Thursday, July 06, 2023

Science on NASA's CRS-19 Cargo Mission | International Space Station

Science on NASA's CRS-19 Cargo Mission | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman's 19th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is carrying scientific investigations, including a 3D neuron cell culture to test gene therapy, instruments to monitor plasma density, and an updated potable water dispenser system. 

The Cygnus spacecraft carrying these experiments to the orbiting laboratory is scheduled to lift off no earlier than August 1, 2023, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

Learn more about some of the science that is on this mission:

https://go.nasa.gov/43futh0


Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds

Release Date: July 6, 2023


#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #NorthropGrumman #CygnusSpacecraft #CargoMission #CRS19 #CommercialResupply #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceResearch #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceExperiments #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #GSFC #WallopsFlightFacility #WFF #WallopsIsland #Virginia #Spaceport #UnitedStates #CommercialSpace #Science #Technology #Engineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Views of The South Atlantic Ocean | International Space Station

Views of The South Atlantic Ocean | International Space Station

A set of remote South Atlantic islands, the Falkland Islands, peek through the clouds as the International Space Station orbits 270 miles above Earth off the coast of South America. Malvinas is the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands. The Falklands is a British Overseas Territory. The Russian segment of the International Space Station can be seen to the right of the image, while a pair of solar arrays are partially shown on the left.
The International Space Station was orbiting 270 miles above the south Atlantic Ocean about 350 miles north of South Georgia Island when this photograph was taken. In the top foreground, portions of the station's main solar array and roll-out solar array are also pictured.
An almost-full moon glows in the back as the space station orbits 268 miles above the coast of Argentina.
Clouds cover Earth and the orbital lab's solar arrays are shown in the top left corner as the space station orbits 270 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Capture Date: July 2, 2023


#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #AtlanticOcean #SouthAtlantic #FalklandsIslands #Malvinas #Argentina #SouthAmerica #BritishOverseasTerritory #UnitedKingdom #Science #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #Technology #UnitedStates #Russia #Роскосмос #UAE #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

Most Distant Active Supermassive Black Hole to Date Detected | Webb Telescope

Most Distant Active Supermassive Black Hole to Date Detected | Webb Telescope

To the right of center is a clump of bright white spiral galaxies that seem to be twisting into one another. Threaded throughout the scene are light pink spirals that look like pinwheels twirling in the wind. The bright foreground stars, set off in blue, announce themselves with Webb’s prominent eight-pointed diffraction spikes.

Researchers have identified the most distant active supermassive black hole to date in the James Webb Space Telescope’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey. The black hole, within galaxy CEERS 1019, existed just over 570 million years after the big bang and weighs only 9 million solar masses. 

Researchers have discovered the most distant active supermassive black hole to date with the James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxy, CEERS 1019, existed just over 570 million years after the big bang, and its black hole is less massive than any other yet identified in the early universe. Astronomers have also identified two more black holes that are also on the smaller side, and existed 1 and 1.1 billion years after the big bang. Furthermore, Webb identified eleven galaxies that existed when the universe was 470 to 675 million years old. The evidence was provided by Webb’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, led by Steven Finkelstein of the University of Texas at Austin. The program combines Webb’s highly detailed near- and mid-infrared images and data known as spectra, all of which were used to make these discoveries.

Galaxy CEERS 1019 is notable for how long ago it existed, but also how relatively little its black hole weighs. This black hole clocks in at about 9 million solar masses, far less than other black holes that also existed in the early universe and were detected by other telescopes. Those behemoths typically contain more than 1 billion times the mass of the Sun—and they are easier to detect because they are much brighter. (They are actively “eating” matter, which lights up as it swirls toward the black hole.) The black hole within CEERS 1019 is more similar to the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, which is 4.6 million times the mass of the Sun. This black hole is also not as bright as the more massive behemoths previously detected. Though smaller, this black hole existed so much earlier that it is still difficult to explain how it formed so soon after the universe began. Researchers have long known that smaller black holes must have existed earlier in the universe, but it was not until Webb began observing that they were able to make definitive detections. 

These are only the first groundbreaking findings from the CEERS survey. “Until now, research about objects in the early universe was largely theoretical,” Finkelstein said. “With Webb, not only can we see black holes and galaxies at extreme distances, we can now start to accurately measure them. That’s the tremendous power of this telescope.” 

The James Webb Space Telescope is an international program led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).


Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin)

Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: July 6, 2023


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #JWST #Stars #CEERSSurvey #Galaxies #Galaxy #CEERS1019 #BlackHoles #Astrophysics #Cosmology #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

The Running Man Nebula: Sh2-279 | Schulman Telescope

The Running Man Nebula: Sh2-279 | Schulman Telescope

Sh2-279 (alternatively designated S279 or Sharpless 279) is an HII region and bright nebulae that includes a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion. It is the northernmost part of the asterism known as Orion's Sword, lying 0.6° north of the Orion Nebula. Distance: 1,500 light years

The 0.81 m (32 in) Schulman Telescope is a Ritchey-Chrétien reflector built by RC Optical Systems and installed in 2010. It is operated by the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter and is Arizona's largest dedicated public observatory. The Schulman Telescope was designed from inception for remote control over the Internet by amateur and professional astrophotographers worldwide. It is currently the world's largest telescope dedicated for this purpose.

Image Credit: Adam Block

Image Date: Jan. 7, 2016


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Nebulae #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Sh2279 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #UA #MountLemmonObservatory #SchulmanTelescope #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Salette & Coulettes | NASA/JPL

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Salette & Coulettes | NASA/JPL

Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of late June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 20 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes. The next stage is to get them back for study.

Considered one of the highest priorities by the scientists in the Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, Mars Sample Return would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and provides the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. NASA is teaming with the European Space Agency on this important endeavor. 

Learn more about Samples No. 4 and 5—“Salette” and “Coulettes”—a pair of igneous rock samples collected from the floor of Jezero Crater. These samples capture a diversity of minerals that scientists believe show evidence of habitability on Mars. 

Read about all the carefully selected samples: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples

Learn more about the Mars Sample Return campaign: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr 

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #SampleSalette #SampleCoulettes #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #Europe #MoonToMars #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 69 Astronaut Woody Hoburg Talks with Robot Brains Podcast

Expedition 69 Astronaut Woody Hoburg Talks with Robot Brains Podcast

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview July 5 with the Robot Brains Podcast. Hoburg is in the midst of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.

NASA Astronaut William Hoburg's Official Biography:

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

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

Follow Expedition 69 updates here:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (July 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.


Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 20 minutes

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #ISS #Astronauts #WoodyHoburg #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #Robots #Robotics #Technology #UnitedStates #Russia #Роскосмос #UAE #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UNOOSA #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Star Fit for Life | High Above Down Under | NASA Goddard

A Star Fit for Life | High Above Down Under | NASA Goddard

Episode 1: Follow two NASA rocket teams as they launch from Australia to study our nearest stellar neighbors—Alpha Centauri A & B—on a quest to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life. 

This is the first in a six-part series released weekly starting June 27, 2023.

To learn more about NASA’s Sounding Rockets Program - https://www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets


Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center 

Additional footage: Office of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory government, Equatorial Launch Australia

Additional graphics: Vecteezy.com

Host: Miles Hatfield (NASA/GSFC) 

Writers/Videographers: 

Miles Hatfield (NASA/GSFC) 

Mara Johnson-Groh (NASA/GSFC) 

Producers: 

Beth Anthony (NASA/GSFC) 

Joy Ng (NASA/GSFC) 

Lacey Young (NASA/GSFC) 

Animators: 

Walt Feimer (NASA/GSFC) 

Jenny McElligott (NASA/GSFC) 

Scientific Advisor: 

Kevin France (CU Boulder/LASP/SISTINE)

Special thanks to:

Equatorial Launch Australia

Gumatj Corporation Ltd.

Office of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory government

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: June 27, 2023


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Exoplanets #Planets #GoldilocksZone #Water #Astrobiology #SoundingRockets #TeamSistine #TeamDeuce #RocketLaunches #SouthernHemisphere #Australia #NorthernTerritory #YolnguPeople #AboriginalAustralians #Host #MilesHatfield #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Living with the Stars | High Above Down Under | NASA Goddard

Living with the Stars | High Above Down Under | NASA Goddard

Episode 2: Follow two NASA rocket teams as they launch from Australia to study our nearest stellar neighbors—Alpha Centauri A & B—on a quest to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life. 

In this episode, hear from a local Yolngu leader and learn what it takes to make a rocket range from scratch. (Spoiler: It is not an easy task.)

To learn more about NASA’s Sounding Rockets Program - https://www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets


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

Additional footage: Office of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory government, Equatorial Launch Australia

Additional graphics: motionarray.com

Host: Miles Hatfield (NASA/GSFC) 

Writers/Videographers: 

Miles Hatfield (NASA/GSFC) 

Mara Johnson-Groh (NASA/GSFC) 

Producers: 

Beth Anthony (NASA/GSFC) 

Joy Ng (NASA/GSFC) 

Lacey Young (NASA/GSFC) 

Animators: 

Walt Feimer (NASA/GSFC) 

Jenny McElligott (NASA/GSFC) 

Scientific Advisor: 

Kevin France (CU Boulder/LASP/SISTINE)

Special thanks to:

Equatorial Launch Australia

Gumatj Corporation Ltd.

Office of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Government

Dorothy Yunupingu

Duration: 4 minutes, 49 seconds

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Exoplanets #Planets #Astrobiology #SoundingRockets #RocketLaunches #TeamSistine #TeamDeuce #SouthernHemisphere #Australia #NorthernTerritory #YolnguPeople #AboriginalAustralians #Host #MilesHatfield #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

How Did Life Begin on Earth? We Asked a NASA Expert

How Did Life Begin on Earth? We Asked a NASA Expert

Here is a big question: How did life begin on Earth? We do not quite know, but this fundamental question is a driving force behind astrobiology research at NASA. Understanding how life originated on our planet could inform us about the potential for life to exist throughout the universe. 

Astrobiology expert Shawn Domagal-Goldman explains more about our search for answers. Explore more about astrobiology at NASA: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov

 

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde

Editor: Daniel Salazar

Duration: 1 minute, 42 seconds

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Exoplanets #Planets #Planet #Earth #Biology #Astrobiology #Life #ShawnDomagalGoldman #Astrobiologist #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy NGC 6946: Dust Reservoirs Found in Two Supernovae | Webb Space Telescope

Galaxy NGC 6946: Dust Reservoirs Found in Two Supernovae | Webb Space Telescope

A 4-part image is split down the middle with a vertical white line, at the top right of each half of the image is a white box extending out from lines connected to smaller white boxes in each image. On the left side, the large white box connected to the smaller white box is labeled SN 2004et. In this larger box is a zoomed-in image of a dot on the larger background image, and the zoomed-in image appears as a splotchy, red and white circle. On the right side, the large white box is labeled SN 2017eaw, and the zoomed-in image is a small light blue dot. The background images on each side are mostly black sections of a galaxy, with various smatterings of white dust clumps, small red dots, and light blue dots.

This image from the Kitt Peak National Observatory of NGC 6496 contextualizes the locations of Supernova 2004et and Supernova 2017eaw within the galaxy. Scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) found large amounts of dust within two Type II supernovae, Supernova 2004et (SN 2004et) and Supernova 2017eaw (SN 2017eaw), located 22 million light-years away from Earth in spiral galaxy NGC 6946. The large amounts of dust found in these supernovae using MIRI supports that supernovae played a key role in supplying dust to the early universe.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have made major strides in confirming the source of dust in early galaxies. Observations of two Type II supernovae, Supernova 2004et (SN 2004et) and Supernova 2017eaw (SN 2017eaw), have revealed large amounts of dust within the ejecta of each of these objects. The mass found by researchers supports the theory that supernovae played a key role in supplying dust to the early universe.

Dust is a building block for many things in our universe—planets in particular. As dust from dying stars spreads through space, it carries essential elements to help give birth to the next generation of stars and their planets. Where that dust comes from has puzzled astronomers for decades. One significant source of cosmic dust could be supernovae—after the dying star explodes, its leftover gas expands and cools to create dust.

“Direct evidence of this phenomenon has been slim up to this point, with our capabilities only allowing us to study the dust population in one relatively nearby supernova to date—Supernova 1987A, 170,000 light-years away from Earth,” said lead author Melissa Shahbandeh of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. “When the gas cools enough to form dust, that dust is only detectable at mid-infrared wavelengths provided you have enough sensitivity.”

For supernovae more distant than SN 1987A like SN 2004et and SN 2017eaw, both in NGC 6946 about 22 million light-years away, that combination of wavelength coverage and exquisite sensitivity can only be obtained with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument).

The Webb observations are the first breakthrough in the study of dust production from supernovae since the detection of newly formed dust in SN 1987A with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope nearly a decade ago. 

Another particularly intriguing result of their study is not just the detection of dust, but the amount of dust detected at this early stage in the supernova’s life. In SN 2004et, the researchers found more than 5,000 Earth masses of dust.

“When you look at the calculation of how much dust we’re seeing in SN 2004et especially, it rivals the measurements in SN 1987A, and it’s only a fraction of the age,” added program lead Ori Fox of the Space Telescope Science Institute. “It’s the highest dust mass detected in supernovae since SN 1987A.” 

Observations have shown astronomers that young, distant galaxies are full of dust, but these galaxies are not old enough for intermediate-mass stars, like the Sun, to have supplied the dust as they age. More massive, short-lived stars could have died soon enough and in large enough numbers to create that much dust. 

While astronomers have confirmed that supernovae produce dust, the question has lingered about how much of that dust can survive the internal shocks reverberating in the aftermath of the explosion. Seeing this amount of dust at this stage in the lifetimes of SN 2004et and SN 2017eaw suggests that dust can survive the shockwave—evidence that supernovae really are important dust factories after all.

Researchers also note that the current estimations of the mass may be the tip of the iceberg. While Webb has allowed researchers to measure dust cooler than ever before, there may be undetected, colder dust radiating even farther into the electromagnetic spectrum that remains obscured by the outermost layers of dust.

The researchers emphasized that the new findings are also just a hint at newfound research capabilities into supernovae and their dust production using Webb, and what that can tell us about the stars from which they came. 

“There’s a growing excitement to understand what this dust also implies about the core of the star that exploded,” Fox said. “After looking at these particular findings, I think our fellow researchers are going to be thinking of innovative ways to work with these dusty supernovae in the future.”

SN 2004et and SN2017eaw are the first of five targets included in this program. The observations were completed as part of Webb General Observer program 2666. The paper was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on July 5, 2023.

Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA).


Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ori Fox (STScI), Melissa Shahbandeh (STScI)

Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC6496 #Supernovae #SN2004et #SN2017eaw #Dust #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #KPNO #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

Comet NEOWISE | International Space Station

Comet NEOWISE | International Space Station


In July 2020, comet NEOWISE (short for C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) thrilled skywatchers in North America, in Europe, and in space. It will be approximately 6,800 years before NEOWISE returns to the inner parts of the solar system.

This video shows NEOWISE as viewed from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 5, 2020. An astronaut shot more than 340 photos as the comet rose above the sunlit limb of Earth while the ISS passed over Uzbekistan and central Asia.

In 2020, Comet Neowise had a nucleus measuring roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers while pointing away from the Sun. The icy visitor was discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft as the comet was headed toward the Sun. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on July 3, and then turned back toward the outer solar system.

Comets are made of frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago. The masses of dust, rock, and ice heat up when approaching the Sun; as they get closer, they spew gases and dust into a glowing head and tail. Satellite data indicate the NEOWISE has a dust tail and possibly two ionized gas tails. The comet is made visible by sunlight reflecting off of its gas emissions and dust tail.

“It’s quite rare for a comet to be bright enough that we can see it with the naked eye or even just with binoculars,” said Emily Kramer, a co-investigator of the NEOWISE satellite, in a NASA Science Live webcast. “The last time we had a comet this bright was Hale-Bopp back in 1995-1996.”

NEOWISE is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on July 22, passing at a harmless distance of 103 million kilometers (64 million miles). From mid-July onward, viewers can spot the comet after sunset, below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky. For best viewing, make sure to find a spot away from city lights and with a clear view of the sky. While you may be able to see it with your naked eye, you might want to bring binoculars or a small telescope.


Video Credit: ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and Sara Schmidt of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center

Caption Credit: Kasha Patel

Duration: 22 seconds

Release Date: July 5, 2020


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Sun #Earth #Comets #CometNeowise #C2020F3Neowise #SolarSystem #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition63 #JSC #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

Comet NEOWISE | International Space Station

Comet NEOWISE | International Space Station

In July 2020, comet NEOWISE (short for C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) thrilled skywatchers in North America, in Europe, and in space. It will be approximately 6,800 years before NEOWISE returns to the inner parts of the solar system.

This photo shows NEOWISE as viewed from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 5, 2020. An astronaut shot more than 340 photos as the comet rose above the sunlit limb of Earth while the ISS passed over Uzbekistan and central Asia.

In 2020, Comet Neowise had a nucleus measuring roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and its dust and ion tails stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers while pointing away from the Sun. The icy visitor was discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft as the comet was headed toward the Sun. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun on July 3, and then turned back toward the outer solar system.

Comets are made of frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago. The masses of dust, rock, and ice heat up when approaching the Sun; as they get closer, they spew gases and dust into a glowing head and tail. Satellite data indicate the NEOWISE has a dust tail and possibly two ionized gas tails. The comet is made visible by sunlight reflecting off of its gas emissions and dust tail.

“It’s quite rare for a comet to be bright enough that we can see it with the naked eye or even just with binoculars,” said Emily Kramer, a co-investigator of the NEOWISE satellite, in a NASA Science Live webcast. “The last time we had a comet this bright was Hale-Bopp back in 1995-1996.”

NEOWISE is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on July 22, passing at a harmless distance of 103 million kilometers (64 million miles). From mid-July onward, viewers can spot the comet after sunset, below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky. For best viewing, make sure to find a spot away from city lights and with a clear view of the sky. While you may be able to see it with your naked eye, you might want to bring binoculars or a small telescope.

Astronaut photograph ISS063-E-39888 was acquired on July 5, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 28 millimeters. The image was taken by members of the Expedition 63 crew. 


Image Credit: ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center

Caption Credit: Kasha Patel

Release Date: July 5, 2020


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Sun #Earth #Comets #CometNeowise #C2020F3Neowise #SolarSystem #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition63 #JSC #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education

A Map of the Observable Universe

A Map of the Observable Universe

What if you could see out to the edge of the observable universe? You would see galaxies, galaxies, galaxies, and then, well, quasars, which are the bright centers of distant galaxies. To expand understanding of the very largest scales that humanity can see, a map of the galaxies and quasars found by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey from 2000 to 2020—out to near the edge of the observable universe—has been composed. Featured here, one wedge from this survey encompasses about 200,000 galaxies and quasars out beyond a look-back time of 12 billion years and cosmological redshift 5. Almost every dot in the nearby lower part of the illustration represents a galaxy, with redness indicating increasing redshift and distance. Similarly, almost every dot on the upper part represents a distant quasar, with blue-shaded dots being closer than red. Clearly shown among many discoveries, gravity between galaxies has caused the nearby universe to condense and become increasingly more filamentary than the distant universe.


Image Credit & Copyright: B. Ménard & N. Shtarkman; Data: SDSS, Planck, JHU, Sloan, NASA, ESA

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Website: 

https://www.sdss.org

Release Date: July 5, 2023


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Cosmos #Universe #Map #Galaxies #Quasars #SloadDigitalSurvey #Illustration #Infographic #STEM #Education #APoD

Tuesday, July 04, 2023

Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter



A field of sand dunes occupies this frosty 5-kilometer diameter crater in the high-latitudes of the northern plains of Mars. Some dunes have separated from the main field and appear to be climbing up the crater slope along a gully-like form.

Black and white images are less than 5 km across; enhanced color images are less than 1 km.

Local Mars time

14:15

Latitude (centered)

76.150°

Longitude (East)

270.545°

Spacecraft altitude

315.8 km (196.3 miles)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on Aug. 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Image Date: Feb. 17, 2021

Release Date: March 15, 2021


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #NorthernPlains #SandDunes #Crater #Landscape #Terrain #MRO #HiRISE #Spacecraft #JPL #Caltech #UA #UniversityOfArizona #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

A field of sand dunes occupies this frosty 5-kilometer diameter crater in the high-latitudes of the northern plains of Mars. Some dunes have separated from the main field and appear to be climbing up the crater slope along a gully-like form.

Black and white images are less than 5 km across; enhanced color images are less than 1 km.

Local Mars time

14:15

Latitude (centered)

76.150°

Longitude (East)

270.545°

Spacecraft altitude

315.8 km (196.3 miles)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Image Date: Feb. 17, 2021

Duration: 1 minute

Narration: Tre Gibbs

Release Date: March 15, 2021

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #NorthernPlains #SandDunes #Crater #Landscape #Terrain #MRO #HiRISE #Spacecraft #JPL #Caltech #UA #UniversityOfArizona #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Smoke from Wildfires in Canada Reaches Europe | NASA Terra Earth Satellite

Smoke from Wildfires in Canada Reaches Europe | NASA Terra Earth Satellite




Smoke from wildland fires, which have been burning in the Canadian province of Quebec for weeks, has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and darkened skies in southwestern Europe.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image in the morning (11:10 Universal Time) on June 26, 2023. At the time, smoke drifted over northern Portugal and Spain. It also reached northward over other European countries beyond the scope of this image.

The smoke’s widespread reach is apparent in the map above. It shows a plume of black carbon particles—commonly called soot—spanning eastward from North America and across more than 2,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. The black carbon density data come from NASA’s GEOS forward processing (GEOS-FP) model, which assimilates data from satellite, aircraft, and ground-based observing systems. In addition to making use of satellite observations of aerosols and fires, GEOS-FP incorporates meteorological data like air temperature, moisture, and winds to project the plume’s behavior.

Hazy skies in Europe were also observed by a global network of ground sensors called the Aerosols Robotic Network, or AERONET. The network contains more than 500 Sun photometer instruments that measure aerosol optical depth (AOD) around the world. On the morning of June 26, AERONET sensors in northern Spain and France measured AODs greater than 0.5. The AOD in these areas is typically close to 0.1. (For reference, a perfectly clear sky would have an AOD of less than 0.05, while an AOD of 3 would make it difficult to see the Sun.)

Yet air quality in the smoke-covered parts of Europe on June 26 remained mostly fair, compared to unhealthy and hazardous air quality in the smoke-affected parts of Canada and the United States. This is because most of the smoke that reached Europe was higher in the atmosphere, where it is less likely to affect human health.

Still, the smoke over Europe will likely be noticed by people. According to the UK Met Office, the smoke aerosols could contribute to vivid sunrises and sunsets.


Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview and GEOS-5 data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC 

Story Credit: Kathryn Hansen

Image Date: June 26, 2023

Release Date: June 27, 2023


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