Hera Probe to Revisit Asteroid after NASA's DART Mission | European Space Agency

Hera Probe to Revisit Asteroid after NASA's DART Mission | European Space Agency

The night of September 26, 2022, made space history. NASA's DART spacecraft impacted the Dimorphos asteroid in an attempt to divert its course—humankind's first planetary defence test. In 2024, the European Space Agency launches its Hera spacecraft to investigate the post-impact asteroid. In fact, Hera is not one spacecraft but three. It carries with it Europe's first deep-space CubeSats to make extra observations of its target. 

With the Hera mission, the European Space Agency (ESA) is assuming even greater responsibility for protecting our planet and ensuring that Europe plays a leading role in the common effort to tackle asteroid risks.  

In this video, Ian Carnelli, Hera mission manager, and members of the Hera team, reflects on the DART impact and introduces Hera, including its Milani and Juventas CubeSats.

After the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, Hera will perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid, Dimorphos—the orbiting Moonlet in a binary asteroid system known as Didymos. Hera will turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defence technique.

Demonstrating new technologies from autonomous navigation around an asteroid to low gravity proximity operations, Hera will be humankind’s first probe to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and Europe’s flagship Planetary Defender.

Hera's Planned Launch Date: October 2024

Target: Dimorphos

Impact Date: September 26, 2022

Hera rendezvous: December 2026

Learn more: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 3 minutes, 15 seconds

Release Date: September 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hera #Spacecraft #CubeSats #Milani #Juventas #DART #DARTMission #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #DeepSpace #SolarSystem #Exploration #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Space Exploration Firsts | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab

Space Exploration Firsts | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab 

Friends of NASA: "Congratulations Johns Hopkins APL on the success of NASA's DART Mission!" 

Johns Hopkins APL: "In 1946, Johns Hopkins APL took the first pictures of the Earth from space. We have never looked back."

"From the first color photo from space to the first planetary defense mission, APL does space firsts. At Johns Hopkins APL, we have explored the boundaries of space, and defined the future of spacecraft engineering, since the early days of the Lab. For nearly 80 years, the Civil Space Mission Area has been making critical contributions to NASA and international missions to meet the challenges of space science. Our work includes conducting research and space exploration; development and application of space science, engineering, and technology; and production of one-of-a-kind spacecraft, instruments, and subsystems."

Learn more: https://civspace.jhuapl.edu/

Credit: JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: September 12, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Earth #Pluto #Planets #Atmosphere #SpaceWeather #PlanetaryDefense #DARTMission #Spacecraft #Asteroids #SolarSystem #Exploration #Engineering #Technology #JHUAPL #JohnsHopkinsAPL #Baltimore #Maryland #UnitedStates #CivilianSpace #CarlSagan #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's DART Spacecraft: Final Asteroid Images Prior to Impact

NASA's DART Spacecraft: Final Asteroid Images Prior to Impact

Asteroid Didymos (top left) and its moonlet, Dimorphos, about 2.5 minutes before the impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft. The image was taken by the on board DRACO imager from a distance of 570 miles (920 kilometers). This image was the last to contain a complete view of both asteroids. Didymos is roughly 2,500 feet (780 meters) in diameter; Dimorphos is about 525 feet (160 meters) in length. Didymos’ and Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image.

Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by the DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. DART’s on board DRACO imager captured this image from a distance of 42 miles (68 kilometers). This image was the last to contain all of Dimorphos in the field of view. Dimorphos is roughly 525 feet (160 meters) in length. Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image.

The last complete image of asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, taken by the DRACO imager on NASA’s DART mission from ~7 miles (12 kilometers) from the asteroid and 2 seconds before impact. The image shows a patch of the asteroid that is 100 feet (31 meters) across. Dimorphos’ north is toward the top of the image.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, also known as DART, is humanity’s first attempt to change the motion of a non-hazardous asteroid in space by intentionally crashing a spacecraft into it. Post impact, ground-based observatories across the globe are turning their eyes to the skies to determine if this planetary defense test was successful. 

Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) announced the successful impact at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 26, 2022.

DART was a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth. This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should a hazardous asteroid be discovered in the future.

For more on DART, visit https://nasa.gov/dart

https://dart.jhuapl.edu/

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (JHUAPL)

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #DARTMission #Spacecraft #DRACO #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's DART Spacecraft: The Final Moments Before Asteroid Impact

NASA's DART Spacecraft: The Final Moments Before Asteroid Impact

After 10 months of flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)—the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration—successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space. 

Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) announced the successful impact at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 26, 2022.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission has attempted humanity’s first-ever test of planetary defense! The DART spacecraft intentionally crashed into asteroid Dimorphos to see if kinetic force can change its orbit. Why? If this test is successful, the same technique could be used to deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid in the future, should one ever be discovered. The DART Mission's target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth before, during or after the impact event.

DART is a joint mission between NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL).

For more, visit nasa.gov/dart

Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) 

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

NASA's DART Mission Post-Asteroid-Impact News Briefing

NASA's DART Mission Post-Asteroid-Impact News Briefing

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission has attempted humanity’s first-ever test of planetary defense! The DART spacecraft intentionally crashed into asteroid Dimorphos at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 26, 2022, to see if kinetic force can change its orbit. Why? If this test is successful, the same technique could be used to deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid in the future, should one ever be discovered. The DART Mission's target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth before, during or after the impact event.

DART is a joint mission between NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL).

For more, visit nasa.gov/dart

Credit: NASA

Duration: 32 minutes

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's DART Spacecraft Successfully Impacts Asteroid Dimorphos

NASA's DART Spacecraft Successfully Impacts Asteroid Dimorphos  

For NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the DART spacecraft impacted asteroid Dimorphos in the binary asteroid system Didymos, on September 26, 2022, at 23:14 UTC (19:14 EDT). The binary asteroid system Didymos is NOT a threat to Earth, making it an ideal testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way of changing its course. The asteroid Dimorphos is the size of a football stadium.

Credit: NASA

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 4 minutes, 37 seconds

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's DART Spacecraft Colliding with Asteroid on September 26, 2022

NASA's DART Spacecraft Colliding with Asteroid on September 26, 2022

Looking Back at DART’s Unboxing

Image Description: Technicians prepare to move NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft onto a work stand inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California following its arrival at the facility on Oct. 4, 2021.

DART was launched on Nov. 23, 2021, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will intentionally smash into the moonlet Didymos on Sept. 26, 2022, to see if this method of asteroid deflection—known as the kinetic impactor technique—would be a viable way to protect our planet if an asteroid on a collision course with Earth were discovered in the future.

Image Credit: United States Space Force (USSF) 30th Space Wing/Aaron Taubm

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Hurricane Ian Flyover | International Space Station

Hurricane Ian Flyover | International Space Station

The International Space Station passed approximately 260 statute miles overhead Hurricane Ian at approximately 3 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. External cameras on the orbiting laboratory captured views of the storm as it gained strength south of Cuba while moving toward the north-northwest. The storm is expected to intensify before approaching the west coast of Florida on Wednesday into Thursday. 

NASA managers met Monday morning and made the decision to roll the Artemis I Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building after additional data gathered overnight did not show improving expected conditions for the Kennedy Space Center area. The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 11 minute

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #HurricaneIan #Hurricane #Meteorology #CaribbeanSea #AtlanticOcean #Cuba #Artemis #ArtemisI #Astronauts #Photography #Art #Science #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition67 #Florida #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Jupiter's Closest Approach to Earth in 59 Years! | NASA

Jupiter's Closest Approach to Earth in 59 Years! | NASA

Stargazers can expect excellent views of Jupiter the entire night of Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, when the giant planet reaches opposition. From the viewpoint of Earth’s surface, opposition happens when an astronomical object rises in the east as the Sun sets in the west, placing the object and the Sun on opposite sides of Earth.

Jupiter’s opposition occurs every 13 months, making the planet appear larger and brighter than any other time of the year. But that’s not all. Jupiter will also make its closest approach to Earth since 1963—almost six decades ago! This happens because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the Sun in perfect circles—meaning the planets will pass each other at different distances throughout the year. Jupiter’s closest approach to Earth rarely coincides with opposition, which means this year’s views will be extraordinary. At its closest approach, Jupiter will be approximately 367 million miles in distance from Earth, about the same distance it was in 1963. The massive planet is approximately 600 million miles away from Earth at its farthest point.

“With good binoculars, the banding (at least the central band) and three or four of the Galilean satellites (moons) should be visible,” said Adam Kobelski, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “It’s important to remember that Galileo observed these moons with 17th century optics. One of the key needs will be a stable mount for whatever system you use.”

Kobelski recommends a larger telescope to see Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and bands in more detail; a 4 inch-or-larger telescope and some filters in the green to blue range would enhance the visibility of these features.

According to Kobelski, an ideal viewing location will be at a high elevation in a dark and dry area.

“The views should be great for a few days before and after Sept. 26,” Kobelski said. “So, take advantage of good weather on either side of this date to take in the sight. Outside of the Moon, it should be one of the (if not the) brightest objects in the night sky.”

Jupiter has 53 named moons, but scientists believe that 79 moons have been detected in total. The four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are called the Galilean satellites. They are named after the man who first observed them in 1610, Galileo Galilei. In binoculars or a telescope, the Galilean satellites should appear as bright dots on either side of Jupiter during opposition.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter for six years, is dedicated to exploring the planet and its moons. Juno began its journey in 2011 and reached Jupiter five years later. Since 2016, the spacecraft has provided incredible images and data about Jupiter’s lively atmosphere, interior structures, internal magnetic field, and magnetosphere.

Scientists believe studying Jupiter can lead to breakthrough discoveries about the formation of the solar system. Juno’s mission was recently extended until 2025 or until the end of the spacecraft’s life. Learn more about Juno: 

https://go.nasa.gov/3r9WsOL

The next major project for Jupiter exploration is the Europa Clipper. This spacecraft will explore Jupiter’s iconic moon, Europa, which is known for its icy shell and vast ocean that lies beneath its surface. NASA scientists aim to find whether Europa has conditions able to sustain life.  Europa Clipper’s targeted launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than October 2024.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Release Date: Sept. 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hubble #Jupiter #Planet #Earth #SolarSystem #Skywatching #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #Juno #Spacecraft #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

How Will We Know if NASA’s DART Mission Changed an Asteroid’s Orbit?

How Will We Know if NASA’s DART Mission Changed an Asteroid’s Orbit?

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, also known as DART, is humanity’s first attempt to change the motion of a non-hazardous asteroid in space by intentionally crashing a spacecraft into it. After impact, ground-based observatories across the globe will turn their eyes to the skies to determine if this planetary defense test was successful. In this video, NASA visits Lowell Observatory to learn more about how astronomers have been tracking this double asteroid over the course of many years, and how they will document the orbital change post-impact.

DART is a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. DART’s target asteroid is NOT a threat to Earth. This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should a hazardous asteroid be discovered in the future.

For more on DART, visit https://nasa.gov/dart

https://dart.jhuapl.edu/

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: September 6, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #Asteroids #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #LowellObservatory #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Todays' Asteroid Test | Defending the Planet: NASA’s DART Mission

Todays' Asteroid Test | Defending the Planet: NASA’s DART Mission

Launched in November 2021, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will be the world’s first mission to test planetary defense techniques, demonstrating one mitigation method of asteroid deflection, called kinetic impact. DART will impact the small asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, which orbits a larger companion, Didymos, in a binary asteroid system to change its orbital period. Although neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, the collision with Dimorphos enables researchers to demonstrate the deflection technique along with several new technologies, and collect important data to enhance our modeling and predictive capabilities for asteroid deflection. Those enhancements will help us better prepare should an asteroid ever be discovered as a threat to Earth.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards, will impact its target asteroid—which poses no threat to Earth—on Monday evening, Sept. 26, 2022.

5:30 p.m. EDT (21:30 UTC):  Live feed from the DART spacecraft as it approaches asteroid Didymos: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#media

6 p.m. EDT (22:00 UTC): Live broadcast coverage of the DART mission as the spacecraft attempts to deflect an asteroid from its path (impact targeted for 7:14 p.m. EDT)

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory manages the DART mission for NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. 

For more information about DART, visit:

https://dart.jhuapl.edu/

https://www.nasa.gov/dartmission

Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL)

Duration: 2 minutes, 48 seconds 

Release Date: November 23, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #Asteroids #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Behind the Spacecraft: NASA's DART—The Double Asteroid Redirection Test Today

Behind the Spacecraft: NASA's DART—The Double Asteroid Redirection Test Today

NASA is crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid . . . on purpose! Our DART mission is a first-of-its-kind planetary defense test to change the motion of an asteroid in space so that we could use this technique if an asteroid were ever discovered to be a threat to Earth. 

Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART

The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards, will impact its target asteroid—which poses no threat to Earth—on Monday evening, Sept. 26, 2022.

5:30 p.m. EDT (21:30 UTC):  Live feed from the DART spacecraft as it approaches asteroid Didymos: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#media

6 p.m. EDT (22:00 UTC): Live broadcast coverage of the DART mission as the spacecraft attempts to deflect an asteroid from its path (impact targeted for 7:14 p.m. EDT)

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

This test will show a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it to change the asteroid’s motion in a way that can be measured using ground-based telescopes. DART will provide important data to help better prepare for an asteroid that might pose an impact hazard to Earth, should one ever be discovered.

Credits: NASA

Producer/Editor: Jessica Wilde

Producer: Scott Bednar

Videographers: James Lucas and Seth Robinson

Duration: 2 minutes, 29 seconds

Release Date: October 24, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #Spacecraft #Asteroids #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Close-up Look at The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

A Close-up Look at The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

The Antennae 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.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Duration: 46 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#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 in on The Tail of The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

Zooming in on The Tail of The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

This video shows the constellation of Corvus, the Crow, and a zoom into the tidal tail of the Antennae Galaxies.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), R. Gendler and A. Fujii

Duration: 58 seconds

Release Date: February 17, 2016

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Antennae #Galaxies #AntennaeGalaxies #NGC4038 #NGC4039 #Corvus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #NOAO #Telescope #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Stars in the Tail of The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

Stars in the Tail of The Antennae Galaxies | Hubble

This Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) image shows a portion of the southern tidal tail of the Antennae galaxies. The main visible component consists of young blue stars recently formed out of the gas accumulating along the spine of the tail, and many red background galaxies can also be seen. The region is also filled by thousands of faint red stars, just visible when zooming on the image.

Distance: 45 million light years

The Antennae Galaxies are among the closest known merging galaxies. The two galaxies, also known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, started to interact a few hundred million years ago, creating one of the most impressive sights in the night sky. They are considered by scientists as the archetypal merging galaxy system and are used as a standard with which to validate theories about galaxy evolution.

By measuring the colors and brightnesses of red giant stars in the system, the scientists found that the Antennae Galaxies are much closer than previously thought: 45 million light-years instead of the previous best estimate of 65 million light-years. These red stars cannot be brighter than a certain threshold, and it is this luminosity threshold that was used to derive the new distance of the Antennae.

Credit: NASA, ESA & Ivo Saviane (European Southern Observatory)

Release Date: May 9, 2008

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Antennae #Galaxies #AntennaeGalaxies #NGC4038 #NGC4039 #Corvus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #NOAO #Telescope #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

A Stately Spiral Galaxy in Hydra: NGC 5495 | Hubble

A Stately Spiral Galaxy in Hydra: NGC 5495 | Hubble

The stately sweeping spiral arms of the spiral galaxy NGC 5495 are revealed by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 in this image. NGC 5495, which lies around 300 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra, is a Seyfert galaxy, a type of galaxy with a particularly bright central region. These luminous cores—known to astronomers as active galactic nuclei—are dominated by the light emitted by dust and gas falling into a supermassive black hole.

This image is drawn from a series of observations captured by astronomers studying supermassive black holes lurking in the hearts of other galaxies. Studying the central regions of galaxies can be challenging: as well as the light created by matter falling into supermassive black holes, areas of star formation and the light from existing stars all contribute to the brightness of galactic cores. Hubble’s crystal-clear vision helped astronomers disentangle the various sources of light at the core of NGC 5495, allowing them to precisely weigh its supermassive black hole.

As well as NGC 5495, two stellar interlopers are visible in this image. One is just outside the center of NGC 5495, and the other is very prominent alongside the galaxy. While they share the same location on the sky, these objects are much closer to home than NGC 5495: they are stars from our own Milky Way. The bright stars are surrounded by criss-cross diffraction spikes, optical artefacts created by the internal structure of Hubble interacting with starlight.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, J. Greene

Acknowledgement: R. Colombari

Release Date: September 26, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Galaxy #SeyfertGalaxy #NGC5495 #Hubble #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education