Huge Galaxy Protocluster in Early-Universe Discovered | James Webb Space Telescope

Huge Galaxy Protocluster in Early-Universe Discovered | James Webb Space Telescope

Protocluster Confirmed, 650 Million Years after the Big Bang

How did we get here? This fundamental question may be applied on its grandest scale in cosmology, which investigates the history and origin of the universe. Astronomers are able to investigate the early universe and its development like never before with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, including the first galaxies. For the first time, a protocluster of seven galaxies has been confirmed at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, or a mere 650 million years after the big bang. Based on the data collected, astronomers calculated the nascent cluster’s future development, finding that it will likely grow in size and mass to resemble the Coma Cluster, a monster of the modern universe. 

Object Name: Pandora's Cluster, Abell 2744

Image Description: Wide view of many galaxies colored orange, red and white. Most white galaxies have a hazy halo. A grouping of larger white galaxies appears below center. In the top half of the image, five small white squares highlight galaxies that would not stand out otherwise, with lines radiating from the small squares to a stacked column of five squares along the entire right side of the image, providing a zoomed-in view of specific galaxies, all appearing red.

Galaxy clusters are the greatest concentrations of mass in the known universe, which can dramatically warp the fabric of spacetime itself. This warping, called gravitational lensing, can have a magnifying effect for objects beyond the cluster, allowing astronomers to look through the cluster like a giant magnifying glass. The research team was able to utilize this effect, looking through Pandora’s Cluster to view the protocluster; even Webb’s powerful instruments need an assist from nature to see so far. 

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, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Takahiro Morishita/Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)

Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: April 24, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #PandorasCluster #Abell2744 #GravitationalLensing #Sculptor #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #InfraredTelescope #Cosmos #Cosmology #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Witnessing the Birth of a Distant Cluster of Galaxies | ESO

Witnessing the Birth of a Distant Cluster of Galaxies | ESO

ESOcast Light 259: Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy—the most distant detection of such hot gas yet. This further reveals just how early these structures begin to form.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner.

Editing: Angelos Tsaousis

Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida

Written by: Rory Harris and Jonas Enander

Footage and photos: ESO, M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada, ESO/C. Malin, ESO/B. Tafreshi

Scientific consultants: Paola Amico and Mariya Lyubenova

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds

Release Date: March 29, 2023

  

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #ESO #Galaxy #SpiderwebGalaxy #Galaxies #Gas #ICM #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #EarlyUniverse #Cosmology #ALMA #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A New Planet is Born: Star HD 169142 | European Southern Observatory

A New Planet is Born: Star HD 169142 | European Southern Observatory

This image shows a newly-formed planet with a mass similar to Jupiter’s orbiting the star HD 169142. The star has a disc around it, and as the protoplanet moves it carves a circular gap in the disc, as seen in the first image. But how was this planet found?

Astronomers observed the system over several years with the SPHERE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. A new re-analysis of this data, led by Iain Hammond from Monash University in Australia, confirmed the presence of this protoplanet, which moves around the star at a distance somewhat larger than that between Neptune and the Sun. They also identified a spiral wake that the protoplanet leaves behind as it rearranges part of the material in the disc, much like a boat can create a wake as it moves through water.

A protoplanet forms during the early stages of a planetary system. It grows as it accretes dust, gas, rocks and other materials that surround its host star, clearing its orbit and creating gaps like the one seen here. The SPHERE instrument is specifically designed to observe these features, blocking light from the star to increase the contrast in the image, and correcting the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence to improve the resolution. By studying the spiral wake and the gap that the protoplanet has created around the star HD 169142, astronomers can learn more about how giant planets such as Jupiter form.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 11 seconds

Release Date: April 6, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #StarHD169142 #Planet #Exoplanet #Protoplanet #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #SPHERE #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy Cluster ACO S520 in Pictor | Hubble

Galaxy Cluster ACO S520 in Pictor | Hubble

A menagerie of interesting astronomical finds fill this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. As well as several large elliptical galaxies, a ring-shaped galaxy is lurking on the right of this image. A pair of bright stars are also visible at the left of this image, notable for their colorful criss-crossing diffraction spikes. This collection of astronomical curiosities is the galaxy cluster ACO S520 in the constellation Pictor, which was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

This is one of a series of Hubble observations searching for massive, luminous galaxy clusters that had not been captured by earlier surveys. Appropriately, the proposal for observing time was named "They almost got away"!

Galaxy clusters are among the largest known objects in the Universe, and studying these objects can provide insights into the distribution of dark matter, which is responsible for most of the mass of a galaxy cluster. The vast masses of galaxy clusters is what causes many of them to act as gravitational lenses which distort and magnify light from even more distant objects. This can allow astronomers to use galaxy clusters as a kind of natural gravitational telescope to reveal distant objects that would usually be too faint to resolve—even for the crystal-clear vision of Hubble.

Image Description: A collection of oval-shaped, elliptical galaxies. The largest has two neighboring bright spots in the core. It and two others look like galaxy clusters, with surrounding smaller galaxies. On the left edge of the image are two bright stars with four long spikes, and on the right edge is a small ring-shaped galaxy. Smaller stars and galaxies are spread evenly across the dark background.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling

Release Date: April 24, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #ACOS520 #Constellation #Pictor #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Tarantula Nebula | NASA Stratospheric Balloon-based Astronomy | April 2023

The Tarantula Nebula | NASA Stratospheric Balloon-based Astronomy | April 2023

Tarantula Nebula image from NASA's Balloon-Borne SuperBIT Telescope

NASA's Stratospheric Super Pressure Balloon Science Instrument Platform Launched from New Zealand

The Tarantula Nebula taken by the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT). 

The Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) that launched on a scientific super pressure balloon April 16, 2023, local time from Wānaka, New Zealand, has captured its first research images. These images were captured on a balloon-borne telescope floating at 108,000 feet above Earth’s surface, allowing scientists to view these scientific targets from a balloon platform in a near-space environment.

Image Description: The Tarantula Nebula appears here as a vivid burst of pink, red and gold in the center of the black, star-dusted background of space. The nebula is intensely colored near the center of the image, fading to dusty clouds of dark red and purple toward the edges. The entire nebula has the appearance of a bright cloud of glowing dust. Many stars are visible in the background, including shining through the nebula.

The advantage of balloon-based versus space telescopes is the reduced cost of not having to launch a large telescope on a rocket. A super pressure balloon can circumnavigate the globe for up to 100 days to gather scientific data. The balloon also floats at an altitude above most of the Earth’s atmosphere, making it suitable for many astronomical observations.

The SuperBIT telescope captures images of galaxies in the visible-to-near ultraviolet light spectrum, which is within the Hubble Space Telescope’s capabilities, but with a wider field of view. The goal of the mission is to map dark matter around galaxy clusters by measuring the way these massive objects warp the space around them, also called “weak gravitational lensing.”

The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust appear to swirl between the region’s bright, newly formed stars. The Tarantula Nebula has previously be captured by both the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.

The SuperBIT team is a collaboration among NASA; Durham University, United Kingdom; the University of Toronto, Canada; and Princeton University in New Jersey.

NASA invites the public to follow these missions as they fly on their globetrotting journeys about the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes. A balloon’s flight path is controlled by the wind speed and direction at float altitude. The missions will spend most of their time over water, and for any land crossings, NASA works with the U.S. State Department to coordinate country overflight approvals. Real-time tracking of these flights is publicly available here: 

https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon10/flight728NT.htm

In addition, NASA publicizes balloon launch and tracking information via the web at: www.nasa.gov/balloons 

Learn more about NASA's Scientific Balloon Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons

Credit: NASA/SuperBIT

Release Date: April 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebula #TarantulaNebula #30Doradus #Dorado #Constellation #LMC #Galaxy #Earth #Stratosphere #Research #ScientificBalloonProgram #SuperPressureBalloon #SuperBITTelescope #SuperBIT #Britain #Canada #NASAWallops #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Himalayas & Mount Everest in Nepal | International Space Station

The Himalayas & Mount Everest in Nepal | International Space Station

Clouds gather over Nepal near Mount Everest (center) in this April 13, 2023, photograph from the International Space Station. This image was taken as the station orbited 263 miles above the Indian subcontinent.

In addition to photography, instruments on the space station like the Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer and the Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems allow us to monitor weather and collect important data.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (March 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

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's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: April 13, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Asia #Nepal #Himalayas #MountEverest #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #Canada #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #UAE #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UNOOSA #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education #नेपाल

A New Panorama of Our Galactic Center: X-Ray & Radio View | NASA Chandra

A New Panorama of Our Galactic Center: X-Ray & Radio View | NASA Chandra

A new panorama from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope provides a stunning view of the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It also reveals threads of superheated gas and magnetic fields, which are weaving a tapestry of energy near the supermassive black hole that resides there.

Over the course of its mission, Chandra has taken many observations of the Galactic Center. This latest expands Chandra's high-energy view farther above and below the plane of the galaxy—that is, the disk where most of the galaxy's stars reside—than previous imaging campaigns. In the image, we see x-rays with different energies from Chandra in different colors. These have been combined with radio data from MeerKAT, a radio telescope in South Africa.

The result is intricate to the eye and also contains a wealth of scientific information to explore. For example, researchers identified long and narrow bands of X-rays that they call "threads". These features are bound together by thin strips of magnetic fields. One of these threads points perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy and is about 20 light-years long, but only one-hundredth that size in width. (This is about five times the distance between the Sun and the nearest star.) These threads may have formed when magnetic fields aligned in different directions, collided, and became twisted around each other in a process called magnetic reconnection. This is similar to the phenomenon that drives energetic particles away from the Sun and is responsible for the space weather that sometimes affects Earth.

A detailed study of these threads teaches us more about the galactic space weather astronomers have witnessed throughout the region. This weather is driven by volatile phenomena such as supernova explosions, close-quartered stars blowing off hot gas, and outbursts of matter from regions near Sagittarius A*, our galaxy's supermassive black hole.

In addition to the threads, the new panorama reveals other wonders in the Galactic Center. Researchers report large plumes of hot gas, which extend for about 700 light-years above and below the plane of the galaxy, seen here in greater detail than ever before. These plumes may represent galactic-scale outflows, analogous to the particles driven away from the Sun but on a much larger scale. The gas is likely heated by supernova explosions and many recent magnetic reconnections occurring near the center of the galaxy.

This new high-energy tapestry is a reminder how complex and compelling our Galaxy is.

Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 3 minutes, 31 seconds

Release Date: May 27, 2021

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxy #GalacticCenter #MilkyWayGalaxy #BlackHole #SagittariusA #Supernovae #Cosmos #Universe #MeerKAT #RadioTelescope #Radio #ChandraObservatory #Xray #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Moon to Mars Architecture News | This Week@NASA

Moon to Mars Architecture News | This Week@NASA

"News about our Moon to Mars Architecture, chalk up another one for our frequent flyer on Mars, and yes, this spacecraft 'scan' find things in the sky . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!"

Download NASA's Moon to Mars Document Free Adobe PDF (78 pages): go.nasa.gov/3zzSNhp

Video Credit: NASA

Producer, Editor, & Narrator: Andre Valentine

Duration: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Release Date: April 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Moon #Mars #ArtemisProgram #MoonToMars #MarsHelicopter #Strategy #Roadmap #Science #Technology #Engineering #Robotics #DeepSpace #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #UnitedStates #ForAllHumanity #AdobePDF #FreeDownload #Document #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pan of Jellyfish Galaxy JO204: Shaped by Ram Pressure | Hubble

Pan of Jellyfish Galaxy JO204: Shaped by Ram Pressure | Hubble

Here we see JO204, a ‘jellyfish galaxy’ so named for the bright tendrils of gas that appear in this image to be drifting lazily below JO204’s bright central bulk. The galaxy lies almost 600 million light-years away in the constellation Sextans. This image was captured by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: April 20, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #JO204 #RamPressure #GalaxyClusters #Galaxies #Constellation #Sextans #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pan over Swirling Barred Spiral Galaxy UGC 678 | Hubble

Pan over Swirling Barred Spiral Galaxy UGC 678 | Hubble

The barred spiral galaxy UGC 678 takes center stage in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. The spectacular galaxy lies around 260 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces and is almost face on, allowing its lazily winding spiral arms to stretch across this image. In the foreground, a smaller edge-on galaxy seems to bisect the upper portion of UGC 678.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick, R. J. Foley

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: April 20, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #UGC678 #Spiral #Barred #Galaxies #Constellation #Pisces #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

From Orbit to A.I.—Harnessing Machine Learning with Landsat Data | NASA

From Orbit to A.I.—Harnessing Machine Learning with Landsat Data | NASA

Over the past few years, machine learning techniques have been increasingly used to analyze the vast amount of data collected by the Landsat mission, which has been circling the globe for over 50 years. The data has been used to classify different types of land cover, detect changes to landscapes over time, and map the impact of human activity on the environment. With the field constantly evolving, researchers are developing new deep learning models to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the analysis and extract even more information from the data. Here are just a few examples of how the combination of Landsat data and machine learning is providing a better understanding of our planet's past, present, and future.

The Landsat program conceived of in the 1960s, has been running longer than any remote sensing program. The idea was simple: position a satellite in a nearly polar orbit fixed to the solar angle so that each daytime pass would cross the equator at roughly the same local time.

Data representing bands of the spectrum are captured and processed into grayscale recordings that can be combined to create natural looking or false color views. Nine Landsat satellites have been launched in partnership with NASA since 1972.

Learn more about the USGS Landsat Program:

https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Scientific Visualization Studio

Chris Burns [KBRWyle]: Lead Producer & Lead Writer

Duration: 5 minutes, 34 seconds

Release Date: April 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #USGS #Landsat #Earth #Planet #Science #Technology #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DataScience #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #GreenhouseEffect #GlobalHeating #GSFC #UnitedStates #ForAllHumanity #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Día de la Tierra 2023: estudiando la Tierra desde el espacio

NASA Día de la Tierra 2023: estudiando la Tierra desde el espacio

Celebra con nosotros el Día de la Tierra el 22 de abril y aprende cómo la NASA estudia nuestro planeta natal desde el espacio. Edil Sepúlveda Carlo, científico de la Tierra del Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA, nos habla sobre algunos de los hallazgos obtenidos usando datos de los satélites que observan la Tierra. Estos datos son indispensables para investigaciones científicas, la toma de decisiones y el establecimiento de medidas que ayuden a mitigar el cambio climático. 

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov/

En español: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete

Credit: NASA en Español

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: April 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #Planet #Science #NASAenespañol #español #Díadelatierra #Díadelatierra2023 #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #GreenhouseEffect #GlobalHeating #EarthDay #EarthDay2023 #UnitedStates #ForAllHumanity #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Mars Images: April 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Planet Mars Images: April 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

MSL - sol 3803

MSL - sol 3803

MSL - sol 3801

MSL - sol 3803

MSL - sol 3801

MSL - sol 3803

Mars2020 - sol 768

Mars2020 - sol 766

Support FriendsofNASA.org 

Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars! (2012-2023)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: April 17-20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #Ingenuity #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MoonToMars #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Happy Earth Day 2023! | Download Free NASA Poster

Happy Earth Day 2023! | Download Free NASA Poster

Download NASA's Earth Day 2023 poster (including vitrual backgrounds and wallpapers) for free and learn more about our efforts to explore, discover, and protect: https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/toolkits/earth-day-posters

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Release Date: April 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #Planet #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #GreenhouseEffect #GlobalHeating #EarthDay #EarthDay2023 #Poster #Wallpapers #Backgrounds #Art #Illustration #UnitedStates #ForAllHumanity #STEM #Education

Mayotte’s Lagoon, Comoros Islands, Indian Ocean | USGS Landsat 8 Earth Satellite

Mayotte’s Lagoon, Comoros Islands, Indian Ocean | USGS Landsat 8 Earth Satellite

The capital of Mayotte, Mamoudzou, is located on the eastern coast of the main island and looks across a 2 km channel to Pamandzi. Most of Mayotte’s population lives on the main island, but the airport is located on southern tip of Pamandzi, shown in the image above. A lake on Pamandzi, called Dziana Dzaha, stands out as a bright green oval in the north. Dziana Dzaha is a crater lake with salt concentrations higher than that of seawater. The salty, oxygen-poor lake is considered a modern analogue to environments of the Precambrian, when multi-cellular life began to form. Researchers have studied the lake to understand the types of microbes that flourish in extreme environments. 

Millions of years ago, during the Miocene, a series of volcanic eruptions created a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the African mainland. These islands are now known as the Comoros archipelago.

The oldest and easternmost islands in the archipelago comprise a territory known as Mayotte. Mayotte consists of two principal islands, the main island (known as Grande Terre) and a smaller island to the east, known as Pamandzi or Petite Terre. This image, captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows the main island in the center of an outer ring of barrier reefs and small islets, which form a lagoon rich in marine biodiversity. Corals and mangroves also fringe the coasts of the main island.

Mayotte’s lagoon is home to a diversity of marine life, including corals, clownfish, and green sea turtles. But overfishing and coral bleaching threaten the health of the ecosystem. A 2022 study of corals in the western Indian Ocean found that the Comoros islands corals were at risk of collapse in response to warming water temperatures. A marine park, which covers all of Mayotte and surrounding waters, was established in 2010 to protect its aquatic life.

A string of volcanic mountains span the length of the main island. The tallest peak is Mount Bénara, with a height of 660 meters (2,170 feet). Just south of this peak is Mount Choungui, which with a height of 593 m (1,946 ft) is the island’s second-tallest mountain. Both of these mountains are home to several species of birds that are vulnerable to extinction, including the yellow-billed Comoros olive pigeon (Columba pollenii) and the glossy black Mayotte drongo (Dicrurus waldenii).

Geologic activity continues to shape the islands. Although the islands went many years without significant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, multiple earthquakes a day shook Mayotte between May 2018 and July 2019, and more than a dozen in that year were magnitude of 5 or more. Landslides and other natural hazards followed the earthquakes. The cause, scientists discovered, was the birth of an undersea volcanic ridge and edifice, just 5 kilometers east of Pamandzi. Using data from the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), scientists learned that this seismic activity caused the main island of Mayotte to shift eastward about 21 to 25 cm and sink approximately 10 to 19 cm.

The Landsat program conceived of in the 1960s, has been running longer than any remote sensing program. The idea was simple: position a satellite in a nearly polar orbit fixed to the solar angle so that each daytime pass would cross the equator at roughly the same local time.

Data representing bands of the spectrum are captured and processed into grayscale recordings that can be combined to create natural looking or false color views. Nine Landsat satellites have been launched in partnership with NASA since 1972.

Learn more about the USGS Landsat Program:

https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

Story Credit: Emily Cassidy

Image Date: July 15, 2015

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #EarthDay #EarthDay2023 #Planet #IndianOcean #ComorosIslands #CoralReefs #Mayotte #Atmosphere #Meteorology #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Environment #Satellite #Landsat8 #Landsat #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #USGS #UnitedStates #France #Infographic #STEM #Education

Happy Earth Day 2023! | NOAA

Happy Earth Day 2023! | NOAA

The first Earth Day took place in 1970, which also was the same year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was established in the United States. Since then, NOAA satellites have been monitoring Earth’s weather, environment, oceans, and climate. They provide critical information for forecasts and warnings of severe weather and environmental hazards. 

This Earth Day, we have a lot to celebrate. Over the past year, NOAA has added two new satellites to its Earth-observing fleet and contributed an instrument to a mission that will help us have a better understanding of Earth’s physical and biological environment.

Credits: NOAA Satellites, Argos-4 imagery courtesy of CNES/Kinéis

Duration: 2 minutes, 18 seconds

Release Date: April 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Satellites #NOAA #Planet #Earth #EarthDay #EarthDay2023 #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Climate #Environment #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #Land #Oceans #CIRA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video