China Launches Solar Observatory ASO-S to Unravel the Sun's Secrets

China Launches New Solar Observatory ASO-S to Unravel the Sun's Secrets

A Long March-2D rocket launched the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), nicknamed, Kuafu-1, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, China, on October 8, 2022, at 23:43 UTC (9 October, at 07:43 local time). It has successfully entered its planned orbit. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) will “conduct observations on the solar magnetic field, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, to support the forecasting of catastrophic space weather.”

The probe, nicknamed Kuafu-1, will operate in an orbit 720 kilometers from Earth, permanently facing the sun. It has been described by its principal scientist, Gan Weiqun, as the world's first near-Earth satellite telescope to simultaneously monitor solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the sun's magnetic field. It can directly "look" at the sun, observing the sun by means of telemetry and remote sensing, and thus image it, Gan explained. It complements NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018. Parker is located very close to the sun and cannot perform direct imaging.

In 2021, China also launched an experimental solar satellite called Xihe. It operates in a sun-synchronous orbit at an average altitude of 517 kilometers with a solar Hα (H-alpha) imaging spectrometer as its main scientific payload.

All of the probe data will be freely available to scientists around the world after the ASO-S is commissioned, according to principal scientist, Gan Weiqun.

Credit:  GLOBALink 

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: October 9, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Sun #Star #China #中国 #ASOS #先进天基太阳天文台 #Kuafu1 #Spacecraft #Probe #SolarObservatory #Satellite #Telescope #SpaceWeather #SolarFlares #CoronalMassEjections #MagneticField #Heliophysics #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Quintuplet Cluster near the Milky Way Galaxy's Center | Hubble

The Quintuplet Cluster near the Milky Way Galaxy's Center | Hubble

This 4-million-year-old cluster, The Quintuplet Cluster, is more dispersed than the Arches Cluster. It has stars on the verge of blowing up as supernovae. It is the home of the brightest star seen in the Milky Way, called the Pistol star.

Distance: 25,000 light years

Credit: Don Figer (Space Telescope Science Institute) and NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)

Release Date: September 16, 1999

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarCluster #QuintupletCluster #VariableStars #PistolStar #V4650Sgr #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #History #STEM #Education

Zooming in on The Quintuplet Cluster | Hubble

Zooming in on The Quintuplet Cluster | Hubble

Beginning from the full splendor of the Milky Way, this video—in infrared—zooms in slowly on the Quintuplet Cluster. Although named for its five brightest stars, the cluster is home to hundreds more, especially massive young stars.

The cluster is located close to the Arches Cluster and is just 100 light-years from the center of our galaxy. Its proximity to the dust at the center of the galaxy means that much of its visible light is blocked, which helped to keep the cluster unknown until its discovery in 1990, when it was revealed by observations in the infrared. Infrared images of the cluster, like the one shown in this video, allow us to see through the obscuring dust to the hot stars in the cluster.

Credit: NASA & European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: December 15, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarCluster #QuintupletCluster #VariableStars #PistolStar #V4650Sgr #Infrared #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Uncovering the Secrets of The Quintuplet Cluster | Hubble

Uncovering the Secrets of The Quintuplet Cluster | Hubble

Although this cluster of stars gained its name due to its five brightest stars, it is home to hundreds more. The huge number of massive young stars in the cluster is clearly captured in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image.

The cluster is located close to the Arches Cluster and is just 100 light-years from the center of our galaxy. The cluster’s proximity to the dust at the center of the galaxy means that much of its visible light is blocked, which helped to keep the cluster unknown until its discovery in 1990, when it was revealed by observations in the infrared. Infrared images of the cluster, like the one shown here, allow us to see through the obscuring dust to the hot stars in the cluster.

The Quintuplet Cluster hosts two extremely rare luminous blue variable stars: the Pistol Star and the lesser known V4650 Sgr. If you were to draw a line horizontally through the center of this image from left to right, you could see the Pistol Star hovering just above the line about one third of the way along it. The Pistol Star is one of the most luminous known stars in the Milky Way and takes its name from the shape of the Pistol Nebula that it illuminates, but which is not visible in this infrared image. The exact age and future of the Pistol Star are uncertain, but it is expected to end in a supernova or even a hypernova in one to three million years.

The cluster also contains a number of red supergiants. These stars are among the largest in the galaxy and are burning their fuel at an incredible speed, meaning they will have a very short lifetime. Their presence suggests an average cluster age of nearly four million years. At the moment these stars are on the verge of exploding as supernovae. During their spectacular deaths they will release vast amounts of energy which, in turn, will heat the material—dust and gas—between the other stars.

This observation shows the Quintuplet Cluster in the infrared and demonstrates the leap in Hubble’s performance since its 1999 image of same object.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: July 13, 2015

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarCluster #QuintupletCluster #VariableStars #PistolStar #V4650Sgr #Infrared #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #Astronomer #AgopTerzan #History #STEM #Education

Terzan 1 Star Cluster, Take 2 | Hubble

Terzan 1 Star Cluster, Take 2 | Hubble

Terzan 1 is a globular cluster that lies about 22,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. It is one of 11 globular clusters that were discovered by the Turkish-Armenian astronomer Agop Terzan between 1966 and 1971 when he was working in France, based mostly at Lyon Observatory.

Somewhat confusingly, the 11 Terzan globular clusters are numbered from Terzan 1 to Terzan 12. This is due to an error made by Terzan in 1971, when he rediscovered Terzan 5—a cluster he had already discovered and reported back in 1968—and named it Terzan 11. He published its discovery alongside those of Terzan 9, 10 and 12. He quickly realized his mistake, and attempted to have Terzan 12 renamed as Terzan 11. Unfortunately, he did not make it clear that Terzan 5 and Terzan 11 were one and the same, although another astronomer, Ivan Robert King, did publish a note to try and clear up the confusion. Nowadays, most papers recognize the original Terzan 5 and Terzan 12, and accept the oddity that there is no Terzan 11. There have, however, been instances of confusion in the scientific literature over the past few decades.

Terzan 1 is not a new target for Hubble—an image of the cluster was released back in 2015, taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). That instrument was replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) during the 2009 Hubble servicing mission. WFC3 has both superior resolving power and a wider field of view than WFPC2, and the improvement is obvious in this fantastically detailed image. 

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, R. Cohen

Release Date: October 10, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #StarCluster #Terzan1 #Scorpius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #Astronomer #AgopTerzan #History #STEM #Education

Jupiter with Moons Europa & Io | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

Jupiter with Moons Europa & Io | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

Jupiter and Moons Europa (left, above), and Io (right, below)

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages the Juno mission for NASA. The mission's principal investigator is Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The mission is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

Learn more about the Juno mission at: www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.org

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Release Date: October 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #Moons #Europa #Io #Juno #Spacecraft #Perijove9 #Exploration #SolarSystem #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MSFC #Marshall #SwRI #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Jupiter's Swirling Cloud Formations | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

Jupiter's Swirling Cloud Formations | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

NASA’s Juno spacecraft observed the complex colors and structure of Jupiter’s clouds, including this striking view of vortices—hurricane-like spiral wind patterns. These powerful storms can be over 30 miles (50 kilometers) in height and hundreds of miles across. Figuring out how they form is key to understanding Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as the fluid dynamics and cloud chemistry that create the planet's other atmospheric features. Scientists are particularly interested in the vortices' varying shapes, sizes, and colors. For example, cyclones, which spin counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern, and anti-cyclones, which rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, exhibit very different colors and shapes.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages the Juno mission for NASA. The mission's principal investigator is Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The mission is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

Learn more about the Juno mission at: www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.org

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Release Date: October 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #GreatRedSpot #Weather #Meteorology #Juno #Spacecraft #Perijove45 #Exploration #SolarSystem #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MSFC #Marshall #SwRI #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Jupiter's Great Red Spot | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

Jupiter's Great Red Spot | Juno Mission | NASA/JPL

This image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot reveals a tangle of dark, veinous clouds weaving their way through a massive crimson oval. The JunoCam imager aboard NASA's Juno mission snapped pics of the most iconic feature of the solar system’s largest planetary inhabitant during a flyby. 

“For hundreds of years scientists have been observing, wondering and theorizing about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “Now we have the best pictures ever of this iconic storm. It will take us some time to analyze all the data from not only JunoCam, but Juno’s eight science instruments, to shed some new light on the past, present and future of the Great Red Spot.”

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages the Juno mission for NASA. The mission's principal investigator is Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The mission is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

Learn more about the Juno mission at: www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.org

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Release Date: October 6, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #GreatRedSpot #Weather #Meteorology #Juno #Spacecraft #Perijove27 #Exploration #SolarSystem #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MSFC #Marshall #SwRI #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

A Galactic Rose of Star Formation around a Supermassive Black Hole | ESO

A Galactic Rose of Star Formation around a Supermassive Black Hole | ESO

Captured with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), this image of the distant spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shows a textbook example of a star-bursting nuclear ring. Located 45 million light-years away from Earth, in the constellation of Fornax, this ring lies at the very center of its galaxy. It spans only 5,000 light years across, being dwarfed by the full size of its host galaxy, which extends some tens of thousands of light-years beyond its center.

The darker lanes seen in this MUSE image show dust, gas and debris from the galaxy (or possibly from a satellite galaxy), which are being funnelled into the supermassive black hole at its center. This process heats up the surrounding matter forming an accretion disc around the black hole and launching huge amounts of energy into the surrounding area. Nearby dust is heated up and star formation accelerates in the area around the supermassive black hole, forming the star-bursting nuclear ring shown in pink and purple tones in the image.

MUSE is attached to Yepun, one of the four, 8.2-meter telescopes that make up the VLT at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory. Its unique design has allowed researchers to map complex mechanisms within many galaxies and analyze the formation of stars and star clusters.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/TIMER Survey

Release Date: January 11, 2021

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Galaxy #NGC1097 #Spiral #BlackHole #Fornax #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #MUSE #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Coral Sea: Northeast Coast of Australia | International Space Station

The Coral Sea: Northeast Coast of Australia | International Space Station

The Coral Sea off the northeast coast of Australia, as seen by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti aboard the International Space Station for her Minerva Mission.

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

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/NASA-S.Cristoforetti

Release Date: August 30, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #CoralSea #SouthPacific #Australia #ESA #Astronaut #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #MissionMinerva #Italy #Italia #ASI #Photography #Art #Science #HumanSpaceflight #Astronauts #Expedition67 #Europe #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education

Word Bank: Gravitational Lensing | European Space Agency/Hubble

Word Bank: Gravitational Lensing | European Space Agency/Hubble

Gravitational lensing occurs when a large distribution of matter, such as a galaxy cluster, sits between Earth and a distant light source. As space is warped by massive objects, the light from the distant object bends as it travels to us and we see a distorted image of it. This effect was first predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

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

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date:  July 28, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #GravitationalLensing #Stars #Quasars #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Gravitational Lensing of A Distant Quasar | European Space Agency/Hubble

Gravitational Lensing of A Distant Quasar | European Space Agency/Hubble

This animation depicts how the mass of a galaxy is bending the light of a much more distant quasar through gravitational lensing. This way the quasar appear three times larger and 50 times brighter on the night sky.

Example Quasar's Name: J043947.08+163415.7

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble, L. Calçada

Duration: 20 seconds

Release Date: January 9, 2019

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #GravitationalLensing #AGNs #Quasars #Quasar  #Galaxy #GalaxyCluster #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Zoom on Quintuple Quasar Galaxy Cluster: SDSS J1004+4112 | Hubble

Zoom on Quintuple Quasar Galaxy Cluster: SDSS J1004+4112 | Hubble

The group of five quasar images was produced in a process called gravitational lensing, in which the gravitational field of a massive object—in this case, a cluster of galaxies—bends and amplifies light from an object—in this instance, a quasar—farther behind it.

Although other multiply lensed quasars have been seen before, for instance in the object known as the "Einstein Cross", this newly observed "quintuple quasar" is the only case so far in which multiple quasar images are produced by an entire galaxy cluster acting as a gravitational lens.

Quasar's name: SDSS J100434.05+4112

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Keren Sharon (Tel-Aviv University) and Eran Ofek (CalTech)

Duration: 48 seconds

Release Date: May 23, 2006

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #GravitationalLensing #Quintuple #AGN #Quasar #SDSSJ100434054112 #Galaxy #GalaxyCluster #Galaxies #Supernova #LeoMinor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video

A Galaxy Cluster Creates Quintuple Quasar Images | Hubble

A Galaxy Cluster Creates Quintuple Quasar Images | Hubble

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image was the first-ever picture of a distant quasar lensed into five images. The group of five quasar images (labeled) was produced in a process called gravitational lensing, in which the gravitational field of a massive object—in this case, a cluster of galaxies—bends and amplifies light from an object—in this instance, a quasar—farther behind it.

Although other multiply lensed quasars have been seen before, for instance in the object known as the "Einstein Cross", this newly observed "quintuple quasar" is the only case so far in which multiple quasar images are produced by an entire galaxy cluster acting as a gravitational lens.

Quasar's name: SDSS J100434.05+4112

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Keren Sharon (Tel-Aviv University) and Eran Ofek (CalTech)

Duration: 42 seconds

Release Date: February 16, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #GravitationalLensing #Quintuple #AGN #Quasar #SDSSJ100434054112 #Galaxy #GalaxyCluster #Galaxies #Supernova #LeoMinor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #SD #Video

A "Five-star" Rated Gravitational Lens: 5 Views of a Distant Quasar | Hubble

A "Five-star" Rated Gravitational Lens: 5 Views of a Distant Quasar | Hubble

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image was the first-ever picture of a distant quasar lensed into five images. The group of five quasar images was produced in a process called gravitational lensing, in which the gravitational field of a massive object—in this case, a cluster of galaxies—bends and amplifies light from an object—in this instance, a quasar—farther behind it.

Although other multiply lensed quasars have been seen before, for instance in the object known as the "Einstein Cross", this newly observed "quintuple quasar" is the only case so far in which multiple quasar images are produced by an entire galaxy cluster acting as a gravitational lens.

Quasar's name: SDSS J100434.05+4112

Credit: European Space Agency, NASA, Keren Sharon (Tel-Aviv University) and Eran Ofek (CalTech)

Release Date: May 23, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #GravitationalLensing #Quintuple #AGN #Quasar #SDSSJ100434054112 #Galaxy #GalaxyCluster #Galaxies #LeoMinor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Mini-Jet Near Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole | Hubble

Mini-Jet Near Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole | Hubble

Hubble has found circumstantial evidence that the black hole is still smoldering long after the earlier outburst. Hubble astronomers' evidence is like doing an archeological dig to try and peer through the interstellar pollution of dense sheets of dust and gas between Earth and the galactic center, 27,000 light-years away. Hubble photographed a bright knot of gas that has been impacted by an invisible jet from the black hole, that is merely 15 light-years from it. The black hole must have shown brilliantly billions of years ago as a quasar (quasi-stellar object), when our young galaxy was feeding on lots of infalling gas. However, after all this time the black hole still goes through fits and starts, and is not ready for napping as long as there is a snack around.

This image presents a composite view of X-rays, molecular gas, and warm ionized gas near the galactic center. The graphic of a translucent, vertical white fan is added to show the suggested axis of a mini-jet from the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s heart. The orange-colored features are of glowing hydrogen gas. One such feature, at the top tip of the jet is interpreted as a hydrogen cloud that has been hit by the outflowing jet. The jet scatters off the cloud into tendrils that flow northward. Farther down near the black hole are X-ray observations of superheated gas colored blue and molecular gas in green. These data are evidence that the black hole occasionally accretes stars or gas clouds, and ejects some of the superheated material along its spin axis.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Gerald Cecil (UNC-Chapel Hill), J. DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: December 9, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Jet #BlackHole #Quasar #GalacticCore #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education