Friends of NASA

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Panning on The Antennae Galaxy | Hubble

Panning on The Antennae Galaxy | Hubble

Panning on the Antennae Galaxy. The stellar fireworks contain brilliant young clusters of tens of thousands of stars. Orange blobs to the left and right of center are the two cores of the original galaxies, criss-crossed by dark filaments of dust seen in silhouette. Brilliant blue star clusters, born in the collision, pepper the galaxies. Pinkish glowing hydrogen gas identify star birth regions glowing under the intense energy from newborn stars.

Credit:ESA/Hubble (Martin Kornmesser)

Duration: 58 seconds

Release Date: October 17, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Antennae #Galaxies #AntennaeGalaxies #NGC4038 #NGC4039 #Corvus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video

Zooming on The Antennae Galaxy | Hubble

Zooming on The Antennae Galaxy | Hubble

Zooming through the nighttime sky into the constellation Corvus the crow, deeper into the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys image of the Antennae galaxies. The stellar fireworks contain brilliant young clusters of tens of thousands of stars. Orange blobs to the left and right of center are the two cores of the original galaxies, criss-crossed by dark filaments of dust seen in silhouette.

Brilliant blue star clusters, born in the collision, pepper the galaxies. Pinkish glowing hydrogen gas identify star birth regions glowing under the intense energy from newborn stars.

Credit: Akira Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey 2 and ESA/Hubble (Martin Kornmesser)

Duration: 58 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope snapped this image of the Antennae Galaxies. Hubble has released images of these stunning galaxies twice before, once using observations from its Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in 1997, and again in 2006 from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Each of Hubble’s images of the Antennae Galaxies has been better than the last, due to upgrades made during the famous servicing missions, the last of which took place in 2009.

Distance: 65 million light years

The galaxies—also known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039—are locked in a deadly embrace. Once normal, sedate spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, the pair have spent the past few hundred million years sparring with one another. This clash is so violent that stars have been ripped from their host galaxies to form a streaming arc between the two. In wide-field images of the pair the reason for their name becomes clear—far-flung stars and streamers of gas stretch out into space, creating long tidal tails reminiscent of antennae.

This image of the Antennae Galaxies shows obvious signs of chaos. Clouds of gas are seen in bright pink and red, surrounding the bright flashes of blue star-forming regions—some of which are partially obscured by dark patches of dust. The rate of star formation is so high that the Antennae Galaxies are said to be in a state of starburst, a period in which all of the gas within the galaxies is being used to form stars. This cannot last forever and neither can the separate galaxies; eventually the nuclei will coalesce, and the galaxies will begin their retirement together as one large elliptical galaxy.

This image uses visible and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), along with some of the previously-released observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: November 11, 2013

A Ghostly Celestial Spiral in Pegasus | Hubble

A Ghostly Celestial Spiral in Pegasus | Hubble

This remarkable picture from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows one of the most perfect geometrical forms created in space. It captures the formation of an unusual pre-planetary nebula, known as IRAS 23166+1655, around the star LL Pegasi (also known as AFGL 3068) in the constellation of Pegasus (the Winged Horse).

The striking picture shows what appears to be a thin spiral pattern of astonishingly regularity winding around the star, which is itself hidden behind thick dust. The spiral pattern suggests a regular periodic origin for the nebula’s shape. The material forming the spiral is moving outwards a speed of about 50,000 km/hour and, by combining this speed with the distance between layers, astronomers calculate that the shells are each separated by about 800 years.

The spiral is thought to arise because LL Pegasi is a binary system, with the star that is losing material and a companion star orbiting each other. The spacing between layers in the spiral is expected to directly reflect the orbital period of the binary, which is indeed estimated to be also about 800 years.

The creation and shaping of planetary nebulae is an exciting area of stellar evolution. Stars with masses from about half that of the Sun up to about eight times that of the Sun do not explode as supernovae at the ends of their lives. Instead a more regal end awaits them as their outer layers of gas are shed and drift into space, creating striking and intricate structures that to Earth-bound observers often look like dramatic watercolor paintings. IRAS 23166+1655 is just starting this process and the central star has yet to emerge from the cocoon of enveloping dust.

This picture was created from images from the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on Hubble. Images through a yellow filter (F606W, colored blue) were combined with images through a near-infra red filter (F804W, colored red). The exposure times were 11 minutes and 22 minutes respectively and the field of view spans about 80 arcseconds.

Paper discussing the intriguing AFGL 3068 (PDF format): https://esahubble.org/static/archives/releases/science_papers/potw1020.pdf

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA & R. Sahai

Release Date: September 6, 2010

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Star #LLPegasi #Nebula #IRAS231661655 #Pegasus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

"Teamwork makes the dream work!" | International Space Station

"Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!" | International Space Station

Timelapse video made during the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Minerva”. Samantha shared this video on social media with the caption: “Teamwork makes the dream work! Our oxygen generation system and our life support rack had to swap places . . . and we needed all hands on deck! Wasn’t quite as fast in real time, but it all fit in the end!"

Learn about Samantha's Minerva Mission: https://bit.ly/MissionMinerva

Samantha Cristoforetti's Biography (ESA)

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Samantha_Cristoforetti

Samantha on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AstroSamantha

Samantha on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@astrosamantha

"We are Europe's gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related."

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)

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.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds

Release Date: September 25, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #ESA #Astronauts #Astronaut #SamanthaCristoforetti #FlightEngineer #Minerva #Italy #Italia #ASI #Photography #Art #Science #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition67 #Europe #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

NASA's Mars Rovers: New Curiosity & Perseverance Images | JPL

NASA's Mars Rovers: New Curiosity & Perseverance Images | JPL

Paraitepuy Pass - MSL, sol 3563

Orinoco, Kukenán, Chenapau & Bolívar - MSL, sol 3563

Orinoco, Kukenán & Chenapau - MSL, sol 3563

MSL, Sol 566 - Mastcam-Z

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Celebrating 10 Years on Mars!

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

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

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

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/MSSS/Thomas Appéré/Kevin Gill

Image Release Date: Sept. 24, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Expedition Crew 67 at Work | International Space Station

Expedition Crew 67 at Work | International Space Station

Astronaut Jessica Watkins works on the Surface Avatar laptop computer

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti participates in a robotics cognition test

Astronaut Bob Hines packs cargo inside the SpaceX Dragon

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti packs cargo inside the SpaceX Dragon

Astronaut Jessica Watkins participates in the GRIP experiment

European Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti collects microbe samples

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren enjoys a taco at dinner time

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Dates: July 6 - Sept. 19, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #ESA #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #BobHines #JessicaWatkins #SamanthaCristoforetti #Italy #Italia #Minerva #Cosmonauts #OlegArtemyev #SergeyKorsakov #DenisMatveev #Science #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition67 #UnitedStates #Europe #Russia #Россия #Research #Laboratory #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starlink Mission: Sept. 24, 2022 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

SpaceX Starlink Mission: Sept. 24, 2022 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Learn more about Starlink: https://www.starlink.com

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Date: September 24, 2022

#NASA #Space #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Satellites #Starlink #Broadband #Internet #Earth #Orbit #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #Commerce #Spaceport #CapeCanaveral #CapeCanaveralSpaceForceStation #Florida #FAA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Variable Star V838 Monocerotis: Fulldome View | Hubble

Variable Star V838 Monocerotis: Fulldome View | Hubble

A fetal-shaped cloud of dust wraps around variable star V838 Mon in this fulldome clip. Back in 2002, the star unexpectedly brightened dramatically, illuminating previously unseen parts of the surrounding dust.

Note: The full dome video display format is designed for projection systems in planetariums.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: February 3, 2005

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Star #VariableStar #V838Mon #IRAS070150346 #Monoceros #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #FullDome #HD #Video

The Light Echo of Star V838 Monocerotis | Hubble

The Light Echo of Star V838 Monocerotis | Hubble

The light echo around the star V838 Monocerotis as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in November 2005.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and H. Bond (STScI)

Release Date: October 26, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Star #V838Mon #IRAS070150346 #Monoceros #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Outburst of Star V838 Mon | Hubble

The Outburst of Star V838 Mon | Hubble

A morphing sequence of six images taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys shows a CAT-scan-like probe of the three-dimensional structure of the shells of dust surrounding the aging star V838 Monocerotis. The sequence reveals dramatic changes in the way a brilliant flash of light from the star is reflecting off surrounding dusty cloud structures. The effect, called a light echo, has been unveiling never-before-seen dust patterns ever since the star suddenly brightened for several weeks in early 2002.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Star #V838Mon #IRAS070150346 #Monoceros #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video

The Light Echo from Mysterious Erupting Star V838 Mon | Hubble

The Light Echo from Mysterious Erupting Star V838 Mon | Hubble

This is the first in a sequence of pictures from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys that dramatically demonstrates the echoing of light through space caused by an unusual stellar outburst in January 2002.

Distance: 20,000 light years

The image was taken December 17, 2002. The image is combined from exposures taken through blue (B), green (V), and infrared (I) filters.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and H.E. Bond (STScI)

Release Date: March 26, 2003

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Star #V838Mon #IRAS070150346 #Monoceros #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Spiderweb Galaxy and its Surroundings | Hubble

The Spiderweb Galaxy and its Surroundings | Hubble

This image shows the full ACS overview of the region around the Spiderweb Galaxy (just to the right of the center). The galaxy is sitting at the centre of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster.

Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Miley and R. Overzier (Leiden Observatory), and the ACS Science Team

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

Release Date: October 12, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #RadioGalaxy #MRC1138262 #SpiderwebGalaxy #GalaxyCluster #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Panning & Zooming on The Spiderweb Galaxy Region | Hubble

Panning & Zooming on The Spiderweb Galaxy Region | Hubble

Hubble observations of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the "Spiderweb Galaxy", have shown dozens of star-forming satellite galaxies in the actual process of merging.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble

Duration: 31 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

Zooming into The Spiderweb Galaxy Region | Hubble

Zooming into The Spiderweb Galaxy Region | Hubble

Hubble observations of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the "Spiderweb Galaxy", have shown dozens of star-forming satellite galaxies in the actual process of merging.

Credit: Akira Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey 2 and European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

Flies in a Spider's Web: The Spiderweb Galaxy in the Making | Hubble

Flies in a Spider's Web: The Spiderweb Galaxy in the Making | Hubble

This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. It shows the Spiderweb Galaxy sitting at the center of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster.

The image provides a dramatic glimpse of a large massive galaxy under assembly as smaller galaxies merge. This has commonly been thought to be the way galaxies grew in the young Universe, but now the Hubble observations of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the "Spiderweb Galaxy", have shown dozens of star-forming satellite galaxies in the actual process of merging.

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), G. Miley and R. Overzier (Leiden Observatory), and the ACS Science Team

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

Release Date: October 12, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #MRC1138262 #SpiderwebGalaxy #GalaxyCluster #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

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