Fiery Hourglass as New Star Forms: Protostar L1527 | James Webb Space Telescope

Fiery Hourglass as New Star Forms: Protostar L1527 | James Webb Space Telescope

The NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the once-hidden features of the protostar within the dark cloud L1527 with its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), providing insight into the formation of a new star. These blazing clouds within the Taurus star-forming region are only visible in infrared light, making it an ideal target for Webb.

The protostar itself is hidden from view within the ‘neck’ of this hourglass shape. An edge-on protoplanetary disc is seen as a dark line across the middle of the neck. Light from the protostar leaks above and below this disc, illuminating cavities within the surrounding gas and dust.

The region’s most prevalent features, the blue and orange clouds, outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with the surrounding matter. The colors themselves are due to layers of dust between Webb and the clouds. The blue areas are where the dust is thinnest. The thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.

Webb also reveals filaments of molecular hydrogen that have been shocked as the protostar ejects material away from it. Shocks and turbulence inhibit the formation of new stars, which would otherwise form throughout the cloud. As a result, the protostar dominates the space, taking much of the material for itself.

Despite the chaos that L1527 is causing, it is only about 100,000 years old—a relatively young body. Given its age and its brightness in far-infrared light, L1527 is considered a class 0 protostar, the earliest stage of star formation. Protostars like these, which are still cocooned in a dark cloud of dust and gas, have a long way to go before they become fully-fledged stars. L1527 does not generate its own energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen yet, an essential characteristic of stars. Its shape, while mostly spherical, is also unstable, taking the form of a small, hot, and puffy clump of gas somewhere between 20% and 40% of the mass of our Sun.

As a protostar continues to gather mass, its core gradually compresses and gets closer to stable nuclear fusion. The scene shown in this image reveals that L1527 is doing just that. The surrounding molecular cloud is made up of dense dust and gas that are being drawn towards the center, where the protostar resides. As the material falls in, it spirals around the center. This creates a dense disc of material, known as an accretion disc, which feeds material onto the protostar. As it gains more mass and compresses further, the temperature of its core will rise, eventually reaching the threshold for nuclear fusion to begin.

The disc, seen in the image as a dark band in front of the bright center, is about the size of our Solar System. Given the density, it’s not unusual for much of this material to clump together—the beginnings of planets. Ultimately, this view of L1527 provides a window onto what our Sun and Solar System looked like in their infancy.

More information

Webb is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Under an international collaboration agreement, ESA provided the telescope’s launch service, using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. ESA also provided the workhorse spectrograph NIRSpec and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument MIRI, which was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #Protostar #ProtostarL1527 #DarkCloudL1527 #Taurus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis I Launches to the Moon

NASA's Artemis I Launches to the Moon

NASA's Artemis I mission lifted off on Nov. 16, 2022, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B. This video includes highlights from the event.

With 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the Space Launch System (SLS), is NASA’s most powerful rocket. It will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond the Moon, 280,000 miles from Earth, farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever flown.

After 26 days and a total distance of over a million miles, Orion will return home faster and hotter than any spacecraft has before. 

The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will demonstrate our commitment and capability to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.

Learn more at: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/

Credit: NASA

Video Producer: Sonnet Apple

Duration: 2 minutes, 48 seconds

#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Orion's First Imagery of Earth | NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission

Orion's First Imagery of Earth | NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission

Coverage of the first imagery and views received from the Orion spacecraft 

Seen here is the Orion capsule first look back at Earth for the Artemis I Moon mission. The Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft launched at 1:47am EST from Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39B on November 16, 2022. This will be an uncrewed flight test that will demonstrate the ability of the SLS rocket to safely carry the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and its return and recovery to Earth for the agency’s Artemis Program. Orion is completing a 25-day test flight of all key systems as part of the Artemis I mission. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA

Capture Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

Duration: 2 minutes, 49 seconds

Capture Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky/Bill Ingalls/ULA

Image Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Liftoff | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky/Bill Ingalls/ULA

Image Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky/Bill Ingalls/ULA

Image Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Duration: 11 minutes

Image Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Image Date: November 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch: Tanking Underway | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch: Tanking Underway | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, as the Artemis I launch teams load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants including liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the launch countdown progresses at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than no earlier Nov. 16 at 1:04 a.m. EST. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky/Keegan Barber

Image Date: Nov. 15, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Creating Black Hole Jets with a NASA Supercomputer | NASA Goddard

Creating Black Hole Jets with a NASA Supercomputer | NASA Goddard

NASA Goddard astrophysicists Ryan Tanner and Kim Weaver have used the NASA Center for Climate Simulation's Discover supercomputer to simulate weak jets produced by monster black holes, which can weigh up to billions of times the Sun's mass. As matter falls toward the black hole, some of it accelerates to near light speed and diverts into a narrow pair of jets flowing in opposite directions. In the grandest examples, these jets extend hundreds of thousands of light-years and are easily detected features in radio. 

However, weaker jets, which are more difficult to detect, can greatly impact the central regions of their host galaxies. Astronomers suspected weak jets might be responsible for unusual gas motions or otherwise unexplainable optical and X-ray emission in some black-hole-powered galaxies. 

So Tanner and Weaver simulated weak jets under realistic conditions for a galaxy about the mass of our own Milky Way. To represent the gas distribution and properties related to the black hole's activity, they referenced spiral galaxies such as NGC 1386, NGC 3079, and NGC 4945. 

Tanner modified existing astrophysical hydrodynamics code to explore how the jets and the gas impact each other across 26,000 light-years of space, or about a quarter the diameter of the Milky Way, and 600,000 years of time. From the full set of 100 simulations, the team selected 19—which consumed 800,000 core hours on Discover—for publication. 

The final form of these outflows depends mainly on their interactions with large, dense gas clouds in the galaxy's central region. These clouds can disrupt, deflect, split, or even suppress the jet. This atlas of simulations provides an important touchstone for better understanding how weaker, less apparent jets modify their galaxies.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle): Producer

Amogh Thakkar: Lead Producer

Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer

Ryan Tanner (The Catholic University of America): Visualizer

Kim Weaver (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee

Ryan Tanner (The Catholic University of America): Interviewee

Ryan Tanner (The Catholic University of America): Scientist

Kim Weaver (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

Amogh Thakkar: Lead Videographer

Amogh Thakkar: Lead Video Editor

Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Videographer

Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle): Editor

Duration: 8 minutes

Release Date: November 15, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #BlackHoles #BlackHoleJets #Galaxies #MilkyWayGalaxy #Supercomputers #Simulations #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch: Tanking Underway | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch: Tanking Underway | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, as the Artemis I launch teams are loading over 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants including liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the launch countdown progresses at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than no earlier Nov. 16 at 1:04 a.m. EST.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Image Date: Nov. 15, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Zoom-in on Nearest Black Hole to Earth | NOIRLab

Zoom-in on Nearest Black Hole to Earth | NOIRLab

Zoom-in on the closest-known black hole to Earth. This is the first unambiguous detection of a dormant stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way. Its close proximity to Earth, a mere 1,600 light-years away, offers an intriguing target of study to advance our understanding of the evolution of binary systems.

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Bartmann/D. De Martin

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: November 15, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Gaia #Spacecraft #Star #GaiaBH1 #BlackHole #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #GeminiNorthTelescope #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #Hawaii #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Astronomers Discover Closest Black Hole to Earth | NOIRLab

Astronomers Discover Closest Black Hole to Earth | NOIRLab

Cosmoview 57: Astronomers using the International Gemini Observatory, operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, have discovered the closest-known black hole to Earth. This is the first unambiguous detection of a dormant stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way. Its close proximity to Earth, a mere 1,600 light-years away, offers an intriguing target of study to advance our understanding of the evolution of binary systems.

Black holes are the most extreme objects in the Universe. Supermassive versions of these unimaginably dense objects likely reside at the centers of all large galaxies. Stellar-mass black holes—which weigh approximately five to 100 times the mass of the Sun—are much more common, with an estimated 100 million in the Milky Way alone. Only a handful have been confirmed to date, however, and nearly all of these are ‘active’—meaning they shine brightly in X-rays as they consume material from a nearby stellar companion, unlike dormant black holes which do not. 

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i, one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have discovered the closest black hole to Earth, which the researchers have dubbed Gaia BH1. This dormant black hole is about 10 times more massive than the Sun and is located about 1,600 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, making it three times closer to Earth than the previous record holder, an X-ray binary in the constellation of Monoceros. The new discovery was made possible by making exquisite observations of the motion of the black hole’s companion, a Sun-like star that orbits the black hole at about the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun. 

“Take the Solar System, put a black hole where the Sun is, and the Sun where the Earth is, and you get this system,” explained Kareem El-Badry, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and the lead author of the paper describing this discovery. 

Though there are likely millions of stellar-mass black holes roaming the Milky Way Galaxy, those few that have been detected were uncovered by their energetic interactions with a companion star. As material from a nearby star spirals in toward the black hole, it becomes superheated and generates powerful X-rays and jets of material. If a black hole is not actively feeding (i.e., it is dormant) it simply blends in with its surroundings.

Credit: NOIRLab

Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds

Release Date: November 15, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Gaia #Spacecraft #Star #GaiaBH1 #BlackHole #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #GeminiNorthTelescope #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #Hawaii #UnitedStates #Art #Illustration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket Prelaunch | Kennedy Space Center

The Moon is seen rising above NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. 

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39B no earlier than November 16 at 1:04 a.m. EST. on a mission beyond the Moon and back to Earth.

Live coverage of briefings and events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

3:30 p.m. (EST)– Coverage of the cryogenic fueling of the Space Launch System for launch on the Artemis I mission

10:30 p.m. (EST) – Coverage of the launch of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission (Launch scheduled at 1:04 a.m. EST Nov. 16)

EST = Eastern Standard Time

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Release Date: Nov. 14, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA’s Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch Set to Make History

NASA’s Artemis I Moon Rocket Launch Set to Make History

A quick recap of NASA’s history in space exploration segueing to Artemis serves as the opening video for the launch broadcast for the agency’s Artemis I Moon mission. The broadcast originates from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39B no earlier than November 16 on a mission beyond the Moon and back to Earth.

Live coverage of briefings and events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

3:30 p.m. (EST)– Coverage of the cryogenic fueling of the Space Launch System for launch on the Artemis I mission

10:30 p.m. (EST) – Coverage of the launch of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission (Launch scheduled at 1:04 a.m. EST Nov. 16)

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Credits: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Produced and Edited by Oxcart and Sami Aziz

Duration: 1 minute 19 seconds

Release Date: November 14, 2022

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