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The glowing jumble of gas clouds visible in this image make up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula. Taken using the VLT Survey Telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, this may be one of the sharpest pictures ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.
Distance:6,000 light years
This image also contains information from images of this object taken by Martin Pugh.
Revisiting Mission DreamStar with Barbie & NASA Astronaut Kayla Barron
"You Can Be Anything!": Shoot for the stars with Barbie and NASA astronauts! These out-of-this-world role models take you onboard the International Space Station to give you a glimpse of life in space! You’ll see their view from space, how they grow food, and the robots they work and live with. You’ll also learn about the many ways you can be involved in space exploration—shoot for the moon and remember that you can be anything!
The DreamStar science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education project created videos and educational materials highlighting women in space and reinforcing the message, “if you can see it, you can be it.” NASA astronaut Kayla Barron took these photos for us during the Expedition 66 Mission.
DreamStar Dolls: "Hello Barbie!" | International Space Station
DreamStar dolls float in front of the International Space Station’s cupola window.
DreamStar dolls float in front of Astrobee and Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) aboard the International Space Station.
Mattel DreamStar dolls are pictured floating aboard the International Space Station. The DreamStar science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education project created videos and educational materials highlighting women in space and reinforcing the message, “if you can see it, you can be it.” NASA astronaut Kayla Barron took these photos for us during the Expedition 66 Mission.
Hubble & Multiwavelength Astronomy: The Big Picture | NASA Goddard
Until the 20th century, astronomers learned virtually all they knew about sources in the sky from only the tiny fraction of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the eye.
However, as astronomers have discovered how to collect radiation outside this part of the spectrum, they have been able to learn much more about the universe. Many objects reveal different aspects of their composition and behavior at different wavelengths. Other objects are completely invisible at one wavelength, yet are clearly visible at another.
In this video, Dr. Padi Boyd explains the exciting future of multiwavelength astronomy and how important Hubble is to exploring the mysteries of the universe.
NASA's Space to Ground: Gearing Up | Week of July 28, 2023
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 will carry NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station no earlier than Aug. 17, 2023.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who will fly to space for the first time, is set to launch aboard a Soyuz rocket no earlier than Sept. 15, 2023, to join the other crew members to conduct science experiments and research aboard the orbiting laboratory.
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.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
Fires Blaze Across the Western U.S. | NOAA Weather Satellites
As record-breaking heat continues to scorch parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, NOAA satellites are monitoring fires in the western U.S., which are sending plumes of smoke into the atmosphere.
As of July 26, 2023, a total of 39 large fires have burned 201,637 acres in nine states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, California, Texas, Montana, and Washington.
Credits: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
This image shows a wide-field view of part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, about 430 light-years from Earth. Its relative closeness makes it an ideal place to study the formation of stars. Many dark clouds of obscuring dust are clearly visible against the background stars.
Zooming to Taurus Molecular Cloud—Star Formation Region | ESO
The Taurus molecular cloud (TMC-1) is an interstellar molecular cloud in the constellations Taurus and Auriga. This cloud hosts a stellar nursery containing hundreds of newly formed stars. The Taurus molecular cloud is only ~430 light years away from Earth, making it possibly the nearest large star formation region. It has been important in star formation studies at all wavelengths.
Taurus Molecular Cloud: Star Formation Region | ESO
The Taurus molecular cloud (TMC-1) is an interstellar molecular cloud in the constellations Taurus and Auriga. This cloud hosts a stellar nursery containing hundreds of newly formed stars. The Taurus molecular cloud is only ~430 light years away from Earth, making it possibly the nearest large star formation region. It has been important in star formation studies at all wavelengths.
NASA Artemis II Spacecraft Moon Mission Recovery Test in Pacific Ocean
The Crew Module Test Article (CMTA) is seen in the waters of the Pacific Ocean during NASA’s Underway Recovery Test 10 (URT-10).
Members of NASA’s Landing and Recovery team load a mannequin into the Crew Module Test Article (CMTA) during Underway Recovery Test 10 in the Pacific Ocean.
Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Expeditionary Support Unit 1 prepare to enter the Pacific Ocean from the well deck of USS John P Murtha
The Artemis II Crew Module Test Article (CMTA) is seen in the waters of the Pacific Ocean during NASA’s Underway Recovery Test 10 (URT-10). The CMTA is a full-scale mockup of the Orion spacecraft and is used by NASA and its Department of Defense partners to practice recovery procedures for crewed Artemis missions. URT-10 is the first test specifically in support of the Artemis II mission and allowed the team to practice what it will be like to recover astronauts and get them back to the recovery ship safely.
Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon to verify today’s capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.
2023 Student Rocket Launch Highlights | United Launch Alliance
The 2023 Student Rocket Launch took place on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at the Hudson Ranch Rocket Launch Site in Pueblo, Colorado, USA. Summer interns at many United Launch Alliance (ULA) sites have the option to design, build, refurbish and launch sport rockets. The tradition began in Colorado and branched out to interns across the company supporting multi-year rocket projects. Now, volunteer interns and mentors build rockets at their own sites—a hands-on opportunity to work with hardware and get to know more experienced industry professionals.
Interns of all backgrounds, experience levels and job function can participate—mentors work with everyone to create safe, hands-on experiences for everyone.
"Star Stuff": Where Elements in Our Bodies Come From | ESO
Chasing Starlight Episode 3: You have probably heard that "We are made of star stuff." This phrase was coined by American astronomer, Carl Sagan, fifty years ago and has since made it into pop culture. Is it really true? And what does it mean? In this episode, you will discover where and how the elements in the human body were born.
00:00 Introduction
01:21 The Big Bang: Hydrogen
02:23 A Star is Born
03:38 The Beginning of the End: Carbon and Oxygen
04:31 Making Stardust
06:19 Enriching Ending: Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Calcium
Hubble Sees Evaporating Planet Getting "The Hiccups" | NASA Goddard
A young planet whirling around a petulant red dwarf star about 32 light years away in the constellation Microscopium is changing in unpredictable ways orbit-by-orbit. It is so close to its parent star that it experiences a consistent, torrential blast of energy, which evaporates its hydrogen atmosphere—causing it to puff off the planet.
However, during one orbit observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, the planet looked like it was not losing any material at all, while an orbit observed with Hubble a year and a half later showed clear signs of atmospheric loss.
Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul Morris: Lead Producer
Cassandra Morris: Narrator
Animation Credit:
Light interacting with atmosphere: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser
Escaping atmosphere of an exoplanet: ESA/Hubble, NASA, M. Kornmesser
Planet orbiting a red dwarf star (artist's impression): ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser)
Red Dwarf Flare Star (Artist's Illustration): NASA, ESA, and D. Player (STScI)
[No Audio] The aurora australis or southern lights over the U.S. South Pole Telescope (SPT) during an active period. Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]
The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a submillimeter observatory in Antarctica that performs measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the dark energy driving the acceleration of the universe's expansion. The observatory is also part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a globe-spanning multi-telescope project that captured the first image of a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. The SPT project is a collaboration between the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Illinois, and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
SPT is a 10-meter telescope designed to measure tiny CMB temperature ripples in submillimeter or microwave light, between infrared and radio on the spectrum of light. Its capabilities also make it an important node in the EHT, which collects submillimeter light emitted by matter just before it falls into a supermassive black hole.
In these images, a Northop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft is integrated with the Antares rocket in the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 19th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-19 Cygnus spacecraft is named after NASA astronaut Dr. Laurel Clark who flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107), and is scheduled to launch no earlier than 8:31 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.
