How to Become a Star: Dark Nebula Barnard 68—"The Ink Spot" | ESO
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Saturday, August 12, 2023
How to Become a Star: Dark Nebula Barnard 68—"The Ink Spot" | ESO
The Snake Nebula in Ophiuchus | Kitt Peak National Observatory
The Snake Nebula in Ophiuchus | Kitt Peak National Observatory
Release Date: June 13, 2014
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #SnakeNebula #Barnard72 #Barnard68 #InkSpot #Ophiuchus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KPNO #Arizona #UnitedStates #Astronomer #EdwardEmersonBarnard #History #STEM #Education
Young Blue Stars of Nebula IC 4605 in Scorpius | Schulman Telescope
Young Blue Stars of Nebula IC 4605 in Scorpius | Schulman Telescope
This view of the reflection nebula IC 4605 and of young blue stars was acquired by the Schulman Telescope at the University of Arizona's Mount Lemmon SkyCenter. The large blue star in the foreground is called 22 Scorpii. It is a B-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of B3 V. It is ten million years old and has a high rate of spin with a projected rotational velocity of 169 km/s. The star has about six times the mass of the Sun and is radiating 335 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 19,600 Kelvin. This star is embedded in, or adjacent to, the diffuse nebulous cloud IC 4605 located in the western regions of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.
Distance: ~400 light years
Image Details:
Optics: Schulman 32-inch RCOS Telescope
Camera: SBIG STX16803
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 & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona
Caption Acknowledgements: UA/Wikipedia
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #IC4605 #ReflectionNebula #Star #22Scorpii #Scorpius #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #UA #MountLemmonObservatory #SchulmanTelescope #Astrophotographer #AdamBlock #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
Russian Cosmonauts Sergey & Dmitri on Spacewalk | International Space Station
Russian Cosmonauts Sergey & Dmitri on Spacewalk | International Space Station
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Russia concluded their spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 5:19 p.m. EDT on Aug. 9, 2023, after 6 hours and 35 minutes.
Prokopyev and Petelin attached three debris shields to the Rassvet module and tested the sturdiness of a work platform affixed to the end of the European robotic arm attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.
This was the eighth spacewalk in Prokopyev’s career, and the sixth for Petelin. It was the tenth spacewalk at the station in 2023 and the 267th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Expedition 69 Crew (August 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)
Image Capture Date: August 9, 2023
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #EVA #Spacewalk #Cosmonauts #DmitriPetelin #SergeyProkopyev #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #EuropeanRoboticArm #ERA #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #UnitedStates #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #STEM #Education
Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter Views | JAXA
Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter Views | JAXA
"Venus has long been referred to as Earth’s sister planet not only because its size and distance from the sun are similar to those of the Earth, but also because its formation is considered to like that of the Earth at the birth of the solar system."
"However, Venus is actually very different from the Earth. It is veiled in high-temperature carbon dioxide and thick sulfuric-acid clouds. Moreover, above the surface of Venus, violent winds reach over 400 kilometers per hour. Venus’ whole atmosphere is rotating much faster than the surface below at the altitude of the cloud top (70 km), a unique situation called superrotation. Its mechanisms are still largely unclear."
"Clarification of the causes for such an environment will provide us with clues to understand the Earth better, especially to help understand climate change on Earth. Therefore, Venus is a very important subject for exploration in order to learn about the Earth’s environment."
Akatsuki (あかつき, 暁, "Dawn"), also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, is a Japanese (JAXA) spacecraft tasked to study the atmosphere of Venus. By using five different cameras, working at several wavelengths, Akatsuki is studying the stratification of the atmosphere, atmospheric dynamics, and cloud physics. It was launched aboard an H-IIA 202 rocket on May 20, 2010.
Image Credits: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/ISAS/DARTS
Caption Credits: JAXA, Wikipedia
Image Processing: Kevin M. Gill
Image Dates: Jan., 4 2022 - May 5, 2023
#NASA #JAXA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Venus #Atmosphere #Meteorology #Weather #Clouds #Ultraviolet #VenusClimateOrbiter #VCO #Akatsuki #あかつき #PlanetC #Spacecraft #Japan #日本 #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #KevinGill #CitizenScience #STEM #Education
Friday, August 11, 2023
Russia Launches Luna-25 South Pole Lander: First Moon Mission in 47 Years
Russia Launches Luna-25 South Pole Lander: First Moon Mission in 47 Years
It will take just over five days for the Luna-25 spacecraft to travel to the Moon’s vicinity, Roscosmos said. Then it will spend several days orbiting before attempting a soft landing on the lunar surface, north of the Boguslawsky crater, on Aug. 21, 2023, the agency said. Boguslawsky is a lunar impact crater that is located near the Moon's southern lunar limb.
This timetable pits Russia in a race with India, which launched a similar mission—the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander—last month and is aiming to soft-land by Aug. 23. “We hope to be first,” Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov reportedly said at the launch.
Borisov, director general of Roscosmos, hailed Friday’s launch as a “new page” for Russian space exploration. “All the results of the research will be transferred to Earth,” he said on state television. “We are interested in the presence of water, as well as many other experiments related to the study of the soil, the site.” He noted that the mission is bound to face some “obstacles” along the way.
Artemis II Astronauts Check Out Their Ride to the Moon | This Week @NASA
Artemis II Astronauts Check Out Their Ride to the Moon | This Week @NASA
The Artemis II astronauts check out their ride to the Moon, practicing post-splashdown recovery operations for Artemis II, and the Webb Space Telescope checks out a record-breaking star . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!
The Artemis II crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—visited the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Aug. 8, 2023. The crew module is undergoing acoustic testing ahead of integration with the European Service Module. Artemis II is the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term lunar presence for science and exploration under Artemis.
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.
Artemis II will launch no earlier than December 2024.
Learn more about the Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii
Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Video Producer, Video Editor & Narrator: Andre Valentine
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: August 11, 2023
#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #DeepSpace #Astronauts #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #ReidWiseman #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video
World's Largest Telescope Dome Takes Shape | ESO's Extremely Large Telescope
World's Largest Telescope Dome Takes Shape | ESO's Extremely Large Telescope
The dome of the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is beginning to take shape. This is the largest telescope dome ever built. The structure is about 88 meters in diameter and nearly 80 meters high, giving the dome a footprint roughly equivalent to that of a football field. The giant ELT dome will house the telescope and its interior structure, providing protection from the extreme environment of Chile's Atacama Desert.
The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will have a 39-meter mirror (almost half the length of a football pitch) and will thus be by far the biggest telescope in the world to observe in the visible and the near-infrared (there are larger radio telescopes). The current largest optical telescopes have diameters of up to ten meters, and the ELT's diameter will thus be four times greater. This diameter was chosen because it is the minimum diameter needed to achieve some of the driving science cases. For example, the ELT will be able to image rocky exoplanets and to characterise their atmospheres, while the existing ESO Very Large Telecope (VLT) can only indirectly detect such Earth-like planets. Moreover, the ELT will be able to directly measure the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. Adaptive optics systems are fully incorporated into the design of the telescope to compensate for the fuzziness in the stellar images introduced by atmospheric turbulence. The ELT will have more than 5,000 actuators that can change the shape of its mirrors a thousand times per second.
Planned year of technical first light: 2027
Learn more about ESO’s ELT at: https://elt.eso.org
Video Credits: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis
Editing: Angelos Tsaousis
Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida
Written by: Bárbara Ferreira
Consultants: M. Wallner, R. Tamai
Footage and photos: ESO, G. Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com), L. Calcada, A. Tsaouis, J. Porte, M. Nadjar, I. Casas del Valle
Acknowledgement: CIMOLAI
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2023
#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video
Expedition 69 Astronaut Frank Rubio Talks with ABC’s Good Morning America
Expedition 69 Astronaut Frank Rubio Talks with ABC’s Good Morning America
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview August 11, 2023, with ABC’s “Good Morning America”. Rubio is in the midst of a record breaking 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. When Rubio returns to Earth on September 27 he will have spent a total of 371 days in space—the longest single spaceflight by a US astronaut.
NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio Official NASA Biography
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/frank-rubio
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/frank-rubio/biography
Follow Expedition 69 updates here:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Expedition 69 Crew (March 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: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Duration: 19 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2023
#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #Astronauts #Astronaut #FrankRubio #LongDurationMission #WoodyHoburg #HumanSpaceflight #UAE #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UNOOSA #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video
NOAA Releases Updated 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook
NOAA Releases Updated 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook
Due to current ocean and atmospheric conditions, such as record-warm sea surface temperatures, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center—a division of the National Weather Service—has increased their prediction for the ongoing 2023 Atlantic hurricane season to an “above normal” level of activity from a “near normal” level with their most recent update.
The outlook now includes a 70% chance of 14-21 named storms, of which 6-11 could become hurricanes, and 2-5 could become major hurricanes. The updated outlook also states that current conditions are likely to counterbalance the usually limiting atmospheric conditions associated with the ongoing El Niño event.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a Washington, D.C.–based scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce, a United States federal government department. The agency is charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S. exclusive economic zone.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)
NOAA GOES weather satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. They circle the Earth in a geosynchronous orbit, which means they orbit the equatorial plane of the Earth at a speed matching the Earth's rotation. This allows them to hover continuously over one position on the surface. The geosynchronous plane is about 35,800 km (22,300 miles) above the Earth, high enough to allow the satellites a full-disc view of the Earth.
Because GOES satellites stay above a fixed spot on the surface, they provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms, and hurricanes. When these conditions develop the GOES satellites are able to monitor storm development and track their movements. GOES satellite imagery is also used to estimate rainfall during the thunderstorms and hurricanes for flash flood warnings, as well as estimates snowfall accumulations and overall extent of snow cover.
Such data help meteorologists issue winter storm warnings and spring snow melt advisories. Satellite sensors also detect ice fields and map the movements of sea and lake ice.
Credits: NOAA, NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
Duration: 2 minutes, 16 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2023
#NASA #NOAA #NWS #Space #Science #Satellite #GOESEast #GOES16 #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthAmerica #Mexico #AtlanticOcean #Hurricanes #Storms #ElNiño #Weather #Meteorology #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #LockheedMartin #STEM #Education #HD #Video
NASA's Space to Ground: "Your Package Has Arrived" | Week of Aug. 11, 2023
NASA's Space to Ground: "Your Package Has Arrived" | Week of Aug. 11, 2023
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft docking at the International Space Station was completed on Friday, August 4, 2023. 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., Aug. 4, NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio as backup, captured Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Expedition 69 Crew (August 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.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science
For more information about STEM on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)
Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 2 minutes, 50 seconds
Devastation in Maui: Hawaii’s Second-largest Island | Landsat 8 Earth Satellite
Devastation in Maui: Hawaii’s Second-largest Island | Landsat 8 Earth Satellite
A fast-moving wildfire has devastated the historic town of Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii’s second-largest island. This infrared image shows the signature of the fire at 10:25 p.m. local time on August 8, 2023, as observed by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. Much of Lahaina, a town with a resident population of nearly 13,000 people, appeared to be on fire at the time of the image. Another large fire burned northwest of Kihei.
The image was composed from OLI observations of shortwave infrared light (band 6). Infrared observations are useful for distinguishing the locations of active fires, shown here in yellow. The shortwave infrared data were overlaid on a natural-color mosaic image based on Landsat 8 observations for added geographic detail.
The fires occurred during a period of strong winds and dry conditions in Maui. Between August 7-9, 2023, the island experienced peak gusts that ranged from 45 to 67 miles (72 to 107 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The presence of a strong high-pressure area to north of the island and Hurricane Dora to the south may have helped fuel the winds. An analysis by the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the southwestern part of the island was in the midst of moderate to severe drought at the time of the fires.
Maui County has reported damage to hundreds of structures, with widespread damage in the Lahaina harbor area. On August 9, authorities were continuing to conduct search and rescue operations.
NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences Disasters program area has been activated in support of the fires in Hawaii. As new information becomes available, the team will be posting maps and data products on its open-access mapping portal.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
Caption Credit: Adam Voiland
Release Date: Aug. 11, 2023
#NASA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #Hawaii #Maui #Lahaina #LandsatProgram #Landsat8 #OLI #USGS #Weather #Meteorology #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #Climate #Environment #GreenhouseGases #GHG #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Orbital Night over Italy | International Space Station
Orbital Night over Italy | International Space Station
Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Expedition 69 Crew (August 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)
Image Date: July 24, 2023
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Planet #Earth #Italy #Night #Italia #Europe #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #Expedition69 #STEM #Education
The Lights of Mecca: Islam's Holiest City in Saudi Arabia | International Space Station
The Lights of Mecca: Islam's Holiest City in Saudi Arabia | International Space Station
The city lights of Mecca, Islam's holiest city in the desert valley of western Saudi Arabia, are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 259 miles above. Mecca is the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah.
Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. It is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.
Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: July 26, 2023
How Do You Test the Legs of NASA's Heaviest Mars Spacecraft? | NASA/JPL
How Do You Test the Legs of NASA's Heaviest Mars Spacecraft? | NASA/JPL
As part of a NASA-European Space Agency campaign to return rock and soil samples from Mars to Earth, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are designing a lander which will be the heaviest spacecraft ever to touch down on the Red Planet. Engineers are dropping prototype lander legs and footpads to measure how they absorb the shock of hitting Martian ground. One test involves a model that is roughly one-third the size of the spacecraft’s final design. Meanwhile, in a sandbox, a full-size foot pad is being dropped into simulated Martian soil.
Mars Sample Return will revolutionize our understanding of Mars by returning scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instrumentation around the world.
For more information on the testing, visit https://go.nasa.gov/3s7ML7n
For more information on Mars Sample Return, visit mars.nasa.gov/msr/
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds
Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s Second Commercial Spaceflight
Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s Second Commercial Spaceflight
Acknowledgement: SciNews
Duration: 6 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 10, 2023
#NASA #Space #Earth #CommercialSpaceflight #VirginGalactic #VSSUnity #Galactic02 #SpaceShipTwoVehicle #SuborbitalFlight #JonGoodwin #KeishaSchahaff #AnastatiaMayers #Antigua #Barbuda #BethMoses #CJSturckow #KellyLatimer #VMSEve #SpaceportAmerica #NewMexico #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video