Hubble (left) & Webb (right) Showcase The Pillars of Creation: A Comparison

Hubble (left) & Webb (right) Showcase The Pillars of Creation: A Comparison

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light, shown above at left.

A new, near-infrared-light view from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope, at right, helps us peer through more of the dust in this star-forming region. The thick, dusty brown pillars are no longer as opaque and many more red stars that are still forming come into view. While the pillars of gas and dust seem darker and less penetrable in Hubble’s view, they appear more diaphanous in Webb’s.

Image Description: Two images of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming region in space. At left, Hubble’s visible-light view shows darker pillars that rise from the bottom to the top of the screen, ending in three points. Webb’s near-infrared image at right shows the same pillars, but they are semi-opaque and rusty red-colored.

The background of the Hubble image is like a sunrise, beginning in yellows at the bottom, before transitioning to light green and deeper blues at the top. These colors highlight the thickness of the dust all around the pillars, which obscures many more stars in the overall region.

In contrast, the background light in Webb’s image appears in blue hues, which highlights the hydrogen atoms, and reveals an abundance of stars spread across the scene. By penetrating the dusty pillars, Webb also allows us to identify stars that have recently—or are about to—burst free. Near-infrared light can penetrate thick dust clouds, allowing us to learn so much more about this incredible scene.

Both views show us what is happening locally. Although Hubble highlights many more thick layers of dust and Webb shows more of the stars, neither shows us the deeper universe. Dust blocks the view in Hubble’s image, but the interstellar medium plays a major role in Webb’s. It acts like thick smoke or fog, preventing us from peering into the deeper universe, where countless galaxies exist.

The pillars are a small region within the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI).

Release Date: October 19, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #EagleNebula #PillarsOfCreation #Infrared #SerpensCauda #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescopes #HST #JWST #NIRCam #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Tour The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

Tour The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

This video tours areas of Webb’s near-infrared light view of the Pillars of Creation. This area is brimming with gas and dust—essential ingredients for star formation. Glowing, bright red wavy lines appear at the edges of some pillars, revealing where stars are ejecting material as they form. The bright red orbs are newly formed stars that have burst into view.

Distant galaxies typically make appearances in Webb’s images, but not this one. A translucent layer of gas and dust is drawn like a curtain, allowing the stars to take centerstage. Webb’s near-infrared image will help researchers update their models of star formation. Over time, we will learn how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.

Read more about Webb's near-infrared image of the Pillars of Creation: https://go.nasa.gov/3EPPiXW

Credits:

Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI) 

Science: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) 

Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Duration: 1 minute, 12 seconds

Release Date: October 19, 2022

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Zoom into The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

Zoom into The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

The Pillars of Creation are set off in a kaleidoscope of color in the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared-light view. The pillars look like arches and spires rising out of a desert landscape, but are filled with semi-transparent gas and dust, and ever changing. This is a region where young stars are forming—or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form.

Protostars are the scene-stealers in this Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image. These are the bright red orbs that sometimes appear with eight diffraction spikes. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly.

Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years.

Although it may appear that near-infrared light has allowed Webb to “pierce through” the background to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, the interstellar medium stands in the way, like a drawn curtain.

This is also the reason why there are no distant galaxies in this view. This translucent layer of gas blocks our view of the deeper universe. Plus, dust is lit up by the collective light from the packed “party” of stars that have burst free from the pillars. It’s like standing in a well-lit room looking out a window—the interior light reflects on the pane, obscuring the scene outside and, in turn, illuminating the activity at the party inside.

Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation will help researchers revamp models of star formation. By identifying far more precise star populations, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these clouds over millions of years.

The Pillars of Creation is a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.

Webb’s NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); European Southern Observatory (ESO), NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, T.A.Rector, B.A.Wolpa, ESA/Hubble, J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan, N. Bartmann, M. Zamani  

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: October 19, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #EagleNebula #PillarsOfCreation #Infrared #SerpensCauda #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #NIRCam #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Pillars of Creation: A Star-Filled Portrait | James Webb Space Telescope

The Pillars of Creation: A Star-Filled Portrait | James Webb Space Telescope

The Pillars of Creation are set off in a kaleidoscope of color in the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared-light view. The pillars look like arches and spires rising out of a desert landscape, but are filled with semi-transparent gas and dust, and ever changing. This is a region where young stars are forming—or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form.

Image Description: This vertical image has layers of semi-opaque rusty red colored gas and dust that starts at the bottom left and goes toward the top right. There are three prominent pillars rising toward the top right. The left pillar is the largest and widest. The peaks of the second and third pillars are set off in darker shades of brown and have red outlines.

Protostars are the scene-stealers in this Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image. These are the bright red orbs that sometimes appear with eight diffraction spikes. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly.

Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years.

Although it may appear that near-infrared light has allowed Webb to “pierce through” the background to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, the interstellar medium stands in the way, like a drawn curtain.

This is also the reason why there are no distant galaxies in this view. This translucent layer of gas blocks our view of the deeper universe. Plus, dust is lit up by the collective light from the packed “party” of stars that have burst free from the pillars. It’s like standing in a well-lit room looking out a window—the interior light reflects on the pane, obscuring the scene outside and, in turn, illuminating the activity at the party inside.

Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation will help researchers revamp models of star formation. By identifying far more precise star populations, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these clouds over millions of years.

The Pillars of Creation is a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.

Webb’s NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: October 19, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #EagleNebula #PillarsOfCreation #Infrared #SerpensCauda #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #NIRCam #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Panning Across Interacting Galaxies in Columba | Hubble

Panning Across Interacting Galaxies in Columba | Hubble

The two interacting galaxies making up the pair known as Arp-Madore 608-333 seem to float side by side in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. Though they appear serene and unperturbed, the two are subtly warping one another through a mutual gravitational interaction that is disrupting and distorting both galaxies. This drawn-out galactic interaction was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The interacting galaxies in Arp-Madore 608-333 were captured as part of an effort to build up an archive of interesting targets for more detailed future study with Hubble, ground-based telescopes, and the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA) James Webb Space Telescope. To build up this archive, astronomers scoured existing astronomical catalogues for a list of targets spread throughout the night sky. By so doing, they hoped to include objects that had already been identified as interesting and that would be easy for Hubble to observe no matter which direction it was pointing.

Deciding how to award Hubble observing time is a drawn-out, competitive and difficult process, and the observations are allocated so as to use every last second of Hubble time available. However, there is a small but persistent fraction of time—around 2-3%—that goes unused as Hubble turns to point at new targets. Snapshot programs, such as the one which captured Arp-Madore 608-333, exist to fill this gap and take advantage of the moments between longer observations. As well as creating beautiful images such as this, these snapshot programs enable astronomers to gather as much data as possible with Hubble.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, Dark Energy Survey/U.S. Department of Energy/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), J. Dalcanton

Release Date: October 3, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #Galaxies #AM0608333 #ArpMadore608333 #InteractingGalaxies #Columba #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #CTIO #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panning across Terzan 1 Star Cluster, Take 2 | Hubble

Panning across 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

Duration: 30 seconds

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 #HD #Video

Panning across a Turbulent Stellar Nursery: Herbig–Haro Objects HH1&2 | Hubble

Panning across a Turbulent Stellar Nursery: Herbig–Haro Objects HH1&2 | Hubble

The lives of newborn stars are tempestuous, as this new image of the Herbig–Haro objects HH 1 and HH 2 from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope depicts. Both objects are in the constellation Orion and lie around 1,250 light-years from Earth. HH 1 is the luminous cloud above the bright star in the upper right of this image, and HH 2 is the cloud in the bottom left. While both Herbig–Haro objects are visible, the young star system responsible for their creation is lurking out of sight, swaddled in the thick clouds of dust at the center of this image. However, an outflow of gas from one of these stars can be seen streaming out from the central dark cloud as a bright jet. Meanwhile, the bright star between that jet and the HH 1 cloud was once thought to be the source of these jets, but it is now known to be an unrelated double star that formed nearby.

Herbig–Haro objects are glowing clumps found around some newborn stars, and are created when jets of gas thrown outwards from these young stars collide with surrounding gas and dust at incredibly high speeds. In 2002, Hubble observations revealed that parts of HH 1 are moving at more than 400 kilometers per second!

This scene from a turbulent stellar nursery was captured with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 using 11 different filters at infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths. Each of these filters is sensitive to just a small slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, and they allow astronomers to pinpoint interesting processes that emit light at specific wavelengths.

In the case of HH 1/2, two groups of astronomers requested Hubble observations for two different studies. The first delved into the structure and motion of the Herbig–Haro objects visible in this image, giving astronomers a better understanding of the physical processes occurring when outflows from young stars collide with surrounding gas and dust. The second study instead investigated the outflows themselves to lay the groundwork for future observations with the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. Webb, with its ability to peer past the clouds of dust enveloping young stars, will revolutionize the study of outflows from young stars.

[Image description: Two wispy, gaseous clouds occupy the corners of this image, HH 1 in the upper right, and HH 2 in the lower left. Both are light blue and surrounded by dimmer multi-colored clouds, while the background is dark black due to dense gas. A very bright orange star lies just to the lower left of HH 1, and beyond that star is a narrow jet, emerging from the dark center of the field.]

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, B. Reipurth, B. Nisini

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: October 18, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #LightWavelengths #Infrared #Ultraviolet #Visible #HerbigHaroObjects #HH1 #HH2 #Jets #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4: Final Departure Photos | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4: Final Departure Photos | International Space Station

SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts pose for a portrait in their pressure suits before boarding the Dragon Freedom crew ship, undocking from the International Space Station, and returning to Earth completing a 170-day space research mission. From left are Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, Pilot Bob Hines, Commander Kjell Lindgren (all three NASA astronauts), and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristoforetti from the European Space Agency (ESA)

The eleven Expedition 68 crew members aboard the International Space Station pose for a portrait. In the front row from left, are Russian cosmonauts Anna Kikina, Sergey Prokopyev, and Dmitri Petelin. In the next row, are astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In the back, are NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Frank Rubio, Josh Cassada, and Nicole Mann. A symbolic key, representing the traditional change of command ceremony, that Cristoforetti earlier handed over to Prokopyev, floats in the center of the frame, as he begins his spaceflight as Expedition 68 Commander.

The SpaceX Crew-4 mission insignia, affixed to the vestibule between the Harmony module's space-facing port and the Dragon Freedom crew ship, is surrounded by the signatures of Crew-4 members Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Samantha Cristoforetti. Credit: NASA/Kjell Lindgren

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins, also a SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Specialist, signs her name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Bob Hines, also the SpaceX Crew-4 Pilot, signs his name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, also the SpaceX Crew-4 Commander, signs his name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Commander Samantha Cristoforetti, also a SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Specialist, signs her name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship is pictured docked to the forward port of the International Space Station's Harmony module

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft with NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, as well as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti inside undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module on October 14, 2022, to complete a nearly six-month science mission. These are final crew photos on the International Space Station ahead of their successful landing that same day. 

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: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Kjell Lindgren

Image Dates: October 12-14, 2022

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Galaxy Cluster Abell 520 | Hubble & Chandra X-ray Observatory

Galaxy Cluster Abell 520 | Hubble & Chandra X-ray Observatory

This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520, formed from a violent collision of massive galaxy clusters. Abell 520 resides 2.4 billion light-years away.

The natural-color image of the galaxies was taken with the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope and with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. Superimposed on the image are maps showing the concentration of starlight, hot gas, and dark matter. Starlight from galaxies, derived from observations by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, is colored orange. The green-tinted regions show hot gas, as detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The gas is evidence that a collision took place. The blue-colored areas pinpoint the location of most of the mass in the cluster, which is dominated by dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up most of the Universe's mass. The dark-matter map was derived from the Hubble Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations by detecting how light from distant objects is distorted by the cluster of galaxies, an effect called gravitational lensing.

The blend of blue and green in the center of the image reveals that a clump of dark matter resides near most of the hot gas, where very few galaxies are found. This finding confirms previous observations of a dark-matter core in the cluster. The result could present a challenge to basic theories of dark matter, which predict that galaxies should be anchored to dark matter, even during the shock of a collision.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee (University of California, Davis), and A. Mahdavi (San Francisco State University)

Release Date: March 23, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #Abell520 #GravitationalLensing #DarkMatter #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #ChandraXrayObservatory #CanadaFranceHawaiiTelescope #STScI #GSFC #MSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Blowing Cosmic Super Bubbles: LHa115-N19 | NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Blowing Cosmic Super Bubbles: LHa115-N19 | NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory

At a distance of only 200,000 light years, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors. With its millions of stars, the SMC offers astronomers a chance to study phenomena across the stellar life cycle. In various regions of the SMC, massive stars and supernovas are creating expanding envelopes of dust and gas. Evidence for these structures is found in optical (red) and radio (green) data in this composite image.

Astronomers used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to peer into one particular region of clouds of gas and plasma where stars are forming. This area, known as LHa115-N19 or N19 for short, is filled with ionized hydrogen gas and it is where many massive stars are expelling dust and gas through stellar winds. When the X-ray data (blue and purple) are combined with the other wavelengths, researchers find evidence for the formation of a so-called superbubble. Superbubbles are formed when smaller structures from individual stars and supernovas combine into one giant cavity.

The Chandra data show evidence for three supernova explosions in this relatively small region. Furthermore, the Chandra observations suggest that each of these supernova remnants were caused by a similar process: the collapse of a very massive star. There are hints that these stars were members of a so-called OB association, a group of stars that formed from the same interstellar cloud.

Image Credit: NASA/CXC/UIUC/R.Williams et al.; Optical: NOAO/CTIO/MCELS coll.; Radio: ATCA/UIUC/R.Williams et al.

Release Date: August 30, 2007

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #SuperBubble #LHa115N19 #N19 #Supernovas #Tucana #Constellation #Galaxy #SmallMagellanicCloud #SMC #ChandraXrayObservatory #SpaceTelescope #Radio #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Big, Beautiful and Blue: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2336 | Hubble

Big, Beautiful & Blue: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2336 | Hubble

NGC 2336 is the quintessential galaxy—big, beautiful and blue—and it is captured here by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. The barred spiral galaxy stretches an immense 200,000 light-years across and is located approximately 100 million light years away in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).

Its spiral arms are glittered with young stars, visible in their bright blue light. In contrast, the redder central part of the galaxy is dominated by older stars.

NGC 2336 was discovered in 1876 by German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel, using a 28-centimeter telescope. This Hubble image is so much better than the view Tempel would have had—Hubble’s main mirror is 2.4 meters across, nearly ten times the size of the telescope Tempel used. In 1987, NGC 2336 experienced a Type-Ia supernova, the only observed supernova in the galaxy since its discovery 111 years earlier.

A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can affect spiral arms as well. The Milky Way Galaxy, where our Solar System is located, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy. [Wikipedia]

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, V. Antoniou

Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Release Date: March 1, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC2336 #Barred #Spiral #Camelopardalis #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education 

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Splashdown: Helicopter Ride to Jacksonville, Florida

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Splashdown: Helicopter Ride to Jacksonville, Florida

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins helped out of helicopter in Jacksonville, Florida

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren helped out of helicopter in Jacksonville, Florida

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti helped out of helicopter in Jacksonville, Florida

NASA astronaut Robert Hines helped out of helicopter in Jacksonville, Florida

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren helped aboard helicopter on SpaceX recovery ship Megan

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren inside elevator on SpaceX recovery ship Megan

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti inside elevator on SpaceX recovery ship Megan

NASA astronaut Robert Hines inside elevator on SpaceX recovery ship Megan

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren and Robert Hines, along with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy, are seen just a few hours after they landed in their SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.

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.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Image Date: October 14, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #Science #Landing #RecoveryShip #Megan #Helicopter #AtlanticOcean #ISS #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Spacecraft #SpaceXCrew4 #Freedom #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #MinervaMission #Italy #Italia #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #Jacksonville #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Checks Out Dragon Spacecraft Prelaunch

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Checks Out Dragon Spacecraft Prelaunch

Crew-6 Mission Specialist Sultan Al Neyadi (UAE)

Crew-6 Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev (Russia)

Crew-6 Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg (NASA)

Crew-6 Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg (NASA)

Crew-6 Commander Stephen Bowen (NASA)

Crew-6 Mission Specialist Sultan Al Neyadi (UAE)

Crew-6 Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev (Russia)

Crew-6 Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg (NASA)

The four crew members of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station are Mission Specialist Sultan Al Nedayi (UAE), Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev (Russia), Pilot William Hoburg, and Commander Stephen Bowen.

Astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (United Arab Emirates) will make history by being the first astronaut from the Arab world to spend six months on the International Space Station (ISS). AlNeyadi has undergone a 20-month long rigorous training for the Crew-6 mission. AlNeyadi began his training in September 2018, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City in Moscow, Russia.

Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (Russia)

Andrey Valerievich Fediaev (Russian Cyrillic: Андрей Валерьевич Федяев; born February 26, 1981) is a Russian cosmonaut. Fediaev received his an engineering degree in air transport and Air Traffic Control from the Balashov Military Aviation School in 2004. Following graduation, Fediaev joined the Russian Air Force in the 317th mixed aviation segment. He obtained the rank of major before his retirement in 2013. He logged over 500 hours in Russian aircraft.

Fediaev was selected as a cosmonaut in 2012. He reported to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 2012 and was named a test cosmonaut on June 16, 2014.

On July 15, 2022, he was assigned to the SpaceX Crew-6 mission after a recent crew swap agreement between NASA and Roscosmos.

NASA Astronaut William Hoburg's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/warren-hoburg

https://www.nasa.gov/content/warren-hoburg-phd-nasa-astronaut

NASA Astronaut Stephen Bowen's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/stephen-g-bowen

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Dates: September 25 & 27, 2022

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Hobbies: Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti | International Space Station

Hobbies: Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti | International Space Station

What hobbies do you take part in during your free time?

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s day onboard the International Space Station usually starts at around 7:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). During a typical day, she will run experiments and maintenance, exercise, and participate in daily task meetings. Once all the work is done, she gets free time to relax. Find out what she likes to do in her free time.

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

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Release Date: October 17, 2022

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Samantha Arrives in Cologne, Germany after International Space Station Mission

Samantha Arrives in Cologne, Germany after International Space Station Mission

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, arrived in Cologne, Germany, on October 15, 2022.

Samantha’s Minerva mission began on April 27, 2022, when she was launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, USA, as part of Crew-4. While this mission was not her first to the International Space Station, it was packed full of groundbreaking moments.

On July 21, 2022, Samantha completed her first spacewalk, outfitting the European Robotic Arm alongside Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Artemyev. This European project is capable of ‘walking’ between locations on the Station, offering grappling, transport, and installation assistance for payloads. Beyond this activity being a personal milestone, this extravehicular activity also made her the first European woman to spacewalk.

Samantha assumed the role of commander on September 28, 2022, making her the fifth European, and first European woman, to hold the leadership position of the International Space Station. As commander, Samantha was responsible for the performance and well-being of her colleagues in space, maintaining effective communication with the teams on Earth, and coordinating crew response in case of emergencies. At the end of her mission, she assured a smooth transition between Expedition 67 and Expedition 68.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom transporting Crew-4 autonomously undocked from the International Space Station and after a series of burns, entered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed parachutes for a soft water-landing. Samantha and Crew-4 splashed down on October 14, 2022 at 21:55 BST (22:55 CEST).

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

Credits: European Space Agency - S. Corvaja/N. Ivanova

Image Date: October 15, 2022

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Zoom on Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015 (annotated) | Hubble

Zoom on Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015 (annotated) | Hubble

This video zooms in on Hubble observations of massive galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015. Astronomers used the powerful gravity from the cluster to magnify the light from a very distant distant galaxy (highlighted at the end of the video), an effect called gravitational lensing. The estimated distance of the galaxy would make it the most distant seen to date, with a redshift of around 11.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), G. Bacon

Duration: 51 seconds

Release Date: February 17, 2016

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