Strong Solar Flare Erupts from Sun | NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

Strong Solar Flare Erupts from Sun | NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare (left side of image), peaking at 4:55 p.m. EST, on Dec. 31, 2023. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) that watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

This close up image of the Sun is colorized in a mix of yellow, orange, brown and black that showcases the dynamic beauty of the Sun. The X5.0 flare appears as a bright white flash on the left side of the image.

This image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares that is colorized in yellow and orange.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X5.0 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov/, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts. 

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Learn more about solar flares:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarcycle25/2022/06/10/solar-flares-faqs/

Image Credit: NASA/SDO

Release Date: Dec. 31, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #SolarFlare #X5Flare #Ultraviolet #Science #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellite #SDO #Goddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Horsehead Nebula in Orion

The Horsehead Nebula in Orion

This image of the Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33) was submitted by Pelayo Fernández Lobón, a member of the team from vendor Asturfeito that is installing the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA) in the summit facility building for the Rubin Observatory now under construction.

This nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud, located about 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Orion.

Technical details: The picture was taken using a 80 mm f6 apochromatic refractor and a dedicated 20 megapixels color astro-camera, refrigerated at -10ºC. Total integration time: 2.7 hours (80 subs x 120 seconds each). The radius of the field of view is 1,14 degrees, pixel scale 1.275 arc seconds / pixel. Equatorial mount + Guiding.

Credit: Pelayo Fernández Lobón/Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA

Release Date: March 24, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Barnard33 #HorseheadNebula #Stars #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #RubinObservatory #Telescope #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #CerroTololo #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: New Close Flyby Processed Views | NASA Juno Mission

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: New Close Flyby Processed Views | NASA Juno Mission

On Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made the closest flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io that any spacecraft has made in over 20 years. Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar system, the pass is expected to allow Juno's instruments to return a high volume of new data from deep space. The orbiter has now performed 57 flybys of Jupiter and documented close encounters with three of the gas giant’s four largest moons.

“By combining data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science team is studying how Io’s volcanoes vary,” said Juno’s principal investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “We are looking for how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flow changes, and how Io’s activity is connected to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”

A second ultra-close flyby of Io is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2024, in which Juno will again come within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface.

The spacecraft has been monitoring Io’s volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometers) to over 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers), and has provided the first views of the moon’s north and south poles. The spacecraft has also performed close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa.

“With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists underneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.

Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giant’s inner moons reside.

Picture This

All three cameras aboard Juno were active during the Io flyby. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) that takes images in infrared will be collecting the heat signatures emitted by volcanoes and calderas covering the moon’s surface. The mission’s Stellar Reference Unit (a navigational star camera that has also provided valuable science) will obtain the highest-resolution image of the surface to date. And the JunoCam imager will take visible-light color images.

JunoCam was included on the spacecraft for the public’s engagement and was designed to operate for up to eight flybys of Jupiter. This flyby of Io will be Juno’s 57th orbit around Jupiter, where the spacecraft and cameras have endured one of the solar system’s most punishing radiation environments.

“The cumulative effects of all that radiation has begun to show on JunoCam over the last few orbits,” said Ed Hirst, project manager of Juno at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Pictures from the last flyby show a reduction in the imager’s dynamic range and the appearance of ‘striping’ noise. Our engineering team has been working on solutions to alleviate the radiation damage and to keep the imager going.”

More Io, Please

After several months of study and assessment, the Juno team adjusted the spacecraft’s planned future trajectory to add seven new distant Io flybys (for a total of 18) to the extended mission plan. After the close Io pass on Feb. 3, the spacecraft will fly by Io every other orbit, with each orbit growing progressively more distant: The first will be at an altitude of about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) above Io, and the last will be at about 71,450 miles (115,000 kilometers).

The gravitational pull of Io on Juno during the Dec. 30, 2023 flyby reduced the spacecraft’s orbit around Jupiter from 38 days to 35 days. Juno’s orbit will drop to 33 days after the Feb. 3 flyby.

Juno’s new trajectory resulted in Jupiter blocking the Sun from the spacecraft for about five minutes at the time when the orbiter is at its closest to the planet—a period called perijove. Although this will be the first time the solar-powered spacecraft has encountered darkness since its flyby of Earth in October 2013, the duration will be too short to affect its overall operation. With the exception of the Feb. 3 perijove, the spacecraft will encounter solar eclipses like this during every close flyby of Jupiter from now on through the remainder of its extended mission that ends in late 2025.

Starting in April 2024, the spacecraft will carry out a series of occultation experiments that use Juno’s Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiter’s upper atmospheric makeup, which provides key information on the planet’s shape and interior structure.

More About the Mission

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.

Learn more about NASA's Juno mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

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

Image Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Date: Dec. 30, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Planet #P57 #Moons #Io #Moon #Geology #Volcanoes #Mountains #JunoMission #JunoSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #CitizenScience #KevinGill #JPL #MSFC #SwRI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Flame, Horsehead & Orion Nebulas: Wide View | Palomar Observatory

The Flame, Horsehead & Orion Nebulas: Wide View | Palomar Observatory

Here are three nebulas found in the Orion constellation. The Flame Nebula, designated as NGC 2024 and Sh2-277, is an emission nebula on the far left. The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or B33) is a small dark nebula just to the right of it. The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula that is one of the brightest nebulae that can be seen unaided in the upper right-hand corner. It is visible to the naked eye in the night sky on Earth when low levels of light pollution are present. All three nebulas are located in the Milky Way Galaxy and are about 1,400-1,500 light-years away.

Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

This wide-field image was captured by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Palomar Observatory. It is a public-private partnership aimed at a systematic study of the optical night sky. Using an extremely wide-field of view camera, ZTF scans the entire Northern sky every two days. The resulting large area survey will enable the astronomical community to pursue a broad range of time-domain science ranging from near-Earth asteroids to the study of distant superluminous supernovae. ZTF is funded in equal part by the US National Science Foundation and an international consortium of universities and institutions.

Image Credit: Palomar/​Caltech/​ZTF

Image Date: 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #FlameNebula #NGC2024 #HoresheadNebula #Barnard33 #OrionNebula #M42 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #PalomarObservatory #ZwickyTransientFacility #ZTF #OpticalTelescope #NSF #SanDiegoCounty #PalomarMountain #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Polar Stratospheric Clouds over Scotland | Earth Science

Polar Stratospheric Clouds over Scotland | Earth Science

Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, form in a part of the atmosphere roughly 50 to 86 kilometers (30 to 54 miles) above the surface of our planet. Their high altitude allows them to reflect sunlight after the Sun has set. These night-shining, or noctilucent, clouds long puzzled the researchers that studied them. They wondered how they formed. The clouds’ behavior has become more mysterious over the past two decades as the clouds have begun to shine more brightly and to appear at lower latitudes than they did before.

Scientists recently discovered that polar stratospheric clouds, long known to play an important role in Antarctic ozone destruction, are occurring with increasing frequency in the Arctic. These high altitude clouds form only at very low temperatures and help to destroy ozone in two ways. They provide a surface that converts benign forms of chlorine into reactive, ozone-destroying forms, and they remove nitrogen compounds that moderate the destructive impact of chlorine. In recent years, the atmosphere above the Arctic has been colder than usual, and polar stratospheric clouds have lasted longer. As a result, ozone levels have been decreasing.

NASA Ozone Watch:

https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov

Ozone is a gas made up of three oxygen atoms (O3). It occurs naturally in small (trace) amounts in the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere). Ozone protects life on Earth from the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) near the Earth’s surface, ozone is created by chemical reactions between air pollutants from vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and other emissions. At ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people and plants.

Ninety percent of the ozone in the atmosphere sits in the stratosphere, the layer of atmosphere between about 10 and 50 kilometers altitude. The natural level of ozone in the stratosphere is a result of a balance between sunlight that creates ozone and chemical reactions that destroy it. Ozone is created when the kind of oxygen we breathe—O2—is split apart by sunlight into single oxygen atoms. Single oxygen atoms can re-join to make O2, or they can join with O2 molecules to make ozone (O3). Ozone is destroyed when it reacts with molecules containing nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorine, or bromine. A portion of the molecules that destroy ozone occur naturally, but people have created others.

Image Credit: Alan Tough

Caption Credit: NASA

Image Dates: Dec. 19-24, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #ArcticClouds #PolarMesophericClouds #NLC #NoctilucentClouds #Scotland #UK #UnitedKingdom #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #AlanTough #EarthObservatory #STEM #Education #International

Tonight's Sky: January 2024 (Northern Hemisphere)

Tonight's Sky: January 2024 (Northern Hemisphere)

In January 2024, the northern hemisphere features beautiful views of Capella, a pair of giant yellow stars; Aldebaran, a red giant star; and two star clusters—the Hyades and the Pleiades. Keep watching for the awe-inspiring space-based views of the Crab Nebula, the remains of a star that exploded as a supernova.

“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. 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. 

This video was produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University. 

Video Credit:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Duration: 4 minutes, 20 seconds

Release Date: Dec. 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planets #SolarSystem #Galaxies #Stars #StarClusters #Nebulae #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Skywatching #STScI #JPL #Caltech #SSU #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Download Free 2024 Hubble and Webb Calendar | European Space Agency

Download Free 2024 Hubble and Webb Calendar | European Space Agency

Low Resolution Digital 2024 Calendar Adobe PDF File (Size 14 MB):

https://esahubble.org/media/archives/calendars/pdfsm/cal2024.pdf

High Resolution Digital 2024 Calendar Adobe PDF File (Size 105 MB):

https://esahubble.org/media/archives/calendars/pdf/cal2024.pdf

Print-Ready 2024 Calendar Adobe PDF File (Size 610 MB):

https://esahubble.org/media/archives/announcements/pdf/calendar_hubble_2024_v010_print.pdf

This calendar is for anyone to download, print, share and enjoy. To celebrate another year of exciting images and discoveries from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, and the completion of the first year of science operations with the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope, ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb have released a new calendar for 2024 that showcases beautiful imagery from both missions.

The 2024 calendar features a selection of images published throughout 2023. These include imagery of planets, star clusters, galaxies, and more.

The images featured in the 2024 calendar are:

Cover: The subject of the first anniversary image from the James Webb Space Telescope is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen.

January: Formed by a star throwing off its outer layers as it runs out of fuel, the Ring Nebula is an archetypal planetary nebula. The near-infrared image makes the ring’s intricate detail visible, while the mid-infrared image reveals concentric features in the outer regions of the nebula’s ring.

February: In 2023 several images from Hubble of ‘jellyfish’ galaxies, named for their beautiful trailing tentacles, were released. These jellyfish are all travelling through galaxy clusters, ploughing through the diffuse gas that pervades such clusters. The resulting ‘ram pressure’ strips gas from the galaxies and creates these trailing streamers, where new stars form.

March: This month features three images that give radically different views of the galaxy NGC 6822. At the bottom, in Webb’s mid-infrared image, the emission of light by galactic dust is prominent, obscuring the galaxy’s stars. In the middle, the near-infrared image shows the galaxy’s countless stars in incredible detail. The two views are combined in the top image. 

April: Released to celebrate Hubble’s 33rd anniversary in April 2023, this month features the star-forming nebula NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud. Hubble’s colorful view, showcasing its unique ability to obtain images in light from ultraviolet to near-infrared, unveils an effervescent cauldron of gases and dust stirred up by newly forming stars within the dark cloud.

May: A massive galaxy cluster, SPT-CL J0019-2026, dominates the center of this month’s image from Hubble. The view is populated with a serene collection of elliptical and spiral galaxies, but galaxies surrounding the central cluster appear stretched into bright arcs, an amazing example of gravitational lensing.

June: Webb’s view of the Orion Bar region is a part of the Orion Nebula that hosts intense star formation activity and active astrochemistry. Harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster carves out a rich tapestry of cavities and filaments.

July: The distorted galaxy NGC 3256 is the result of an ancient clash between two galaxies. The image from Webb captures infrared light from dust grains, irradiated by young stars that were formed from the collision. The image from Hubble highlights hot, massive stars in the two galactic cores, shrouded by dark dust that blocks visible light.

August: A portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 appears as a roiling wall of smoke studded with stars in this month’s image from Hubble. The cluster is set within the larger Lagoon Nebula, a gigantic interstellar cloud of gas and dust; it is the nebula that gives this image its distinctly smokey appearance.

September: In its first year the James Webb Space Telescope has returned stunning infrared images of the Solar System’s outer planets and some of their moons. Featured this month are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

October: The graceful winding arms of the grand-design spiral galaxy M51 stretch across this month’s Webb image. This galactic portrait is a composite image that integrates both near-infrared and mid-infrared data. Red colors trace out dust grains, while orange and yellow reveal regions of gas ionised by recently formed star clusters.

November: This month features a star-filled view from the Hubble Space Telescope of Terzan 12, a globular cluster embedded in our Milky Way galaxy. Creeping tendrils of galactic gas and dust blanket large portions of Terzan 12, giving some stars a sinister red hue. Relatively unobscured stars shine brightly in white and blue.

December: This month’s image features the central region of the Chameleon I dark cloud. Cold, wispy cloud material is illuminated in the infrared by the glow of a young, shrouded protostar. Its study points at icy molecules forming in clouds of gas and dust that will one day form stars and planets

Please note that hard copies are not available directly from ESA/Hubble/Webb. 

Credit: ESA/Hubble, ESA/Webb

Release Date: Dec. 15, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #HST #JWST #Planets #Stars #StarClusters #Galaxies #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #AdobePDF #FreeCalendar #Calendar2024 #STEM #Education

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: 'Raw' Views of Close Flyby | NASA Juno Mission

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: 'Raw' Views of Close Flyby | NASA Juno Mission

Just Released: On Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made the closest flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io that any spacecraft has made in over 20 years. Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar system, the pass is expected to allow Juno's instruments to return a high volume of new data from deep space. The orbiter has now performed 57 flybys of Jupiter and documented close encounters with three of the gas giant’s four largest moons.

“By combining data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science team is studying how Io’s volcanoes vary,” said Juno’s principal investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “We are looking for how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flow changes, and how Io’s activity is connected to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”

A second ultra-close flyby of Io is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2024, in which Juno will again come within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface.

The spacecraft has been monitoring Io’s volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometers) to over 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers), and has provided the first views of the moon’s north and south poles. The spacecraft has also performed close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa.

“With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists underneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.

Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giant’s inner moons reside.

Picture This

All three cameras aboard Juno were active during the Io flyby. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) that takes images in infrared will be collecting the heat signatures emitted by volcanoes and calderas covering the moon’s surface. The mission’s Stellar Reference Unit (a navigational star camera that has also provided valuable science) will obtain the highest-resolution image of the surface to date. And the JunoCam imager will take visible-light color images.

JunoCam was included on the spacecraft for the public’s engagement and was designed to operate for up to eight flybys of Jupiter. The upcoming flyby of Io will be Juno’s 57th orbit around Jupiter, where the spacecraft and cameras have endured one of the solar system’s most punishing radiation environments.

“The cumulative effects of all that radiation has begun to show on JunoCam over the last few orbits,” said Ed Hirst, project manager of Juno at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Pictures from the last flyby show a reduction in the imager’s dynamic range and the appearance of ‘striping’ noise. Our engineering team has been working on solutions to alleviate the radiation damage and to keep the imager going.”

More Io, Please

After several months of study and assessment, the Juno team adjusted the spacecraft’s planned future trajectory to add seven new distant Io flybys (for a total of 18) to the extended mission plan. After the close Io pass on Feb. 3, the spacecraft will fly by Io every other orbit, with each orbit growing progressively more distant: The first will be at an altitude of about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) above Io, and the last will be at about 71,450 miles (115,000 kilometers).

The gravitational pull of Io on Juno during the Dec. 30, 2023 flyby reduced the spacecraft’s orbit around Jupiter from 38 days to 35 days. Juno’s orbit will drop to 33 days after the Feb. 3 flyby.

Juno’s new trajectory resulted in Jupiter blocking the Sun from the spacecraft for about five minutes at the time when the orbiter is at its closest to the planet—a period called perijove. Although this will be the first time the solar-powered spacecraft has encountered darkness since its flyby of Earth in October 2013, the duration will be too short to affect its overall operation. With the exception of the Feb. 3 perijove, the spacecraft will encounter solar eclipses like this during every close flyby of Jupiter from now on through the remainder of its extended mission that ends in late 2025.

Starting in April 2024, the spacecraft will carry out a series of occultation experiments that use Juno’s Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiter’s upper atmospheric makeup, which provides key information on the planet’s shape and interior structure.

More About the Mission

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.

Learn more about NASA's Juno mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

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

Image Release Date: Dec. 30, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Planet #P57 #Moons #Io #Moon #Geology #Volcanoes #Mountains #JunoMission #JunoSpacecraft #GalileoSpacecraft #NewHorizonsSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #MSFC #SwRI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

New Mars December 2023 Images | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

New Mars December 2023 Images | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

 

Mars 2020 - sol 1008

Mars 2020 - sol 1008

 

Mars 2020 - sol 1007

Mars 2020 - sol 1003

 

MSL - sol 4040

MSL - sol 4040

MSL - sol 4039

 

Mars 2020 - sol 1003

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 11+ 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

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

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

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

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

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

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

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: Dec. 16-23, 2023

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

A Day on Mars (time-lapse) | NASA's Curiosity Rover | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

A Day on Mars (time-lapse) | NASA's Curiosity Rover | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Curiosity Mars rover’s front and rear Hazard-Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) recorded two 25-frame videos showing the passage of 12 hours on November 8, 2023. Since 2014, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been ascending the base of the 5-kilometer (3-mile) tall mountain that sits in Gale Crater on Mars.

Celebrating 11+ 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

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

 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Acknowledgement: SciNews
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: Dec. 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #Hazcams #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

A New Name & Journey for an Asteroid Mission | This Week @NASA

A New Name & Journey for an Asteroid Mission | This Week @NASA 

 

Week of December 29, 2023: A new name and new journey for an asteroid mission, testing the self-flying capabilities of drones, and test firing a 3D-printed rocket engine . . . a few of the stories to tell you about–This Week at NASA!

University of Arizona's OSIRIS-APEX Mission Page:
https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/missions/osiris-apex

 

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Video Producer & Video Editor: Andre Valentine
Narrator: Emanuel Cooper
Duration: 2 minutes, 28 seconds
Release Date: Dec. 30, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OSIRISRExMission #OSIRISAPEXMission #OSIRISAPEXSpacecraft #Asteroids #RocketEngine #3DPrinting #SpaceTechnology #CSA #Canada #CNES #France #JSC #GSFC #UArizona #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Geminid Meteor Shower over Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona

Geminid Meteor Shower over Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona

Speeding towards Earth, meteors from the Geminid meteor shower streak across the sky above the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, in Arizona. Stretching across the center of the sky is the dusty arm of the Milky Way, arching over the radiant of the meteor shower in the constellation Gemini on the right. This image was captured during the peak of this year’s shower on December 14, 2023.

The Geminid meteor shower is one of the most reliable meteor showers. Like other meteor showers, these fireballs are rocky particles zooming through our atmosphere and brightly burning until they disintegrate long before they hit the ground. The particles from the Geminids come from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, unlike most meteor showers, that originate from comets.

The Mayall telescope is the largest telescope at KPNO and is a great sight alongside the circumstellar phenomena of our Solar System. The telescope is currently home to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). DESI, led by the US Department of Energy, is acquiring the spectra of tens of millions of galaxies and quasars and has already created the largest and most detailed 3D map of the Universe ever, which is aimed at revealing the effects of dark energy in the Universe.

This photograph was created by carefully stacking a series of photos, captured within a two-hour period. The foreground and background were stacked separately using the same sequence of images before being recombined into this image.

Rob Sparks, the photographer, is a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador.

Every December we have a chance to see one of our favorite meteor showers—the Geminids. All meteors appear to come from the same place in the sky called the radiant. The Geminids appear to radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini, hence the name “Geminids.”

Observations show that the Geminids are denser than meteors belonging to other showers, enabling them to get as low as 29 miles above Earth’s surface before burning up. Meteors belonging to other showers, like the Perseids, burn up much higher.

The Geminids can be seen by most of the world. Yet, it is best viewed by observers in the Northern Hemisphere. As you enter the Southern Hemisphere and move towards the South Pole, the altitude of the Geminid radiant—the celestial point in the sky where the Geminid meteors appear to originate—gets lower and lower above the horizon. Thus, observers in these locations see fewer Geminids than their northern counterparts.
 

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks (NSF’s NOIRLab)/NASA

Image Date: Dec. 14, 2023

Release Date: Dec. 27, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Meteors #Bolides #Geminids #Asteroid3200Phaethon #Geminid #Constellation #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #Astrophotography #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Una Puerta al Espacio ("A Door to Space" in Spanish) | NASA

Una Puerta al Espacio ("A Door to Space" in Spanish) | NASA

El astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio muestra la sección de la Estación Espacial Internacional desde donde se accede al espacio: la esclusa de aire Quest. Quest es un módulo presurizado con dos compartimentos: la cámara de equipamiento, con los sistemas necesarios para el mantenimiento y reacondicionamiento de los trajes, y la esclusa de la tripulación, desde donde los astronautas salen de la estación para realizar caminatas espaciales.

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

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

Astronaut Frank Rubio’s Official NASA Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/frank-rubio/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds
Release Date: Dec. 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #Science #Astronauts #Astronaut #FrankRubio #LongDurationMission #HumanSpaceflight #UAE #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China's JW-200 Satellite Successfully Demonstrates Advanced Ion Propulsion

China's JW-200 Satellite Successfully Demonstrates Advanced Ion Propulsion

China's JW-200 research satellite has successfully demonstrated its permanent magnet-based Hall-effect ion propulsion thruster in orbit. When fired up, the ion drive produces bluish fumes and halo rings that are caused by extremely hot, electrically charged particles leaving the engine at 30-plus times the speed of sound. In China, scientists at the Shanghai Space Station Institute have been working to improve the technology.

China plans an uncrewed scientific mission to explore the outer solar system planet Neptune. It is 30 times further from the sun than the Earth. The spacecraft will be launched as early as 2028. It will be driven by a nuclear-powered, 20KW ion thruster.

Hall effect thrusters are named after Edwin Herbert Hall, an American physicist. He discovered in the 1930s that electrically charged particles could produce a thrust, but Soviet Russian scientists and engineers were the first to bring the theory to life. Soviet Russia started making numerous types of Hall thrusters for their satellites in the 1970s and even sold engines to NASA. Since then, NASA has  started building its own.

The thrust produced by electric propulsion systems is usually quite small. More importantly, charged particles can affect engine components and could shorten the lifespan of satellites and put human crews in danger. The Chinese research team has been testing the thrusters to the limit to ensure the engines can withstand the damage caused by the particles well enough to be used safely in crewed missions. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one ion drive under development has burned non-stop for 8,240 hours–or more than 11 months–without a glitch, an indicator that they can easily meet the Chinese space station’s designated 15-year lifespan.

To protect the ion engine from erosion, researchers put a magnetic field over the engine’s inner wall to repel damaging particles. Chinese scientists have also created a special ceramic material designed to remain stable for a long period in the face of extreme heat or radiation.

In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster where the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are also referred to as Hall thrusters or Hall-current thrusters. Hall-effect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons' axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume. The Hall-effect thruster is classed as a moderate specific impulse (1,600 s) space propulsion technology and has benefited from considerable theoretical and experimental research since the 1960s. [Wikipedia]

Video Credit: China National Space Agency (CNSA) Watcher 

Caption Credit: South China Morning Post (SCMP)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Dec. 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Satellites #Rockets #IonPropulsion #HallEffectThrusters #NuclearPower #Spaceflight #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceResearch #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #Taikonauts #TiangongSpaceStation #ChinaSpaceStation #SpaceExploration #Neptune #SolarSystem #中国科学院 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Las mejores imágenes de las investigaciones en la estación del 2023 | NASA

Las mejores imágenes de las investigaciones en la estación del 2023 | NASA

Cientos de experimentos viajaron a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional en 2023, cubriendo una amplia gama de temas científicos, incluyendo biología, investigación humana y ciencias de la Tierra. Echa un vistazo a las investigaciones en la estación con esta galería de imágenes. 

Lee más: http://go.nasa.gov/41H4jVe

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

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

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Dec. 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #ISS2023 #Science #NASAenespañol #español #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Denmark #Europe #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition70 #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceManufacturing #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Best International Space Station Science Images of 2023

Best International Space Station Science Images of 2023

U.S. in-space manufacturing in low Earth orbit is enabled by the use of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory to demonstrate the production of advanced materials. Hundreds of experiments flew aboard the International Space Station in 2023, covering a wide range of scientific topics, including biology, human research, and Earth science. Take a glimpse back at a year of science in space.

Follow Expedition 70 Updates:

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)

Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 2 minutes, 10 seconds

Release Date: Dec. 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #ISS2023 #Science #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Denmark #Europe #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition70 #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceManufacturing #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: Nearing Closest Approach | NASA's Juno Mission

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io: Nearing Closest Approach | NASA's Juno Mission

This image revealing the north polar region of the Jovian moon Io was taken on October 15, 2023, by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Three of the mountain peaks visible in the upper part of image, near the day-night dividing line, were observed here for the first time by the spacecraft’s JunoCam.

Planet Jupiter and Moon Io: A Portrait

Io moon's shadow on Jupiter

Juno spacecraft approaches Jovian Moon Io

This composite image depicts the visible changes on the surface of Jupiter's moon Io in the region around Volund, as seen by three NASA spacecraft over thirty years.

Io volcanic plume (upper mid-left in shadow) captured by JunoCam. This plume of material was ejected from the volcano Prometheus. The plume is just visible in the darkness below the terminator (the line dividing day and night).

NASA’s Juno spacecraft will on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2023, make the closest flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io that any spacecraft has made in over 20 years. Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar system, the pass is expected to allow Juno instruments to generate a firehose of data. The orbiter has performed 56 flybys of Jupiter and documented close encounters with three of the gas giant’s four largest moons.

“By combining data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science team is studying how Io’s volcanoes vary,” said Juno’s principal investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “We are looking for how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flow changes, and how Io’s activity is connected to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”

A second ultra-close flyby of Io is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2024, in which Juno will again come within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface.

The spacecraft has been monitoring Io’s volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometers) to over 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers), and has provided the first views of the moon’s north and south poles. The spacecraft has also performed close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa.

“With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists underneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.

Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giant’s inner moons reside.

Picture This

All three cameras aboard Juno will be active during the Io flyby. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM), which takes images in infrared, will be collecting the heat signatures emitted by volcanoes and calderas covering the moon’s surface. The mission’s Stellar Reference Unit (a navigational star camera that has also provided valuable science) will obtain the highest-resolution image of the surface to date. And the JunoCam imager will take visible-light color images.

JunoCam was included on the spacecraft for the public’s engagement and was designed to operate for up to eight flybys of Jupiter. The upcoming flyby of Io will be Juno’s 57th orbit around Jupiter, where the spacecraft and cameras have endured one of the solar system’s most punishing radiation environments.

“The cumulative effects of all that radiation has begun to show on JunoCam over the last few orbits,” said Ed Hirst, project manager of Juno at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Pictures from the last flyby show a reduction in the imager’s dynamic range and the appearance of ‘striping’ noise. Our engineering team has been working on solutions to alleviate the radiation damage and to keep the imager going.”

More Io, Please

After several months of study and assessment, the Juno team adjusted the spacecraft’s planned future trajectory to add seven new distant Io flybys (for a total of 18) to the extended mission plan. After the close Io pass on Feb. 3, the spacecraft will fly by Io every other orbit, with each orbit growing progressively more distant: The first will be at an altitude of about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) above Io, and the last will be at about 71,450 miles (115,000 kilometers).

The gravitational pull of Io on Juno during the Dec. 30, 2023 flyby will reduce the spacecraft’s orbit around Jupiter from 38 days to 35 days. Juno’s orbit will drop to 33 days after the Feb. 3 flyby.

After that, Juno’s new trajectory will result in Jupiter blocking the Sun from the spacecraft for about five minutes at the time when the orbiter is at its closest to the planet, a period called perijove. Although this will be the first time the solar-powered spacecraft has encountered darkness since its flyby of Earth in October 2013, the duration will be too short to affect its overall operation. With the exception of the Feb. 3 perijove, the spacecraft will encounter solar eclipses like this during every close flyby of Jupiter from now on through the remainder of its extended mission that ends in late 2025.

Starting in April 2024, the spacecraft will carry out a series of occultation experiments that use Juno’s Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiter’s upper atmospheric makeup, which provides key information on the planet’s shape and interior structure.

More About the Mission

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.

Learn more about NASA's Juno mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

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

Image Processing: Ted Stryk, Kevin M. Gill, Alain Mirón Velázquez, Jason Perry

Image Release Dates: Sept. 11, 2019-Dec. 22, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Moons #Io #Moon #Geology #Volcanoes #Mountains #Plumes #JunoMission #JunoSpacecraft #GalileoSpacecraft #NewHorizonsSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #MSFC #SwRI #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

2023 Revisited: Key Moments in Chinese Space Exploration | CGTN

2023 Revisited: Key Moments in Chinese Space Exploration | CGTN

China's space sector has seen many historic achievements in 2023, including manned missions, international collaborations and commercial launches. In this special series, CGTN reporter Wu Lei revisits the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for a look back at key moments in space exploration over the past year.

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 4 minutes, 18 seconds

Release Date: Dec. 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Rockets #iSpace #Hyperbola2 #VTVL #Landspace #CH4LOX #Zhuque2 #LEO #Spaceflight #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #Satellites #SpaceTechnology #Shenzhou17 #Taikonauts #Shenzhou16 #TiangongSpaceStation #ChinaSpaceStation #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #GansuProvince #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Getting Up to Speed with China's Commercial Reusable Rockets | CGTN

Getting Up to Speed with China's Commercial Reusable Rockets | CGTN

Deploying reusable launch vehicles is the pinnacle pursuit for maximizing cost-effectiveness in commercial space exploration. This December 2023, China's private rocket industry shattered multiple launch records, elevating expectations for the country's journey towards utilizing reusable rockets. Dive into the latest achievements of these space explorers with this episode of "Tech Please!"

China opened up its space sector to private and commercial activity in 2014. This is seen as largely in reaction to the explosion of commercial space in the U.S. The central government has since implemented policies and published guidance to support the development of commercial space.

2023 has been a notable year for China’s commercial launch companies. CAS Space, Galactic Energy, iSpace, Expace, Space Pioneer and Landspace have all reached orbit. These include first Chinese commercial liquid propellant launch successes, achieved by Space Pioneer and Landspace. 

Chinese commercial rocket company iSpace’s Hyperbola-2 launch vehicle performed a successful vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) test on Nov. 2, 2023. Hyperbola-2 is a small, reusable, two-stage liquid-propellant launch vehicle, designed by iSpace (Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Corporation Ltd.) to launch up to 1.9 tons to low-Earth orbit. This test marks progress towards a reusable medium-lift rocket to debut in 2025. It is also the latest marker in Chinese efforts to emulate the success of SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket.

The Tiangong Space Station is expected to provide an opportunity for commercial launch vehicles to gain contracts to deliver cargo. The national Guowang LEO broadband megaconstellation is also expected to provide opportunities for commercial actors.

Video Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 5 minutes, 30 seconds

Release Date: Dec. 24, 2023  

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Rockets #iSpace #Hyperbola2 #VTVL #MethaneLiquidOxygen #CH4LOX #Landspace #Zhuque2 #LEO #Spaceflight #CommercialSpace #Satellites #SpaceTechnology #TiangongSpaceStation #ChinaSpaceStation #CSS #STEM #Education #HD #Video