Friends of NASA

Friday, October 21, 2022

China's FAST Radio Telescope Detects Biggest Atomic Cloud Ever Discovered

China's FAST Radio Telescope Detects Biggest Atomic Cloud Ever Discovered

An international team, led by Chinese scientists, has discovered the biggest atomic cloud in the universe—a surprising finding that could help researchers better understand the origins of galaxies. The cloud, made up of hydrogen atoms, measures about two million light-years across and is 20 times larger than our Milky Way galaxy, according to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature.

Astronomers from China, Europe, and the United States found the cloud after they pointed the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST)—the world's largest single-dish radio telescope—in the direction of a group of galaxies known as Stephan's Quintet. The FAST radio telescope is the size of 30 football fields.

The cloud’s location is also unusual as it is relatively far from the heart of Stephan’s Quintet. Most hydrogen atoms are found inside or near a galaxy as they are the building blocks of those galaxies and are constantly being combined under gravity to form molecules and eventually stars.

The finding might mean that other massive gaseous structures lurk elsewhere in the universe and can only be observed by powerful radio telescopes like FAST.

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 47 seconds

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #AtomicCloud #Gas #Hydrogen #GalaxyCluster #StephansQuintet #Pegasus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Physics #Astrophysics #RadioTelescope #FAST #China #中国 #STEM #Education #CGTN #HD #Video

Extremely Red Quasar SDSS J165202 | James Webb Space Telescope

Extremely Red Quasar SDSS J165202 | James Webb Space Telescope

Webb's View Around the Extremely Red Quasar SDSS J165202

Motions of Gas Around an Extremely Red Quasar (NIRSpec IFU)

Webb’s View of the Extremely Red Quasar SDSS J165202

Wide Field Hubble View of Extremely Red Quasar SDSS J165202

Astronomers looking into the early universe have made a surprising discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: a cluster of massive galaxies in the process of forming around an extremely red quasar. The result will expand our understanding of how galaxy clusters in the early universe came together and formed the cosmic web we see today.

The quasar is an “extremely red” quasar that exists in the very early Universe, 11.5 billion years ago. A quasar, a special type of active galactic nucleus (AGN), is a compact region with a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy. Gas falling into a supermassive black hole makes the quasar bright enough to outshine all the galaxy’s stars.

The quasar SDSS J165202.64+172852.3 is highlighted in an image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope in visible and near-infrared on the left. The images in the center and on the right present new observations from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope in multiple wavelengths to demonstrate the distribution of gas around the object.

Image 1: The image in the center is composed of four narrow-band images made from the Webb NIRSpec instrument’s integral-field spectroscopy mode. All the four narrow-band images show extremely red-shifted emissions from doubly ionized oxygen which has an emission line around 500nm in visible light; before it was shifted to infrared light.

Image 1: The panels on the right present the four narrow-band images separately. Each color illustrates the relative speed of ionized oxygen gas across the cluster. The redder the color the faster gas is moving away from our line of sight with the quasar, while the bluer the color the faster it is moving away from the quasar toward us. The color green indicates that the gas is steady in our line of sight in comparison to the quasar.

Image 1: The blue and yellow panels reveal the bi-conical outflow from the quasar, with the orange panel showing the gas moving faster from us, which is extended towards the lower right, as well as highlighting a companion galaxy on the upper left of the frame.

[Image 1 Description: This visual shows three images. On the left is a wide field view of multiple galaxies in the field. In the center is an image that is composed of four narrow-band images together, which appears as a burred rainbow blotch of colors. On the right are the four individual narrow-band images of the quasar in red, orange, teal, and blue.]

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & Canadian Space Agency (CSA), D. Wylezalek, A. Vayner & the Q3D Team, N. Zakamska

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Quasar #SDSSJ165202 #Infrared #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescopes #JWST #NIRSpec #Hubble #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Expedition 68: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Talks with Media After Space Station Mission

Expedition 68: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Talks with Media After Space Station Mission

Astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, including crew members from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), answered questions about their recent mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti participated in their first media event following their Oct. 14 splashdown and the conclusion of a 170 day mission.

Samantha Cristoforetti's Biography (ESA)

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

Learn more about her Mission Minerva: https://bit.ly/MissionMinerva

Jessica Watkins' Biography (NASA)

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography

Kjell Lindgren's Biography (NASA)

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren/biography

Robert Hines' Biography (NASA)

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/bob-hines

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: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 52 minutes

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #SpaceX #CrewDragon #CrewDragonFreedom #SpaceXCrew4 #Spacecraft #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #MinervaMission #Italy #Italia #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Flawless Splashdown | Week of Oct. 21, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground: Flawless Splashdown | Week of Oct. 21, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts aboard the Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down Friday, October 14, 2022, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, completing the agency’s fourth commercial crew mission to the International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 170 days in orbit.

NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at 4:55 p.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and astronauts.

The ISS Progress 80 resupply ship is due to end its cargo mission this weekend when it undocks from the Poisk module on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 6:46 p.m. EDT. Prokopyev packed trash and obsolete gear inside the Progress 80 for disposal on Thursday afternoon. The cargo craft will reenter Earth’s atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean for a fiery, but safe destruction about three-and-a-half hours later.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 2 minutes, 53 seconds

Release Date: October 21, 2022

Thursday, October 20, 2022

NASA's Curiosity Rover Explores New Salty Region | JPL

NASA's Curiosity Rover Explores New Salty Region | JPL

MSL - sol 3626 - Mastcam

MSL - sol 3625 - Mastcam

MSL - sol 3609 - Mastcam

MSL - sol 3563- Mastcam

MSL - sol 3572 - Mastcam

MSL - 36 drilled holes - MAHLI

MSL - sol 3626 - MastCam

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Reaches Long-Awaited Salty Region

The Curiosity rover has arrived at a special region believed to have formed as Mars’ climate was drying. After journeying this summer through a narrow, sand-lined pass, the rover recently arrived in the “sulfate-bearing unit,” a long-sought region of Mount Sharp enriched with salty minerals.

Scientists hypothesize that billions of years ago, streams, and ponds left behind the minerals as the water dried up. Assuming the hypothesis is correct, these minerals offer tantalizing clues as to how— and why—the Red Planet’s climate changed from being more Earth-like to the frozen desert it is today.

The minerals were spotted by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter years before Curiosity landed in 2012, so scientists have been waiting a long time to see this terrain up close. Soon after arriving, the rover discovered a diverse array of rock types and signs of past water, among them popcorn-textured nodules and salty minerals such as magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt is one kind), calcium sulfate (including gypsum), and sodium chloride (ordinary table salt).

They selected a rock nicknamed “Canaima” for the mission’s 36th drill sample, and choosing was no easy task. Along with scientific considerations, the team had to factor in the rover hardware. Curiosity uses a percussive, or jackhammering, rotary drill at the end of its 7-foot (2-meter) arm to pulverize rock samples for analysis. Worn brakes on the arm recently led the team to conclude that some harder rocks may require too much hammering to drill safely.

“As we do before every drill, we brushed away the dust and then poked the top surface of Canaima with the drill. The lack of scratch marks or indentations was an indication that it may prove difficult to drill,” said Curiosity’s new project manager, Kathya Zamora-Garcia of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We paused to consider whether that posed any risk to our arm. With the new drilling algorithm, created to minimize the use of percussion, we felt comfortable collecting a sample of Canaima. As it turned out, no percussion was needed.”

The mission’s scientists look forward to analyzing portions of the sample with the Chemical and Minerology instrument (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM).

Difficult Driving

The journey to the sulfate-rich region took Curiosity through treacherous terrain, including, this past August, the sandy “Paraitepuy Pass,” which snakes between high hills. It took the rover more than a month to safely navigate in order to finally reach its destination.

While sharp rocks can damage Curiosity’s wheels (which have plenty of life left in them), sand can be just as hazardous, potentially causing the rover to get stuck if the wheels lose traction. Rover drivers need to carefully navigate these areas.

The hills blocked Curiosity’s view of the sky, requiring the rover to be carefully oriented based on where it could point its antennas toward Earth and how long it could communicate with orbiters passing overhead.

After braving those risks, the team was rewarded with some of the most inspiring scenery of the mission, which the rover captured with an Aug. 14 panorama using its Mast Camera, or Mastcam.

“We would get new images every morning and just be in awe,” said Elena Amador-French of JPL, Curiosity’s science operations coordinator, who manages collaboration between the science and engineering teams. “The sand ridges were gorgeous. You see perfect little rover tracks on them. And the cliffs were beautiful—we got really close to the walls.”

However, this new region comes with its own challenges: While scientifically compelling, the rockier terrain makes it harder to find a place where all six of Curiosity’s wheels are on stable ground. If the rover is not stable, engineers will not risk unstowing the arm, in case it might bang into the jagged rocks.

The Curiosity mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.

Celebrating 10 Years on Mars!

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

For more about Curiosity:

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin Gill

Image Release Dates: October 19-20, 2022

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

Audio from Close Flyby of Jupiter's Moon Europa | NASA’s Juno Mission

Audio from Close Flyby of Jupiter's Moon Europa | NASA’s Juno Mission

In this video, measurements collected by the Waves instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa on Sept. 29, 2022, have been converted to an audible frequency. As the white line moves across the spectrogram, which is a visual way of representing signal strength over time, the variation of frequency of the plasma waves observed near Europa can be heard as the plasma density varies. The video shows data collected over approximately 1.5 hours during the Europa flyby.

For more information on NASA’s Juno mission, visit: http://nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.com

Details about the Europa flyby can be found at: https://go.nasa.gov/3yZZXLQ

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Univ of Iowa

Duration: 20 seconds

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Europa #Moon #Flyby #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #JunoMission #Juno #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #Exploration #JPL #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Audio #HD #Video

NASA Tests Ways to Crash Land on Mars | JPL

NASA Tests Ways to Crash Land on Mars | JPL

We are testing a new way of landing on Mars . . . by crashing into its surface.

The Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device (SHIELD) is a lander concept being tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It could one day provide a new way for low-cost missions to land on Mars.

Rather than rely on parachutes or retrorockets, SHIELD would include a collapsible, accordion-like base to absorb the energy of a landing. A full-size prototype of the base was tested on Aug. 12, 2022. The prototype was hurled at the ground from the top of a nearly 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) drop tower at JPL. A steel plate ensured the impact was even harder than what would be experienced on Mars.

The design worked: After crushing against the steel plate at 110 mph (177 kph), several electronic components inside the SHIELD prototype, including a smartphone, survived the impact.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/California Academy of Sciences

Duration: 1 minute, 35 seconds

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Atmosphere #Spacecraft #Lander #Landing #SHIELD #Engineering #Technology #SolarSystem #Exploration #California #JPL #Caltech #STEM #Education #HD #Video

‘Marshmallow’ World Found Orbiting a Cool Red Dwarf Star | NOIRLab

‘Marshmallow’ World Found Orbiting a Cool Red Dwarf Star | NOIRLab

Cosmoview Episode 55: A gas giant exoplanet with the density of a marshmallow has been detected in orbit around a cool red dwarf star by a suite of instruments, including the NASA-funded NEID radial-velocity instrument on the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. The planet, named TOI-3757 b, is the fluffiest gas giant planet ever discovered around this type of star.

Distance: 465 light-years

Learn more about exoplanet TOI-3757 b:

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/7765/toi-837-b/

Credits:

Images and Videos: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. Zamani, KPNO/P. Marenfeld, ESA/Hubble/M. Kornmesser

Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #Exoplanet #TOI3757b #Auriga #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #Telescope #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Hubble Spots Twin Debris Trails from Asteroid Struck by NASA's DART Spacecraft

Hubble Spots Twin Debris Trails from Asteroid Struck by NASA's DART Spacecraft

Aftermath of First-of-Its-Kind Test Intrigues Astronomers

On Sept. 26, 2022, NASA conducted a first-of-its-kind experiment, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), designed to intentionally smash a spacecraft into a small asteroid in the world’s first-ever in-space test for planetary defense. NASA declared the mission was successful in altering the orbit of Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos. However, there is still much to learn about the system.

Follow-up observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are already revealing the clearest image of a stunning surprise—a newly developed second tail of ejecta.

A bright blue spot is at the left-center of the image, which has a black background. The spot is the Didymos-Dimorphos system after impact from the DART spacecraft. The center bright spot has 3 diffraction spikes extending from its core at the 1 o’clock, 7 o’clock, and 10 o’clock positions. There is a small amount of dusty haze just below the southern pole of the center dot. Two tails of ejecta that appear as white streams of material extend out from the center at the 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions.

Two tails of dust ejected from the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system are seen in new images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, documenting the lingering aftermath of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact.

The DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a small moonlet of Didymos, on Sept. 26 in a planetary defense test to change Dimorphos’ orbit by crashing into it. Current data show that DART shortened Dimorphos’ original 11 hour and 55 minute orbit around Didymos by about 32 minutes.

Repeated observations from Hubble over the last several weeks have allowed scientists to present a more complete picture of how the system’s debris cloud has evolved over time. The observations show that the ejected material, or “ejecta,” has expanded and faded in brightness as time went on after impact, largely as expected. The twin tail is an unexpected development, although similar behavior is commonly seen in comets and active asteroids. The Hubble observations provide the best-quality image of the double-tail to date.

Following impact, Hubble made 18 observations of the system. Imagery indicates the second tail formed between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8.

The relationship between the comet-like tail and other ejecta features seen at various times in images from Hubble and other telescopes is still unclear, and is something the Investigation Team is currently working to understand. The northern tail is newly developed. In the coming months, scientists will be taking a closer look at the data from Hubble to determine how the second tail developed. There are a number of possible scenarios the team will investigate.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble and Webb science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Release Date: October 20, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hubble #DARTMission #Spacecraft #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #TwinTails #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education

Meet IXPE: NASA’s Newest Set of X-ray Eyes on the Universe

Meet IXPE: NASA’s Newest Set of X-ray Eyes on the Universe

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission was launched Dec. 9, 2021, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In space, IXPE explores the leftovers of exploded stars, black holes, and more by looking at a special property of light called polarization.

IXPE transmits scientific data several times a day to a ground station operated by the Italian Space Agency in Malindi, Kenya. The data flows from the Malindi station to IXPE’s Mission Operations Center at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and then to IXPE’s Science Operations Center at NASA Marshall for processing and analysis. IXPE’s scientific data will be publicly available from the High Energy Astrophysics Science Research Center at the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The Marshall science operations team also coordinates with mission operations team at LASP to schedule science observations. The mission plans to observe more than 30 planned targets during its first year. The mission will study distant supermassive black holes with energetic particle jets that light up their host galaxies. IXPE will also probe the twisted space-time around stellar-mass black holes and measure their spin. Other planned targets include different types of neutron stars, such as pulsars and magnetars. The science team has also reserved about a month to observe other interesting objects that may appear in the sky or brighten unexpectedly.

IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations.

Learn more about IXPE here:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ixpe/index.html

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: November 24, 2021

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #SpaceObservatory #Stars #NeutronStars #Pulsars #Magnetars #SupernovaRemnants #CassiopeiaA #SNR #BlackHoles #IXPE #Xray #MSFC #UnitedStates #Italy #Italia #ASI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’S IXPE Helps Unlock the Secrets of Famous Exploded Star: Cassiopeia A

NASA’S IXPE Helps Unlock the Secrets of Famous Exploded Star: Cassiopeia A

For the first time, astronomers have measured and mapped polarized X-rays from the remains of an exploded star, using NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The findings, which come from observations of a stellar remnant called Cassiopeia A, shed new light on the nature of young supernova remnants, which accelerate particles close to the speed of light.

Launched on Dec. 9, 2021, IXPE, a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, is the first satellite that can measure the polarization of X-ray light with this level of sensitivity and clarity.

All forms of light—from radio waves to gamma rays—can be polarized. Unlike the polarized sunglasses we use to cut the glare from sunlight bouncing off a wet road or windshield, IXPE’s detectors maps the tracks of incoming X-ray light. Scientists can use these individual track records to figure out the polarization, which tells the story of what the X-rays went through.

Cassiopeia A (Cas A for short) was the first object IXPE observed after it began collecting data. One of the reasons Cas A was selected is that its shock waves—like a sonic boom generated by a jet—are some of the fastest in the Milky Way. The shock waves were generated by the supernova explosion that destroyed a massive star after it collapsed. Light from the blast swept past Earth more than three hundred years ago.

This composite image shows the Cas A supernova remnant, a structure resulting from the explosion of a star in the Cassiopeia constellation. The blues represent data from the Chandra Observatory, the turquoise is from NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (called IXPE), and the gold is courtesy of the Hubble Telescope.

Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO, IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Vink et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI

Release Date: October 19, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #CassiopeiaA #SupernovaRemnant #SNR #Cassiopeia #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #IXPE #Xray #ChandraXrayObservatory #STScI #GSFC #MSFC #UnitedStates #Italy #Italia #ASI #STEM #Education

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

NASA's NEOWISE Mission: Revealing Changes in the Universe | JPL

NASA's NEOWISE Mission: Revealing Changes in the Universe | JPL

New time-lapse movies from NASA’s NEOWISE mission give astronomers the opportunity to see objects, like stars and black holes, as they move and change over time. The videos include previously hidden brown dwarfs, a feeding black hole, a dying star, a star-forming region, and a brightening star. They combine more than 10 years of NEOWISE observations and 18 all-sky images, enabling a long-term analysis and a deeper understanding of the universe.

0:44 – NEOWISE all-sky scan animation

1:03 – Feeding black hole

1:14 – Pulsing star reaches the end of its life

1:21 – Protostars in star-forming region

1:34 – Brown dwarf moves across the sky

2:00 – Unexplained stellar brightening

The NEOWISE mission uses a space telescope to hunt for asteroids and comets, including those that could pose a threat to Earth. Launched in December 2009 as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the space telescope was originally designed to survey the sky in infrared, detecting asteroids, stars and some of the faintest galaxies in space. WISE did so successfully until completing its primary mission in February 2011.

Observations resumed in December 2013, when the telescope was taken out of hibernation and re-purposed for the NEOWISE project as an instrument to study near-Earth objects, or NEOs, as well as more distant asteroids and comets.

For more information on the NEOWISE mission go to: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/neowise

For more NEOWISE data go to: https://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

WISE-NEOWISE movies compiled by Dan Caselden

Duration: 2 minutes, 14 seconds

Release Date: October 18, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #WISE #NEOWISE #SpaceTelescope #Infrared #Stars #BlackHoles #Protostars #BrownDwarfs #Asteroids #Comets #PlanetaryDefense #SolarSystem #Cosmos #Universe #JPL #Caltech #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover: New Panorama at “Paraitepuy Pass” | JPL

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover: New Panorama at “Paraitepuy Pass” | JPL

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured 146 images with its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on August 14, 2022. These images were used to create a panorama of the area informally known as “Paraitepuy Pass” in Gale Crater on Mars.

Celebrating 10 Years on Mars!

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.

Launch: November 6, 2011

Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

For more about Curiosity:

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Release Date: October 19, 2022

The Pillars of Creation: Close-up View | James Webb Space Telescope

The Pillars of Creation: Close-up View | 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

The Pillars of Creation: Hubble & Webb Showcase

The Pillars of Creation: Hubble & Webb Showcase

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.

The background of this 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: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA, ESA, , STScI, J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan, N. Bartmann

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: October 19, 2022

Panning across The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

Panning across The Pillars of Creation | James Webb Space Telescope

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, N. Bartmann

Duration: 45 seconds

Release Date: October 19, 2022

Pages

Friday, October 21, 2022

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Wednesday, October 19, 2022