Saturday, October 29, 2022

Image Details of Far Away Spiral Galaxy: NGC 4921 | Hubble

Image Details of Far Away Spiral Galaxy: NGC 4921 | Hubble

Very deep field NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 4921 with annotation (labeling) to indictate the locations of some of the more interesting features of this galaxy and its surroundings.

Distance: 250 million light years


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and K. Cook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA)

Release Date: February 5, 2009


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #GlobularStarClusters #Galaxies #DwarfGalaxies #Galaxy #NGC4921 #Spiral #ComaGalaxyCluster #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #Annotated #Infographic #STEM #Education

An Exceptionally Deep View of Strange Galaxy: NGC 4921 | Hubble

An Exceptionally Deep View of Strange Galaxy: NGC 4921 | Hubble

Hubblecast 26: A spectacular new image of an unusual spiral galaxy in the Coma Galaxy Cluster has been created from data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. It reveals lots of new details of the galaxy, NGC 4921, as well as an extraordinary rich background of more remote galaxies stretching back to the early Universe.

Distance: 250 million light years


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

Duration: 4 minutes, 33 seconds

Release Date: May 9, 2011


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC4921 #Spiral #ComaGalaxyCluster #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Hubblecast26 #HD #Video

Panning on Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 | Hubble

Panning on Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 | Hubble

Panning on the spiral galaxy NGC 4921 in the Coma Galaxy Cluster, showing delicate swirls of brown dust along with pale-blue clumps of hot young stars.

Distance: 250 million light years


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser) and European Southern Observatory (L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: February 17, 2016


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC4921 #Spiral #ComaGalaxyCluster #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming into Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 | Hubble

Zooming into Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 | Hubble 

Zooming into NGC 4921, a spiral galaxy in the Coma Galaxy Cluster.

Distance: 250 million light years


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser) and European Southern Observatory (L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 43 seconds

Release Date: February 17, 2016


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC4921 #Spiral #ComaGalaxyCluster #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 in The Coma Galaxy Cluster | Hubble

Unusual Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921 in The Coma Galaxy Cluster | Hubble

This very deep image taken with the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4921 along with a spectacular backdrop of more distant galaxies. It was created from a total of 80 separate pictures through yellow and near-infrared filters.

Distance: 250 million light years


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and K. Cook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA)

Release Date: February 5, 2009


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC4921 #Spiral #ComaGalaxyCluster #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

New Planet Jupiter Images | NASA's Juno Mission | JPL

New Planet Jupiter Images | NASA's Juno Mission | JPL

Jupiter - Juno PJ14-30
Jupiter - Juno PJ27-24
Jupiter - Juno PJ43-25
Jupiter - Juno PJ14-19

Jupiter has a long history of surprising scientists—all the way back to 1610 when Galileo Galilei found the first moons beyond Earth. That discovery changed the way we see the universe. Fifth in line from the Sun, Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system—more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

Jupiter's familiar stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.

Juno Mission Profile

Launched: Aug. 5, 2011

Arrival at Jupiter: July 4, 2016

Goal: Understand origin and evolution of Jupiter, look for solid planetary core, map magnetic field, measure water and ammonia in deep atmosphere, observe auroras.

Learn more about the Juno mission at: www.nasa.gov/juno

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages the Juno mission for NASA. The mission's principal investigator is Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The mission is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Release Dates: October 25-26, 2022


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Storms #Juno #Spacecraft #Exploration #SolarSystem #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MSFC #SwRI #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Friday, October 28, 2022

Meet Anjie Emmett Final: Testing Technology for Mars Exploration | NASA

Meet Anjie Emmett Final: Testing Technology for Mars Exploration | NASA

Meet Anjie Emmett, a mechanical engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center. Anjie is working on technologies that could one day get humans to Mars. She serves as the Segment Lead for Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), an inflatable aeroshell technology that enables larger spacecraft to land safely on any world with an atmosphere. 

For more information about LOFTID, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/low-earth-orbit-flight-test-of-an-inflatable-decelerator


Credit: NASA Space Tech

Duration: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Release Date: October 28, 2022


#NASA #Space #Science #Technology #Engineering #Spacecraft #Propulsion #Deceleration #EDL #HeatShields #LOFTID #Planets #Mars #Atmospheres #SolarSystem #Exploration #AnjieEmmettFinal #MechanicalEngineer #LangleyResearchCenter #Virginia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Cause of a Christmas Eve Quake on Mars | This Week @ NASA

The Cause of a Christmas Eve Quake on Mars | This Week @ NASA

Week of Oct. 28, 2022: The cause of a Christmas Eve quake on Mars, super sources of a climate-warming greenhouse gas, and images of Earth from a passing spacecraft . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!


Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 1 minute, 49 seconds

Release Date: October 28, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Earth #Climate #GlobalHeating #LucyMission #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #InSightLander #MRO #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Marsquake #Meteor #MeteoroidImpact #Geoscience #Geology #SolarSystem #Exploration #JPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Haunting Portrait: Panning The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

A Haunting Portrait: Panning The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

The NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared view of the Pillars of Creation strikes a chilling tone. Thousands of stars that exist in this region disappear from view—and seemingly endless layers of gas and dust become the centrepiece.

The detection of dust by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is extremely important—dust is a major ingredient for star formation. Many stars are actively forming in these dense blue-grey pillars. When knots of gas and dust with sufficient mass form in these regions, they begin to collapse under their own gravitational attraction, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars.

Although the stars appear to be missing, they aren’t. Stars typically do not emit much mid-infrared light. Instead, they are easiest to detect in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. In this MIRI view, two types of stars can be identified. The stars at the end of the thick, dusty pillars have recently eroded most of the more distant material surrounding them but they can be seen in mid-infrared light because they are still surrounded by cloaks of dust. In contrast, blue tones indicate stars that are older and have shed most of their gas and dust.

Mid-infrared light also details dense regions of gas and dust. The red region toward the top, which forms a delicate V shape, is where the dust is both diffuse and cooler. And although it may seem like the scene clears toward the bottom left of this view, the darkest grey areas are where densest and coolest regions of dust lie. Notice that there are many fewer stars and no background galaxies popping into view.

Webb’s mid-infrared data will help researchers determine exactly how much dust is in this region—and what it’s made of. These details will make models of the Pillars of Creation far more precise. Over time, we will begin to understand more clearly how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.

The pillars are a small region within the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.


Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)  

Duration: 20 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 28, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #EagleNebula #PillarsOfCreation #Infrared #SerpensCauda #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #MIRI #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Haunting Portrait: The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

A Haunting Portrait: The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

Image Description: Layers of gas and dust are the centerpiece of this view of the Pillars of Creation taken by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument. Thousands of stars exist in this region—6,500 light-years from Earth—but are not visible in the image since stars typically do not emit much mid-infrared light. 

The observatory’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) provides a different view of the famous pillars, revealing young stars that have not yet cast off their dusty “cloaks.”

This is not an ethereal landscape of time-forgotten tombs. Nor are these soot-tinged fingers reaching out. These pillars, flush with gas and dust, enshroud stars that are slowly forming over many millennia. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has snapped this eerie, extremely dusty view of the Pillars of Creation in mid-infrared light—showing us a new view of a familiar landscape.

Why does mid-infrared light set such a somber, chilling mood in Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image? Interstellar dust cloaks the scene. And while mid-infrared light specializes in detailing where dust is, the stars are not bright enough at these wavelengths to appear. Instead, these looming, leaden-hued pillars of gas and dust gleam at their edges, hinting at the activity within.

Thousands and thousands of stars have formed in this region. This is made plain when examining Webb’s recent Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image. In MIRI’s view, the majority of the stars appear missing. Why? Many newly formed stars are no longer surrounded by enough dust to be detected in mid-infrared light. Instead, MIRI observes young stars that have not yet cast off their dusty “cloaks.” These are the crimson orbs toward the fringes of the pillars. In contrast, the blue stars that dot the scene are aging, which means they have shed most of their layers of gas and dust.

Mid-infrared light excels at observing gas and dust in extreme detail. This is also unmistakable throughout the background. The densest areas of dust are the darkest shades of gray. The red region toward the top, which forms an uncanny V, like an owl with outstretched wings, is where the dust is diffuse and cooler. Notice that no background galaxies make an appearance—the interstellar medium in the densest part of the Milky Way’s disk is too swollen with gas and dust to allow their distant light to penetrate.

How vast is this landscape? Trace the topmost pillar, landing on the bright red star jutting out of its lower edge like a broomstick. This star and its dusty shroud are larger than the size of our entire solar system.

The Pillars of Creation is set within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.

More About the Mission

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

MIRI was developed through a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory led the U.S. efforts for MIRI, and a multinational consortium of European astronomical institutes contributed for ESA.

For more information about the Webb mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/webb


Credits: 

Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: Oct. 28, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #EagleNebula #PillarsOfCreation #Infrared #SerpensCauda #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #MIRI #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter Views | JAXA

    The Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter Views | JAXA

Venus - February 27, 2021
Venus - March 30, 2018
Venus - October 24, 2018
Venus - April 15, 2021

Venus - May 5, 2021

"Venus has long been referred to as Earth’s sister planet not only because its size and distance from the sun are similar to those of the Earth, but also because its formation is considered to like that of the Earth at the birth of the solar system." 

"However, Venus is actually very different from the Earth. It is veiled in high-temperature carbon dioxide and thick sulfuric-acid clouds. Moreover, above the surface of Venus, violent winds reach over 400 kilometers per hour. Venus’ whole atmosphere is rotating much faster than the surface below at the altitude of the cloud top (70 km), a unique situation called superrotation. Its mechanisms are still largely unclear."

"Clarification of the causes for such an environment will provide us with clues to understand the Earth better, especially to help understand climate change on Earth. Therefore, Venus is a very important subject for exploration in order to learn about the Earth’s environment."

Akatsuki (あかつき, 暁, "Dawn"), also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, is a Japanese (JAXA) spacecraft tasked to study the atmosphere of Venus. By using five different cameras, working at several wavelengths, Akatsuki is studying the stratification of the atmosphere, atmospheric dynamics, and cloud physics. It was launched aboard an H-IIA 202 rocket on May 20, 2010.

Image Credits: JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Kevin M. Gill
Image Dates: March 2018 - May 2021

#NASA #JAXA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Venus #Atmosphere #Meteorology #Weather #Clouds #Ultraviolet #VenusClimateOrbiter #VCO #Akatsuki #あかつき #PlanetC #Spacecraft #Japan #日本  #SolarSystem #Exploration #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

NASA's Space to Ground: Taking Stock | Week of October 28, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground: Taking Stock | Week of October 28, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. An uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 82 spacecraft built and launched by Russia arrived at the International Space Station’s space-facing side of the Poisk module at 10:49 p.m. EDT, October 27, 2022. Progress delivered almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station for the Expedition 68 crew.

Expedition 68 Crew

Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin

NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada

JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata


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.


Learn more about the important research being operated on ISS: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 


Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: October 28, 2022


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #Progress #Прогресс #Progress82 #Cargo #Spacecraft #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #ResupplyMission #Research #Laboratory #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight  #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Chasing Sprites in Electric Skies | NASA Goddard

Chasing Sprites in Electric Skies | NASA Goddard

Paul Smith is a night-sky fanatic and photographer. His obsession is sprites: immense jolts of light that flicker high above thunderstorms. Last October, he guided NASA scientist Dr. Burcu Kosar through the backroads of Oklahoma to catch one herself. Although she had studied sprites for more than 15 years, she had not yet chased one.


Read more about chasing sprites with Paul and Burcu: https://blogs.nasa.gov/sunspot/2022/10/27/the-great-sprites-chase/


Learn about NASA’s citizen science project Spritacular: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/spritacular-nasa-s-new-citizen-science-project-to-capture-elusive-upper-atmospheric


Learn about the Heliophysics Big Year: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/helio-big-year/


Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Producer: Joy Ng (KBRwyle)

Scientist: Burcu Kosar (Catholic University of America)

Photographer: Paul Smith 

Photographer: Frankie Lucena

Photographer: Panagiotis Tsouras

Photographer: Thomas Ashcroft

Videographer: Joy Ng, Thomas Smith

Writer: Lina Tran

Image Credits: Paul Smith, Frankie Lucena, Panagiotis Tsouras, Thomas Ashcraft. 

All imagery of sprites is copyrighted and used with permission.

Duration: 8 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 27, 2022


#NASA #Earth #Science #EarthScience #Atmosphere #Physics #AtmosphericPhysics #Weather #Meteorology #Lightning #LightningStorms #Thunderstorms #Sprites #GSFC #Oklahoma #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #Photography #Art #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sound of Biggest Martian Meteoroid Impact Ever Recorded | NASA Insight Mission

Sound of Biggest Martian Meteoroid Impact Ever Recorded | NASA Insight Mission

This video includes a seismogram and sonification of the signals recorded by NASA’s InSight Mars lander, which detected a giant meteoroid strike on Dec. 24, 2021, the 1,094th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. 

InSight’s seismometer records seismic signals that are not in the range of human hearing. In order to make the signals audible, the data was sped up 100 times.

Figure A is a standalone audio file of the sonification of the signals.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages InSight for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. 

InSight is part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.

A number of European partners, including France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain’s Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/Imperial College London

Duration: 57 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 27, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #InSightLander #Marsquake #Meteor #MeteoroidImpact #AmazonisPlanitia #Geoscience #Geology #Sound #Audio #SolarSystem #Exploration #DLR #Deutschland #CNES #France #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Flyover: Mars Meteoroid Impact Crater—Orbital View (animation) | NASA MRO

Flyover: Mars Meteoroid Impact CraterOrbital View (animation) | NASA MRO

This animation depicts a flyover of a meteoroid impact crater on Mars that’s surrounded by boulder-size chunks of ice. The animation was created using data from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The impact occurred on Dec. 24, 2021.

The meteoroid is estimated to have spanned 16 to 39 feet (5 to 12 meters)—small enough that it would have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, but not in Mars’ thin atmosphere, which is just 1% as dense as our planet’s. The impact, in a region called Amazonis Planitia, blasted a crater roughly 492 feet (150 meters) across and 70 feet (21 meters) deep. Some of the ejecta thrown by the impact flew as far as 23 miles (37 kilometers) away.

Subsurface ice will be a vital resource for astronauts, who could use it for a variety of needs, including drinking water, agriculture, and rocket propellant. Buried ice has never been spotted this close to the Martian equator, which, as the warmest part of Mars, is an appealing location for astronauts.

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in 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 in Washington.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Duration: 36 seconds

Release Date: October 27, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #InSightLander #MRO #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Marsquake #Meteor #MeteoroidImpact #AmazonisPlanitia #Geoscience #Geology #SolarSystem #Exploration #DLR #Deutschland #CNES #France #JPL #Caltech #UniversityofArizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Detects Biggest Meteoroid Impact Ever Recorded | JPL

NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Detects Biggest Meteoroid Impact Ever Recorded | JPL


Image Description: Boulder-size blocks of water ice can be seen around the rim of an impact crater on Mars, as viewed by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE camera) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The crater was formed Dec. 24, 2021, by a meteoroid strike in the Amazonis Planitia region. The agency’s InSight lander felt the ground shake during the impact while cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the yawning new crater from space.

NASA’s InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24, 2021, but scientists learned only later the cause of that quake: a meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos. What’s more, the meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before—a discovery with implications for NASA’s future plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.

Scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteoroid impact when they looked at before-and-after images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and spotted a new, yawning crater. Offering a rare opportunity to see how a large impact shook the ground on Mars, the event and its effects are detailed in two papers published Thursday, Oct. 27, in the journal Science.

The meteoroid is estimated to have spanned 16 to 39 feet (5 to 12 meters)—small enough that it would have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, but not in Mars’ thin atmosphere, which is just 1% as dense as our planet’s. The impact, in a region called Amazonis Planitia, blasted a crater roughly 492 feet (150 meters) across and 70 feet (21 meters) deep. Some of the ejecta thrown by the impact flew as far as 23 miles (37 kilometers) away.

With images and seismic data documenting the event, this is believed to be one of the largest craters ever witnessed forming any place in the solar system. Many larger craters exist on the Red Planet, but they are significantly older and predate any Mars mission.

“It’s unprecedented to find a fresh impact of this size,” said Ingrid Daubar of Brown University, who leads InSight’s Impact Science Working Group. “It’s an exciting moment in geologic history, and we got to witness it.”

InSight has seen its power drastically decline in recent months due to dust settling on its solar panels. The spacecraft now is expected to shut down within the next six weeks, bringing the mission’s science to an end.

InSight is studying the planet’s crust, mantle, and core. Seismic waves are key to the mission and have revealed the size, depth, and composition of Mars’ inner layers. Since landing in November 2018, InSight has detected 1,318 marsquakes, including several caused by smaller meteoroid impacts.

However, the quake resulting from last December’s impact was the first observed to have surface waves —a kind of seismic wave that ripples along the top of a planet’s crust. The second of the two Science papers related to the big impact describes how scientists use these waves to study the structure of Mars’ crust.

Crater Hunters

In late 2021, InSight scientists reported to the rest of the team they had detected a major marsquake on Dec. 24. The crater was first spotted on Feb. 11, 2022, by scientists working at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), which built and operates two cameras aboard MRO. The Context Camera (CTX) provides black-and-white, medium-resolution images, while the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) produces daily maps of the entire planet, allowing scientists to track large-scale weather changes like the recent regional dust storm that further diminished InSight’s solar power.

The impact’s blast zone was visible in MARCI data that allowed the team to pin down a 24-hour period within which the impact occurred. These observations correlated with the seismic epicenter, conclusively demonstrating that a meteoroid impact caused the large Dec. 24 marsquake.

“The image of the impact was unlike any I had seen before, with the massive crater, the exposed ice, and the dramatic blast zone preserved in the Martian dust,” said Liliya Posiolova, who leads the Orbital Science and Operations Group at MSSS. “I couldn’t help but imagine what it must have been like to witness the impact, the atmospheric blast, and debris ejected miles downrange.”

Establishing the rate at which craters appear on Mars is critical for refining the planet’s geologic timeline. On older surfaces, such as those of Mars and our Moon, there are more craters than on Earth; on our planet, the processes of erosion and plate tectonics erase older features from the surface.

New craters also expose materials below the surface. In this case, large chunks of ice scattered by the impact were viewed by MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) color camera.

Subsurface ice will be a vital resource for astronauts, who could use it for a variety of needs, including drinking water, agriculture, and rocket propellant. Buried ice has never been spotted this close to the Martian equator, which, as the warmest part of Mars, is an appealing location for astronauts.

More About the Missions

JPL manages InSight and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, InSight spacecraft (including its cruise stage and lander), and supports spacecraft operations for both missions.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Release Date: Oct. 27, 2022


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #InSightLander #MRO #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Marsquake #Meteor #MeteoroidImpact #AmazonisPlanitia #Geoscience #Geology #Sound #Audio #SolarSystem #Exploration #DLR #Deutschland #CNES #France #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education