The Carina Nebula | ESO

This spectacular European Southern Observatory (ESO) image of the Carina nebula in infrared light reveals the dynamic cloud of interstellar matter and thinly spread gas and dust as never before. The massive stars in the interior of this cosmic bubble emit intense radiation that causes the surrounding gas to glow. By contrast, other regions of the nebula contain dark pillars of dust cloaking newborn stars.

Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/M. Irwin/J. Lewis
Release Date: August 29, 2018

#ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #Carina #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Infrared #Atacama #Desert #Chile #SouthAmerica #STEM #Education

Energetic lightshow at Saturn’s north pole | Hubble

August 30, 2018: Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space telescope have taken a series of spectacular images featuring the fluttering auroras at the north pole of Saturn. The observations were taken in ultraviolet light and the resulting images provide astronomers with the most comprehensive picture so far of Saturn’s northern aurora.

In 2017, over a period of seven months, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took images of auroras above Saturn’s north pole region using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The observations were taken before and after the Saturnian northern summer solstice. These conditions provided the best achievable viewing of the northern auroral region for Hubble.

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere —the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth [1].

However, these auroras are not unique to Earth. Other planets in our Solar System have been found to have similar auroras. Among them are the four gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Because the atmosphere of each of the four outer planets in the Solar System is—unlike the Earth—dominated by hydrogen, Saturn’s auroras can only be seen in ultraviolet wavelengths; a part of the electromagnetic spectrum which can only be studied from space.

Hubble allowed researchers to monitor the behaviour of the auroras at Saturn's north pole over an extended period of time. The Hubble observations were coordinated with the “Grand Finale” of the Cassini spacecraft, when the spacecraft simultaneously probed the auroral regions of Saturn [2]. The Hubble data allowed astronomers to learn more about Saturn’s magnetosphere, which is the largest of any planet in the Solar System other than Jupiter.

The images show a rich variety of emissions with highly variable localized features. The variability of the auroras is influenced by both the solar wind and the rapid rotation of Saturn, which lasts only about 11 hours. On top of this, the northern aurora displays two distinct peaks in brightness—at dawn and just before midnight. The latter peak, unreported before, seems specific to the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere at Saturn’s solstice.

The main image presented here is a composite of observations made of Saturn in early 2018 in the optical and of the auroras on Saturn’s north pole region, made in 2017, demonstrating the size of the auroras along with the beautiful colors of Saturn.

Hubble has studied Saturn's auroras in the past. In 2004, it studied the southern auroras shortly after the southern solstice and in 2009 it took advantage of a rare opportunity to record Saturn when its rings were edge-on. This allowed Hubble to observe both poles and their auroras simultaneously.

Notes
[1] The auroras here on Earth have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

[2] Cassini was a collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. It spent 13 years orbiting Saturn, gathering information and giving astronomers a great insight into the inner workings of Saturn. Cassini took more risks at the end of its mission, travelling through the gap between Saturn and its rings. No spacecraft had previously done this, and Cassini gathered spectacular images of Saturn as well as new data for scientists to work with. On September 15, 2017 Cassini was sent on a controlled crash into Saturn.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Credit: NASA, ESA & L. Lamy
Release Date: August 30, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Planet #Saturn #NorthPole #Aurora #Ultraviolet #MagneticField #Sun #SolarSystem #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

Russian segment | International Space Station

A portion of the International Space Station's Russian segment is pictured before the Progress 69 cargo craft undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda service module. Also attached to the forward end of Zvezda are the Poisk and Pirs modules. The Poisk module hosts the docked Soyuz MS-08 crew ship that brought three Expedition 55/56 crew members to the station in March 2018. The Pirs docking compartment hosts the Progress 70 resupply ship which delivered several tons of food, fuel and supplies to the Expedition 56 crew in July 2018.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: August 23, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Soyuz #Союз #SoyuzMS09 #Progress70 #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #Cooperation

Andes Mountain Range | International Space Station

Two docked Russian spacecraft on the International Space Station, the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship and the Progress 70 resupply ship, were pictured as the orbital complex flew 253 miles above the Andes mountain range and the South American continent.

The Andes or Andean Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. This range is about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, about 200 to 700 km (120 to 430 mi) wide (widest between 18° south and 20° south latitude), and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. (Source: Wikipedia)

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: August 15, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Andes #Mountains #SouthAmerica #Soyuz #Союз #SoyuzMS09 #Progress70 #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

How Did Mars Get Such Enormous Mountains? | NASA/JPL

Mars in a Minute | Aug. 28, 2018: Why are the tallest peaks in the solar system found on one of its smallest worlds? Like any planet, how Mars looks outside is tied to what goes on inside.

Dig into planetary formation in this 60-second video and by visiting: mars.nasa.gov/insight

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: August 28, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Earth #Planets #RedPlanet #Insight #Lander #Spacecraft #Geoscience #Geology #Mountains #Volcanoes #OlympusMons #SolarSystem #Exploration #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Hurricane Lane's Eye | International Space Station

Hurricane Lane, with its distinct eye, was pictured as a category 4 storm as the International Space Station orbited 251 miles above the Pacific Ocean east of the Hawaiian Islands on August 21, 2018.

Update: Tropical Storm Lane (recently downgraded) ranked as the No. 3 rainmaker from a tropical cyclone in the United States since 1950.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: August 21, 2018
#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Hurricane #HurricaneLane #Hawaii #Precipitation #Rain #Weather #Meteorology #PacificOcean #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Jupiter’s North: Time-lapse Sequence | NASA Juno

Striking atmospheric features in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere are captured in this series of color-enhanced images from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. An anticyclonic white oval, called N5-AWO, can be seen at center left of the first image (at far left) and appears slightly higher in the second and third images. A tempest known as the Little Red Spot is visible near the bottom of the second and third images. The reddish-orange band that is prominently displayed in the fourth and fifth images is the North North Temperate Belt.

From left to right, this sequence of images was taken between 9:54 p.m. and 10:11 p.m. PDT on July 15 (12:54 a.m. and 1:11 a.m. EDT on July 16), as the spacecraft performed its 14th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno’s altitude ranged from about 15,700 to 3,900 miles (25,300 to 6,200 kilometers) from the planet's cloud tops, above a latitude of approximately 69 to 36 degrees.

Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created this image using data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager.

More information about Juno is at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstäd/Seán Doran
Capture Date: July 15, 2018
Release Date: August 27, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #Anticyclonic #White #Oval #N5AWO #LittleRedSpot #LRS #Perijove #Perijove14 #Clouds #Weather #Meteorology #Juno #Spacecraft #JunoCam #Malin #SwRI #JPL #STEM #Education #CitizenScience

GOODS-South Hubble Deep UV Legacy Field | Hubble

This week we showcase the second part of the Hubble Deep UV (HDUV) Legacy Field, the GOODS-South view. With the addition of new ultraviolet light imagery, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured the largest panoramic view of the fire and fury of star birth in the distant Universe, encompassing 12,000 star-forming galaxies.

Hubble’s ultraviolet vision opens up a new window on the evolving Universe, tracking the birth of stars over the last 11 billion years up to the cosmos’s busiest star-forming period, which happened about three billion years after the Big Bang.

So far, ultraviolet light has been the missing piece of the cosmic puzzle. Now, combined with data in infrared, and visible light from Hubble and other space- and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have assembled the most comprehensive portrait 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 different wavelengths. The light from distant star-forming regions in remote galaxies started out as ultraviolet, but 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 can get a better understanding of how nearby galaxies grew from small clumps of hot, young stars long ago.

The observation program harnessed the ultraviolet vision of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. This study 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.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: August 27, 2018

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

V is for VLT | ESO

This Picture of the Week shows a huge celestial “V” emblazoned across the night sky over ESO’s Paranal Observatory, which is situated atop Cerro Paranal in Chile.

One arm of the “V” is noticeably clearer than the other; the right arm, pointing towards the top right corner of the frame, is traced out by the beautiful star-studded centre of the Milky Way. The fainter arm, leaning leftwards, is formed of glowing columns of diffuse zodiacal light, a phenomenon caused by incoming sunlight that is scattered by small particles of cosmic dust.

While we often see both the Milky Way and zodiacal light at Paranal thanks to the site’s famously clear skies, the “V” alignment shown here is unusual. Zodiacal light is related to the Earth’s path through space, as the dust particles responsible for scattering the sunlight are all within a cloud that lies on the ecliptic plane (dubbed the zodiacal cloud). Because of this, the glow varies in strength and visibility throughout the year, and is best seen in spring and autumn just after sunset or before sunrise. The opportunity to observe a beam of zodiacal light seeming to emanate from the very centre of the Milky Way comes only once per year, during January. For more information on this cosmic phenomenon, see ESOcast 82: Zodiacal light (esocast82a).

In the crook of the “V” sits one of ESO’s Very Large Telescope’s 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) — of which there are four in total. Each AT is housed in a robust enclosure that protects the delicate telescope and instrumentation from the harsh, arid desert conditions experienced at the site. Two other ATs are visible in the background towards the left side of the image.

The picture was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek.

Credit: P. Horálek/ESO
Release Date: August 27, 2018

#ESO #Earth #Astronomy #Space #Science #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Stars #ZodiacalLight #VLT #Telescope #Paranal #Observatory #Cosmos #Universe #Chile #Atacama #Desert #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Wishes Katherine Johnson a Happy 100th Birthday

Aug. 26, 2018: In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine Johnson was called upon to hand check the computer’s orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, from blast off to splashdown.

“If she says they’re good,’” Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.” Glenn’s flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.

NASA wishes Katherine Johnson a very Happy 100th Birthday!

To learn more about Katherine and other trailblazing ‘human computers,’ visit: https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures
www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count

Credit: NASA
Duration: 20 seconds
Release Date: August 26, 2018
#NASA #Space #KatherineJohnson #Mercury #Gemini #Apollo #Shuttle #Human #Spaceflight #Orbital #Trajectory #Moon #Lunar #Earth #Mathematics #Math #STEM #Education #Careers #Professional #Women #Physicist #Scientist #Mathematician #Pioneer #Langley #UnitedStates #HD #Video

The Sun: Twisting Outburst | NASA SDO

This close-up of the Sun from a two-hour period on Aug. 13, 2018 shows a minor eruption of charged particles rising up and twisting about before falling back into the Sun. Imaged in extreme ultraviolet light, these kinds of events are difficult to see except when they occur along the sun's edge, also known as the limb. At its peak the plasma rises several times the diameter of Earth.

Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA
Capture Date: August 13, 2018
Release Date: August 22, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Sun #Solar #Eruption #Outburst #Plasma #Corona #Physics #Astrophysics #Ultraviolet #SDO #GSFC #Goddard #STEM #Education

"Happy Friday!" | International Space Station

The Expedition 56 Crew: Commander Drew Feustel, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Ricky Arnold of NASA, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA), plus Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia).

Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 24, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Crew #Cupola #Cosmonauts #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Astronauts #ESA #Horizons #Europe #Germany #Deutschland #Russia #Россия #UnitedStates #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Hurricane Lane | International Space Station

Hurricane Lane was pictured by an Expedition 56 crew member as the International Space Station orbited nearly 250 miles above the Central Pacific Ocean on Aug. 22, 2018.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: August 22, 2018

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Hurricane #HurricaneLane #Hawaii #PacificOcean #Astronaut #RickyArnold #UnitedStates #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Saturn Close-up | NASA Cassini

Processed using calibrated red, green, and ultraviolet (UV3) filtered images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft on July 16, 2017.

The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

The Cassini-Huygens mission was a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, managed the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center was based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill
Image Date: July 16, 2017
Release Date: August 22, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Rings #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #JPL #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #History #STEM #Education

Mount Kilimanjaro in Cloud | International Space Station

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst: "Can you spot Kilimanjaro sticking out of the clouds over Kenya and Tanzania, in a mountain glow just before nightfall?"

"Kilimandscharo, wie er aus den Wolken über Kenia und Tansania herausschaut. Sein Gipfel glüht noch im Sonnenuntergang."

Mount Kilimanjaro, or just Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, "Kibo", "Mawenzi", and "Shira", is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa, about 4,900 meters (16,100 ft) from its base, and 5,895 meters (19,341 ft) above sea level. (Source: Wikipedia)

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

Credit: ESA/NASA-A.Gerst
Image Date: July 22, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Clouds #Kilimanjaro #Mountain #Volcano #Tanzania #Kenya #Africa #AlexanderGerst #Horizons #Europe #Germany #Deutschland #DLR #Expedition56 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Asteroid Ryugu | Japan's Hayabusa2 Spacecraft

This big space diamond has an estimated value of over 80 billion dollars. It's only diamond in shape, though—asteroid 162173 Ryugu is thought to be composed of mostly nickel and iron. Asteroids like Ryugu are interesting for several reasons, perhaps foremost because they are near the Earth and might, one day in the far future, pose an impact threat. In the nearer term, Ryugu is interesting because it may be possible to send future spacecraft there to mine it, thus providing humanity with a new source of valuable metals. Scientifically, Ryugu is interesting because it carries information about how our Solar System formed billions of years ago, and why its orbit takes it so close to Earth. Japan's robotic spacecraft Hayabusa2 just arrived at this one-kilometer wide asteroid in late June. The featured image shows surface structures unknown before spacecraft Hayabusa2's arrival, including rock fields and craters. Within the next three months, Hayabusa2 is scheduled to unleash several probes, some that will land on Ryugu and hop around, while Hayabusa2 itself will mine just a little bit of the asteroid for return to Earth.

162173 Ryugu, provisional designation 1999 JU3, is a near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It measures approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) in diameter and is a dark object of the rare spectral type Cg, with qualities of both a C-type asteroid and a G-type asteroid.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Image Credit & Copyright: ISAS, JAXA
Release Date: August 22, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Asteroid #Ryugu #162173Ryugu #NEO #Hayabusa2 #Spacecraft #JAXA #Japan #日本 #SolarSystem #Exploration #STEM #Education #APoD