hydrogen and dust, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are located in the Carina Nebula. Violent stellar winds and powerful radiation from massive stars are sculpting the surrounding nebula. Inside the dense structures, new stars may be born.

This image of dust pillars in the Carina Nebula is a composite of 2005 observations taken of the region in hydrogen light (light emitted by hydrogen atoms) along with 2010 observations taken in oxygen light (light emitted by oxygen atoms), both times with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The immense Carina Nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and the Hubble Heritage Project (STScI/AURA)

Acknowledgment: M. Livio (STScI) and N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley, USA)

Release Date: September 16, 2010

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Stars #Dust #DustPillars #CarinaNebula #Carina #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #AURA #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Staring into Hurricane Ian's Eye | Landsat 8 Satellite

Staring into Hurricane Ian's Eye | Landsat 8 Satellite

On September 28, 2022, the Landsat 8 satellite passed directly over Hurricane Ian’s eye as the storm approached southwest Florida.

The Operational Land Imager aboard the Landsat 8 satellite captured this natural-color image of Hurricane Ian’s eye on Sept. 28, 2022 at 11:57 a.m. EDT (15:57 UTC), three hours before the storm crashed into the coast in Caya Costa, Florida.

When Ian’s eyewall made landfall, its maximum sustained winds were 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. That is the equivalent of a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale and fast enough to tear the roofs off homes and snap power lines.

The eye of a hurricane is a circular zone of fair weather at the storm’s center. It is surrounded by a towering ring of extremely powerful thunderstorms called an eyewall, the part of the hurricane with the strongest winds. The swirling clouds along the edges of the eyewall are mesovortices—small-scale rotational features found in hurricanes with unusually strong winds.

Read more—Staring Into Ian's Eye: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150427/staring-into-ians-eye

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Release Date: Oct. 4, 2022

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Meteorology #Satellite #HurricaneIan #Hurricanes #USGS #Landsat8 #OLI #Landsat #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Environment #GulfOfMexico #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Glowing Eye of Planetary Nebula NGC 6751 | Hubble

The Glowing Eye of Planetary Nebula NGC 6751 | Hubble

The Hubble telescope has spied a giant celestial 'eye', known as planetary nebula NGC 6751. The Hubble Heritage Project is releasing this picture to commemorate the Hubble telescope's tenth anniversary. Glowing in the constellation Aquila, the nebula is a cloud of gas ejected several thousand years ago from the hot star visible in its center.

Distance: 6,500 light years

Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. They are shells of gas thrown off by Sun-like stars nearing the ends of their lives. The star's loss of its outer gaseous layers exposes the hot stellar core, whose strong ultraviolet radiation then causes the ejected gas to fluoresce as the planetary nebula.

Credit: NASA/ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Release Date: April 6, 2000

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #NGC6751 #PlanetaryNebula #Aquila #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #AURA #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Astronauts Bob, Frank, Jessica, Samantha & Kjell | International Space Station

Astronauts Bob, Frank, Jessica, Samantha & Kjell | International Space Station

NASA Astronauts Bob Hines, Frank Rubio, and Jessica Watkins

European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti looks at Earth

Astronaut Bob Hines looks at Earth

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has fun with fluid physics

Astronaut Bob Hines has fun with fluid physics

Astronaut Frank Rubio has fun with fluid physics

Astronaut Jessica Watkins has fun with fluid physics

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren has fun with fluid physics

Expedition 68 Crew

Commander: Samantha Cristoforetti (European Space Agency-Italy)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers:  Sergey Prokopyev (Russia) and Dmitri Petelin (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, Frank Rubio (USA)

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Dates: Sept. 30 - Oct. 1, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #BobHines #JessicaWatkins #FrankRubio #SamanthaCristoforetti #ESA #Italy #Italia #Minerva #Science #FluidPhysics #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #UnitedStates #Europe #Research #Laboratory #STEM #Education

Tour: NASA's Chandra Adds X-ray Vision to Webb Images (Extended Version)

Tour: NASA's Chandra Adds X-ray Vision to Webb Images (Extended Version)

In the summer of 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released images from some of its first observations. Almost instantaneously, these stunning images landed everywhere from the front pages of news outlets to larger-than-life displays in Times Square.

Webb, however, will not pursue its exploration of the universe on its own. It is designed to work in concert with NASA’s many other telescopes as well as facilities both in space and on the ground. These new versions of the Webb images combine its infrared data with X-rays collected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. They underscore how the power of any of these telescopes is only enhanced when joined with others. Let’s take a look at each.

Webb brilliantly shows how the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723, located about 4.2 billion light-years away, contains hundreds of individual galaxies. Galaxy clusters, however, contain far more than their galaxies alone. As some of the largest structures in the universe, they are filled with vast reservoirs of superheated gas that is seen only in X-ray light. The Chandra data reveal gas with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees, possessing a total mass of about 100 trillion times that of the Sun, several times higher than the mass of all the galaxies in the cluster. Invisible dark matter makes up an even larger fraction of the total mass in the cluster.

The four galaxies within Stephan’s Quintet are undergoing an intricate dance choreographed by gravity. (The fifth galaxy is an interloping galaxy at a different distance.) The Webb image of this object features never-seen-before details of the results of these interactions, including sweeping tails of gas and bursts of star formation. The Chandra data of this system has uncovered a shock wave that heats gas to tens of millions of degrees, as one of the galaxies passes through the others at speeds of around 2 million miles per hour. This new composite also includes data from NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope.

Chandra’s data of the “Cosmic Cliffs” reveal over a dozen individual X-ray sources. These are mostly stars located in the outer region of a star cluster in the Carina Nebula with ages between 1 and 2 million years old, which is very young in stellar terms. Young stars are much brighter in X-rays than old stars, making X-ray studies an ideal way to distinguish stars in the Carina Nebula from the many stars of different ages from our Milky Way galaxy along our line of sight to the nebula. The diffuse X-ray emission in the top half of the image likely comes from hot gas from the three hottest, most massive stars located in the star cluster outside the field of view of the Webb image.

Finally, the Cartwheel galaxy gets its shape from a collision with another smaller galaxy — located outside the field of this image — about 100 million years ago. When this smaller galaxy punched through the Cartwheel, it triggered star formation that appears around an outer ring and elsewhere throughout the galaxy. X-rays seen by Chandra come from superheated gas, individual exploded stars, and neutron stars and black holes pulling material from companion stars. Webb’s infrared view shows the Cartwheel galaxy plus two smaller companion galaxies — not part of the collision — against a backdrop of many more distant galactic cousins.

Credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: October 4, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #Nebulae #Cosmos #Universe #Infrared #Xray #ChandraObservatory #SpaceTelescope #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Quick Look: NASA's Chandra Adds X-ray Vision to Webb Images

Quick Look: NASA's Chandra Adds X-ray Vision to Webb Images

Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope have been combined.

These images are from some of the earliest observations made by Webb.

Chandra had previously observed these objects in X-ray light.

These composites demonstrate how these two telescopes can work together.

Credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 45 seconds

Release Date: October 4, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #Nebulae #Cosmos #Universe #Infrared #Xray #ChandraObservatory #SpaceTelescope #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-14 Mission: New Earth Photos for National Day | China Space Station

Shenzhou-14 Mission: New Photos for National Day | China Space Station

A new batch of stunning photos taken by China's in-orbit Shenzhou-14 taikonauts was released by the China Manned Space Agency on October 4, 2022. The crew, who were sent to China's space station on June 5 for a six-month mission, became the first Chinese citizens to celebrate National Day, which falls on October 1, in outer space. The photos show the taikonauts saluting the Chinese national flag, as well as the spectacular views of Earth, the moon and the plants they have grown aboard the space station.

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: October 4, 2022

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Shenzhou14 #神舟十四号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ChenDong #LiuYang #刘洋 #Women #Pilots #Pioneers #CaiXuzhe #王亚平 #Tiangong #天宫 #ChinaSpaceStation #CNSA #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #Technology #Engineering #STEM #Education #International #UNOOSA #UnitedNations #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Prelaunch Suit-up | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Prelaunch Suit-up | Kennedy Space Center

In their SpaceX spacesuits are, from left, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, NASA astronauts Nicole Aunapu Mann and Josh Cassada, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (Russia).

In their SpaceX spacesuits inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building are, from left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (Russia), NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Aunapu Mann, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (Russia) is seated inside the crew suit-up room

NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann is seated inside the crew suit-up room

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada is photographed in his SpaceX spacesuit inside the crew suit-up room

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata is seated inside the crew suit-up room

In front are NASA astronauts Josh Cassada (left) and Nicole Aunapu Mann, and behind them are Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (Russia) (left) and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata (Japan)

JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata (Japan), center, is seen with Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (Russia), left, and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, wearing SpaceX spacesuits

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts participate in a countdown dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 2, 2022, to prepare for the upcoming Crew-5 launch.  The crew will launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft for a science expedition mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for no earlier than noon EDT on Oct. 5, 2022, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Astronaut Nicole Mann Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/nicole-a-mann

Astronaut Josh Cassada Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/josh-a-cassada

Astronaut Koichi Wakata Official JAXA Biography

https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/astronaut/wakata-koichi/

Cosmonaut Anna Kikina Roscosmos Info

Anna Yuryevna Kikina (Russian: Анна Юрьевна Кикина, born August 27, 1984, in Novosibirsk) is a Russian engineer and test cosmonaut, selected in 2012. She is the only woman cosmonaut currently in active service at Roscosmos. [Wikipedia]

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Image Date: October 2, 2022 

#NASA #Space #ISS #Roscosmos #JAXA #SpaceX #SpacexCrew5 #CrewDragon #Astronauts #NicoleMann #JoshCassada #KoichiWakata #Cosmonaut #AnnaKikina #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Science #STEM #Education

The Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star: Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 | Hubble

The Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star: Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 | Hubble

Panning across Planetary Nebula NGC 2440. It lies about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 28 seconds

Release Date: February 17, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #NGC2440 #PlanetaryNebula #Puppis #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 Revealed | Hubble

Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 Revealed | Hubble

This image of NGC 2440 shows the colorful "last hurrah" of a star like our Sun. The star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, which formed a cocoon around the star's remaining core. Ultraviolet light from the dying star makes the material glow. The burned-out star, called a white dwarf, is the white dot in the center.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and K. Noll (STScI)

Release Date: February 13, 2007

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #NGC2440 #PlanetaryNebula #Puppis #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Chaotic Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 | Hubble

Chaotic Planetary Nebula NGC 2440 | Hubble

NGC 2440 is another planetary nebula ejected by a dying star, but it has a much more chaotic structure than NGC 2346. The central star of NGC 2440 is one of the hottest known, with a surface temperature near 200,000 degrees Celsius. The complex structure of the surrounding nebula suggests to some astronomers that there have been periodic oppositely directed outflows from the central star, somewhat similar to that in NGC2346, but in the case of NGC 2440 these outflows have been episodic, and in different directions during each episode. The nebula is also rich in clouds of dust, some of which form long, dark streaks pointing away from the central star. In addition to the bright nebula, which glows becauseof fluorescence due to ultraviolet radiation from the hot star, NGC 2440 is surrounded by a much larger cloud of cooler gas which is invisible in ordinary light but can be detected with infrared telescopes. NGC 2440 lies about 4,000 light-years from Earth in thedirection of the constellation Puppis.

The Hubble Heritage team made this image from observations of NGC 2440 acquired by Howard Bond (STScI) and Robin Ciardullo (Penn State).

Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Release Date: October 7, 1999

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #NGC2440 #PlanetaryNebula #Puppis #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Deep inside The Eagle Nebula | Hubble

Deep inside The Eagle Nebula | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope has once more turned its attention towards the magnificent Eagle Nebula (Messier 16). This picture shows the northwestern part of the region, well away from the center, and features some very bright young stars that formed from the same cloud of material. These energetic toddlers are part of an open cluster and emit ultraviolet radiation that causes the surrounding nebula to glow.

Distance: 7,000 light years

The star cluster is very bright and was discovered in the mid-eighteenth century. The nebula, however, is much more elusive and it took almost a further two decades for it to be first noted by Charles Messier in 1764. Although it is commonly known as the Eagle Nebula, its official designation is Messier 16 and the cluster is also named NGC 6611. One spectacular area of the nebula (outside the field of view) has been nicknamed “The Pillars of Creation” ever since the Hubble Space Telescope captured an iconic image of dramatic pillars of star-forming gas and dust.

The cluster and nebula are fascinating targets for small and medium-sized telescopes, particularly from a dark site free from light pollution. Messier 16 can be found within the constellation of Serpens Cauda (the Tail of the Serpent), which is sandwiched between Aquila, Sagittarius, and Ophiuchus in the heart of one of the brightest parts of the Milky Way. Small telescopes with low power are useful for observing large, but faint, swathes of the nebula, whereas 30 cm telescopes and larger may reveal the dark pillars under good conditions. However, a space telescope in orbit around the Earth, like Hubble—which boasts a 2.4-meter diameter mirror and state-of-the-art instruments—is required for an image as spectacular as this one.

This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through a near-infrared filter (F775W) are colored red and images through a blue filter (F475W) are blue. The exposures times were one hour and 54 minutes respectively and the field of view is about 3.3 arcminutes across.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: December 6, 2010

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #EagleNebula #Messier16 #NGC6611 #StarCluster #SerpensCauda #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft: NG-18—The S.S. Sally Ride | International Space Station

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft: NG-18—The S.S. Sally Ride | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman: "We're proud to name our NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft in honor of astronaut Sally Ride. It's our tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight. Ride was selected in honor of her accomplishment as the first female American to fly in space, as well as her incredible work in creating STEM education opportunities for young girls through her organization, Sally Ride Science." 

Sally Ride made history as the first female CapCom and the first American woman to fly in space. As a steadfast advocate for diversity and equality in science, she worked to provide equitable opportunities for quality STEM education to young people across the nation.

For more info on the NG-18 mission, visit:

https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/nasa-commercial-resupply-mission-ng-18/

Credit: Northrop Grumman

Duration: 1 minute, 14 seconds

Release Date:  October 3, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #NorthropGrumman #NG18 #Cygnus #Spacecraft #Cargo #CommercialResupply #LEO #Technology #SallyRide #Astronaut #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #STEM #Education #HD #Video