Saturn’s Rings & Moons Dione, Enceladus & Tethys | James Webb Space Telescope

Saturn’s Rings & Moons Dione, Enceladus & Tethys | James Webb Space Telescope

Webb took its first near-infrared look at Saturn on June 25, 2023. The planet appears extremely dark at this wavelength, as methane gas in its atmosphere absorbs sunlight, but its rings stay bright!

Description: The background is mostly dark. At the center is a dark orange-brownish circle, surrounded by several blazing bright, thick, horizontal whiteish rings. This is Saturn and its rings. There are three tiny dots in the image—one to the upper left of the planet, one to the direct left of the planet, and the lower left of the planet. They are labeled Dione, Enceladus, and Tethy, respectively. There is a slightly darker tint at the northern and southern poles of the planet. The rings surrounding Saturn are mostly broad, with a few singular narrow gaps between the broader rings. At the right side of the planet, labels are applied to the rings. The innermost, thicker ring is labeled “C ring.” Next to that, a brighter, wider ring is labeled “B ring.” Traveling farther outward, a small dark gap is labeled “Cassini division” before another thicker ring labeled “A ring.” Within the “A ring,” a narrow faint band is labeled “Encke gap.” The outermost, faintest, thinnest ring is labeled “F ring.

This image was taken as part of a Webb science program designed to test the telescope’s capacity to detect faint moons around the planet and study its bright rings. Take a closer look here to find details within the planet's ring system, as well as the moons Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys. Saturn’s rings are made up of an array of rocky and icy fragments—the particles range in size from smaller than a grain of sand to a few as large as mountains on Earth.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Matt Tiscareno (SETI Institute), Matt Hedman (University of Idaho), Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Heidi Hammel (AURA)

Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 1 minute, 19 seconds

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #JWST #SolarSystem #Planet #Saturn #Moons #Dione #Enceladus #Tethys #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The James Webb Space Telescope Makes a Crucial Find | This Week @NASA

The James Webb Space Telescope Makes a Crucial Find | This Week @NASA 

A crucial find by our James Webb Space Telescope, learning how life might be on Mars, and some tricky testing for a lunar roving robot . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Video Producer, Editor & Narrator: Andre Valentine

Duration: 2 minutes, 40 seconds

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Moon #Mars #JWST #ProtoplanetaryDisc #Proplyds #CarbonChemistry #AstroChemistry #Stars #TrapeziumCluster #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Extreme Heat and Severe Weather Plague Parts of North America | NOAA

Extreme Heat and Severe Weather Plague Parts of North America | NOAA

A dangerous heat wave that has been affecting more than 50 million people across the southern U.S. and Mexico expanded its reach this week, bringing more dangerous triple-digit temperatures to the region. At the same time, many others were affected by numerous thunderstorms and some tornadoes within the Plains and central U.S. NOAA satellites and forecasting models have been monitoring the record-breaking temperatures, which are being brought on by what is called a “heat dome,” in addition to the severe weather.  

A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high-pressure traps heat over a particular area, and it can linger for days to weeks. Heat domes are typically linked to the behavior of the jet stream, which is a band of fast-moving winds high in the atmosphere that move in meandering wavelike patterns. When the jet stream meanders north, it moves slower and can sink, which lowers humidity. This allows the sun to create progressively hotter conditions on the ground. Air descending down mountains can also contribute to heat domes, as it warms even more. 

Credits: NOAA/NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #NOAA #Space #Science #Satellites #SolarSystem #Sun #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #NorthAmerica #HeatWave #HeatDome #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Saturn’s Rings & Moons Dione, Enceladus & Tethys | James Webb Space Telescope

Saturn’s Rings & Moons Dione, Enceladus & Tethys | James Webb Space Telescope

Webb took its first near-infrared look at Saturn on June 25, 2023. The planet appears extremely dark at this wavelength, as methane gas in its atmosphere absorbs sunlight, but its rings stay bright!

Image 1 Description: The background is mostly dark. At the center is a dark orange-brownish circle, surrounded by several blazing bright, thick, horizontal whiteish rings. This is Saturn and its rings. There are three tiny dots in the image—one to the upper left of the planet, one to the direct left of the planet, and the lower left of the planet. They are labeled Dione, Enceladus, and Tethy, respectively. There is a slightly darker tint at the northern and southern poles of the planet. The rings surrounding Saturn are mostly broad, with a few singular narrow gaps between the broader rings. At the right side of the planet, labels are applied to the rings. The innermost, thicker ring is labeled “C ring.” Next to that, a brighter, wider ring is labeled “B ring.” Traveling farther outward, a small dark gap is labeled “Cassini division” before another thicker ring labeled “A ring.” Within the “A ring,” a narrow faint band is labeled “Encke gap.” The outermost, faintest, thinnest ring is labeled “F ring.

This image was taken as part of a Webb science program designed to test the telescope’s capacity to detect faint moons around the planet and study its bright rings. Take a closer look here to find details within the planet's ring system, as well as the moons Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys. Saturn’s rings are made up of an array of rocky and icy fragments—the particles range in size from smaller than a grain of sand to a few as large as mountains on Earth.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Matt Tiscareno (SETI Institute), Matt Hedman (University of Idaho), Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Heidi Hammel (AURA)

Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #JWST #SolarSystem #Planet #Saturn #Moons #Dione #Enceladus #Tethys #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

‘Asteroid City’ Cast Asks NASA About OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission

‘Asteroid City’ Cast Asks NASA About OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission

In September 2023, scientists with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will gather in the Utah desert for the arrival of the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. “Asteroid City” actors, including Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend and Jeffrey Wright, join NASA OSIRIS-REx sample expert Dr. Danny Glavin to discuss how studying the asteroid sample will give scientists insight into how the early solar system formed and how life began on Earth.

After a seven-year round trip journey that included mapping Bennu’s surface (a near-Earth asteroid that is no threat to our planet), identifying minerals and chemicals, and collecting a sample from the surface, OSIRIS-REx is on its way back to Earth with more than eight ounces of material. 

For more information on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde, Emily Furfaro, Sami Aziz, Molly Wasser

Editor: Jessica Wilde

Movie Footage courtesy of Focus Features Asteroid City

Duration: 3 minutes, 41 seconds

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OSIRISREx #Spacecraft #Asteroid #Bennu #ToBennuAndBack #SampleReturn #Technology #GSFC #CSA #JAXA #Japan #日本 #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #AsteroidCity #Film #Movie #ScarlettJohansson #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tonight's Sky: July 2023 (Northern Hemisphere)

Tonight's Sky: July 2023 (Northern Hemisphere)

In July, find the Scorpius constellation to identify the reddish supergiant Antares, which will lead you to discover a trio of globular star clusters. Keep watching for space-based views of these densely packed, spherical collections of ancient stars, as well as three nebulas: the Swan Nebula, the Lagoon Nebula, and the Trifid Nebula.

About this Series

“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky in Earth's northern hemisphere. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning.

Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planets #SolarSystem #Stars #StarClusters #GlobularStarClusters #Antares #RedSupergiant #Constellations #Nebulae #SwanNebula #LagoonNebula #TrifidNebula #MilkyWayGalaxy #Skywatching #STScI #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #STEM #Education #HD #Video

What's Up for July 2023? | Skywatching Tips from NASA

What's Up for July 2023? | Skywatching Tips from NASA

What are some skywatching highlights in July 2023 for the Northern Hemisphere?

Mars and Venus start the month close together, but part ways and head lower as July goes on. Mars appears very near Regulus in Leo on the 9th and 10th. Saturn and Jupiter rule the night, along with bright star Fomalhaut. And July is prime time for viewing the Milky Way core from dark sky locations.

0:00 Intro 

0:12 Mars & Venus in the evening

0:31 Mars close to Regulus

1:07 Saturn & Jupiter in the morning 

1:49 Fomalhaut's debris disk

2:38 Viewing the Milky Way

3:17 July Moon phases

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Narrator: Preston Dyches

Duration: 3 minutes, 39 seconds

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Earth #Moon #Planets #Venus #Mars #Saturn #Jupiter #SolarSystem #Stars #Fomalhaut #Regulus #Leo #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #JPL #Caltech #Skywatching #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #SouthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Making a Splash | Week of June 30, 2023

NASA's Space to Ground: Making a Splash | Week of June 30, 2023

    

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 10:30 a.m. EDT Friday, June 30, 2023, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, marking the return of the company’s 28th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft carried approximately 3,600 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth.

Scientific hardware and samples returning on the mission include the GRIP—Dexterous Manipulation in Microgravity chair used in the European Space Agency (ESA)-sponsored neurology experiments GRIP and GRASP (Gravitational References for Sensimotor Performance: Reaching and Grasping). GRIP studies how microgravity affects the manipulation of objects, while GRASP provides further insight into how the central nervous system adapts to the microgravity environment. The experiments have been on the space station almost six years, and the final in-orbit tests were completed in early 2023.

Samples from BioNutrients-2, Monoclonal Antibodies, and Myotones investigations also are returning to Earth for scientific analysis.

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)

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #SpaceXDragonCargoSpacecraft #SpaceExperiments #Astronauts #FrankRubio #StephenBowen #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #UAESA #MBRSC #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #Technology #Russia #Роскосмос #Microgravity #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Orbits of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids | NASA/JPL

Orbits of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids | NASA/JPL

Are asteroids dangerous? Some are, but the likelihood of a dangerous asteroid striking the Earth during any given year is low. Some past mass extinction events have been linked to asteroid impacts. However, humanity has made it a priority to find and catalog those asteroids that may one day affect life on Earth. Pictured here are the orbits of the over 1,000 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). These documented tumbling boulders of rock and ice are over 140 meters across and will pass within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth—about 20 times the distance to the Moon. Although none of them will strike the Earth in the next 100 years—not all PHAs have been discovered, and past 100 years, many orbits become hard to predict. Were an asteroid of this size to impact the Earth, it could raise dangerous tsunamis, for example. To investigate Earth-saving strategies, NASA successfully tested the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission last year. Of course, rocks and ice bits of much smaller size strike the Earth every day, usually pose no danger, and sometimes create memorable fireball and meteor displays.

Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Planet #PlanetaryDefense #InternationalAsteroidDay #Asteroids #PHAs #AsteroidBelt #Comets #NEO #NEA #SolarSystem #Science #Technology #DARTMission #JHUAPL #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #Art #Infographic #Illustration #STEM #Education

Near-Earth Objects Discovered to Date | Here's the Count | NASA 360

Near-Earth Objects Discovered to Date | Here's the Count | NASA 360

June 30 may be International Asteroid Day, but at NASA, every day is asteroid day! So, what do we know about the asteroids that are in Earth's neighborhood? A whole lot. Planetary defense — which includes finding, tracking, and characterizing near-Earth objects—is part of our mission at NASA. Here's the count of what we've discovered so far. 

Information about NASA's planetary defense efforts: https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense

Learn about NASA's DART Mission:

https://dart.jhuapl.edu/

DART was the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Planet #PlanetaryDefense #InternationalAsteroidDay #Asteroids #AsteroidBelt #Comets #NEO #NEA #SolarSystem #Science #Technology #DARTMission #JHUAPL #JPL #UnitedStates #NASA360 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Smoke from Wildfires in Canada over Europe | EUMETSAT Weather Satellite

Smoke from Wildfires in Canada over Europe | EUMETSAT Weather Satellite

Take a look at this recent image from EUMETSAT's new MTG I1 weather satellite, showing how smoke from wildfires in Canada made its way to Europe on June ️29, 2023.

Credit: EUMETSAT

Release Date: June 30, 2023

#NASA #EUMETSAT #Space #Satellites #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Environment #Weather #Meteorology #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #Canada #Wildfires #Smoke #AtlanticOcean #MTGI1Satellite #Europe #International #STEM #Education

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Cuatro por 7 : 23 de junio de 2023

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Cuatro por 7 : 23 de junio de 2023

Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional. 

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete 

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

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #CrewDragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #JasminMoghbeli #Commander #ESA #AndreasMogensen #Denmark #Danmark #Europe #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #SatoshiFurukawa #Japan #日本 #JAXA #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition69 #Expedition70 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China's FAST Telescope Finds Key Evidence for Nanohertz Gravitational Waves

China's FAST Telescope Finds Key Evidence for Nanohertz Gravitational Waves

China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) has found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves, facilitating important contemporary astrophysics studies. FAST is the "world's most sensitive radio telescope." Note: Pulsars are the dense, whirling remains of exploded stars.

Learn more about FAST: 

https://fast.bao.ac.cn/

Video Credit: GLOBALink

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Pulsars #Nanohertz #GravitationalWaves #Cosmos #Universe #Physics #Astrophysics #RadioTelescope #FAST #NAOC #CAS #China #中国 #STEM #Education #GLOBALink #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Spacecraft Heat Shield Installed | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Spacecraft Heat Shield Installed | Kennedy Space Center

Teams install the heat shield on the Artemis II Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2023. The 16.5-foot-wide shield will ensure the safe return of the astronauts on board as the spacecraft travels at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour and experiences outside temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon to verify today’s capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.

Learn more about Artemis II: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Follow progress on Artemis II: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/ 

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Image Date: June 22, 2023

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Earth #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Heatshield #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Science #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #ESA #Canada #CSA #STEM #Education

Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Spaceflight: Galactic 01

Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Spaceflight: Galactic 01

Galactic 01—Virgin Galactic’s first commercial suborbital spaceflight—was launched from Spaceport America, New Mexico, on June 29, 2023, with VSS Unity being released from VMS Eve at 11:29am ET. VSS Unity, the second SpaceShipTwo, transported a full crew of two pilots, Michael Masucci (Commander) and Nicola Pecile (Pilot) and four mission specialists in the cabin: Col. Walter Villadei and Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi from the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci (Engineer, National Research Council of Italy - CNR), Colin Bennett (Astronaut Instructor, Virgin Galactic). VMS Eve was piloted by Kelly Latimer (Commander) and Jameel Janjua (Pilot)

The Galactic 01 mission was a research flight for the Italian Air Force and Italy’s National Research Council. Virgin Galactic and the Italian Air Force signed the contract for the flight in October 2019, agreeing to fly three Italian payload specialists on a dedicated research flight.

Credit: Illustration, images & video footage courtesy of Virgin Galactic

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 8 minutes

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #CommercialSpaceflight #VirginGalactic #SpaceShipTwoVehicle #Galactic01  #VSSUnity #SuborbitalFlight #MichaelMasucci #NicolaPecile #WalterVilladei #AngeloLandolfi #PantaleoneCarlucci #ColinBennett #Italy #Italia #VMSEve #SpaceportAmerica #NewMexico #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earliest Strands of The Cosmic Web: The ASPIRE Cosmic Filament | NASA Webb

Earliest Strands of The Cosmic Web: The ASPIRE Cosmic Filament | NASA Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a filament of ten galaxies seen just 830 million years after the birth of the universe. Woven across our universe is a weblike structure of galaxies called the cosmic web. Galaxies are strung along filaments in this vast web, which also contains enormous voids. Now, astronomers using Webb have discovered an early strand of this structure, a long, narrow filament of 10 galaxies that existed just 830 million years after the big bang. The 3 million light-year-long structure is anchored by a luminous quasar—a galaxy with an active, supermassive black hole at its core. The team believes this early thread of the cosmic web will eventually evolve into a massive cluster of galaxies.

Image Description: This deep galaxy field from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows an arrangement of ten distant galaxies marked by eight white circles in a diagonal, thread-like line. (Two of the circles contain more than one galaxy.) The quasar, called J0305-3150, appears in the middle of the cluster of three circles on the right side of the image. Its brightness outshines its host galaxy. The team believes the filament will eventually evolve into a massive cluster of galaxies.

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Feige Wang (University of Arizona)

Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #CosmicFilament #CosmicWeb #Quasars #QuasarJ0305-3150 #DistantGalaxies #Fornax #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #Cosmology #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

This image is from the SPHERE/ZIMPOL observations of R Aquarii, and shows the binary star itself, as well as the jets of material spewing from the stellar couple. R Aquarii (R Aqr) is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years. The main Mira-type star is a red giant. This star system is located over 1,300 light years away from Earth.

While testing a new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers were able to capture dramatic details of the turbulent stellar relationship in the binary star R Aquarii with unprecedented clarity—even compared to observations from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Schmid et al.

Release Date: Dec. 12, 2018

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #BinaryStars #RAquarii #StarSystem #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #Aquarius #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #SPHERE #ZIMPOL #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

R Aquarii Star System Data Sonification | NASA Chandra & Hubble

R Aquarii Star System Data Sonification | NASA Chandra & Hubble

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope collected digital data on a system called R Aquarii, which contains two stars—a white dwarf and a red giant. The system is located over 1,300 light years away. The data was combined and transformed into this sonification, revealing evidence of outbursts and shock waves generated by the pair of stars.

Visual Description: In the sonification of R Aquarii, the piece evolves as the image is scanned clockwise starting at the 12 o’clock position. The volume changes in proportion to the brightness of sources in visible light and the distance from the center dictates the musical pitch. The deep thuds toward the four corners are “diffraction spikes”. Listeners can hear jets from the white dwarf as the cursor travels near the two o’clock and eight o’clock positions.

R Aquarii (R Aqr) is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years. The main Mira-type star is a red giant.

Sonification Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)

Duration: 38 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #RAquarii #StarSystem #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #ChandraXrayObservatory #NASAMarshall #MSFC #UnitedStates #Audio #Sonification #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Fate of Exoplanets around White Dwarf Stars | NOIRLab

The Fate of Exoplanets around White Dwarf Stars | NOIRLab

A short video explaining white dwarf stars and their evolution, and the resulting effects on their planetary systems. A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula. Only the hot core of the star remains. 

Credit: NOIRLab

Duration: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #WhiteDwarfs #Exoplanets #Planets #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #StarSystems #PlanetarySystems #SolarSystems #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Montdenier & Montagnac | NASA/JPL

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Montdenier & Montagnac | NASA/JPL

Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of late June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 20 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes. The next stage is to get them back for study.

Considered one of the highest priorities by the scientists in the Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, Mars Sample Return would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and provides the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. NASA is teaming with the European Space Agency (ESA) on this important endeavor.

Learn more about Samples No. 2 and 3–“Montdenier” and “Montagnac”–the first pair of rock cores collected by Perseverance, which were taken from an igneous rock on the floor of Jezero Crater. Scientists believe that detailed analysis of these samples could help them piece together the timeline of the area’s past, which was marked by volcanic activity and periods of persistent water.

Read about all the carefully selected samples: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples

Learn more about the Mars Sample Return campaign: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr 

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #Europe #MoonToMars #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Students Explore Climate Data in New Ways | NASA's New Earth Information Center

Students Explore Climate Data in New Ways | NASA's New Earth Information Center

Local students can be seen taking in the sights—and data—at an Earth Information Center (EIC) student engagement event, Friday, June 23, 2023, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Earth Information Center is a new immersive experience that combines live data sets with innovative data visualization and storytelling to show visitors how our planet is changing.

Take a virtual tour of NASA's Earth Information Center: https://gis.earthdata.nasa.gov/portal/apps/sites/#/earth-information-center/pages/virtual-tour

The center gives a whole Earth view down to local information, from temperatures in our cities to sea level rise, greenhouse gas emissions to agricultural productivity. Visit this hybrid exhibit in person at NASA Headquarters in Washington or online.

Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Editor: Monika Luabeya

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Planet #Earth #Environment #Atmosphere #Land #Agriculture #Oceans #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #Science #EIC #Exhibits #Learning #Students #Teachers #Educators #Families #NASAHQ #WashingtonDC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Jellyfish Galaxy JO206 "Under the Sea" | Hubble

Jellyfish Galaxy JO206 "Under the Sea" | Hubble

The jellyfish galaxy JO206 trails across this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, showcasing a colorful star-forming disc surrounded by a pale, luminous cloud of dust. A handful of bright stars with criss-cross diffraction spikes stand out against an inky black backdrop at the bottom of the image. JO206 lies over 700 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius, and this image of the galaxy is the sixth and final instalment in a series of observations of jellyfish galaxies.

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

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #JO206 #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Dishevelled Irregular Galaxy in Pegasus: NGC 7292 | Hubble

A Dishevelled Irregular Galaxy in Pegasus: NGC 7292 | Hubble

The galaxy NGC 7292 billows across this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, accompanied by a handful of bright stars and the indistinct smudges of extremely distant galaxies in the background. It lies around 44 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

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

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC7292 #Supernova #SN1964H #Pegasus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Is NASA Mining Asteroids? We Asked a NASA Expert

Is NASA Mining Asteroids? We Asked a NASA Expert

Is NASA mining asteroids? No, NASA is not in the business of mining asteroids, but we do love to study them. 

This year, NASA's Psyche Mission launches to a unique metal-rich asteroid to study what appears to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. However, the science we gain from missions like this could one day benefit future humans in cosmic mining and resource endeavors.

And in September 2023, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will deliver an asteroid sample back to Earth. Analysis from the sample may help improve future asteroid missions: https://go.nasa.gov/43PoK2y

Explore more: https://nasa.gov/asteroids

NASA’s Psyche mission:

www.nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producers: Jessica Wilde, Scott Bednar

Editor: James Lucas

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Asteroids #OSIRISRExMission #NickelIronAsteroids #PsycheMission #PsycheSpacecraft #Technology #Engineering #Robotics #Earth #Planets #SolarSystem #SpaceMining #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #MaxarTechnologies #JPL #Caltech #ASU #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Surprisingly STEM: Space Tire Engineer Heather Oravec | NASA Glenn

Surprisingly STEM: Space Tire Engineer Heather Oravec | NASA Glenn

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads . . . but we still need tires! In this episode, we rolled on over to NASA’s Glenn Research Center where engineer Heather Oravec is reinventing the wheel—literally! Heather explains her work in creating wheels intended for use on other celestial bodies, such as the Moon, and how she got traction in this unique career.

Get your engineering wheels spinning with this hands-on activity: 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-cardboard-rover/

Or, if you’re ready to hit the road with your own version of an off-planet vehicle, check out NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/roverchallenge/home/index.html 

We’re launching STEM Engagement to new heights with learning resources that connect teachers, students, parents and caregivers to the inspiring work at NASA. Join us as we apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics to explore space, improve aeronautics, examine Earth and strive to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon with the Artemis program. 

Credit: NASA STEM

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Engineering #Technology #Robotics #RoboticVehicles #Tires #Wheels #Engineer #HeatherOravec #WomenInSTEM #Pioneers #SpaceResearch #Moon #Mars #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAGlenn #Cleveland #Ohio #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Mars: Aram Chaos, Reconsidered | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: Aram Chaos | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Aram Chaos is terrain that is located within a massive 280 kilometer-diameter crater. It consists of darker volcanic rocks that were disrupted as a result of water and/or magma withdrawal in the subsurface. Some of the materials made up of different kinds of sulfates that formed when water filled the crater. Aram Chaos lies at the eastern end of the large canyon Valles Marineris and close to Ares Vallis. Various geological processes have reduced it to a circular area of chaotic terrain.

This clip uses the enhanced color red-green-blue filter of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. Blue in enhanced color images often represents basalt, indicating a volcanic origin. 

This is a non-narrated clip with ambient sound. Image is less than 1 km (under a  mile) across and the spacecraft altitude was 271 km (168 mi). 

The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured these images.

MRO is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California.

Image Acquisition Date:

April 19, 2022

Local Mars time:

15:46

Latitude (centered):

2.222°

Longitude (East):

339.904°

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Science #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #AramChaos #Crater #VolcanicRocks #Water #Sulfates #MRO #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UniversityOfArizona #BallAerospace #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sagittarius Star Cloud: Messier 24

Sagittarius Star Cloud: Messier 24

Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It is a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars fill this gorgeous starscape. Covering over 3 degrees or the width of 6 full moons in the constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic field of view includes dark markings B92 and B93 near center, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae toward the center of the Milky Way.

Image Credit & Copyright: Emmanuel Astronomono

Emmanuel's Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/astronomono

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #M24 #Messier24 #SmallSagittariusStarCloud #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telecope #Astrophotography #EmmanuelAstronomono #ObservatorioAstronómicoOriente #Mexico #STEM #Education #APoD

SpaceX Starship 25 Six-engine Static Fire Test at Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship 25 Six-engine Static Fire Test at Starbase Texas

    

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 120m/394ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Image Capture Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipS25 #EngineTest #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Science #Technology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #Starbase #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Mars Images: June 22-26, 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Mars Images: June 22-26, 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Mars2020 - sol 832 - PipploIMP

Mars2020 - sol 832

MSL - sol 3866

MSL - sol 3866

MSL - sol 3866

Mars2020 - sol 831

MSL - sol 3869

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars (2012-2023)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

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

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

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

Celebrating 2+ Years on Mars (2021-2023)

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

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

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

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

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

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University/Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS)

Processing of Image 1: PipploIMP

Processing of Images 2-7: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: June 22-26, 2023

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

Fires in Canada 2023 | Landsat Earth Satellites | USGS

Fires in Canada 2023 | Landsat Earth Satellites | USGS

Smoke filled the skies over western Canada and even much of the United States in May 2023. The source was several wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia.

Near the end of May, rain and cooler temperatures finally brought some relief for the out-of-control fires.

Learn more about the USGS Landsat Program:

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

Credit: United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: June 27, 2023

 

#NASA #USGS #Space #Satellites #Planet #Earth #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenHouseGases #LandsatProgram# #Landsat7 #Landsat8 #Landsat9 #Canada #WesternCanada #Alberta #BritishColumbia #Smoke #Fires #Wildfires #Environment #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Recientemente: Presentamos nuestro nuevo Centro de Información de la Tierra

Recientemente: Presentamos nuestro nuevo Centro de Información de la Tierra

Recientemente en la NASA, la versión en español de las cápsulas This Week at NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la NASA. 

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete 

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

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 3 minutes

Broadcast Date: June 23, 2023

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #NASAenespañol #español #Satellites #Science #Asteroid #Bennu #OSIRISRExMission #JWST #Exoplanets #Planet #Earth #Oceans #Climate #Weather #Meterology #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Mars: New Ultraviolet Views | NASA’s MAVEN Mission

Planet Mars: New Ultraviolet Views | NASA’s MAVEN Mission

Full-disk view of Mars in UV light, colorized; a deep purple hue dominates the top part of the image, with other cratered surface features showing in hazy, muted tones of brown and dark green (January 2023)

Full-disk View of Mars in UV light, colorized; a bright white ice cap shines at the bottom of the frame, with other cratered surface features appearing dull, hazy brown and blue (July 2022)

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun. By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists can gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways. MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument obtained these global views of Mars in 2022 and 2023 when the planet was near opposite ends of its elliptical orbit.

The IUVS instrument measures wavelengths between 110 and 340 nanometers, outside the visible spectrum. To make these wavelengths visible to the human eye and easier to interpret, the images are rendered with the varying brightness levels of three ultraviolet wavelength ranges represented as red, green, and blue. In this color scheme, atmospheric ozone appears purple, while clouds and hazes appear white or blue. The surface can appear tan or green, depending on how the images have been optimized to increase contrast and show detail.

The second image was taken in July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season, which occurs when Mars passes closet to the Sun. The summer season is caused by the tilt of the planet’s rotational axis, similar to seasons on Earth. Argyre Basin, one of Mars’ deepest craters, appears at bottom left filled with atmospheric haze (depicted here as pale pink). The deep canyons of Valles Marineris appear at top left filled with clouds (colored tan in this image). The southern polar ice cap is visible at bottom in white, shrinking from the relative warmth of summer. Southern summer warming and dust storms drive water vapor to very high altitudes, explaining MAVEN’s discovery of enhanced hydrogen loss from Mars at this time of year.

The first image is of Mars’ northern hemisphere and was taken in January 2023 after Mars had passed the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun. The rapidly changing seasons in the north polar region cause an abundance of white clouds. The deep canyons of Valles Marineris can be seen in tan at lower left, along with many craters. Ozone, which appears magenta in this UV view, has built up during the northern winter’s chilly polar nights. It is then destroyed in northern spring by chemical reactions with water vapor, which is restricted to low altitudes of the atmosphere at this time of year.

MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s goal is to explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of Mars' atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability. The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.

Image Credits: NASA/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder)

Story Credit: Willow Reed

Release Date: June 22, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Mars #Atmosphere #Ultraviolet #UV #MAVENMission #MAVENSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #GSFC #LASP #CUBoulder #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Sky around The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | ESO

The Sky around The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | ESO

This image shows a dark area of night sky, speckled only lightly with the white and blue glow of stars. In the very center is the orange cloud of the Sh2-284 nebula within our Milky Way Galaxy. 

Distance: 15,000 light-years

This picture was created from images in the Digitized Sky Survey 2.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Sh2284 #Stars #Dolidze25 #Monoceros #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Italy #Italia #Europe #STEM #Education

Zooming into The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

Zooming into The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

This video takes us on a journey into the Sh2-284 nebula, some 15,000 light-years away from Earth. Here, in vast clouds of gas and dust, new stars are being born. Meanwhile, giant pillars, light-years across, are formed as winds from the young stars batter the surrounding material.

At its center, there is a cluster of young stars, dubbed Dolidze 25. The radiation from this cluster is powerful enough to ionize the hydrogen gas in the nebula’s cloud. It is this ionization that produces its bright orange and red colors.

Video Credits: ESO, N. Risinger, DSS, VPHAS+ team

Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU)

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Sh2284 #Stars #Dolidze25 #Monoceros #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Italy #Italia #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panning across The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

Panning across The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

This video sequence takes a close look at the Sh2-284 nebula, a vast region of dust and gas that is teeming with young stars, located some 15,000 light-years away from Earth. Sh2-284 is a star formation region. At its center, there is a cluster of young stars, dubbed Dolidze 25. The radiation from this cluster is powerful enough to ionize the hydrogen gas in the nebula’s cloud. It is this ionization that produces its bright orange and red colors.

This detailed view of the nebula was captured by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), which is owned by The National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy, INAF, and is hosted at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team

Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Sh2284 #Stars #Dolidze25 #Monoceros #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Italy #Italia #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

The 'Smiling Cat' Nebula: Sh2-284 | European Southern Observatory

This cloud of orange and red, part of the Sh2-284 nebula, is shown here in spectacular detail using data from the VLT Survey Telescope, hosted by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This nebula is teeming with young stars as gas and dust within it clumps together to form new suns. If you take a look at the cloud as a whole, you might be able to make out the face of a cat, smiling down from the sky.

In the center of this image is a large cloud, orange and red in color, which is stretched out over the majority of the frame. The region in the top left of the cloud is particularly vivid. All around the image there are stars, in different colors of white, orange and purple. Some of these are smaller, background stars, whereas others reside in the foreground of the image, such as those in the central cluster of the nebula.

The Sh2-284 stellar nursery is a vast region of dust and gas and its brightest part, visible in this image, is about 150 light-years (over 1,400 trillion kilometers) across. It is located some 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Monoceros.

Nestled in the center of the brightest part of the nebula—right under the ‘cat’s nose’—is a cluster of young stars known as Dolidze 25, which produces large amounts of strong radiation and winds. The radiation is powerful enough to ionize the hydrogen gas in the cloud, thereby producing its bright orange and red colors. It is in clouds like this that the building blocks for new stars reside.

The winds from the central cluster of stars push away the gas and dust in the nebula, hollowing out its center. As the winds encounter denser pockets of material, these offer more resistance meaning that the areas around them are eroded away first. This creates several pillars that can be seen along the edges of Sh2-284 pointing at the center of the nebula, such as the one on the right-hand side of the frame. While these pillars might look small in the image, they are in fact several light-years wide and contain vast amounts of gas and dust out of which new stars form.  

Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team

Acknowledgement: CASU

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Sh2284 #Stars #Dolidze25 #Monoceros #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education