Japan's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Spacecraft: Launch prep | JAXA

Japan's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Spacecraft: Launch prep | JAXA

MMX Return and Exploration Modules

MMX spacecraft (full view): MMX Propulsion Module (left), MMX Return and Exploration Modules (right)

MMX Propulsion Module

MMX trajectory diagram (FY2026 version)

MMX spacecraft on Martian moon Phobos (artist illustration)

MMX launch poster

MMX is a sample return mission to Phobos, the larger of Mars’s two moons. After arriving at Mars, the spacecraft will study Phobos from orbit, land on the moon to collect samples, and return this material to Earth. MMX will also conduct observations of Mars, and perform close flyby observations of Mars’s smaller moon, Deimos, before departing the Martian system. The mission is expected to last about five years with arrival at Mars roughly one year after launch and sample return to Earth planned for 2031.

MMX will be the first mission to explore the Martian moons and return a sample, and also humanity’s first round-trip from the Mars sphere.

MMX is a Japan-led mission with strong international involvement from the USA (NASA), France (CNES), Germany (DLR), Europe (ESA), and Australia (ASA).

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft will launch on Japan’s H3 Launch Vehicle flight No. 10 from the at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center, on a small island in southwestern Japan. The launch is currently scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

Learn more: 

https://www.mmx.jaxa.jp/en/

https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/10/20261018-1_e.html

Image Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Release Date: Oct. 18, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #Moons #Phobos #SampleReturnMission #MartianMoonseXploration #MMX #MMXSpacecraft #MarsExploration #H3Rockets #LaunchVehicles #RocketLaunches #MitsubishiHeavyIndustries #三菱重工業株式会社 #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #TanegashimaSpaceCenter #種子島宇宙センター #KagoshimaPrefecture #STEM #Education

Chamaeleon I Cloud: "Celestial scribbled notes" as art | ESO's Very Large Telescope

Chamaeleon I Cloud: "Celestial scribbled notes" as art | ESO's Very Large Telescope

This color-composite (visible light & near-infrared) image was obtained by FORS1 on ANTU. It displays a sky area near the Chamaeleon I complex of bright nebulae and hot stars in the constellation of the same name, close to the southern celestial pole. The Chamaeleon I (Cha I) cloud is one of the nearest active star formation regions to Earth, with an estimated distance of 620 light-years. 

This picture was taken a few days before the Paranal Inauguration and the "hand-over" to the astronomers on April 1, 1999. This color composite photo of the Chamaeleon I area is based on six 1-min exposures obtained with VLT UT1 + FORS1 in the V, R and I bands. The sky field measures 6.8 x 11.2 arcmin2; North is up and East is left.

Learn more about the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile 
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Date: March 6, 1999

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #ChamaeleonI #ChaI #DarkNebulae #ChamaeleonConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #VLTFORS1 #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Nearby Circinus Galaxy: A Bright Galactic Core | Hubble Space Telescope

The Nearby Circinus Galaxy: A Bright Galactic Core | Hubble Space Telescope

The Circinus Galaxy (also known as ESO 97-G13) is a Type II Seyfert galaxy in the constellation of Circinus. A Type 2 Seyfert galaxy is a type of active galactic nucleus (AGN) that has a bright, compact core. Active galactic nuclei are active supermassive black holes that emit bright jets and winds, and shape their galaxies. Located four degrees below the Galactic plane, and at a distance of 13 million light years, the Circinus Galaxy is one of the closest known active galaxies to the Milky Way. The galaxy is undergoing tumultuous changes, as rings of gas are likely being ejected from the galaxy. Its outermost ring is 1,400 light-years across while the inner ring is 260 light-years across. 

Seyfert galaxies are quite similar to normal galaxies like our own Milky Way except in one critical aspect—their nuclei are fantastically bright and can be as luminous as 100 billion suns. By contrast, the center of the Milky Way shines like about ten million suns. Astronomers think that these huge energies are being generated in Seyfert nuclei not by normal stars, but by material falling on massive black holes. Matter falling towards the vicinity of the black hole heats up due to friction, radiating intense ultraviolet light (along with radiation at other wavelengths). The Milky Way also has a massive black hole at its center, but for reasons that are not well understood our galactic center is not particularly bright compared to its star-filled spiral arms. At the opposite extreme, quasars are galaxies with very faint stars—almost undetectable—yet their nuclei glow intensely.

Although the Circinus galaxy can be seen using a small telescope, it was not noticed until 1977 because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way and is obscured by galactic dust.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Image Processing: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla)
Release Date: March 29, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #CircinusGalaxy #ESO97G13 #SeyfertGalaxies #AGN #BlackHoles #CircinusConstellation #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Europe #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula | Hubble Space Telescope

The Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula | Hubble Space Telescope

This ethereal image looks as delicate as a butterfly’s wing. It is, however, a structure known as the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula. It is located near the center of the even larger Chamaeleon I dark cloud—one of the nearest star-forming regions in our Milky Way galaxy.

The nebula lies in the constellation Chamaeleon, within the Chamaeleon I dark cloud—a major star‑forming region about 600–650 light‑years from Earth. This region is relatively isolated from other star‑forming clouds, making it a prime site for studying young stars and their environments 

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Image Processing: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla)
Release Date: Dec. 10, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #ChaIR #ChamaeleonConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Bright Red Auroras over Finland

Bright Red Auroras over Finland

Astrophotographer Karsten Berger: "Unusually bright reds were visible to the naked eye. There was no CME and the Bz was actually pointing north at the time . . ."

Known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Levi is located in Finnish Lapland. At a latitude of 67.8° north, it is approximately 170 km (110 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.

Image Credit: Karsten Berger

Location: Inari, Finland

Dates: Oct. 17, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #Astrophotography #KarstenBerger #Astrophotographer #Inari #Finland #Suomi #STEM #Education

Wide-field view: The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy in Hydra | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Wide-field view: The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy in Hydra | Digitized Sky Survey 2

This wide-field view shows the field around the spiral galaxy Messier 83. The image was created from photographs in red and blue light taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The field of view is 2.9 degrees across.

The beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83) is located in the southern constellation Hydra (the Water Snake) and is also known as NGC 5236 and as the Southern Pinwheel galaxy. Its distance is about 15 million light-years—about twice as small as the Milky Way.

M83 is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky and is visible with binoculars. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on February 17, 1752, at the Cape of Good Hope.

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2
Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin
Release Date: May 19, 2010

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Supernovae #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier83 #M83 #NGC5236 #SouthernPinwheelGalaxy #StarburstGalaxies #HydraConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #DSS2 #STScI #UnitedStates #ESO #Europe #Chile #STEM #Education

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | Danish 1.54-meter Telescope

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | Danish 1.54-meter Telescope

Located about 15 million light-years away towards the Hydra (the sea serpent) constellation, Messier 83 is a nearby face-on barred spiral with a classic grand design form. It is the main member of a small galactic group including NGC 5253 and about 9 dwarf galaxies. Messier 83 stretches over 40,000 light-years, making it roughly 2.5 times smaller than our own Milky Way. However, Messier 83 is quite similar to our own galaxy. The Milky Way and Messier 83 possess a bar across their galactic nucleus, the dense spherical conglomeration of stars seen at the center of the galaxies.

Messier 83 has been a prolific producer of supernovae with six observed in the past century. This is indicative of an exceptionally high rate of star formation coinciding with its classification as a starburst galaxy. Despite its symmetric appearance, the central 1,000 light-years of the galaxy shows an unusually high level of complexity, containing both a double nucleus and a double circumnuclear starburst ring. The nature of the double nucleus is uncertain but the off center nucleus could be a remnant core of a small galaxy that merged with Messier 83 in the past. The star clusters in the nuclear starburst rings are mostly young stars between 5 and 10 million years old. 

This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-meter Danish telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, through three filters (B, V, R).

Learn about the Danish 1.54-meter telescope: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/danish154/

Credit: ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, S. Guisard and C. Thöne
Release Date: Dec. 3, 2009

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Supernovae #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier83 #M83 #NGC5236 #SouthernPinwheelGalaxy #StarburstGalaxies #HydraConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #DanishTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Denmark #Danmark #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Recovery Operations: Orion Crew Heat Shield Images

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Recovery Operations: Orion Crew Heat Shield

NASA Artemis II Orion crew spacecraft heat shield after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California (diver photo)

NASA Artemis II Orion crew module after being offloaded from the well deck of USS John P. Murtha at Naval Base San Diego

NASA Artemis II Orion crew module rotated for inspection inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Shortly after NASA's Artemis II splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast on April 10, 2026, U.S. Navy divers captured underwater imagery of the Orion crew spacecraft’s heat shield for NASA's inspection. The Artemis II Orion crew module can also be seen after being offloaded from the well deck of the USS John P. Murtha at Naval Base San Diego and lifted from the Orion Recovery Cradle Assembly on April 18, 2026. 

The recessed areas, or smaller concentric circles, seen on the heat shield are associated with the separation bolts that connect the crew module with the service module. The larger circular patterns are formed due to compression pad material used within this location of the spacecraft, creating flow disturbances caused by extreme aerodynamic and thermal airflow during reentry. This causes increased heating locally and therefore Avcoat ablator thickness is increased in these areas by design.

The Artemis II Mission involved a ten-day test flight that carried NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen 252,756 miles from Earth before splashing down off the coast of San Diego. This mission tested Orion’s life-support, navigation, and deep-space systems and set the stage for future U.S.-crewed lunar landings and, eventually, the first missions to Mars.

Learn more at: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Image Credits: NASA/Kevin Davis, United States Navy
Image Dates: April 11 & 18, 2026, June 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #OrionHeatShield #LockheedMartin #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #CSA #Canada #NASAJohnson #USNavy #USSMurtha #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | MPG/ESO Telescope

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | MPG/ESO Telescope

These images show an object made of two spiral arms connected at the center, in shades of blue against a black background, with bright pink smudges sprinkled throughout. The object is brightest at the center and along the spiral arms. Wispy dark lanes block some of the light along the spiral arms.

These images show the Messier 83 (M83) galaxy, also known as the Southern Pinwheel. The M83 galaxy is in visible light, captured by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO Telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

If our Milky Way were to resemble this one, we certainly would be proud of our home! The beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83) is located in the southern constellation Hydra (the Water Snake) and is known as NGC 5236, too. Its distance is about 15 million light-years—about twice as small as the Milky Way.

M83 is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky and is visible with binoculars. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on February 17, 1752, at the Cape of Good Hope.

Learn about MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Dates: Sept. 2, 2008 and Oct. 5, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier83 #M83 #NGC5236 #SouthernPinwheelGalaxy #HydraConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #MPGESOTelescopeWFI #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | ESO's Very Large Telescope

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy: Messier 83 in Hydra | ESO's Very Large Telescope

If our Milky Way were to resemble this one, we certainly would be proud of our home! The beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83) is located in the southern constellation Hydra (the Water Snake) and is also known as NGC 5236 and as the Southern Pinwheel galaxy. Its distance is about 15 million light-years—about twice as small as the Milky Way. The image show clumpy, well-defined spiral arms that are rich in young stars, while the disc reveals a complex system of intricate dust lanes. This galaxy is known to be a site of vigorous star formation.

M83 is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky and is visible with binoculars. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on February 17, 1752, at the Cape of Good Hope.

Learn more about ESO's Very Large Telescope https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Date: Aug. 10, 2005

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Messier83 #M83 #NGC5236 #SouthernPinwheelGalaxy #HydraConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX CRS-35 Cargo Dragon Docking | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX CRS-35 Cargo Dragon Docking | International Space Station

At 10:27 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on October 15, 2026, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module, delivering more than 6,300 pounds of food, supplies, and equipment for the Expedition 75 crew for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 35 (CRS-35) Mission.

The cargo spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November when it will depart and return to Earth with time-critical research and materials, splashing down off the coast of California.

This is SpaceX’s 35th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for NASA.

NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Missions:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

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.

Video Credits: NASA/A. Menon

Duration: 27 seconds

Date: Oct. 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #SpaceXCargoDragonSpacecraft #CRS35Mission #CRS35 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #CSA #Canada #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Long March 8A Rocket Rolled Out to the Launch Pad in Hainan

China Long March 8A Rocket Rolled Out to the Launch Pad in Hainan

A China Long March 8A rocket being rolled out to the launch pad at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site located in the southern island province of Hainan. The Long March 8A (LM-8/CZ-8) is an orbital launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) that can launch up to 7 tonnes to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The two-stage rocket is based on the Long March 7 (LM-7) with its dual engine first stage and single engine boosters. It uses liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene (refined petroleum-1 or RP-1) as propellant for its first stage.

Whereas the LM-7 uses four boosters, the LM-8 normally uses just two. The Long March 8A version has a hydrolox second stage and a larger diameter (to match the 3.35 meters diameter core stage), along with two upgraded versions of the YF-75D engines (known as the YF-75H) with increased thrust to 10 tonnes each through measures such as increased turbopump speeds. Hydrolox refers to a cryogenic rocket propellant combination of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) and liquid oxygen (LOX), used for high‑efficiency rocket engines due to its very high specific impulse.

A future launch vehicle variant of the Long March 8 is intended to be partially reusable by featuring a combined booster recovery of the first stage and the boosters as a single unit.

Video Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 
Duration: 40 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Satellites #SatelliteConstellations #China #中国 #RocketLaunches #LongMarch8 #LM8 #长征八号运载火箭 #MediumLiftRockets #CALT #中国运载火箭技术研究院 #CASC #中国航天科技集团有限公司 #SpaceTechnology #Spaceports #Wenchang #Hainan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

"Snake Dance" Aurora over Norway

"Snake Dance" Aurora over Norway

Astrophotographer Karsten Berger: "Last night the aurora moved so fast it was hard to freeze the motion. It wiggled in front if me like a green/pink snake."

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast.

Image Credit: Karsten Berger
Location: Alta, Norway
Date: Oct. 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #Astrophotography #KarstenBerger #Astrophotographers #Alta #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education

NASA's Boeing 777 Aircraft Arrives at Langley Research Center in New Paint Scheme

NASA's Boeing 777 Aircraft Arrives at Langley Research Center in New Paint Scheme

In these images, NASA’s Boeing 777 returns to the agency’s Langley Research Center after receiving a new paint scheme or livery. It serves as part of NASA's Airborne Science Program. This aircraft will carry a variety of remote sensing and gas sampling instruments in order to address the most challenging questions in Earth science. The aircraft will now continue its maintenance and instrument integration schedule to prepare for its initial airborne science flights in 2027.

The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers.

The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner. The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. 

Learn more about NASA's B777:
https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/aircraft/NASA_B777

NASA's Langley Research Center:
https://www.nasa.gov/langley/

Image Credits: NASA/James Blair/Ryan Hill
Date: Aug. 11, 2026

#NASA #Earth #Science #AirborneScience #AirborneObservatories #Boeing777 #BoeingAircraft #AirborneData #FlightResearch #NASALangley #LaRC #Hampton #Virginia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

“Space Jellyfish”: SpaceX Falcon 9 NASA Cargo Launch | International Space Station

“Space Jellyfish”: SpaceX Falcon 9 NASA Cargo Launch | International Space Station

Blasting into the predawn sky on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft headed for low Earth orbit in this timelapse video captured from Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. Starting with a launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Falcon and Dragon are chasing the International Space Station (ISS) on NASA's 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission. On cue, the space station itself enters the frame from the top. Almost 8 seconds into the 30 second timelapse. the bright streak of the ISS appears heading "down" toward the horizon. The first and second stages of the Falcon 9 are separating as the spectacular exhaust plume jellyfish grows, already catching the light of the rising Sun. The visible sequence of first stage boost back, re-entry, and landing burns begins around 20 seconds into the video. With the second stage following the ISS toward the distant horizon, the jellyfish plume continues to drift in the predawn sky, even after the successful first stage landing.

A jellyfish happens near sunrise or sunset when the exhaust plume from the rocket becomes brightly illuminated, creating a glowing shape resembling a jellyfish.

At 10:27 a.m. EDT on October 15, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module, delivering more than 6,300 pounds of food, supplies, and equipment for the Expedition 75 crew.

NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Missions:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

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.

Video Credit: Eric Holland

Eric's website: 

https://www.youtube.com/@eric72holland

Authors & Editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe

A service of the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Technological University (MTU)

Duration: 30 seconds

Date: Oct. 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Falcon9Rocket #SpaceXCargoDragonSpacecraft #SpaceJellyfish #CRS35Mission #CRS35 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Europe #ESA #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #CapeCanaveral #Florida #Videographers #EricHolland #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video #APoD

Edge-on Spiral Galaxy NGC 1827 in Columba | Hubble Space Telescope

Edge-on Spiral Galaxy NGC 1827 in Columba | Hubble Space Telescope

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image features the edge-on, intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1827. Its rusty-brown dust lanes bisect the galaxy lengthwise. Look for distant galaxies that dot the black background, while a smattering of foreground stars are easily identified by their diffraction spikes.

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the edge-on, intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1827, located roughly 37 million light-years away in the constellation Columba, the Dove. Hubble captured the image as part of a survey looking at 260 satellite galaxies around 22 Milky Way-like host galaxies within a radius of about 32 million light-years from Earth. Hubble has already observed 111 of these satellite galaxies. The remaining galaxies will take an additional 149 Hubble orbits, one orbit for each galaxy, to observe.

The image, taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), reveals bright-blue regions along the galaxy’s disk dotted with dark dust lanes where new stars are likely forming. A bright foreground star appears just to the left of the galaxy’s bright central bulge but is located between us and the galaxy. Its four diffraction spikes are the result of light bending around the internal supports that hold Hubble’s secondary mirror.

Low-mass galaxies like the ones in this Hubble observing program provide a way to test the predictions of cosmological models on small scales that struggle to match observations. The data Hubble gathers will help us better understand and characterize the properties of low-mass galaxies in Milky Way-like systems, allowing researchers to refine cosmological models.

Image Description: An edge-on spiral galaxy. Its rusty-brown dust lanes bisect the galaxy lengthwise. Bright-blue points dot the galaxy and seem to be more dense on its left side. A bright foreground star shines just to the left of the galaxy's center. The background is black and dotted with distant galaxies and a smattering of foreground stars that are easily identified by their diffraction spikes.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Michael Jones (California Institute of Technology)

Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #NGC1827 #SpiralGalaxies #ColumbaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education