Ancient Galaxy Megamergers | ESO

ALMA and APEX telescopes discover massive conglomerations of forming galaxies in early Universe

This artist's impression of galaxy protocluster SPT2349-56 shows a group of interacting and merging galaxies in the early Universe. Such mergers have been spotted using the ALMA and APEX telescopes and represent the formation of galaxies clusters, the most massive objects in the modern Universe. Astronomers thought that these events occurred around three billion years after the Big Bang, so they were surprised when the new observations revealed them happening when the Universe was only half that age!

April 25, 2018: European Southern Observatory ALMA and APEX telescopes have peered deep into space— back to the time when the Universe was one tenth of its current age—and witnessed the beginnings of gargantuan cosmic pileups: the impending collisions of young, starburst galaxies. Astronomers thought that these events occurred around three billion years after the Big Bang, so they were surprised when the new observations revealed them happening when the Universe was only half that age! These ancient systems of galaxies are thought to be building the most massive structures in the known Universe: galaxy clusters.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), two international teams of scientists led by Tim Miller from Dalhousie University in Canada and Yale University in the US and Iván Oteo from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, have uncovered startlingly dense concentrations of galaxies that are poised to merge, forming the cores of what will eventually become colossal galaxy clusters.

Peering 90% of the way across the observable Universe, the Miller team observed a galaxy protocluster named SPT2349-56. The light from this object began travelling to us when the Universe was about a tenth of its current age.

The individual galaxies in this dense cosmic pileup are starburst galaxies and the concentration of vigorous star formation in such a compact region makes this by far the most active region ever observed in the young Universe. Thousands of stars are born there every year, compared to just one in our own Milky Way.

The Oteo team discovered a similar megamerger formed by ten dusty star-forming galaxies, nicknamed a “dusty red core” because of its very red color, by combining observations from ALMA and the APEX.

Iván Oteo explains why these objects are unexpected: “The lifetime of dusty starbursts is thought to be relatively short, because they consume their gas at an extraordinary rate. At any time, in any corner of the Universe, these galaxies are usually in the minority. So, finding numerous dusty starbursts shining at the same time like this is very puzzling, and something that we still need to understand.”

These forming galaxy clusters were first spotted as faint smudges of light, using the South Pole Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory. Subsequent ALMA and APEX observations showed that they had unusual structure and confirmed that their light originated much earlier than expected—only 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

The new high-resolution ALMA observations finally revealed that the two faint glows are not single objects, but are actually composed of fourteen and ten individual massive galaxies respectively, each within a radius comparable to the distance between the Milky Way and the neighbouring Magellanic Clouds.

"These discoveries by ALMA are only the tip of the iceberg. Additional observations with the APEX telescope show that the real number of star-forming galaxies is likely even three times higher. Ongoing observations with the MUSE instrument on ESO’s VLT are also identifying additional galaxies,” comments Carlos De Breuck, ESO astronomer.

Current theoretical and computer models suggest that protoclusters as massive as these should have taken much longer to evolve. By using data from ALMA, with its superior resolution and sensitivity, as input to sophisticated computer simulations, the researchers are able to study cluster formation less than 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

"How this assembly of galaxies got so big so fast is a mystery. It wasn’t built up gradually over billions of years, as astronomers might expect. This discovery provides a great opportunity to study how massive galaxies came together to build enormous galaxy clusters," says Tim Miller, a PhD candidate at Yale University and lead author of one of the papers.

Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Release Date: April 25, 2018

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organization in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a strategic partner. ESO carries out an ambitious program focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organizing cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-meter Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

#ESO #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Galaxy #SPT234956 #Space #Earth #Chile #Atacama #Desert #ALMA #APEX #Telescope #Cosmos #Universe #Art #STEM #Education

Hubble Technology Finds Earthly Applications | NASA

The decades-long career of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has resulted in a wealth of new technologies, many of which have found earthly applications.

Visit Hubble's new webpage on technology transfer at:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-technology-transfer/

Credit: NASA Goddard
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: April 25, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Technology #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tonight's Sky: May 2018 | HubbleSite

In May, the stars and galaxies of Virgo and Canes Venatici, the full disc of Jupiter, and the Eta Aquarid meteor shower are all on view in the Northern Hemisphere.

"Tonight's Sky" is produced by HubbleSite.org, online home of the Hubble Space Telescope: http://HubbleSite.org

Credit: HubbleSite.org
Duration: 7 minutes
Release Date: April 20, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Skywatching #Planet #Saturn #Mars #Venus #Jupiter #Meteor #MeteorShower #Comet #SolarSystem #Stars #Star #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #Binoculars #Telescopes #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Evolution of Type IIb Stripped-Envelope Supernova | Hubble

April 26, 2018: This graphic illustrates the scenario for the processes that create a Type IIb stripped-envelope supernova, in which most, but not all, of the hydrogen envelope is lost prior to the primary star’s explosion. The four panels show the interaction between the SN 2001ig progenitor star, which ultimately exploded, and its surviving companion. 1) Two stars orbit each other and draw closer and closer together. 2) The more massive star evolves faster, swelling up to become a red giant. In this late phase of life, it spills most of its hydrogen envelope into the gravitational field of its companion. As the companion siphons off almost all of the doomed star’s hydrogen, it creates an instability in the primary star. 3) The primary star explodes in a supernova. 4) As the supernova’s glow fades, the surviving companion becomes visible to the Hubble Space Telescope. The faint remnant of the supernova, at lower left, continues to evolve but in this case is too faint to be detected by Hubble.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)
Release Date: April 26, 2018

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Companion to a Supernova | Hubble Space Telescope

Image Captured for the First Time

April 26, 2018: In the fading afterglow of a supernova explosion, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have photographed the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova. This is the most compelling evidence that some supernovas originate in double-star systems. The companion to supernova 2001ig’s progenitor star was no innocent bystander to the explosion—it siphoned off almost all of the hydrogen from the doomed star’s stellar envelope. SN 2001ig is categorized as a Type IIb stripped-envelope supernova, which is a relatively rare type of supernova in which most, but not all, of the hydrogen is gone prior to the explosion. Perhaps as many as half of all stripped-envelope supernovas have companions—the other half lose their outer envelopes via stellar winds.

The Full Story

Seventeen years ago, astronomers witnessed a supernova go off 40 million light-years away in the galaxy called NGC 7424, located in the southern constellation Grus, the Crane. Now, in the fading afterglow of that explosion, NASA's Hubble has captured the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova. This picture is the most compelling evidence that some supernovas originate in double-star systems.

“We know that the majority of massive stars are in binary pairs,” said Stuart Ryder from the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) in Sydney, Australia and lead author of the study. “Many of these binary pairs will interact and transfer gas from one star to the other when their orbits bring them close together.”

The companion to the supernova’s progenitor star was no innocent bystander to the explosion. It siphoned off almost all of the hydrogen from the doomed star’s stellar envelope, the region that transports energy from the star’s core to its atmosphere. Millions of years before the primary star went supernova, the companion’s thievery created an instability in the primary star, causing it to episodically blow off a cocoon and shells of hydrogen gas before the catastrophe.

The supernova, called SN 2001ig, is categorized as a Type IIb stripped-envelope supernova. This type of supernova is unusual because most, but not all, of the hydrogen is gone prior to the explosion. This type of exploding star was first identified in 1987 by team member Alex Filippenko of the University of California, Berkeley.

How stripped-envelope supernovas lose that outer envelope is not entirely clear. They were originally thought to come from single stars with very fast winds that pushed off the outer envelopes. The problem was that when astronomers started looking for the primary stars from which supernovas were spawned, they couldn’t find them for many stripped-envelope supernovas.

“That was especially bizarre, because astronomers expected that they would be the most massive and the brightest progenitor stars,” explained team member Ori Fox of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “Also, the sheer number of stripped-envelope supernovas is greater than predicted.” That fact led scientists to theorize that many of the primary stars were in lower-mass binary systems, and they set out to prove it.

Looking for a binary companion after a supernova explosion is no easy task. First, it has to be at a relatively close distance to Earth for Hubble to see such a faint star. SN 2001ig and its companion are about at that limit. Within that distance range, not many supernovas go off. Even more importantly, astronomers have to know the exact position through very precise measurements.

In 2002, shortly after SN 2001ig exploded, scientists pinpointed the precise location of the supernova with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Cerro Paranal, Chile. In 2004, they then followed up with the Gemini South Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile. This observation first hinted at the presence of a surviving binary companion.

Knowing the exact coordinates, Ryder and his team were able to focus Hubble on that location 12 years later, as the supernova’s glow faded. With Hubble’s exquisite resolution and ultraviolet capability, they were able to find and photograph the surviving companion—something only Hubble could do.

Prior to the supernova explosion, the orbit of the two stars around each other took about a year.

When the primary star exploded, it had far less impact on the surviving companion than might be thought. Imagine an avocado pit—representing the dense core of the companion star—embedded in a gelatin dessert—representing the star’s gaseous envelope. As a shock wave passes through, the gelatin might temporarily stretch and wobble, but the avocado pit would remain intact.

In 2014, Fox and his team used Hubble to detect the companion of another Type IIb supernova, SN 1993J. However, they captured a spectrum, not an image. The case of SN 2001ig is the first time a surviving companion has been photographed. “We were finally able to catch the stellar thief, confirming our suspicions that one had to be there,” said Filippenko.

Perhaps as many as half of all stripped-envelope supernovas have companions—the other half lose their outer envelopes via stellar winds. Ryder and his team have the ultimate goal of precisely determining how many supernovas with stripped envelopes have companions.

Their next endeavor is to look at completely stripped-envelope supernovas, as opposed to SN 2001ig and SN 1993J, which were only about 90 percent stripped. These completely stripped-envelope supernovas don’t have much shock interaction with gas in the surrounding stellar environment, since their outer envelopes were lost long before the explosion. Without shock interaction, they fade much faster. This means that the team will only have to wait two or three years to look for surviving companions.

In the future, they also hope to use the James Webb Space Telescope to continue their search.

The paper on this team’s current work was published on March 28, 2018 in the Astrophysical Journal:
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aaaf1e

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.

Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Ryder (Australian Astronomical Observatory), and O. Fox (STScI)
Release Date: April 26, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Supernova #Star #SN2001ig #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

Space X Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Booster Landings

Synchronicity!
Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 & LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA on February 6, 2018.

Falcon Heavy Boosters
"Each of Falcon Heavy’s side cores, or boosters, is equivalent to the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket with nine Merlin engines. At liftoff, the boosters and the center core all operate at full thrust. Shortly after liftoff, the center core engines are throttled down. After the side cores separate, the center core engines throttle back up."

Learn more: http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Synchronicity: the state of "occurring at the same time; coinciding in time; contemporaneous; simultaneous."

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Image Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX
Caption Credit: SpaceX
Image Date: February 6, 2018
#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #Rocket #Falcon9 #KSC #Kennedy #CapeCanaveral #Florida #Spaceport #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Booster Rockets Post-landing

Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 & LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA on February 6, 2018.

Falcon Heavy Boosters
"Each of Falcon Heavy’s side cores, or boosters, is equivalent to the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket with nine Merlin engines. At liftoff, the boosters and the center core all operate at full thrust. Shortly after liftoff, the center core engines are throttled down. After the side cores separate, the center core engines throttle back up."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Image Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX
Caption Credit: SpaceX
Image Date: February 6, 2018

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #Rocket #Falcon9 #KSC #Kennedy #CapeCanaveral #Florida #Spaceport #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch Successful!

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!
Video: Go to the 29 minute mark to replay the launch!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Gallery

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket begins its demonstration flight with liftoff at 3:45 p.m. EST from from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 6, 2018. This is a significant milestone for the world's premier multi-user spaceport. In 2014, NASA signed a property agreement with SpaceX for the use and operation of the center's pad 39A, where the company has launched Falcon 9 rockets and prepared for the first Falcon Heavy. NASA also has Space Act Agreements in place with partners, such as SpaceX, to provide services needed to process and launch rockets and spacecraft.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Capture Date: February 6, 2018

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #Florida #Spaceport #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

Elon Musk wants to go to Mars!

Elon's reusable Falcon Heavy rocket is now one leap closer! 

PBS NewsHour: "SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, a successful liftoff brought to fruition by Elon Musk’s private company. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins John Yang to discuss the historical launch and what made it so different from a NASA launch."

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Video Credit: PBS NewsHour
Image Date: February 6, 2018

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

SpaceX Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin Engines at Liftoff!

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Image Credit: Spaceflight.com
Caption Credit: SpaceX
Image Date: February 6, 2018

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

SpaceX Falcon Heavy's Historic Blastoff!

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Image & Caption Credit: Ralf Heckel
Image Date: February 6, 2018

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

Elon's "Starman" over Australia

"Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth..."

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch Successful Today!
"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon #Starman

SpaceX Falcon Heavy's Historic Blastoff!

Congratulations to Team SpaceX & Elon Musk!
"Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)—a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9."

"Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars."

Steve Jurvetson: "Success!!!! I was so excited while taking these photos! Congrats SpaceX for your persistence of vision and bold mission to change the worlds!!!"

Learn more: www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

Image & Caption Credit: Steve Jurvetson
Image Date: February 6, 2018

#SpaceX #ElonMusk #Mars #JourneyToMars #NASA #Science #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Kennedy #UnitedStates #History #Apollo #SolarSystem #Exploration #Moon

Antares & The Milky Way | ESO

Brilliant blue stars litter the southern sky and the galactic bulge of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, hangs serenely above the horizon in this spectacular shot of ESO’s Paranal Observatory.

This image was taken atop Cerro Paranal in Chile, home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). In the foreground, the open dome of one of the four 1.8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes can be seen. The four Auxiliary Telescopes can be utilized together, to form the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI).

The plane of the Milky Way is dotted with bright regions of hot gas. The very bright star towards the upper left corner of the frame is Antares—the brightest star in Scorpius and the fifteenth brightest star in the night sky.

Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Release Date: October 30, 2017

#ESO #Astronomy #Science #Space #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Antares #Cosmos #Universe #Paranal #Observatory #CerroParanal #Chile #SouthAmerica #Astrophotography #Photography #STEM #Education

Abell’s richest cluster | Hubble Space Telescope

The Universe contains some truly massive objects. Although we are still unsure how such gigantic things come to be, the current leading theory is known as hierarchical clustering, whereby small clumps of matter collide and merge to grow ever larger. The 14-billion-year history of the Universe has seen the formation of some enormous cosmic structures, including galaxy groups, clusters, and superclusters—the largest known structures in the cosmos!

This particular cluster is called Abell 665. It was named after its discoverer, George O. Abell, who included it in his seminal 1958 cluster catalog. Abell 665 is located in the well-known northern constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). This incredible image combines visible and infrared light gathered by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope using two of its cameras: the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3.

Abell 665 is the only galaxy cluster in Abell’s entire catalog to be given a richness class of 5, indicating that the cluster contains at least 300 individual galaxies. Because of this richness, the cluster has been studied extensively at all wavelengths, resulting in a number of fascinating discoveries—among other research, Abell 665 has been found to host a giant radio halo, powerful shockwaves, and has been used to calculate an updated value for the Hubble constant (a measure of how fast the Universe is expanding).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: October 30, 2017

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Abell665 #Cluster #Cosmos #Universe #UrsaMajor #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education