Giant Star AG Carinae in Carina | Hubble

Giant Star AG Carinae in Carina | Hubble

AG Carinae (AG Car) is a star in the constellation Carina. It is classified as a luminous blue variable (LBV) and is one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. It shines with the brilliance of 1 million suns. AG Carinae is a few million years old and resides 20,000 light-years away. This giant star is waging a tug-of-war between gravity and radiation to avoid self-destruction. The star is surrounded by an expanding shell of gas and dust—a nebula—that is shaped by the powerful winds emanating from the star. The nebula is about five light-years wide, equal to the distance from here to our nearest star, Alpha Centauri.

AG Carinae is formally classified as a Luminous Blue Variable because it is hot (blue), very luminous, and variable. Such stars are quite rare because there are not many stars that are so massive. Luminous Blue Variable stars continuously lose mass in the final stages of their life, during which a significant amount of stellar material is ejected into the surrounding interstellar space, until enough mass has been lost that the star has reached a stable state. 

AG Carinae is surrounded by a spectacular nebula, formed by material ejected by the star during several of its past outbursts. The nebula is approximately 10,000 years old, and the observed velocity of the gas is approximately 70 kilometers per second. While this nebula looks like a ring, it is in fact a  hollow shell rich in gas and dust, the center of which has been cleared by the powerful stellar wind travelling at roughly 200 kilometers per second. The gas (composed mostly of ionised hydrogen and nitrogen) is visible to us in these images as a thick bright red ring, which appears doubled in places—possibly the result of several outbursts colliding into each other. The dust, here visible in blue, has formed in clumps, bubbles and filaments that are shaped by the stellar wind.

Scientists who observed the star and its surrounding nebula note that the ring is not perfectly spherical; it appears to have a bipolar symmetry, indicating that the mechanism producing the outburst may have been caused by the presence of a disc in the center, or that the star is not alone but might have a companion (known as a binary star). An alternative and simpler theory is that the star rotates very fast (as many massive stars have been found to do).

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble and NASA, A. Nota, C. Britt

Release Date: Sept. 13, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #AGCarinae #AGCar #HD94910 #LBV #LuminousBlueVariable #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Science of Snow: Digging for Data | NASA Goddard

The Science of Snow: Digging for Data | NASA Goddard

It takes a lot of field work in challenging conditions to gather important snow data. This is the story of NASA’s last SnowEx campaign and those who participated in it. In March 2023, scientists traveled to research sites in the northern tundra and in Fairbanks, Alaska. Ground crews looked to validate data collected from airborne instruments, while the flight crews continued collecting snow data in order to see what instruments best measure snow globally.

The goal for SnowEx is to determine the best remote-sensing techniques for a potential future satellite. Snow data is extremely important and can tell us things like how much spring runoff can be expected, which is vital for water resource management. 

Learn more about NASA's SnowEx research:

https://snow.nasa.gov/campaigns/snowex

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

Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC AIMMS): Lead Producer

Dr. Carrie Vuyovich (GSFC): Lead Scientist

Sofie Bates (GSFC KBR): Social Media Support

Duration: 9 minutes, 44 seconds

Release Date: May 19, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #Earth #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Precipitation #Snow #SnowData #SnowExCampaign #AirborneObservations #WaterResources #Fairbanks #Alaska #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Distant Galaxy Cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329: "The Monster Mash" | Hubble

Distant Galaxy Cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329: "The Monster Mash" | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope has captured a monster in the making in this observation of the exceptional galaxy cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329, which lies about eight billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This disturbed collection of at least two galaxy clusters is in the process of merging together to create a cosmic monster, a single gargantuan cluster acting as a gravitational lens.

Image Description: A cluster of elliptical galaxies, visible as a dense crowd of oval shapes, each glowing orange around a bright core. Right of the largest, central galaxy, a background galaxy is stretched into two connected, thin arcs by the cluster’s gravity. Various other galaxies are dotted all around, a few being small spirals. A bright star with four long spikes stands out at the right.

Gravitational lensing is a dramatic example of Einstein’s general theory of relativity in action. A celestial body such as a galaxy cluster is sufficiently massive to distort spacetime, which causes the path of light around the object to be visibly bent as if by a vast lens. Gravitational lensing can also magnify distant objects, allowing astronomers to observe objects that would otherwise be too faint and too far away to be detected. It can also distort the images of background galaxies, turning them into streaks of light. The first hints of gravitational lensing are already visible in this image as bright arcs which mingle with the throng of galaxies in eMACS J1353.7+4329.

The data in this image are drawn from an observing proposal called Monsters in the Making, which used two of Hubble’s instruments to observe five exceptional galaxy clusters at multiple wavelengths. These multi-wavelength observations were made possible by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling

Release Date: July 10, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #GalaxyCluster #eMACSJ135374329 #GravitationalLens #CanesVenatici #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Wonders of The Eta Carinae Nebula | ESO

The Wonders of The Eta Carinae Nebula | ESO

This panoramic fulldome video shows a detailed view into the spectacular Eta Carinae Nebula. The area shown is that around one of the most massive and most luminous stars known, the Wolf-Rayet star WR 22, as well as the surroundings of the unique star Eta Carinae.

The images shown were obtained by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Note: The full dome video display format is designed for projection systems in planetariums.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 20, 2018

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #WolfRayetStarWR22 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #FullDome #HD #Video

Zoom into The Eta Carinae Nebula & Supergiant Star | ESO

Zoom into The Eta Carinae Nebula & Supergiant Star | ESO

This animation zooms in on the massive star Eta Carinae in the European Southern Observatory/WFI image of the Eta Carinae Nebula.  

The Eta Carinae Nebula is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 8,500 light-years from Earth.

Within the Carina Nebula is the supergiant star Eta Carinae. It has a mass about 100 times greater than our Sun. It is an excellent candidate for a future supernova.  

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO), Digitized Sky Survey 2 and A. Fujii

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Nov. 24, 2015

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Pan over The Eta Carinae Nebula | European Southern Observatory

Pan over The Eta Carinae Nebula | European Southern Observatory

Color-composite image of the Eta Carinae Nebula, revealing exquisite details in the stars and dust of the region. Several well known astronomical objects can be seen in this wide field image. To the bottom left is one of the most impressive binary stars in the Universe, Eta Carinae, with the famous Keyhole Nebula just adjacent to the star. The collection of very bright, young stars above and to the right of Eta Carinae is the open star cluster Trumpler 14. A second open star cluster, Collinder 228 is also seen in the image, just below Eta Carinae.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Duration: 46 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 24, 2015

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #KeyholeNebula #OpenStarClusters #Trumpler14 #Collinder228 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Eta Carinae Nebula: Panoramic View | ESO

The Eta Carinae Nebula: Panoramic View | ESO

This spectacular panoramic view combines an image of the field around the Wolf–Rayet star WR 22 in the Eta Carinae Nebula (right) with a picture of the region around the unique star Eta Carinae in the heart of the nebula (left). The picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: June 28, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #WolfRayetStarWR22 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Eta Carinae Nebula above ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile

The Eta Carinae Nebula above ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile

The Eta Carinae Nebula, a bright emission nebula, gives off a fiery red glow above Cerro Paranal and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) platform. This nebula is home to the Eta Carinae star system, stars with a combined luminosity five million times higher than the Sun. The Eta Carinae Nebula is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 8,500 light-years from Earth.

The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.

 

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

Release Date: May 8, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #EmissionNebula #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Observatory #CerroParanal #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Magnificent Eta Carinae Nebula | European Southern Observatory

The Magnificent Eta Carinae Nebula | European Southern Observatory

The Eta Carinae Nebula, located in the Carina constellation, lights up in bright red in this image taken at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory. This nebula is home to the Eta Carinae star system, stars with a combined luminosity five million times higher than the Sun.

The Eta Carinae Nebula is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 8,500 light-years from Earth. 

Credit: Zdeněk Bardon/European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: September 13, 2017

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Eta Carinae Nebula | ESO

The Eta Carinae Nebula | ESO

The Eta Carinae Nebula or Carina Nebula (cataloged as NGC 3372; also known as the Great Carina Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years from Earth. Within the Carina Nebula is the supergiant star Eta Carinae. It has a mass about 100 times greater than our Sun. It is an excellent candidate for a future supernova.  

This image is a color composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is approximately 4.7 x 4.9 degrees.

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

Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin

Image Date: November 16, 2011

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #EtaCarinaeNebula #CarinaNebula #GreatCarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Stars #EtaCarinaeStar #BinaryStarSystem #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Bright Blue Variable Star Eta Carinae | European Southern Observatory

Bright Blue Variable Star Eta Carinae | European Southern Observatory

This image of the luminous blue variable star Eta Carinae was taken with the NACO near-infrared adaptive optics instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), yielding an incredible amount of detail. The images clearly shows a bipolar structure as well as the jets coming out from the central star.

Eta Carinae is located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina. It is within the Carina Nebula, a giant star-forming region in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way. Despite its large distance from Earth, Eta Carinae briefly became the second brightest star in the sky in the mid-nineteenth century (with an apparent magnitude -1), surpassed only by Sirius.

The Paranal Observatory’s NAOS+CONICA instrument, better known as NACO, is one of the best ground-based solutions to atmospheric turbulence. Thanks to its pioneering use of Adaptive Optics, NACO delivers images as sharp as if we were in space.

The image was obtained by the Paranal Science team and processed by Yuri Beletsky (ESO) and Hännes Heyer (ESO). It is based on data obtained through broad (J, H, and K; 90 second exposure time per filters) and narrow-bands (1.64, 2.12, and 2.17 microns; probing iron, molecular and atomic hydrogen, respectively; 4 min per filter).

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: May 27, 2008

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Star #EtaCarinae #Nebulae #HomunculusNebula #ReflectionNebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #KeyholeNebula #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #ParanalObservatory #Telescope #NACO #AdaptiveOptics #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Unstable Star Eta Carinae: K-band (Infrared) View | European Southern Observatory

Unstable Star Eta Carinae: K-band (Infrared) View | European Southern Observatory

Eta Carinae is one of the heaviest and most luminous stars known. Its mass probably exceeds 100 solar masses, and the star is about 4 million times brighter than the Sun. Such a massive star has a comparatively short lifetime of about a million years. When measured in the cosmic timescale, Eta Carinae must have formed quite recently. This star is highly unstable and prone to violent outbursts. 

These outbursts are caused by the very high radiation pressure at the star's upper layers, which blows significant portions of the matter at the "surface" into space during eruptions that may rage for several years. The last of these outbursts occurred between 1835 and 1855, peaking in 1843. 

Eta Carinae is located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina. It is within the Carina Nebula, a giant star-forming region in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way. Despite its large distance from Earth, Eta Carinae briefly became the second brightest star in the sky at that time (with an apparent magnitude -1), surpassed only by Sirius.

This image is an infrared narrow K-band image of the massive star Eta Carinae. The image quality is difficult to estimate because the central star saturated the detector, but the clear structure of the diffraction spikes and the size of the smallest features visible in the photo indicate a near-diffraction limited performance. The field measures about 6.5 x 6.5 square arcsec.

In infrared astronomy, the K band is an atmospheric transmission window centered on 2.2 μm (in the near-infrared 136 THz range).

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: May 13, 2003

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #EtaCarinae #Nebulae #HomunculusNebula #ReflectionNebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #KeyholeNebula #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #Infrared #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Preview of a Supernova in Binary Star System Eta Carinae | Hubble

Preview of a Supernova in Binary Star System Eta Carinae | Hubble

At the turn of the 19th century, the binary star system Eta Carinae was faint and undistinguished. In the first decades of the century, it became brighter and brighter, until, by April 1843, it was the second brightest star in the sky, outshone only by Sirius (which is almost a thousand times closer to Earth). In the years that followed, it gradually dimmed again and by the 20th century was totally invisible to the naked eye. Eta Carinae is located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina. It is within the Carina Nebula, a giant star-forming region in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way.

The star has continued to vary in brightness ever since, and while it is once again visible to the naked eye on a dark night, it has never again come close to its peak of 1843.

The larger of the two stars in the Eta Carinae system is a huge and unstable star that is nearing the end of its life, and the event that the 19th century astronomers observed was a stellar near-death experience. Scientists call these outbursts supernova impostor events, because they appear similar to supernovae but stop just short of destroying their star.

Although 19th century astronomers did not have telescopes powerful enough to see the 1843 outburst in detail, its effects can be studied today. The huge clouds of matter thrown out a century and a half ago, known as the Homunculus Nebula, have been a regular target for Hubble since its launch in 1990. This image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Channel is the most detailed yet, and shows how the material from the star was not thrown out in a uniform manner, but forms a huge dumbbell shape.

Eta Carinae is not only interesting because of its past, but also because of its future. It is one of the closest stars to Earth that is likely to explode in a supernova in the relatively near future (though in astronomical timescales the “near future” could still be a million years away). When it does, expect an impressive view from Earth, far brighter still than its last outburst: SN 2006gy, the brightest supernova ever observed, came from a star of the same type.

This image consists of ultraviolet and visible light images from the High Resolution Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 30 arcseconds across.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: Feb. 20, 2012

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #EtaCarinae #Nebulae #HomunculusNebula #ReflectionNebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #KeyholeNebula #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #Ultraviolet #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Doomed Star Eta Carinae | Hubble Space Telescope

Doomed Star Eta Carinae | Hubble Space Telescope

The star Eta Carinae may be about to explode. However, no one knows when. It may be next year. It may be a million years from now. Eta Carinae's mass—about 100 times greater than our Sun—makes it an excellent candidate for a full blown supernova. Historical records do show that about 170 years ago Eta Carinae underwent an unusual outburst that made it one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. This star is located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina. Eta Carinae, in the Keyhole Nebula, is the only star currently thought to emit natural LASER light. 

This image brings out details in the unusual nebula that surrounds this rogue star. Diffraction spikes, caused by the telescope, are visible as bright multi-colored streaks emanating from Eta Carinae's center. Two distinct lobes of the Homunculus Nebula encompass the hot central region, while some strange radial streaks are visible in red extending toward the image right. The lobes are filled with lanes of gas and dust which absorb the blue and ultraviolet light emitted near the center. The streaks, however, remain unexplained.

Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Hubble

Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Release Date: July 9, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #EtaCarinae #Nebulae #HomunculusNebula #ReflectionNebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #KeyholeNebula #Carina #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #JudySchmidt #STEM #Education #APoD

Space Shuttle Discovery: The R-Bar Pitch Maneuver | International Space Station

Space Shuttle Discovery: The R-Bar Pitch Maneuver | International Space Station

A close-up view of Space Shuttle Discovery's tail section is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station during the RPM (R-Bar Pitch Maneuver) survey. Visible are the shuttle's main engines, vertical stabilizer, orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods and a portion of the aft cargo bay and wings. 

This was a standard procedure recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for all space shuttles docking to the International Space Station after a damaged heat shield caused the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The CAIB examined the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107 upon atmospheric re-entry on February 1, 2003.

The name of the R-Bar Pitch Maneuver was based on the R-bar and V-bar lines that are used in the approach to the International Space Station (ISS). R-bar or Earth Radius Vector is an imaginary line connecting the space station to the center of the Earth. V-bar would be the velocity vector of the space station. The shuttle approached the station along the R-bar line and at a small distance from the ISS, usually around 600 feet (180 meters), the shuttle performed a slow 360° pitch, during which it exposed its underside—the heat shield—to the ISS. 

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

Photo Number: ISS013-E-47643

Image Date: July 6, 2006

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceShuttle #SpaceShuttleDiscovery #STS121 #Earth #RPM #RBarPitchManeuver #DockingProcedure #HeatShield #Science #Technology #AtmosphericReentry #Engineering #Astronauts #Expedition13 #HumanSpaceflight #CrewSafety #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China Completes Record-Breaking 25 Space Launches in First Half of 2023

China Completes Record-Breaking 25 Space Launches in First Half of 2023

China carried out a record-breaking 25 space launch missions in the first half of 2023, with no failure, indicating a steady progress in building up the country's spaceflight capabilities.

Video Credit: CCTV Video News Agency

Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds

Release Date: July 5, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #RocketLaunches #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #CommunicationSatellites #SatelliteNavigation #北斗卫星导航系统 #SpaceResearch #BeiDouNavigationSatelliteSystem #SpaceLaboratory #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #天和核心舱 #Shenzhou17 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #CNSA #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #Technology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #STEM #Education #HD #Video