Thursday, October 17, 2024

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Talks with WGBH Radio | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Talks with WGBH Radio | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview October 16, 2024, with WGBH/Boston Public Radio. Williams is in the midst of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.  

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams

Roscosmos (Russia): Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov

NASA: Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague

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 Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)


Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 19 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 16, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #StationCommander #AstronautInterview #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMission #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #WGBH #PublicRadio #Boston #Massachusetts #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Science Objectives of NASA's Europa Clipper Ocean Moon Mission | JPL

Science Objectives of NASA's Europa Clipper Ocean Moon Mission | JPL

This graphic illustrates the main science objectives of NASA's Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's moon Europa: to understand the nature of Europa's icy shell and confirm the existence of a subsurface ocean, investigate Europa's composition, characterize its geology, and determine the level of activity, such as possible water plumes.

Clockwise from top left: an artist's concept of Europa's interior. It is likely to contain a global ocean beneath the icy surface with possible hydrothermal activity on the ocean floor; water signatures at Europa's Manannán Crater made visible by mapping colors onto infrared data from NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter; ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope showing evidence of a possible plume at Europa and indicating possible activity at the moon; and a color view of Europa's Conamara Chaos region based on an image from NASA's Galileo mission.

Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. 

Europa Clipper carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface that scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor.

Find more information about Europa here:


'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu


Image Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/Ames/SETI/SwRI/Ryan Sicilia
Release Date: Oct. 11, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #OceanWorlds #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #NASAAmes #SETI #SwRI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #Infographic #STEM #Education

Icy Moons of Our Solar System That May Have Oceans Now | NASA/JPL

Icy Moons of Our Solar System That May Have Oceans Now | NASA/JPL


Scientists think six icy moons in our solar system may currently host oceans of liquid water beneath their outer surfaces. Arranged around Earth are images from NASA spacecraft of, clockwise from the top, Saturn's moon Enceladus, Jupiter's moons Callisto and Ganymede, Neptune's moon Triton, Saturn's moon Titan, and Jupiter's moon Europa, the target of NASA's Europa Clipper mission. The worlds here are shown to scale.

The images of the Saturnian moons were taken by NASA's Cassini mission. The images of the Jovian moons were taken by NASA's Galileo mission. The image of Triton was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 mission. The image of Earth was stitched together using months of satellite-based observations, mostly using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. 

Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface that scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor.

Europa Clipper Mission website: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu


Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/University of Arizona/DLR

Release Date: Oct. 11, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #OceanWorlds #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #UArizona #UnitedStates #DLR #Germany #Infographic #STEM #Education

Arctic & Antarctic Sea Ice Approached Historic Lows in 2024 | NASA Earth

Arctic & Antarctic Sea Ice Approached Historic Lows in 2024 | NASA Earth

Arctic Sea Ice Map - September 11, 2024
Antarctic Sea Ice Map - September 19, 2024

Arctic sea ice retreated to near-historic lows in the Northern Hemisphere this summer, likely melting to its minimum extent for the year on September 11, 2024, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The decline continues the decades-long trend of shrinking and thinning ice cover in the Arctic Ocean.

The amount of frozen seawater in the Arctic fluctuates during the year as the ice thaws and regrows between seasons. Scientists chart these swings to construct a picture of how the Arctic responds over time to rising air and sea temperatures and longer melting seasons. Over the past 46 years, satellites have observed persistent trends of more melting in the summer and less ice formation in the winter.

Tracking sea ice changes in real time has revealed wide-ranging impacts, from losses and changes in polar wildlife habitat to impacts on local communities in the Arctic and international trade routes.

This year, Arctic sea ice shrank to a minimum extent of 4.28 million square kilometers (1.65 million square miles), as shown on the map here. This is about 1.94 million square kilometers (750,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 end-of-summer average of 6.22 million square kilometers (2.4 million square miles). The difference in ice cover spans an area larger than the state of Alaska. Sea ice extent is defined as the total area of the ocean with at least 15 percent ice concentration.

This year’s minimum—the seventh lowest in the satellite record—remained above the all-time low of 3.39 million square kilometers (1.31 million square miles) set in September 2012. While sea ice coverage can fluctuate from year to year, it has trended downward since the start of the satellite record for ice in the late 1970s. Since then, the loss of sea ice has been about 77,800 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) per year, according to NSIDC.

Scientists currently measure sea ice extent using data from passive microwave sensors aboard satellites in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, with additional historical data from the Nimbus-7 satellite, jointly operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Sea ice is not only shrinking, it is also getting younger, noted Nathan Kurtz, chief of the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “Today, the overwhelming majority of ice in the Arctic Ocean is thinner, first-year ice, which is less able to survive the warmer months. There is far, far less ice that is three years or older now,” Kurtz said.

Ice thickness measurements collected with spaceborne altimeters, including NASA’s ICESat and ICESat-2 satellites, have found that much of the oldest, thickest ice has already been lost. New research out of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows that in the central Arctic, away from the coasts, fall sea ice now hovers around 1.3 meters (4.2 feet) thick, down from a peak of 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) in 1980.

Another Meager Winter Around Antarctica

Sea ice in the southern polar regions of the planet was also low in 2024. Around Antarctica, scientists tracked near-record-low sea ice at a time when it should have been growing extensively during the Southern Hemisphere’s darkest and coldest months.

Ice around the continent likely reached its maximum extent for the year on September 19, 2024, when growth stalled out at 17.16 million square kilometers (6.63 million square miles). This year’s maximum, shown on the map above, was the second lowest in the satellite record and remained above the record winter low of 16.96 million square kilometers (6.55 million square miles) set in September 2023. The average maximum extent between 1981 and 2010 was 18.71 million square kilometers (7.22 million square miles).

The meager growth in 2024 prolongs a recent downward trend. Prior to 2014, sea ice in the Antarctic was increasing slightly by about 1 percent per decade. Following a spike in 2014, ice growth has fallen dramatically. Scientists are working to understand the cause of this reversal. The recurring loss hints at a long-term shift in conditions in the Southern Ocean, likely resulting from global climate change.

“While changes in sea ice have been dramatic in the Arctic over several decades, Antarctic sea ice was relatively stable. But that has changed,” said Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NSIDC. “It appears that global warming has come to the Southern Ocean.”

In both the Arctic and Antarctic, ice loss compounds ice loss. This is because while bright sea ice reflects most of the Sun’s energy back to space, open ocean water absorbs 90 percent of it. With more of the ocean exposed to sunlight, water temperatures rise, further delaying sea ice growth. This cycle of reinforced warming is called ice-albedo feedback.

Overall, the loss of sea ice increases heat in the Arctic, where temperatures have risen about four times the global average, Kurtz said.


Image Credits: NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center

Article Credits: Sally Younger, NASA’s Earth Science News Team, updated and adapted for Earth Observatory by Kathryn Hansen

Release Date: Oct. 17, 2024


#NASA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #Arctic #ArcticOcean #Antarctica #SouthernOcean #SeaIce #MeltingIce #Environment #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #Atmosphere #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #GSFC #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

New GOES-19 Weather Satellite Captures Intense Lightning Storms | NOAA

New GOES-19 Weather Satellite Captures Intense Lightning Storms | NOAA

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, onboard NOAA’s new GOES-19 weather satellite, is now continuously observing lightning over the Western Hemisphere. GOES-19 was launched on June 25, 2024. GLM detects and maps total lightning—in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground—over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. GLM offers insights beyond the presence of a lightning strike, revealing the spatial and temporal extent of lightning flashes. 

Recently, the GOES-19 GLM detected and monitored lightning activity in two extremely hazardous hurricanes. On Sept. 24, 2024, GLM observed widespread lightning as a cluster of thunderstorms in the western Caribbean Sea consolidated into Tropical Storm Helene. Continuous lightning in the outer rain bands was accompanied by occasional eyewall lightning, as Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 

Frequent lightning completely enveloped the eyewall as the storm intensified further on its final approach to the Florida coastline. Away from the storm center, GLM helped identify the most intense thunderstorms most likely to produce tornadoes.


Credits: NOAA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), Lockheed Martin, CISESS - UMD

Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 17, 2024


#NASA #NOAA #Sun #Planet #Earth #Science #Satellites #GeostationarySatellites #Weather #Meteorology #Hurricanes #HurricaneHelene #Lightning #Florida #GulfOfMexico #CaribbeanSea #GeostationaryLightningMapper #GLM #GOES19 #NorthAmerica #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #GSFC #CIRA #CISESS #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Engine Section of NASA Artemis IV SLS Moon Rocket | Kennedy Space Center

Engine Section of NASA Artemis IV SLS Moon Rocket | Kennedy Space Center


In these images, teams from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) can be seen transporting the engine section of the agency’s Artemis IV Space Launch System (SLS) core stage from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the spaceport’s Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.

NASA’s Pegasus barge delivered the core stage engine section housing the four RS-25 engines from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana to Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 5, 2024. The engine section is one the most complex and intricate parts of the rocket stage that will help power the Artemis missions to the Moon. 

Following the Artemis III mission that will land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole, the Artemis IV crew will live and work aboard the lunar space station, Gateway. It will enable new opportunities for science and support preparation for human missions to Mars. The mission will involve multiple launches and spacecraft dockings in lunar orbit using NASA’s larger, and more powerful version of its Space Launch System rocket and new mobile launcher.

Learn more about the Artemis IV Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-4/


Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Release Date: Oct. 16, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIV #EngineCore #SLS #Rocket #ESM4 #OrionSpacecraft #LunarGateway #Gateway #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #Europe #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #HumanSpaceflight #EGS #MerrittIsland #Florida #Spaceport #STEM #Education

Planet Mars Images: October 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: October 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - Sol 1299
Mars 2020 - Sol 1297
Mars 2020 - Sol 1297
MSL - Sol 4325
Mars 2020 - Sol 1286

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 12+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)

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

Celebrating 3+ Years on 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 return to Earth.
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: Oct. 3-16, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Panning across Starburst Spiral Galaxy NGC 5248 | Hubble

Panning across Starburst Spiral Galaxy NGC 5248 | Hubble

The sparkling scene depicted in this picture is the spiral galaxy NGC 5248 located 42 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Boötes. It is also known as Caldwell 45, having been included in a catalog of visually interesting celestial objects that were known, but were not as commonly observed by amateur astronomers as the more famous Messier objects.

NGC 5248 is one of the so-called ‘grand design’ spirals with prominent spiral arms that reach from near the core out through the disc. It also has a faint bar structure in the center, between the inner ends of the spiral arms. This is not quite so obvious in this visible-light portrait from Hubble. Features like these that break the rotational symmetry of a galaxy have a huge influence on how matter moves through it, and eventually its evolution through time. They feed gas from a galaxy’s outer reaches to inner star-forming regions, and even to a galaxy’s central black hole where it can kick-start an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

These flows of gas have shaped NGC 5248 in a significant way; it has many bright ‘starburst regions’ of intense star formation spread across its disc, and it is dominated by a population of young stars. The galaxy even has two very active, ring-shaped starburst regions around its nucleus, filled with young clusters of stars. These ‘nuclear rings’ are remarkable enough, but normally a nuclear ring tends to block gas from getting further into the core of a galaxy. NGC 5248 having a second ring inside the first is a marker of just how forceful its flows of matter and energy are. It is relatively nearby and its highly visible starburst regions make this galaxy a target for professional and amateur astronomers alike.

Image Description: A close-in, face-on view of a spiral galaxy. It has two large arms that curve outwards from the round, bright central region to nearly the corners of the image. They are lined by bright pink, glowing points where stars are forming, and channels of dark reddish dust that blocks light. These also spread across the galaxy’s oval disc. It is cloudy in form and speckled with stars. A black background is visible behind it.


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team,N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 7, 2024


#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC5248 #Caldwell45 #SpiralGalaxy #StarburstGalaxy #StarFormation #Bootes #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Aurora with SpaceX Crew Dragons | International Space Station

Aurora with SpaceX Crew Dragons | International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured attached to the forward-facing port of the International Space Station's Harmony module as a vibrant aurora moves through Earth's atmosphere while the station orbited 273 miles above the Indian Ocean.
Peering through the window of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this image of the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft as vivid green and pink aurora swirled through Earth's atmosphere while the International Space Station soared 273 miles above the Indian Ocean.
A wispy aurora australis streams over the Earth as the International Space Station soared 274 miles above the Indian Ocean into an orbital sunset southwest of Perth, Australia.
As the International Space Station soared 271 miles above the Indian Ocean during orbital nighttime, a vibrant green aurora begins to fold through Earth's atmosphere.

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.

Earth auroras have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams

Roscosmos (Russia): Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov

NASA: Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague

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 Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)


Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Capture Dates: Sept. 28-Oct. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planet #Earth #Aurora #SouthernLights #AuroraAustralis #CrewDragons #SpaceXCrewSpacecraft #AstronautPhotography #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #CCP #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

What is Solar Maximum? | NASA Goddard

What is Solar Maximum? | NASA Goddard

The Sun is stirring from its latest slumber. As sunspots and flares bubble from the Sun’s surface, representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), and the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel have announced the Sun has reached its solar maximum period. 

The solar cycle is the natural cycle of the Sun as it transitions between low and high activity. During the most active part of the cycle, known as solar maximum, the Sun can unleash immense explosions of light, energy, and solar radiation. This can create conditions known as space weather. Space weather can affect satellites and astronauts in space, as well as communications systems—such as radio and GPS—and power grids on Earth. 

Learn more: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-noaa-sun-reaches-maximum-phase-in-11-year-solar-cycle/


Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Oct. 15, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SpaceWeather #Sun #Stars #SolarMaximum #SolarFlares #Plasma #MagneticFields #Radiation #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellite #HumanSpaceflight #SDO #GSFC #NOAA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Fate of Stars Like Our Sun | European Southern Observatory

The Fate of Stars Like Our Sun | European Southern Observatory

"Follow us on a cosmic tour of planetary nebulae—the final stages in the evolution of stars like our Sun. Why are they called that? What happens with the material they expel? Find out in this video!"


Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Images: Image Archive: Nebulae | ESO

ESO, H. Boffin, J. Walsh

Script: J. C. Muñoz

Editing: M. Wallner

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Oct. 16, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #PlanetaryNebula #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescopes #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Time-lapse: Evolution of R Aquarii Binary Star System (2014 to 2023) | Hubble

Time-lapse: Evolution of R Aquarii Binary Star System (2014 to 2023) | Hubble

This video features five frames spanning from 2014 to 2023 of R Aquarii, a symbiotic binary star that lies only roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. This is a type of binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant that is surrounded by a large, dynamic nebula.

These frames show the brightness of the central binary changing over time due to strong pulsations in the red giant star. The central structures can also be seen to be spiraling outwards due to their interaction with material previously ejected by the binary.

This time-lapse highlights the value of Hubble’s high resolution optical observations in the changing Universe, known as time-domain astronomy.


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, M. Stute, M. Karovska,  D. de Martin & M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
Duration: 18 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2024

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #BinaryStars #RAquarii #RAqr #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #BinaryStarSystem #Nebula  #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

Binary Star System R Aquarii | Hubble Space Telescope

Binary Star System R Aquarii | Hubble Space Telescope

This image features R Aquarii, a symbiotic binary star that lies only roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. This is a type of binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant that is surrounded by a large, dynamic nebula.

Image Description: A bright binary star surrounded by a nebula. The star, in the center, is a large white spot surrounded by a circular glow. It has a large, X-shaped set of diffraction spikes around it. The nebula extends far above, below, left and right of the star in long, arcing shapes made of thin, multicolored filaments—mostly red and greenish colors, but lit in a bright cyan near the star where its light illuminates the gas.


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, M. Stute, M. Karovska,  D. de Martin & M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2024


#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #BinaryStars #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #BinaryStarSystem #Nebula  #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

The Core of Abell 3381 Galaxy Cluster | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

The Core of Abell 3381 Galaxy Cluster | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

This image shows an area of the mosaic released by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope on October 15, 2024. The area is zoomed in 36 times compared to the large mosaic. In this image, the core of galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible, 678 million light-years away from us. The image shows many galaxies of various shapes and sizesfrom massive elliptical to modest spiral galaxies, down to tiny and dim dwarf galaxies.

Image Description: A dark black backdrop with bright dots of stars and disks of galaxies scattered across it. Fading into the background there is a myriad of light points, like specks of paint in white and light hues of yellow, blue and purple. In the foreground, a handful of bright light sources draw attention. Spanning from the top right corner to the bottom left of the image, yellow light points form a diagonal string of sparkling beads. A number of these are sharp, piercing dots with six faint spikes, others are blurry blobs of light, gleaming bright in their center with their edges blending into the depths of the black background. In the lower left quarter of the image, two hazy white spiral shapes of light catch the eye. They appear to be swirling around each other.

Equatorial sky coordinates RA/DEC: 06:10:05.23 / -33:31:12.91
Galactic sky coordinates GLON/GLAT: 240.229, -22.641
Area: 0.12 sq. deg.

Image Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2024

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #ESO364G035 #ESO364G036 #GalaxyCluster #Abell3381 #Darkmatter #Cosmos #Universe #EST #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education

Interacting Galaxies: Distance 420 Million Light-years | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Interacting Galaxies: Distance 420 Million Light-years | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

This image shows an area of the mosaic released by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope on October 15, 2024. The area is zoomed in 150 times compared to the large mosaic. On the left of the image, Euclid captured two galaxies (called ESO 364-G035 and G036) that are interacting with each other, 420 million light-years from us. On the right of the image, galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible, 678 million light-years away from us.

Image Description: Three groups of light sources, as well as a scatter of piercing dots of light with six faint spikes stand out in stark contrast against a black backdrop. The most prominent light sources occupy the center of the image. They are two hazy white spirals, that appear to be swirling in a cosmic dance with each other, with the lower spiral being larger than the one above it. On the right side of the image, two spots of gleaming yellow light draw attention. The hazy light blobs emit a golden glow from their center, which fades out in a circular shape into the background. In the bottom left corner of the picture, another spiral shape can be seen. It appears as if it is a thin white bar spinning in a circle and emitting a white spray of paint at its ends, leaving behind a diffuse trace of light.

Equatorial sky coordinates RA/DEC: 06:10:01.48 / -33:49:36.85

Galactic sky coordinates GLON/GLAT: 240.54, -22.75

Area: 0.007 sq. deg.


Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence

Release Date: Oct. 15, 2024


#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #ESO364G035 #ESO364G036 #GalaxyCluster #Abell3381 #Darkmatter #Cosmos #Universe #EST #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education

A 208-Gigapixel Glimpse into The Universe | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

A 208-Gigapixel Glimpse into The Universe | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

This will be the "first page" of the European Space Agency Euclid’s great cosmic atlas. It shows millions of stars and galaxies in pristine detail in a huge 208-gigapixel mosaic. The mosaic covers an area of the Southern Sky more than 500 times the area of the full Moon as seen from Earth.

Starting from a vast cosmic panorama with an estimated 14 million galaxies, a series of ever-deeper zooms brings you to a crisp view of a swirling spiral galaxy, in a final image enlarged 600 times compared to the full mosaic. Many of the 14 million galaxies in the initial vista will be used to study the hidden influence of dark matter and dark energy on the Universe.

This mosaic accounts for 1% of the area that Euclid will cover over six years, and was obtained by combining 260 observations collected in just two weeks.

This first chunk of Euclid’s survey was revealed on October 15, 2024 at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy.


Video Credit & Copyright: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration

Duration: 2 minute, 37 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 15, 2024


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