Cosmic Cycles: Earth, Our Home | NASA Goddard

Cosmic Cycles: Earth, Our Home | NASA Goddard

Join us for a tour of Earth, as NASA sees it from space. From photographs captured onboard the International Space Station, to stunning visualizations rendered from satellite data, we have a unique view of our home planet—a place perfect for life, billions of years in the making. From hundreds of miles up, we can see a hurricane gaining momentum over the Atlantic Ocean or generations of seabirds migrating to warmer climates. The data you are about to see represents decades of tireless work by thousands of scientists and engineers across NASA. And it continues—there is still so much to learn about our home world, with NASA at the forefront of many amazing discoveries from our vantage point in space. 

This piece is divided into five chapters that represent the many facets of our planet. The composition begins with An Awakened Earth, in which views of the dark side of Earth reveal city lights that continue to burn brightly through the night. At dawn, the International Space Station captures footage of a bright, cloud-covered ocean. 

Our world is alive and perpetually changing. A Violent Earth embodies this dynamic planet, characterized by giant dust storms, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and fire. When given the opportunity, Earth provides balance—as seen in A Giving Earth. Rain, food, animal migration, global forests and ocean currents are inextricably linked to the mercurial power of the planet. 

Despite the resiliency of this wonderous world, it is still A Fragile Earth. For more than 60 years, NASA has documented the effects of climate change from space. Melting ice sheets and rising global temperatures are two of many dangerous trends tied to growing greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere. 

There is much reason for concern over the health of our world. Yet despite the challenges we face, a planet as rich and beautiful as ours is worth every effort to protect it. A Spectacular Earth dives underneath the ocean's surface, emerging to reveal the fleet of Earth-observing satellites that provided the data and images you see in this movement. This piece concludes with several magnificent photographs taken by astronauts living and working on the ISS, followed by footage of nightfall over the ISS and a return to the dark side of Earth.

“Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony" is a groundbreaking collaboration between acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger, NASA, and the National Philharmonic, featuring a unique fusion of music and video in seven multimedia works. This transformative project takes the audience on a captivating voyage through the universe, showcasing the beauty and power of the marriage between music and science.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Producer: Lauren Ward (KBRwyle)

Executive Producer: Wade Sisler (NASA/GSFC)

Visualizers:

Alex Kekesi (GST)

Cindy Starr (GST)

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)

Kel Elkins (USRA)

Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC)

Trent L. Schindler (USRA)

Duration: 12 minutes

Release Date: May 15, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SpaceSymphony #Music #Orchestra #Composer #HenryDehlinger #NationalPhilharmonic #Earth #Planet #Environment #Atmosphere #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #CosmicCycles #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #NASAGoddard #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualizations #HD #Video

The Hercules Galaxy Cluster: "A Collection of Miniatures" (Wide-field) | ESO

The Hercules Galaxy Cluster: "A Collection of Miniatures" (Wide-field) | ESO

The galaxy cluster appears as a tiny swarm of faint galaxies close to the center of the image. This visible-light wide-field image of the region around the Hercules cluster of galaxies was created from photographs taken through blue and red filters and forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. 

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Digitized Sky Survey 2 

Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin

Release Date: March 7, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #ESO #GalaxyCluster #Abell2151 #Galaxies #InteractingGalaxies #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #VST #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education   

Panning across The Hercules Galaxy Cluster | European Southern Observatory

Panning across The Hercules Galaxy Cluster | European Southern Observatory

This video sequence takes a close look at the Hercules galaxy cluster, one of the youngest and most unusual of such clusters in the nearby Universe. Many spiral galaxies and interacting pairs of galaxies are visible. This very detailed view of this cluster comes from the VST telescope, the latest telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM 

Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute

Duration: 38 seconds

Release Date: May 5, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #ESO #GalaxyCluster #Abell2151 #Galaxies #InteractingGalaxies #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #VST #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Highlights of The Hercules Galaxy Cluster | European Southern Observatory

Highlights of The Hercules Galaxy Cluster | European Southern Observatory

These highlights, taken from an image of the young Hercules galaxy cluster from the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) and the OmegaCAM camera, show a wide variety of interacting galaxies. The numerous interactions, and the large number of gas-rich, star-forming spiral galaxies in the cluster, make the members of the Hercules cluster look like the young galaxies of the more distant Universe.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM 

Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute

Release Date: March 7, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #ESO #GalaxyCluster #Abell2151 #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #VST #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Earth Science: A Fiery 'Volcanic' Sky over Cerro Paranal in Chile | ESO

Earth Science: A Fiery 'Volcanic' Sky over Cerro Paranal in Chile | ESO

Have you ever seen a sunset so red? Probably not, since the cause of this reddened twilight sky is something quite dramatic: a volcanic eruption. This picture was captured at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile; under the Milky Way, on the top of the dark silhouette of Cerro Paranal, ESO’s Very Large Telescope looks upwards to the sky.

On January 15, 2022, the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai erupted in the southern Pacific Ocean. This eruption created shock waves that rippled through the atmosphere, reaching places far from the volcano itself. At ESO’s Paranal and La Silla observatories in Chile, more than 10,000 kilometers away, weather stations detected these atmospheric disturbances.

The eruption also launched an ash plume 57 kilometres tall, releasing massive quantities of particles into the atmosphere, including water vapor and dust. Sunlight is scattered and reddened by these tiny dust particles, and this effect was detected in calibration images taken during twilight by several ESO telescopes. This Picture of the Week, taken 6 months after the eruption, shows that the effects of these particles were not transitory. At the time of writing, one year later, the sky has still not returned to its pre-eruption state.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/F. Selman

Release Date: May 15, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Earth #EarthScience #Planet #Atmosphere #Sunset #Twilight #Volcano #Geology #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Star-studded Globular Cluster NGC 6325 in Ophiuchus | Hubble

Star-studded Globular Cluster NGC 6325 in Ophiuchus | Hubble

The densely packed globular cluster NGC 6325 glistens in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. This concentrated group of stars lies around 26,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus.

Globular clusters like NGC 6325 are tightly bound collections of stars with anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of members. They can be found in all types of galaxies, and act as natural laboratories for astronomers studying star formation. This is because the constituent stars of globular clusters tend to form at roughly the same time and with similar initial composition, meaning that astronomers can use them to fine-tune their theories of how stars evolve. 

Image Description: A dense cluster of bright stars. The core of the cluster is to the left and has a distinct group of blue stars. Surrounding the core are a multitude of stars in warmer colors. These stars are very numerous near the core and become more and more sparse, and more small and distant, out to the sides of the image. A few larger stars also stand in the foreground near the edges of the image.

Astronomers inspected this particular cluster not to understand star formation, but to search for a hidden monster. Though it might look peaceful, astronomers suspect this cluster could contain an intermediate-mass black hole that is subtly affecting the motion of surrounding stars. Previous research found that the distribution of stars in some highly concentrated globular clusters—those with stars packed relatively tightly together—was slightly different from what astronomers expected.

This discrepancy suggested that at least some of these densely packed globular clusters—including perhaps NGC 6325—could have a black hole lurking at the center. To explore this hypothesis further, astronomers turned to Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 to observe a larger sample of densely populated globular clusters, which included this star-studded image of NGC 6325. Additional data from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys were also incorporated into this image.

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

Release Date: May 15, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #StarCluster #NGC6325 #GlobularStarCluster #Ophiuchus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

New Video: Tianzhou-6 Cargo Spacecraft Docking | China Space Station

New Video: Tianzhou-6 Cargo Spacecraft Docking | China Space Station

New footage, released by the China Manned Space Agency on Friday, May 12, 2023, shows the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft docking with China's Tianjong Space Station as seen from the viewpoint of the Chinese astronauts aboard the orbiting space craft.

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft successfully docked to the rear docking port of the Tianhe Core Module (天和核心舱) on May 10, 2023. Tianzhou-6 (天舟六号) is the fifth cargo mission to the China Space Station (中国空间站). The cargo craft is loaded with supplies for the upcoming Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 crews, as well as propellant for the space station, payloads for scientific applications and experiments, weighing over seven tonnes in total. The Tianzhou-6 cargo ship has a 22.5-cubic-meter cargo compartment, which has 50 lockers to place daily necessities for the taikonauts and equipment needed for in-orbit experiments. 

The cargo spacecraft, 10.6 meters in length, consists of two parts—a smaller lower part as its propellant module, and a larger upper part the cargo module.

The Tianzhou-6 cargo craft is the first spacecraft visiting the Shenzhou-15 crew in orbit on the China Space Station. 

Shenzhou-15 Crew Members: 

Fei Junlong (commander), Zhang Lu (taikonaut), and Deng Qingming (taikonaut) 

Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV) Plus

Duration: 2 minutes, 18 seconds

Release Date: May 12, 2023

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Earth #Tianzhou6 #天舟六号 #TianheCoreModule #天和核心舱 #MicrogravityExperiments #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #天和核心舱 #Shenzhou15 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #Commander #FeiJunlong #ZhangLu #DengQingming #CNSA #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #Technology #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Skylab: America's First Space Station (1973-1974)

NASA's Skylab: America's First Space Station (1973-1974)

America's First Space Station

NASA's Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew in February 1974.

Skylab's General Characteristics

The program's nine prime crewmen, selected for the three manned Skylab missions, are pictured with an artist's concept of a completely deployed cluster of the Skylab components in Earth orbit.

Skylab Crew 1: Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Joseph P. Kerwin, science pilot; and Paul J. Weitz, pilot.

Skylab Crew 2: Alan L. Bean, commander; Owen K. Garriot, science pilot; and Jack R. Lousma, pilot. 

Skylab Crew 3: Gerald P. Carr, commander; Edward G. Gibson, science pilot; and William R. Pogue, pilot.

Official emblem for the NASA's Skylab Program

Skylab I Mission emblem

Skylab II Mission emblem

Skylab III Mission emblem

NASA's Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew in February 1974.

50th Anniversary: Skylab was a U.S. space station adapted from the third stage of a Saturn V rocket and launched into orbit in May 1973. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews. Major operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation, and hundreds of experiments. The longest mission, which ended in February 1974, lasted almost three months. 

The launch of Skylab, America's first space station, on board a modified Saturn V rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 14, 1973, marked a new phase for American's human space flight program. Americans would stay in space for longer periods, conducting complex scientific experiments in the unique space environment. The civilian space program was operating at a time when U.S. budgets were fiscally constrained, so NASA's leaders searched for an affordable way to build a space station. They came up with the idea of turning part of a Saturn V rocket into a space station, and the Skylab concept was born.

Skylab fulfilled the dreams of Dr. Wernher von Braun who had long wanted to build an orbiting outpost where people learn could how to live and work in space for longer periods. Von Braun and his team came up with the idea of using parts of an existing Saturn V rocket to make an orbital laboratory. Turning a rocket into a laboratory was not easy, but it was an affordable way to build a space station because existing hardware could be used.

Unable to be re-boosted by the Space Shuttle, which was not ready until 1981, Skylab's orbit eventually decayed, and it disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.

Learn more about Skylab: 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab

https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/skylab.htm

Image & Caption Credit: NASA

Release Date: May 12, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #History #Skylab #Astronauts #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceStation #HumanSpaceflight #SaturnVRocket #Technology #Engineering #WernhervonBraun #UnitedStates #Illustration #Infographics #STEM #Education

America's First Space Station: NASA Skylab 1 Launch 50th Anniversary (1973-2023)

America's First Space Station: NASA Skylab 1 Launch 50th Anniversary (1973-2023)

This week in 1973, the uncrewed Skylab was launched aboard a modified Saturn V launch vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. 

Clouds of smoke billow out over the surrounding area as the uncrewed Skylab 1/Saturn V space vehicle launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 1973. The Skylab 1 payload included the major components of the space station: the orbital workshop, Apollo Telescope Mount, multiple docking adapter, and airlock module. The Skylab 2 crew was scheduled to launch to the space station the following day aboard the Apollo Command and Service Module.

Skylab helped pave the way for permanent operations in low-Earth orbit. Over the course of its human occupation from May 25, 1973, to Feb. 8, 1974, three crews visited Skylab, carrying out 270 scientific and technical investigations in the fields of physics, astronomy, and biological sciences. These activities were forerunners of what we do now aboard the International Space Station.

Learn more about Skylab: 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab

Image Credit: NASA

Release Date: May 12, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #History #Skylab #SkylabI #SpaceStation #HumanSpaceflight #SaturnVRocket #KSC #NASAKennedy #Launch #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Lupus 3 Star-forming Region: Infrared & Visible Light Views | ESO

Lupus 3 Star-forming Region: Infrared & Visible Light Views | ESO

The infrared observations underlying this image reveal new details in the star-forming regions that are usually obscured by the clouds of dust. This image shows stars and clouds of gas and dust distributed over a dark background. A prominent cloud of gas and dust can be seen in the central part of the image. It features an amorphous and elongated cloud in a red and brown hue. A dozen stars in blue, red and yellow colors shine more clearly than the other stars that are distributed uniformly in the image. The image was produced with data collected by the VIRCAM instrument, which is attached to the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

A dark cloud of cosmic dust snakes across this spectacular image, illuminated by the brilliant light of new stars. This image was created from images taken using the European Southern Observatory’s VLT Survey Telescope and the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope. 

These visible light and infrared images show the star-forming region Lupus 3. This dense cloud is where dazzlingly hot stars are born from collapsing masses of gas and dust.

Distance: 600 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Meingast et al.

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #Lupus3 #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Scorpius #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #Infrared #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Lupus 2 Star-forming Region (Infrared View) | European Southern Observatory

Lupus 2 Star-forming Region (Infrared View) | European Southern Observatory

This image shows the region Lupus 2. New stars are born in the colorful clouds of gas and dust seen here. The infrared observations underlying this image reveal new details in the star-forming regions that are usually obscured by the clouds of dust.

Distance: 1,200 light years

This image shows stars and clouds of gas and dust distributed over a dark background. A prominent cloud of gas and dust can be seen in the central part of the image. It features amorphous clouds in a red and brown hue. In the upper half of the image are a dozen stars in blue, red and yellow colors that shine more prominently than the other stars distributed uniformly in the image.

 The image was produced with data collected by the VIRCAM instrument, which is attached to the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The observations were done as part of the VISIONS survey, which will allow astronomers to better understand how stars form in these dust-enshrouded regions.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Meingast et al.

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #Lupus2 #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Lupus #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #Infrared #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

The Milky Way Galaxy's Sagittarius A* Black Hole: An Introduction (Part 2)

 The Milky Way Galaxy's Sagittarius A* Black Hole: An Introduction (Part 2)

Our Galaxy is shaped like a whirlpool, with long strips of cosmic gas and dust swirling around the center. And like a whirlpool, objects that float too close are dragged into the center never to be seen again.  The fate of these unfortunate objects is no mystery. Lurking in the dark at the heart of our Galaxy is a gigantic, hungry monster—a supermassive black hole.

Learn more: https://chandra.si.edu/kids

Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #BlackHole #SajAstar #SagittariusAstar #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #Xray #SpaceTelescope #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Milky Way Galaxy's Sagittarius A* Black Hole: An Introduction (Part 1)

The Milky Way Galaxy's Sagittarius A* Black Hole: An Introduction (Part 1)

We cannot photograph our entire galaxy because we live inside it.  However, we can photograph small sections of our galaxy. Images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory show the very center of our Milky Way galaxy. This is the most chaotic and dangerous part of the Galaxy, and home to a supermassive black hole. 

Learn more: https://chandra.si.edu/kids

Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #BlackHole #SajAstar #SagittariusAstar #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #Xray #SpaceTelescope #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus: Wide Field View (Infrared) | ESO

L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus: Wide Field View (Infrared) | ESO

This image shows the L1688 region in the Ophiuchus constellation. New stars are born in the colorful clouds of gas and dust seen here. The infrared observations underlying this image reveal new details in the star-forming regions that are usually obscured by the clouds of dust. 

Distance: 450 light years

This image shows stars and clouds of gas and dust distributed over a dark background. A prominent cloud of gas and dust can be seen in the upper left part. It features amorphous clouds in red, green, blue and yellow colors. A similar, but smaller, cloud can be seen both in the upper right and lower right part of the image.

The image was produced with data collected by the VIRCAM instrument, which is attached to the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The observations were done as part of the VISIONS survey, which will allow astronomers to better understand how stars form in these dust-enshrouded regions.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Meingast et al.

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #L1688 #DarkNebula #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Ophiuchus #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #Infrared #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Zooming into L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus | ESO

Zooming into L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus | ESO

This video takes us on a journey to the L1688 region, where new stars are being born. We first see the Milky Way in visible light, and then we switch to an infrared view, which reveals young stars hidden by dust in this region.

Distance: 450 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 55 seconds

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #L1688 #DarkNebula #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Ophiuchus #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #Infrared #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

The L1688 Star-forming Region in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

This image shows the environment around the L1688 star-forming region in visible light. This area, located in the Ophiuchus constellation, features prominent dark lanes and glowing nebulae.

Distance: 450 light years

This image shows dark brownish clouds, on the right, and glowing bluish ones, on the left, both over a starry background. Among the stars, a few of them are much brighter and bigger than the others.

This image was taken from the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory with a 10-cm Takahashi FSQ106Ed f/3.6 telescope and a SBIG STL CCD camera, as part of the Gigagalaxy Zoom project.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/S. Guisard

Release Date: May 11, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #L1688 #DarkNebula #Nebulae #YoungStars #StellarNurseries #Constellation #Ophiuchus #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTA #Telescope #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education