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A Star and A Galaxy: A Matter of Distance | Hubble
In space, being outshone is an occupational hazard. This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image captures a galaxy named NGC 7250. Despite being remarkable in its own right—it has bright bursts of star formation and recorded supernova explosions—it blends into the background somewhat thanks to the gloriously bright star hogging the limelight next to it.
This bright object is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard), much closer than the much more distant galaxy. Only this way a normal star can outshine an entire galaxy, consisting of billions of stars. Astronomers studying distant objects call these stars “foreground stars” and they are often not very happy about them, as their bright light is contaminating the faint light from the more distant and interesting objects they actually want to study.
In this case TYC 3203-450-1 million times closer than NGC 7250 which lies over 45 million light-years away from us. Would the star be the same distance as NGC 7250, it would hardly be visible in this image.
Star-formation Region RCW 34: Wide-field View | ESO
This image shows the area around the star-forming region Gum 19 (also known as RCW 34), in the direction of the constellation of Vela (The Sails), as seen by the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The image covers an area of 3 by 3 degrees on the sky.
Distance:about 10,000 light years
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2
This video gives a close-up look at a richly colored cloud of gas called RCW 34, a site of star formation in the southern constellation of Vela (The Sails). This image was taken using the FORS instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile.
This video sequence takes the viewer from a broad view of the southern skies deep into the constellation of Vela (The Sails). Many glowing gas clouds are seen, including some of the strange blue filaments of the Vela supernova remnant. The final image shows the star forming cloud RCW 34 in a very detailed new image from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
Distance:about 10,000 light years
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger
This richly colored cloud of gas called RCW 34 is a site of star formation in the southern constellation of Vela (The Sails). This image was taken using the FORS instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile.
Image Description: NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen during sunrise atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
SpaceX Starlink Mission: August 30, 2022 | Vandenberg Space Force Base
On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at 10:40 p.m. PT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
This was the 7th flight for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, and now five Starlink missions.
Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)
NASA's Commercial Crew Program Mission Highlights | Kennedy Space Center
NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, completed several milestones with partners SpaceX and Boeing. SpaceX launched astronauts aboard Crew Dragons to the International Space Station (ISS), and Boeing completed a successful Orbital Flight Test-2, docking its uncrewed Starliner spacecraft to the space station.
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.
Exoplanet WASP-96 b Webb Telescope Data Translated to Sound | NASA
Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. Webb observed the atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b—which contains clear signatures of water—and the resulting transmission spectrum’s individual data points were translated into sound.
Data sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the spectrum from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch the progression as the vertical line moves across the graph, ringing out a musical note for each data point. From bottom to top, the y-axis ranges from less to more light blocked. The x-axis represents wavelength of light, and ranges from 0.6 microns on the left to 2.8 microns on the right. The pitches of each data point correspond to the frequencies of light each point represents. Longer wavelengths of light have lower frequencies and are heard as lower pitches. The volume also indicates the amount of light detected in each data point.
The four water signatures are represented by the sound of water droplets falling. These sounds simplify the data—water is detected as a signature that has multiple data points. The sounds align only to the highest points in the data.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians converted Webb’s transmission spectrum to musical pitches to help listeners hear its data.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant)
Southern Ring Nebula: Webb Telescope Data Translated to Sound | NASA
Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. In this video, each of Webb's two views of the Southern Ring Nebula—in near-infrared light (at left) and mid-infrared light (at right)—has been adapted to sound.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the images from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Two stars orbit one another at the center of this planetary nebula. The smaller, fainter red star in the mid-infrared image at right is at the end of its lifetime. It has puffed off layers of gas and dust for thousands of years. Its companion, the brighter, larger star in both images, has stirred up those ejections. Now, listeners can hear the stars and surrounding shells of material in each image clearly.
The colors in the images were mapped to pitches of sound, with frequencies of light converted directly to frequencies of sound. Near-infrared light is represented by a higher range of frequencies at the beginning of the track. Mid-way through, the notes change, becoming lower overall to reflect that mid-infrared includes longer wavelengths of light.
Listen carefully at 15 seconds and 44 seconds. These notes align with the centers of the near- and mid-infrared images, where the stars at the center of the “action” appear. In the near-infrared image that begins the track, only one star is heard clearly, with a louder clang. In the second half of the track, listeners will hear a low note just before a higher note, which denotes that two stars were detected in mid-infrared light. The lower note represents the redder star that created this nebula, and the second is the star that appears brighter and larger.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music that represents near- and mid-infrared light, specifically to hear their contrasts. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an abstract painting—it converts two of Webb’s images into a new medium to engage and inspire listeners.
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).
The Carina Nebula's Cosmic Cliffs: Webb Telescope Data Translated to Sound | NASA
Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. This data sonification maps a near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, to a symphony of sounds. Musicians assigned unique notes to the semi-transparent, gauzy regions and very dense areas of gas and dust in the nebula, culminating in a buzzing soundscape.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
The soundtrack is vibrant and full, representing the detail in this gigantic, gaseous cavity that has the appearance of a mountain range. The Carina Nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust where stars are forming or have already formed.
The gas and dust in the top half of the image are represented in blue hues and windy, drone-like sounds. The bottom half of the image, represented in ruddy shades of orange and red, has a clearer, more melodic composition.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the middle is loud and lower pitched. Dimmer, dust-obscured areas that appear lower in the image are represented by lower frequencies and clearer, undistorted notes.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting—it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners.
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).
This pan video takes a close up look at an image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. It reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41 in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur). In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow with a characteristic red hue.
Zooming in on the Star Formation Region Gum 41 | ESO
This zoom sequence starts with a broad view of the Milky Way and closes in on one of the more spectacular sections in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur). In the final sequence, we see the star formation region known as Gum 41 in a new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
Distance:7,500 light years
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/N. Risinger/Hisayoshi Kato
This image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41. In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the surrounding hydrogen to glow with a characteristic red hue.
Artist's Impression of the Famous Exoplanet Tau Boötis b | ESO
This video based on an artist's impression shows the exoplanet Tau Boötis b. This was one of the first exoplanets to be discovered back in 1996, and it is still one of the closest planetary systems known to date.
Distance: about 51 light-years away
Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have caught and studied the faint light from the planet Tau Boötis b for the first time. By employing a clever observational trick the team find that the planet's atmosphere seems to be cooler higher up, the opposite of what was expected.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/L. Calçada
This zoom sequence starts with a wide view of the constellation of Bootes (The Herdsman) and the closes in on the star Tau Bootis, which is visible to the unaided eye as an unremarkable point of light in the southern part of the constellation. This star harbors one of the closest exoplanets, and one of the first to be found, in 1996. Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope have caught and studied the faint light from the planet Tau Boötis b for the first time. By employing a clever observational trick the team find that the planet's atmosphere seems to be cooler higher up, the opposite of what was expected.
Distance: about 51 light-years away
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/A. Fujii/Digitized Sky Survey 2
This image of the sky around star Tau Boötis was created from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 images. The star itself, which is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye, is at the center. The spikes and colored circles around it are artifacts of the telescope and photographic plate used and are not real.
Distance: about 51 light-years away
The exoplanet Tau Boötis b orbits very close to the star and is completely invisible in this picture. The planet has only just been detected directly from its own light using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2
Dark Mattter Map for Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689 | Hubble
This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image shows the distribution of dark matter in the center of the giant galaxy cluster Abell 1689, containing about 1,000 galaxies and trillions of stars. Abell 1689 resides 2.2 billion light-years from Earth.
Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that accounts for most of the universe's mass. Hubble cannot see the dark matter directly. Astronomers inferred its location by analyzing the effect of gravitational lensing, where light from galaxies behind Abell 1689 is distorted by intervening matter within the cluster.
Researchers used the observed positions of 135 lensed images of 42 background galaxies to calculate the location and amount of dark matter in the cluster. They superimposed a map of these inferred dark matter concentrations, tinted blue, on an image of the cluster taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. If the cluster's gravity came only from the visible galaxies, the lensing distortions would be much weaker. The map reveals that the densest concentration of dark matter is in the cluster's core.
The image was taken in June 2002.
Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Coe (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, and Space Telescope Science Institute), N. Benítez (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía, Spain), T. Broadhurst (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
Peering around Cosmic Corners with Gravitational Lensing | Hubble
Hubblecast 70: The Hubble observing program Frontier Fields used the powerful magnifying properties of massive galaxy clusters to peer even deeper into the space around us. Hubblecast 70 takes a look at this phenomenon—known as gravitational lensing—exploring how it works, and how it can help us to uncover the secrets of the very distant Universe.
Credits: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble
Directed by: Nicola Guttridge
Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser
Written by: Nicola Guttridge & Georgia Bladon
Presented by: Joe Liske (Dr J)
Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa
Images and animations: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Martin Kornmesser
* Clips from Hubble IMAX 3D video “Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time”. Credit: NASA, ESA and F. Summers (STScI)
* The Hubble Deep Fields
* Milky Way animation, gravitational lens animations: M. Kornmesser
* Gravitational lensing in action: NASA, ESA & L. Calçada
* Image of Abell 383 (heic1106a): NASA, ESA, J. Richard (CRAL) and J.-P. Kneib (LAM). Acknowledgement: Marc Postman (STScI)
* Image of Abell 1689 (heic1317a): NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), J. Blakeslee (NRC Herzberg Astrophysics Program, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory), and H. Ford (JHU)
* Abell 370 (heic0910b): NASA, ESA, the Hubble SM4 ERO Team and ST-ECF
* Abell 2218 (heic0814a): NASA, ESA, and Johan Richard (Caltech, USA). Acknowledgement: Davide de Martin & James Long (ESA/Hubble)
* RCS2 032727-132623 (opo1208a): NASA, ESA, J. Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), K. Sharon (Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago), and M. Gladders and E. Wuyts (University of Chicago)
* Images of Einstein rings (heic0806): NASA, ESA, C. Faure (Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg) and J.P. Kneib (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille)
* Images of double ring (heic0803): NASA, ESA, R. Gavazzi and T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara), and the SLACS team
* Gravitational telescope creates space invader mirage (heic1304). NASA & ESA. Acknowledgement: N. Rose
* Hubble captures a 'five-star' rated gravitational lens (heic0606): European Space Agency, NASA, Keren Sharon (Tel-Aviv University) and Eran Ofek (CalTech)
Web and technical support: Mathias Andre and Raquel Yumi Shida
Hubble Uncovers One of the Youngest and Brightest Galaxies in the Early Universe
A massive cluster of yellowish galaxies is seemingly caught in a spider's web of eerily distorted background galaxies in the first image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.
The gravity of the cluster's trillion stars acts as a cosmic "zoom lens", bending and magnifying the light of the galaxies located far behind it, a technique called gravitational lensing. The faraway galaxies appear in the Hubble image as arc-shaped objects around the cluster, named Abell 1689. The increased magnification allows astronomers to study remote galaxies in greater detail.
One galaxy is so far away, however, it does not show up in the visible-light image taken with ACS (top, right), because its light is stretched to invisible infrared wavelengths by the Universe's expansion.
Astronomers used Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope with its Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)—with help from the gravitational lensing cluster—to see the faraway galaxy.
The distant galaxy, dubbed A1689-zD1, appears as a greyish-white smudge in the close-up view taken with Hubble's NICMOS (center, right), and as a whitish blob in the Spitzer IRAC close-up view (bottom, right). The galaxy is brimming with star birth. Hubble and Spitzer worked together to show that it is one of the youngest galaxies ever discovered. Astronomers estimate that the galaxy is 13 billion light-years away. Abell 1689 is 2.2 billion light-years away.
A1689-zD1 was born during the middle of the "dark ages", a period in the early universe when the first stars and galaxies were just beginning to burst to life. The dark ages lasted from about 400,000 to roughly a billion years after the Big Bang. Astronomers think that A1689-zD1 was one of the galaxies that helped end the dark ages.
The ACS images inserted into the first picture were taken in 2002, the NICMOS images in 2005 and 2007, and the Spitzer IRAC images in 2006.
In the second image, the view includes infrared light images from the WFC3 instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as well as visible light views. It shows a close up look at part of the rich galaxy cluster Abell 1689. The huge concentration of mass bends light coming from more distant objects and can increase their total apparent brightness and make them visible. One such object, A1689-zD1, appears on this picture as the elongated reddish object in the box.
New observations with ALMA and ESO’s VLT have revealed that A1689-zD1 is a dusty galaxy seen when the Universe was just 700 million years old. Its light has been magnified by a factor of more than nine by the massive gravitational lensing effect of the cluster.
Image 1 Credit: NASA; ESA; L. Bradley (Johns Hopkins University); R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz); H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University); and G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Release Date: February 12, 2008
Image 2 Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/J. Richard
This video pans across a new Hubble image of galaxy cluster Abell 1689. This cluster acts like a cosmic lens, magnifying the light from objects lying behind it and making it possible for astronomers to explore incredibly distant regions of space, the remote galaxy A1689-zD1.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), J. Blakeslee (NRC Herzberg Astrophysics Program, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory), and H. Ford (JHU)
Zoom into Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689 and a Remote Dusty Galaxy | Hubble
A zoom into the galaxy cluster Abell 1689. The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, with a boost from the natural gravitational lensing of this cluster, can faintly detect the remote galaxy A1689-zD1 seen just 700 million years after the beginning of our Universe. This object has been detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and had its distance measured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
This spectacular view from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the rich galaxy cluster Abell 1689. The huge concentration of mass bends light coming from more distant objects and can increase their total apparent brightness and make them visible. One such object, A1689-zD1, is located in the box—although it is still so faint that it is barely seen in this picture.
New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that this object is a dusty galaxy seen when the Universe was just 700 million years old.
Credit: NASA; ESA; L. Bradley (Johns Hopkins University); R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz); H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University); and G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz)
An Orbital Sunrise above the Atlantic Ocean | International Space Station
The International Space Station flies into an orbital sunrise 261 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwestern Spain.
Expedition 67 Crew
Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)
Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)
NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)
European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)
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.
Globular Cluster Messier 9: Wide-field View (ground-based image)
This image from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 shows a wide-field view of globular cluster Messier 9 and its surroundings, imaged by a ground-based telescope. The dark patches are clouds of interstellar dust. Immediately to the right of Messier 9 is the dark cloud Barnard 64.
This video pans across Hubble observations of globular cluster Messier 9. This ball of stars (Hubble sees over 250,000 of them) is located towards the center of our galaxy. A wide palette of colors is visible here, a testament to the varied temperatures of the stars in the cluster. Red stars are cooler, while blue ones are hotter.
This video zooms in from a wide field image of the night sky into globular cluster Messier 9, ending on Hubble's image. Hubble's detailed image of this star city resolves over 250,000 individual stars.
Distance:25,000 light years
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Risinger
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the globular cluster Messier 9. Hubble’s image resolves stars right into the center of the cluster, and clearly shows they have different colors. Redder colors signify lower surface temperatures, while blue stars are extremely hot.
Yellow Hypergiant Star HR 5171: Artist's Impression | ESO
This artist's animation shows the yellow hypergiant star HR 5171. This is a very rare type of star and only a dozen are known in our galaxy. Its size is over 1,300 times that of the Sun—one of the ten biggest stars found so far.
Observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer have shown that it is actually a double star, with the companion in contact with the main star.
Zooming in on the Yellow Hypergiant Star HR 5171 | ESO
This zoom sequence takes us from a wide view of the spectacular southern Milky Way into a closeup view of one of its biggest and rarest stars—the yellow hypergiant star HR 5171. This monster stars has a radius over 1,300 times that of the Sun—it is one of the largest ten stars found so far.
Observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) have shown that it is actually a double star, with the companion in contact with the main star.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger/Digitized Sky Survey 2
HR 5171, the brightest star just below the center of this wide-field image, is a yellow hypergiant, a very rare type of stars with only a dozen known in our galaxy. Its size is over 1,300 times that of the Sun—one of the ten largest stars found so far.
Observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) have shown that it is actually a double star, with the companion in contact with the main star.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2
A cataclysmic cosmic collision takes center stage. This image features the interacting galaxy pair IC 1623, which lies around 275 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). The two galaxies are in the final stages of merging, and astronomers expect a powerful inflow of gas to ignite a frenzied burst of star formation in the resulting compact starburst galaxy.
This interacting pair of galaxies is a familiar sight; Hubble captured IC 1623 in 2008 using two filters at optical and infrared wavelengths using the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This new image incorporates new data from Wide Field Camera 3, and combines observations taken in eight filters spanning infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths to reveal the finer details of IC 1623. Future observations of the galaxy pair with the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope will shed more light on the processes powering extreme star formation in environments such as IC 1623.
A cataclysmic cosmic collision takes center stage. This image features the interacting galaxy pair IC 1623, which lies around 275 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). The two galaxies are in the final stages of merging, and astronomers expect a powerful inflow of gas to ignite a frenzied burst of star formation in the resulting compact starburst galaxy.
This interacting pair of galaxies is a familiar sight; Hubble captured IC 1623 in 2008 using two filters at optical and infrared wavelengths using the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This new image incorporates new data from Wide Field Camera 3, and combines observations taken in eight filters spanning infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths to reveal the finer details of IC 1623. Future observations of the galaxy pair with the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope will shed more light on the processes powering extreme star formation in environments such as IC 1623.
Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar
A Diverse Collection of Galaxies: Galaxy Cluster ACO S 295 | Hubble
This packed Hubble image showcases the galaxy cluster ACO S 295, as well as a jostling crowd of background galaxies and foreground stars. Galaxies of all shapes and sizes populate this image, ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals. As well as a range of sizes, this galactic menagerie boasts a range of orientations, with spiral galaxies such as the one at the center of this image appearing almost face on, and some edge-on spiral galaxies visible only as thin slivers of light.
The cluster dominates the center of this image, both visually and physically. The huge mass of the galaxy cluster has gravitationally lensed the background galaxies, distorting and smearing their shapes. As well as providing astronomers with a natural magnifying glass with which to study distant galaxies, gravitational lensing has subtly framed the center of this image, producing a visually striking scene.
A Diverse Collection of Galaxies: Galaxy Cluster ACO S 295 | Hubble
This packed Hubble image showcases the galaxy cluster ACO S 295, as well as a jostling crowd of background galaxies and foreground stars. Galaxies of all shapes and sizes populate this image, ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals. As well as a range of sizes, this galactic menagerie boasts a range of orientations, with spiral galaxies such as the one at the center of this image appearing almost face on, and some edge-on spiral galaxies visible only as thin slivers of light.
The cluster dominates the center of this image, both visually and physically. The huge mass of the galaxy cluster has gravitationally lensed the background galaxies, distorting and smearing their shapes. As well as providing astronomers with a natural magnifying glass with which to study distant galaxies, gravitational lensing has subtly framed the center of this image, producing a visually striking scene.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, F. Pacaud, D. Coe
M74, also known as the Phantom Galaxy, shines at its brightest in this combined optical/mid-infrared image, featuring data from both the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope.
With Hubble’s venerable Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Webb’s powerful Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) capturing a range of wavelengths, this new image has remarkable depth. The red colors mark dust threaded through the arms of the galaxy, lighter oranges being areas of hotter dust. The young stars throughout the arms and the nuclear core are picked out in blue. Heavier, older stars towards the galaxy’s center are shown in cyan and green, projecting a spooky glow from the core of the Phantom Galaxy. Bubbles of star formation are also visible in pink across the arms. Such a variety of galactic features is rare to see in a single image.
Scientists combine data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum to truly understand astronomical objects. In this way, data from Hubble and Webb compliment each other to provide a comprehensive view of the spectacular M74 galaxy.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team; ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar, N. Bartmann
NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch: Reschedule Pending | Kennedy Space Center
A NASA helicopter flies past the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, as the launch countdown progressed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
The launch director halted today’s Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 8:34 a.m. EDT. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft remain in a safe and stable configuration. Launch controllers were continuing to evaluate why a bleed test to get the RS-25 engines on the bottom of the core stage to the proper temperature range for liftoff was not successful, and ran out of time in the two-hour launch window. Engineers are continuing to gather additional data.
Pan of The Phantom Galaxy | James Webb Space Telescope
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope shows the heart of M74, otherwise known as the Phantom Galaxy. Webb’s sharp vision has revealed delicate filaments of gas and dust in the grandiose spiral arms which wind outwards from the center of this image. A lack of gas in the nuclear region also provides an unobscured view of the nuclear star cluster at the galaxy's center. M74 is a particular class of spiral galaxy known as a ‘grand design spiral’, meaning that its spiral arms are prominent and well-defined, unlike the patchy and ragged structure seen in some spiral galaxies.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team
The Heart of The Phantom Galaxy | James Webb Space Telescope
This updated image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope shows the heart of M74, otherwise known as the Phantom Galaxy. Webb’s sharp vision has revealed delicate filaments of gas and dust in the grandiose spiral arms which wind outwards from the center of this image. A lack of gas in the nuclear region also provides an unobscured view of the nuclear star cluster at the galaxy's center. M74 is a particular class of spiral galaxy known as a ‘grand design spiral’, meaning that its spiral arms are prominent and well-defined, unlike the patchy and ragged structure seen in some spiral galaxies.
The Phantom Galaxy is around 32 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces, and lies almost face-on to Earth. This, coupled with its well-defined spiral arms, makes it a favorite target for astronomers studying the origin and structure of galactic spirals.
Webb gazed into M74 with its Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) in order to learn more about the earliest phases of star formation in the local Universe. These observations are part of a larger effort to chart 19 nearby star-forming galaxies in the infrared by the international PHANGS collaboration. Those galaxies have already been observed using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories. The addition of crystal-clear Webb observations at longer wavelengths will allow astronomers to pinpoint star-forming regions in the galaxies, accurately measure the masses and ages of star clusters, and gain insights into the nature of the small grains of dust drifting in interstellar space.
Hubble observations of M74 have revealed particularly bright areas of star formation known as HII regions. Hubble’s sharp vision at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths complements Webb’s unparalleled sensitivity at infrared wavelengths, as do observations from ground-based radio telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA. By combining data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum, scientists can gain greater insight into astronomical objects than by using a single observatory—even one as powerful as Webb!
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: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team.
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