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Crisp, clear October nights are full of celestial showpieces. Find Pegasus, the flying horse of Greek myth, to pinpoint dense globular star clusters and galaxies, and keep watching for space-based views of M15, NGC 7331, and the Andromeda Galaxy.
“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning.
This product is based on work supported by NASA under award numbers NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University.
ULA Delta IV Heavy Launch: NRO Payload | Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, (Sept. 24, 2022) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-91 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off on Sept. 24, 2022, at 3:25 p.m. PDT from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base. To date ULA has launched 153 times with 100 percent mission success.
"The NRO has been, and continues to be, a phenomenal partner through 32 collaborative launch campaigns, stemming from ULA’s very first launch in 2006," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “This mission was ULA’s 96th National Security mission and the NRO’s 10th mission on board a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle—a history that we are very proud of.”
“This was also ULA’s 95th Delta mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base and our fifth and final Delta IV Heavy from the West Coast, completing a long, successful tenure of delivering critical national security payloads,” added Wentz. “We look forward to preparing Space Launch Complex-3 for future Vulcan flights from the West Coast.”
ULA’s next launch is a commercial launch of the SES-20 and SES-21 mission, planned for Sept. 30 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The National Reconnaissance Office launched its NROL-91 mission aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Sept. 24, 2022. Carrying a national security payload designed, built and operated by NRO, NROL-91 supports the overall national security mission to provide intelligence data to the United States’ senior policy makers, the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. NROL-91 is NRO’s fifth launch of 2022, and is part of more than a half-dozen planned launches for the year.
United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family and one of the world’s most powerful rockets. The Delta IV Heavy configuration is comprised of a common booster core (CBC), a cryogenic upper stage and a 5-meter-diameter payload fairing (PLF). The Delta IV Heavy employs two additional CBCs as liquid rocket boosters to augment the first-stage CBC. The Delta IV Heavy can lift 28,370 kg (62,540 lbs) to low Earth orbit and 13,810 kg (30,440 lbs) to geostationary transfer orbit. It is an all liquid-fueled rocket, consisting of an upper stage, one main booster and two strap-on boosters.
Hurricane Ian pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above the Caribbean Sea east of Belize on September 26, 2022. At the time of this photograph, Ian was just south of Cuba gaining strength and heading toward Florida.
NASA DART Mission Asteroid Collision Images | LICIACube Spacecraft
Here are the first images taken in deep space by the Italian space agency's LICIACube during the impact of NASA's DART Mission on asteroid Dimorphos. These show the resulting cloud of ejected matter. The LICIACube’s images will help researchers better characterize the effectiveness of kinetic impacts in deflecting asteroids.
Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) is a 6-unit CubeSat of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). LICIACube is a part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and is built to carry out observational analysis of the Didymos asteroid binary system after DART's impact. It communicates directly with Earth. It is sending back images of the ejecta and plume of DART's impact as well as performing asteroidal studies during its flyby of the Didymos system from a distance of 55.3 km (34.4 mi), 165 seconds after DART's impact. LICIACube is the first purely Italian autonomous spacecraft in deep space.
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.
Expedition 67: New Crew & Research Photos | International Space Station
NASA astronauts greet new U.S. crew member Frank Rubio
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines work on XROOTS, a hydroponic and aeroponic plant investigation
Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti reconfigures combustion research components
Image 1
Sept. 21, 2022: NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (center) is greeted by fellow NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines shortly after he arrived at the International Space Station. Rubio docked to the orbiting lab's Rassvet module earlier with Roscosmos cosmonauts (out of frame) Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin aboard the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship beginning a six-month space research mission.
Image 2
Hydroponic and aeroponic plant investigation on ISS
June 24, 2022: NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines work on XROOTS, which used the station’s Veggie facility to test liquid- and air-based techniques to grow plants rather than traditional growth media. These techniques could enable production of crops on a larger scale for future space exploration.
Image 3
Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti reconfigures combustion research components
Sept. 15, 2022: European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy works inside the International Space Station's Unity module reconfiguring components for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction investigation that explores fire growth and fire safety techniques in space.
Expedition 67 Crew
Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)
Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov, Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev (Russia)
NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, Frank Rubio (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.
Hurricane Ian: Full Disc View | NOAA GOES-EAST Weather Satellite
Sept. 27, 2022 Update: Major Hurricane Ian is centered over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico near 23.5N 83.3W at 27/1800 UTC, or 75 nm SSW of the Dry Tortugas, FL, moving N at 9 kt. Minimum central pressure is 955 mb. Maximum sustained wind speed is 105 kt with gusts to 125 kt.
San Juan y Martinez, Cuba recorded a peak wind gust of 112 kt when Ian passed over Cuba earlier this morning. The same station measured 7.95 inches of rain during the 24 hr period ending at 27/1200 UTC. The city of Pinar del Rio experienced the calm eye of Hurricane Ian. The calm lasted for 1 hr 30 min. Tropical storm force winds extend outward 120 nm from the center.
Seas of 12 ft or greater are occurring over the far NW Caribbean, western Straits of Florida and southeastern Gulf of Mexico, in the area from 20.5N to 25N between 81W and 86W. Peak seas are reaching 25 ft.
Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Spiral Galaxy IC 5332: Complex Structures Revealed | James Webb Space Telescope
This spectacular image features the spiral galaxy IC 5332, shown here in unprecedented detail thanks to observations from the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), which is mounted on the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. IC 5332 lies over 29 million light-years from Earth, and has a diameter of roughly 66,000 light-years, making it about a third smaller than the Milky Way. It is notable for being almost perfectly face-on with respect to Earth, allowing us to admire the symmetrical sweep of its spiral arms.
MIRI is the only Webb instrument that is sensitive to the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (specifically in the 5 µm – 28 µm wavelength range); Webb’s other instruments all operate in the near-infrared. One of MIRI’s most remarkable features is that it operates 33 °C below the rest of the observatory at the frosty temperature of –266 °C. That means that MIRI operates in an environment only 7 °C warmer than absolute zero, which is the lowest possible temperature according to the laws of thermodynamics. MIRI requires this frigid environment in order for its highly specialized detectors to function correctly, and it has a dedicated active cooling system to ensure that its detectors are kept at the correct temperature.
It is worth noting just how challenging it is to obtain observations in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The mid-infrared is incredibly difficult to observe from Earth as much of it is absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, and heat from Earth’s atmosphere further complicates things. Hubble could not observe the mid-infrared region as its mirrors were not cool enough, meaning that infrared radiation from the mirrors themselves would have dominated any attempted observations. The extra effort made to ensure that MIRI’s detectors had the freezing environment necessary to operate properly is evident in this stunning image.
MIRI was contributed by European Space Agency and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team
Spiral Galaxy IC 5332: Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes Reveal Complex Structures
[Right] This spectacular image features the spiral galaxy IC 5332, shown here in unprecedented detail thanks to observations from the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), which is mounted on the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. IC 5332 lies over 29 million light-years from Earth, and has a diameter of roughly 66,000 light-years, making it about a third smaller than the Milky Way. It is notable for being almost perfectly face-on with respect to Earth, allowing us to admire the symmetrical sweep of its spiral arms.
MIRI is the only Webb instrument that is sensitive to the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (specifically in the 5 µm – 28 µm wavelength range); Webb’s other instruments all operate in the near-infrared. One of MIRI’s most remarkable features is that it operates 33 °C below the rest of the observatory at the frosty temperature of –266 °C. That means that MIRI operates in an environment only 7 °C warmer than absolute zero, which is the lowest possible temperature according to the laws of thermodynamics. MIRI requires this frigid environment in order for its highly specialized detectors to function correctly, and it has a dedicated active cooling system to ensure that its detectors are kept at the correct temperature.
It is worth noting just how challenging it is to obtain observations in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The mid-infrared is incredibly difficult to observe from Earth as much of it is absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, and heat from Earth’s atmosphere further complicates things. Hubble could not observe the mid-infrared region as its mirrors were not cool enough, meaning that infrared radiation from the mirrors themselves would have dominated any attempted observations. The extra effort made to ensure that MIRI’s detectors had the freezing environment necessary to operate properly is evident in this stunning image.
[Left] This extravagantly detailed mid-infrared image is juxtaposed here with a beautiful ultraviolet and visible-light image of the same galaxy, created using data collected by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Some differences are immediately obvious. The Hubble image shows dark regions that seem to separate the spiral arms, whereas the Webb image shows more of a continual tangle of structures that echo the spiral arms’ shape. This difference is due to the presence of dusty regions in the galaxy. Ultraviolet and visible light are far more prone to being scattered by interstellar dust than infrared light. Therefore dusty regions can be identified easily in the Hubble image as the darker regions that much of the galaxy’s ultraviolet and visible light has not been able to travel through. Those same dusty regions are no longer dark in the Webb image because the mid-infrared light from the galaxy has been able to pass through them. Different stars are visible in the two images, which can be explained because certain stars shine brighter in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regimes respectively. The images complement one another in a remarkable way, each telling us more about IC 5332’s structure and composition.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST and PHANGS-HST Teams
DART Spacecraft's Asteroid Impact Viewed from Earth | European Space Agency
Last night at 23:14 UTC, NASA's DART spacecraft successfully struck asteroid Dimorphos, the 160-meter moonlet orbiting around the larger Didymos asteroid. About 38 seconds later, the time it took for the light to arrive at Earth, people all over the world saw the abrupt end of the livestream from the spacecraft, signalling that the impact had happened successfully—DART was no more.
Astronomers on a small slice of our planet’s surface, extending from southern and eastern Africa to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Peninsula, could actually watch it live with their telescopes. Among those were a half dozen stations joined together for a dedicated observing campaign organized by the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defence Office and coordinated by the team of observers of the Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center (NEOCC). As usual, when such a timely astronomical event happens, not all stations were successful in their observations: clouds, technical problems and other issues always affect real-life observations.
However, a few of the European Space Agency’s collaborating stations could immediately report a successful direct confirmation of DART’s impact. Among them was the team of the Les Makes Observatory, on the French island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean. The sequence of images they provided in real time was impressive. The asteroid immediately started brightening upon impact, and within a few seconds it was already noticeably brighter. Within less than a minute a cloud of ejected material became visible and could be followed while it drifted eastwards and slowly dissipated.
This video is from observations by the Les Makes Observatory in Le Reunion and shows in a few seconds what took place in under half an hour.
“Something like this has never been done before, and we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. It was an emotional moment for us as the footage came in,” explains Marco Micheli, Astronomer at ESA’s NEOCC.
Dora Föhring, another NEOCC Astronomer adds:
“This was the conclusion of weeks of discussions, meetings, accurate planning and observational design by our team, together with local observers and scientists at all our collaborating stations. This fantastic campaign has produced data that our astronomers, together with the whole DART collaboration, will now begin to analyze to extract valuable scientific information on the effects of the impact.”
As DART’s mission ends, the work begins for astronomers and scientists around the globe, and a new chapter opens for ESA’s Hera mission which now takes a leading role in studying up close the first-ever test of asteroid deflection.
“The results from DART will prepare us for Hera’s visit to the Didymos binary system to examine the aftermath of this impact a few years from now,” says Ian Carnelli, Hera Mission Manager.
“Hera will help us understand what happened to Dimorphos, the first celestial body to be measurably moved by humankind, and ultimately to protect ourselves from space rocks that could one day do the same.”
The Hubble image shows dark regions that seem to separate the spiral arms, whereas the Webb image shows more of a continual tangle of structures that echo the spiral arms’ shape. This difference is due to the presence of dusty regions in the galaxy.
Ultraviolet and visible light are far more prone to being scattered by interstellar dust than infrared light. Therefore dusty regions can be identified easily in the Hubble image as the darker regions that much of the galaxy’s ultraviolet and visible light has not been able to travel through. Those same dusty regions are no longer dark in the Webb image, however, as the mid-infrared light from the galaxy has been able to pass through them.
Different stars are visible in the two images, which can be explained because certain stars shine brighter in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regimes respectively. The images complement one another in a remarkable way, each telling us more about IC 5332’s structure and composition.
Credits: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST and PHANGS-HST Teams; CC BY 4.0
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.
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."
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.
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).
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).
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.
