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The Rosette Nebula is a star-forming region about 5,000 light years from Earth. Optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey and the Kitt Peak National Observatory show large areas of gas and dust, including giant pillars that remain behind after intense radiation from massive stars has eroded the more diffuse gas.
Image Credit: DSS & NOAO/AURA/NSF/KPNO 0.9-m/T. Rector et al
The Rosette Nebula: Emission-line image | WIYN Telescope
This is a stunning emission-line image of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237). It is found in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn). The image was taken at the National Science Foundation's 0.9-m telescope on Kitt Peak with the Mosaic camera, and is presented here in false color (hydrogen alpha, OIII oxygen, and SII sulfur respectively red, green and blue, using five ten-minute exposures each). The Rosette is a prominent star formation region, glowing due to ultraviolet light from the young, hot, blue stars whose winds also cleared the central hole. It is enormously large on the sky, covering more than six times the area of the full moon.
Distance: ~5,000 light years
The WIYN Consortium, led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Indiana University, are operational responsible for the historic 0.9-meter (36-inch) WIYN Telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
"Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 does not appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula's center, insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. Ultraviolet light from the hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow. The Rosette Nebula spans about 100 light-years across, lies about 5,000 light-years away, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros)."
The Rosette Nebula (also known as NGC 2237 & Caldwell 49) is an H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open star cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.
Distance: ~5,000 light years
An H II region or HII region is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized. It is typically in a molecular cloud of partially ionized gas in which star formation has recently taken place.
Leonardo Orazi: "The Rosette Nebula (aka NGC 2237) is not the only cosmic cloud of gas and dust to evoke the imagery of flowers . . . This view seemed most appropriate, with a long stem of glowing hydrogen gas in the region included in the composition. At the edge of a large molecular cloud in Monoceros, some 5,000 light years away, the petals of this rose are actually a stellar nursery whose lovely, symmetric shape is sculpted by the winds and radiation from its central cluster of hot young stars. The stars in the energetic cluster, cataloged as NGC 2244, are only a few million years old, while the central cavity in the Rosette Nebula is about 50 light-years in diameter."
Image Details:
Optics: Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII F/5 530mm. - APO Refractor
Commercial Resupply Mission to the International Space Station | This Week @NASA
Week of August 4, 2023: A commercial resupply mission heads to the International Space Station, a key piece of hardware for a future Moon mission is on the move, and another spacecraft gets ready to spread its wings in deep space . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation at the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments, launched atop the company’s Antares rocket at 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. At 5:52 a.m., NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio as backup, captured Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
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.
Esto es lo que necesitas saber sobre mundos oceánicos | NASA en Español
Nuestro planeta es un mundo grande y hermoso que está lleno de agua. Y eso es bueno porque toda la vida tal como la conocemos necesita H20 para existir. Pero, ¿sabías que existen vastos océanos de agua líquida en otros mundos de nuestro sistema solar? Esto es lo que necesitas saber sobre los mundos oceánicos.
Credit: NASA en Español/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Panning across Planetary Nebula CVMP 1 in Circinus | NOIRLab
A twenty-second video pan out from the core of the planetary nebula CVMP 1. The international Gemini Observatory composite color image of the planetary nebula CVMP 1 was captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. CVMP 1 formed as the result of a massive star throwing off its outer layers at the end of its life.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
Planetary Nebula CVMP 1 in Circinus | Gemini South Telescope
The international Gemini Observatory composite color image of the planetary nebula CVMP 1 captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. CVMP 1 formed as the result of a massive star throwing off its outer layers at the end of its life.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
Planet Mars: Circular Sand Dunes | NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Sand dunes of many shapes and sizes are common on Mars. In this example, the dunes are almost perfectly circular, which is unusual.
Black and white images are 5 km across; enhanced color images are 1 km.
Latitude (centered)
42.505°
Longitude (East)
67.076°
Spacecraft altitude
298.2 km (185.3 miles)
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
“For 17 years, MRO has been revealing Mars to us as no one had seen it before,” said the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek of JPL.
NASA's Space to Ground: Deep Dive | Week of Aug. 4, 2023
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation at the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments, launched atop the company’s Antares rocket at 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. At 5:52 a.m., NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio as backup, captured Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Highlights of space station research facilitated by delivery aboard this Cygnus are:
- The final iteration of a series of spacecraft fire protection experiments
- A new potable water dispenserthat provides hot water and improved sanitization
- Neural cellsthat will be cultured into 3D cell models for gene therapy testing
- A probethat measures plasma density of the upper atmosphere
- A memory cardthat contains creative works from students around the world
Cygnus will remain at the space station until October before it departs for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
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.
China's Plan for a Crewed Moon Landing in 2029 | Dongfang Hour
China has revealed plans to land two Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030, and is currently developing a heavy lift rocket, a crewed spacecraft, and a lunar lander to support this mission.
In this episode, we do a deep dive into the space hardware, the timelines, as well as a comparison with Apollo and Artemis.
The coming decade is going to be packed with lunar activity, both crewed and uncrewed!
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How NASA Uses Gravity and Radio Waves to Study Planets and Moons
The Deep Space Network, NASA’s international collection of giant radio antennas used to communicate with spacecraft at the Moon and beyond, helps scientists and engineers use gravity and radio science experiments to learn more about our planetary neighborhood.
After reaching a spacecraft reaches its destination, it uses radio antennas to communicate with the Deep Space Network, which in turn transmits radio signals back to the spacecraft. Every spacecraft travels in a predetermined path emitting radio signals as it orbits around its target. Scientists and engineers can infer the spacecraft's location and how fast it's going by measuring changes in the spacecraft's radio signal frequency. This is made possible by the Doppler effect, the same phenomenon that causes a siren to sound different as it travels towards and away from you.
The Doppler phenomenon is observed here when the spacecraft and the Deep Space Network antenna move in relation to each other. Differences between the frequency of radio signals sent by the spacecraft as it orbits and signals received on Earth give us details about the gravitational field of a planetary body. For example, if the gravity is slightly stronger, the spacecraft will accelerate slightly more. If gravity is slightly weaker, the spacecraft will accelerate slightly less. By developing a model of the planetary body's gravitational field, which can be mapped as a gravitational shape, scientists and researchers can deduce information about its internal structure.
The Deep Space Network was developed by and is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. The antennas of the Deep Space Network are the indispensable link to robotic explorers venturing beyond Earth. They provide the crucial connection for commanding our spacecraft and receiving never-before-seen images and scientific information on Earth, propelling our understanding of the universe, our solar system and ultimately, our place within it.
JPL manages the Deep Space Network for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program, based at NASA Headquarters within the Space Operations Mission Directorate.
NASA’s Psyche Asteroid Mission Spacecraft: Huge Solar Arrays Permanently Installed
The solar arrays for NASA’s Psyche mission underwent a final deployment test and were permanently installed on the spacecraft at Astrotech Space Operations near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Psyche is preparing for a 2.5 billion-mile (4 billion-kilometer) solar-powered trip to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name. In a clean room at Astrotech, the solar arrays were attached to the spacecraft body, unfolded lengthwise, and then re-stowed. This timelapse video was shot over about eight days in late July 2023. The solar arrays provide power for the journey to the asteroid and for operating the spacecraft’s science instruments. When unfolded, each array is 37 feet (11.3 meters) long.
Psyche expects to launch from Kennedy no earlier than Oct. 5, 2023.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 in Spacesuits | Kennedy Space Center
From left to right: Mission Specialist Konstantin Borisov (Russia), Pilot Andreas Mogensen (Denmark), Commander Jasmin Moghbeli (USA), and Mission Specialist Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)
Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA astronaut and commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission
Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan) is a veteran astronaut and mission specialist on NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission
NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 crew are pictured in their spacesuits during a training session at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will be the spacecraft commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission—the agency’s seventh rotational mission to the International Space Station. This will be the first spaceflight for Moghbeli, who became a NASA astronaut in 2017. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will join European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia and astronaut Satoshi Furukawa from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Mogensen will be the spacecraft pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission—the first non-US astronaut assigned in this capacity. This will be the first long-duration mission for Mogensen. He previously served as a flight engineer on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station in 2015. Crew-7 will be his second trip to space.
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 5:23 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 21, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station. The adjusted date allows additional time for launch site processing at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available at 3:49 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 25.
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.
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