Under the celestial arch | ESO

In this spectacular image, taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek, we see the bright arc of the Milky Way stretching across the sky above ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. On the ground are the dome of ESO’s 3.6-meter optical telescope (on the right) and the silvery dish of the Swedish-ESO submillimeter telescope (on the left). Even though it was decommissioned in 2003 to make way for the more advanced APEX and ALMA instruments, the Swedish-ESO dish still seems to be gazing longingly at the sky, perhaps hoping for another chance to explore the mysteries of the heavens.

The Milky Way dominates this image, showing clearly why La Silla is one of the best astronomical sites in the world, famed for its dark skies and clear air. From the peak of the bright arc hangs a striking red feature known as Gum Nebula. This, like similar regions along the band of the Milky Way, is an emission nebula, where gas is made to glow by radiation emitted from nearby bright stars. The bright band of the Milky Way is broken up by dark filaments of dust, wherein stars are forming, stars that will add to the spectacle in the millennia to come.

Sitting under the arc is one of the Milky Way’s companion dwarf galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud; below it, just to the right of the Swedish-ESO dish, is the second such companion, known unsurprisingly as the Small Magellanic Cloud. Over to the right of the image is the planet Jupiter, glowing brightly against the faint glow of the gegenschein, a phenomenon only seen in the darkest skies. A rare sight for most, this magical celestial display is commonplace at astronomical observing sites like La Silla.

Credit: P. Horálek/ESO
Release Date: August 20, 2018
#ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Jupiter #Gegenschein #SolarSystem #Stars #Gum #Nebula #Emission #MilkyWay #Galaxy #SmallMagellanicCloud #SMC #Telescopes #LaSilla #Observatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #Astrophotography #Photography #STEM #Education

Sunrise over Gulf of Saint Lawrence

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) focused a camera lens on the Sun’s reflection point, roughly 1700 kilometers (1050 miles) to the northeast of the spacecraft’s position over Massachusetts at the time this image was taken. This oblique photograph shows the horizon and coastline of the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, with Quebec further inland. 

There was only a narrow window of opportunity for this sunglint photograph. The Sun’s reflection was moving across the narrows (separating the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador) and in a break between two cloud banks. Clouds are so common in this part of the world that images of the region are not often acquired from the ISS.

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The Strait of Belle Isle is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
(Source: Wikipedia)

From their altitude in the space station, the astronauts were seeing an early sunrise, which was timed at 4:41 a.m. at Goose Bay in Labrador on the day this photograph was taken. The Sun would only rise at 5:20 a.m. for people on the ground in Massachusetts directly below the spacecraft.

Three airplane condensation trails appear in the left half of the image, and another is visible on the right margin. All of them are oriented along the shortest air route to Europe (over eastern Canada), which is one of the most densely travelled air routes between North America and Europe.

Astronaut photograph ISS056-E-77502 was acquired on July 5, 2018, with a Nikon D4 digital camera using a 145 millimeter lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 56 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
Caption Credit: M. Justin Wilkinson, Texas State University, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC
Instrument: ISS — Digital Camera
Image Date: July 5, 2018
Release Date: August 19, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Sun #Summer #Sunrise #Sunglint #Canada #Quebec #Newfoundland #Labrador #Gulf #SaintLawrence #Golfe #SaintLaurent #Strait #BelleIsle #Détroit #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #Infographic #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Earth Aurora | International Space Station

Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev: "Is there nothing more beautiful than to view the Aurora from the height of the International Space Station?"

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Credit: Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev/Roscomos
Release Date: August 18, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Aurora #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Sun #Cosmonaut #космонавт #OlegArtemyev #Flight #Engineers #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #STEM #Education #International

Inside NASA's Kennedy Space Center | Week of Aug. 17, 2018

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is beginning its mission to the Sun after a successful launch Aug. 12 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. The mission was first proposed in 1958 by heliophysics pioneer Dr. Eugene Parker, who viewed the launch from Kennedy and anticipates new discoveries from his namesake spacecraft.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Duration: 1 minute, 46 seconds
Release Date: August 17, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #SpaceWeather #Sun #Solar #Corona #Star #Astrophysics #Spacecraft #Probe #SolarProbe #Parker #EugeneParker #ULA #JHUAPL #Goddard #CapeCanaveral #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #Spaceport #UnitedStates #Mission #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Moon as seen by Humans in Space

This video was taken by crews on board the International Space Station (ISS). This video is comprised of several time-lapse frames taken by astronauts over the past 10 years. Astronauts aboard the ISS view the same Moon phases as we do on Earth, only they experience Moon rises and Moon sets 16 times a day as the ISS orbits Earth.

Credit:
Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit
NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 1 minute, 34 seconds
Release Date: August 8, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Moon #Astronauts #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #Timelapse #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Continents and Clouds | International Space Station

This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 56 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots were taken using a 16mm fisheye camera lens on June 21, 2018 from 15:19:25 to 16:09:25 GMT, on a day pass from The Pacific Ocean to Africa. The video begins over cloud covered waters of the Pacific Ocean and heads toward the western coast of North America. The first sight of land is the Baja peninsula of Mexico and quickly approaches the southwest US states of Arizona and Utah. The US midwest is mostly cloudy. Orange waters on the western edge of Lake Superior are the result of significant flooding in Duluth, MN at the time of the video. The ISS continues over the northern Atlantic Ocean and passes over Spain at the Strait of Gibraltar. As the ISS heads southeast across Africa, orange Saharan sands come into view and the video ends with a sunset over the cloud covered continent.

Credit:
Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit
NASA Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 55 seconds
Release Date: June 26, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Clouds #Canadarm2 #Robotics #CSA #Canada #Astronauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #Fisheye #Camera #Lens #Timelapse #HD #Video

Mars is What Color?! | NASA 360

Aug. 17, 2018: Look up to sky tonight and you may notice that the Red Planet isn't so red right now. A global dust storm has obscured views of Mars' surface since late May and has even caused the planet to appear yellow-orange in the night sky, instead of its usual rusty-red color.

Take a look—what color do you see?

Credit: NASA 360
Duration: 59 seconds
Release Date: August 17, 2018

#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Dust #Storm #Curiosity #Rover #Robotics #RedPlanet #JPL #STEM #Education #NASA360 #HD #Video

Mission to Touch the Sun is Underway | This Week @NASA

Aug. 17, 2018: Our Parker Solar Probe mission to touch the Sun is on its way, Administrator Bridenstine visits NASA spaceflight facilities, and an update on our first-ever asteroid sample return mission … a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: NASA
Duration: 3 minutes, 44 seconds
Release Date: August 17, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Probe #Parker #SolarProbe #Spacecraft #EugeneParker #Pioneer #Astrophysicist #SolarWind #Heliophysics #University #Chicago #SpaceWeather #Sun #Solar #Corona #Star #JHUAPL #Goddard #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine for August 2018

Read KSC's August 2018 Spaceport Magazine (Free PDF: 15-pages):
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/spaceport-magazine.html
Direct Download:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spm_aug2018_web.pdf
In the August 2018 issue:
· NASA assigns first crews to fly commercial spacecraft
· NASA, commercial partners progress to human
spaceflight home stretch
· Mobile launcher's crew access arm successfully tested
· Engineers mark completion of umbilical testing at Launch
Equipment Test Facility
· Aeroshells prepared for Orion's launch abort system test
· Astronaut crew quarters being prepped for return to
human spaceflight from American soil

Spaceport Magazine is a monthly NASA publication that serves Kennedy Space Center employees and the American public. The magazine’s wide topic variety mirrors Kennedy's diverse spaceport operations. From launch processing to center development and employee stories, Spaceport Magazine covers it all.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Release Date: August 17, 2018

#NASA #Space #Science #Kennedy #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Boeing #Starliner #CommercialCrew #Astronauts #Orion #SLS #Rocket #Launch #Human #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #KSC #Spaceport #Magazine #PDF #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Space to Ground: ICARUS Ascending

Week of Aug. 17, 2018: NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

Icarus is a collaborative environmental experiment between Germany and Russia that studies the migratory patterns of small animals on Earth. It consists of an antenna and GPS hardware to track the movements of animals that have been tagged with small GPS receivers. The experiment may provide data about how animals move from one location to another, how animal population density shifts over time, and how diseases spread.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds
Release Date: August 17, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #EVA #Spacewalk #Cosmonauts #космонавт #OlegArtemyev #SergeyProkopyev #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Icarus #Animals #Experiment #Astronauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #International #HD #Video

NASA Honors Aretha Franklin

Asteroid Named for The Queen of Soul

NASA Statement: "We’re saddened by the loss of Aretha Franklin (1942-2018). Asteroid 249516 Aretha, found by our NEOWISE mission and named after the singer to commemorate the Queen of Soul, will keep orbiting beyond Mars."

The Principal Investigator for NEOWISE is Amy Mainzer of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL manages NEOWISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and carries out mission operations. The Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University provided the science instrument. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. built the spacecraft. Science operations, data processing and archiving take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology.

NEOWISE: The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope active from December 2009 to February 2011. It was launched on December 14, 2009, and decommissioned/hibernated on February 17, 2011 when its transmitter was turned off. It performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm wavelength range bands, over 10 months using a 40 cm (16 in) diameter infrared telescope in Earth-orbit. The initial mission length was limited by its hydrogen coolant, but a secondary post-cryogenic mission continued four more months with two of the four detectors remaining operational.

The NEOWISE project has delivered physical data on an enormous number of minor planets and efforts are underway to mine even more out of the dataset. To date, the project has resulted in the detection of ~158,000 asteroids at thermal infrared wavelengths, including ~700 NEOs, and has discovered ~34,000 new asteroids, 135 of which are NEOs. The project has detected more than 155 comets, including 21 discoveries. Preliminary physical properties such as diameter and visible albedo have been computed and published for nearly all of these objects to date, enabling a range of studies of the origins and evolution of the small bodies in our solar system. So far, NEOWISE data have been used to constrain the numbers, sizes, and orbital elements of NEOs, including potentially hazardous asteroids, as well as the Jovian Trojans, Hilda-group asteroids, and the physical properties and collisional history of Main Belt asteroid families. Efforts were undertaken to perform detailed analysis of the small body thermophysical properties, as well as the dust and gas properties of active bodies. Nucleus sizes have been computed for nearly the entire NEOWISE cometary sample to date in order to apply debiasing techniques to extrapolate the sample to the population writ large.

For more about NEOWISE, visit http://www.nasa.gov/neowise and http://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/

Credit: NASA
Release Date: August 16, 2018

#NASA #Earth #Astronomy #Science #Space #ArethaFranklin #QueenOfSoul #Music #Artist #Singer #Songwriter #Pianist #Woman #AfricanAmerican #Asteroid249516Aretha #Mars #Asteroids #Comets #SolarSystem #Exploration #NEOWISE #Infrared #Telescope #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #Art #Illustration #STEM #Education

Earth Clouds | International Space Station

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst: "Unlimited airspace? Not quite. These photos show how little air surrounds our planet. Do we treat it accordingly?"

"Noch Luft nach oben? Auf diesen Bildern wird sichtbar, wie wenig davon auf unserem Planeten existiert. Behandeln wir sie auch so?"

Follow Alexander and the Horizons mission:
http://bit.ly/AlexanderGerstESA and on http://bit.ly/HorizonsBlogESA

Credit: ESA/NASA-A.Gerst
Image Date: July 23, 2018
Release Date: August 16, 2018
#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Clouds #Environment #Astronaut #AlexanderGerst #Horizons #Europe #Germany #Deutschland #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

A Multi-Wavelength Sea of Galaxies | Hubble

HDUV GOODS-South Field

This sea of approximately 15,000 galaxies—about 12,000 of which are forming stars—is one of the most comprehensive portraits yet of the universe’s evolutionary history. The ultraviolet vision from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, combined with infrared and visible-light data from Hubble and other space and ground-based telescopes, opens a new window on the evolving universe. It tracks the birth of stars over the last 11 billion years back to the cosmos’ busiest star-forming period, which happened about 3 billion years after the big bang.

Ultraviolet light has been the missing piece to the cosmic puzzle. Because Earth’s atmosphere filters most ultraviolet light, Hubble can provide some of the most sensitive space-based ultraviolet observations possible.

This image straddles the gap between the very distant galaxies, which can only be viewed in infrared light due to the expansion of the universe, and closer galaxies, which can be seen across a broad spectrum. By comparing images of star formation in the distant and nearby universe, astronomers gain a better understanding of how nearby galaxies grew.

The program, called the Hubble Deep UV (HDUV) Legacy Survey, extends and builds on the previous Hubble multi-wavelength data in the CANDELS-Deep (Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey) fields within the central part of the GOODS (The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey) fields. This mosaic is 14 times the area of the Hubble Ultraviolet Ultra Deep Field released in 2014.

This image is a portion of the GOODS-South field, which is located in the southern constellation Fornax.

Credits:
NASA, ESA, P. Oesch (University of Geneva), and M. Montes (University of New South Wales)
Release Date: August 16, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Fornax #Cosmos #Universe #Cosmology #Telescope #Ultraviolet #DeepField #HDUV #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

Hubble Paints Picture of the Evolving Universe

Aug. 16, 2018: Astronomers using the ultraviolet vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have captured one of the largest panoramic views of the fire and fury of star birth in the distant universe. The field features approximately 15,000 galaxies, about 12,000 of which are forming stars. Hubble’s ultraviolet vision opens a new window on the evolving universe, tracking the birth of stars over the last 11 billion years back to the cosmos’ busiest star-forming period, which happened about 3 billion years after the big bang.

Ultraviolet light has been the missing piece to the cosmic puzzle. Now, combined with infrared and visible-light data from Hubble and other space and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have assembled one of the most comprehensive portraits yet of the universe’s evolutionary history.

The image straddles the gap between the very distant galaxies, which can only be viewed in infrared light, and closer galaxies, which can be seen across a broad spectrum. The light from distant star-forming regions in remote galaxies started out as ultraviolet. However, the expansion of the universe has shifted the light into infrared wavelengths. By comparing images of star formation in the distant and nearby universe, astronomers glean a better understanding of how nearby galaxies grew from small clumps of hot, young stars long ago.

Because Earth’s atmosphere filters most ultraviolet light, Hubble can provide some of the most sensitive space-based ultraviolet observations possible.

The program, called the Hubble Deep UV (HDUV) Legacy Survey, extends and builds on the previous Hubble multi-wavelength data in the CANDELS-Deep (Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey) fields within the central part of the GOODS (The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey) fields. This mosaic is 14 times the area of the Hubble Ultra Violet Ultra Deep Field released in 2014.

This image is a portion of the GOODS-North field, which is located in the northern constellation Ursa Major.

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.

Credits:
NASA, ESA, P. Oesch (University of Geneva), and M. Montes (University of New South Wales)
Release Date: August 16, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #UrsaMajor #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Ultraviolet #HDUV #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

Cosmonauts at work | International Space Station

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst: "The ultimate workplace. Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev successfully installed the Icarus experiment antenna on the outside hull of the International Space Station during 7 hour 46 minute-long spacewalk—RS-EVA-45."

"Der abgelegenste Arbeitsplatz"
"Der abgelegenste Arbeitsplatz der Welt. Meine Freunde Oleg und Sergey haben eben erfolgreich die Antenne des Icarus Experiments auf der Außenhülle der ISS installiert."

Icarus is a collaborative environmental experiment between Germany and Russia that studies the migratory patterns of small animals on Earth. It consists of an antenna and GPS hardware to track the movements of animals that have been tagged with small GPS receivers. The experiment may provide data about how animals move from one location to another, how animal population density shifts over time, and how diseases spread.

Expedition 56 Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos have completed a spacewalk lasting 7 hours and 46 minutes.

The two cosmonauts opened the hatch to the Pirs docking compartment to begin the spacewalk at 12:17 p.m. EDT on August 15, 2018. They re-entered the airlock and closed the hatch at 8:03 p.m. EDT.

During the spacewalk, the duo manually launched four small technology satellites and installed an experiment called Icarus onto the Russian segment of the space station.

It was the 212th spacewalk in support of International Space Station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, the third in Artemyev’s career and the first for Prokopyev.

Follow Alexander and the Horizons mission:
http://bit.ly/AlexanderGerstESA and on http://bit.ly/HorizonsBlogESA

Credit: ESA/NASA-A.Gerst
Image Date: August 15, 2018
Release Date: August 16, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #EVA #Spacewalk #Cosmonauts #космонавт #OlegArtemyev #SergeyProkopyev #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Icarus #Animal #Experiment #Astronaut #AlexanderGerst #Horizons #Europe #Germany #Deutschland #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

What Does the Discovery of #MorePlanetsThanStars Mean to You? | NASA

The Kepler space telescope has had a profound impact on our understanding of the number of worlds that exist beyond our solar system. Through its survey, we’ve discovered there are more planets than stars in our galaxy! After nine amazing years in space, Kepler’s journey is coming to an end. Before we say farewell to the spacecraft, NASA invites you to celebrate its legacy by sharing something about what the finding of “more planets than stars” means to you. Tag your posts on social media with the hashtag #MorePlanetsThanStars.

Learn more: go.nasa.gov/MorePlanetsThanStars

NASA's Ames Research Center is located in California's Silicon Valley.

Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center
Duration: 47 seconds
Release Date: August 1, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Exoplanets #Planets #Stars #Earth #Cosmos #Universe #Kepler #Telescope #Spacecraft #Ames #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video