Interacting Galaxy Pair Arp-Madore 2339-661 in Tucana | Hubble

Interacting Galaxy Pair Arp-Madore 2339-661 in Tucana | Hubble

A dynamic duo . . . or trio?

This striking image captures the interacting galaxy pair known as Arp-Madore 2339-661, so named because they belong to the Arp-Madore catalogue of peculiar galaxies. However, this particular peculiarity might be even odder than first meets the eye, as there are in fact three galaxies interacting here, not just two. 

The two clearly defined galaxies are NGC 7733 (smaller, lower right) and NGC 7734 (larger, upper left). The third galaxy is currently referred to as NGC 7733N, and can actually be spotted in this picture if you look carefully at the upper arm of NGC 7733, where there is a visually notable knot-like structure, glowing with a different color to the arm and obscured by dark dust. This could easily pass as part of NGC 7733, but analysis of the velocities (speed, but also considering direction) involved in the galaxy shows that this knot has a considerable additional redshift, meaning that it is very likely its own entity and not part of NGC 7733. This is actually one of the many challenges that observational astronomers face: working out whether an astronomical object really is just one, or one lying in front of another as seen from Earth’s perspective!

All three galaxies lie quite close to each other, roughly 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Tucana, and, as this image shows, they are interacting gravitationally with one another. In fact, some science literature refers to them as a ‘merging group’, meaning that they are on a course to ultimately become a single entity.

Image Description: Two spiral galaxies. Each glows brightly in the center, where a bar stretches from side to side. The upper one is more round and its arms form two thin rings. The lower galaxy is flatter and its arms make one outer ring; a dusty knot atop its upper arm marks out a third object. Gravity is pulling gas and dust together where the galaxies come close. A number of small galaxies surround them on a black background.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Acknowledgement: L. Shatz

Release Date: October 23, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #Galaxies #NGC7733 #NGC7734 #NGC7733N #ArpMadore2339661 #InteractingGalaxies #Tucana #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #NOIRLab #DOE #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Meet the Axiom 3 Crew | Axiom Space | International Space Station

Meet the Axiom 3 Crew | Axiom Space | International Space Station

Axiom 3 Official Crew Portrait

Michael López Alegría - Ax-3 Commander

Walter Villadei - Ax-3 Pilot

Alper Gezeravcı - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

 Marcus Wandt - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

Axiom 3 Crew Portrait

Axiom 3 Mission Patch

Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3): The first all European commercial astronaut mission representing five nations. Axiom Space has announced the full crew complement for its third mission, Ax-3, to the International Space Station (ISS) after receiving NASA and ISS-partner approval for the four-person, multinational team to travel to the orbiting laboratory no earlier than January 2024. 

Three countries—Italy, Türkiye, and Sweden through the European Space Agency (ESA)—have united for Ax-3, with Axiom Space’s Chief Astronaut and Commander Michael López-Alegría leading the commercial mission, representing both the U.S. and Spain as a dual-citizen. The Ax-3 pilot is Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, and the two mission specialists are Alper Gezeravcı of Türkiye and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. Villadei, Gezeravcı, and Wandt have extensive flight crew experience and have all served in their nation’s Air Forces.

The Ax-3 Crew

Michael López-Alegría - Ax-3 Commander

Michael's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/michael-lopez-alegria

Walter Villadei - Ax-3 Pilot

Walter's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/walter-villadei

Alper Gezeravcı - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

Alper's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronauts/alper-gezeravci

Marcus Wandt - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

Marcus' Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronauts/marcus-wandt

Learn more about Axiom: www.axiomspace.com

Image Credit: Axiom Space

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #Axiom #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #Ax3Crew #CommercialAstronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #WalterVilladei #AlperGezeravcı #MarcusWandt #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Falcon9Rocket #CommercialSpace #Science #SpaceLaboratory #Italy #Italia #Türkiye #Sweden #Swede #Sverige #Spain #España #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Meet the Ax-3 Crew | Axiom Space | International Space Station

Meet the Ax-3 Crew | Axiom Space | International Space Station

Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3): The first all European commercial astronaut mission representing five nations. Axiom Space has announced the full crew complement for its third mission, Ax-3, to the International Space Station (ISS), after receiving NASA and ISS-partner approval for the four-person, multi-national team to travel to the orbiting laboratory no earlier than January 2024. 

Three countries—Italy, Türkiye, and Sweden through the European Space Agency (ESA)—have united for Ax-3, with Axiom Space’s Chief Astronaut and Commander Michael López-Alegría leading the commercial mission, representing both the U.S. and Spain as a dual-citizen. The Ax-3 pilot is Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, and the two mission specialists are Alper Gezeravcı of Türkiye and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. Villadei, Gezeravcı, and Wandt have extensive flight crew experience and have all served in their nation’s Air Forces.

Ax-3 Crew

Michael López-Alegría - Ax-3 Commander

Michael's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/michael-lopez-alegria

Walter Villadei - Ax-3 Pilot

Walter's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/walter-villadei

Alper Gezeravcı - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

Alper's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronauts/alper-gezeravci

Marcus Wandt - Ax-3 Mission Specialist

Marcus' Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronauts/marcus-wandt

Learn more about Axiom: www.axiomspace.com

Credit: Axiom Space

Duration: 1 minute, 16 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #Axiom #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #Ax3Crew #CommercialAstronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #WalterVilladei #AlperGezeravcı #MarcusWandt #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Falcon9Rocket #CommercialSpace #Science #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Italy #Türkiye #Sweden #Spain #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

India Prepares for First Crewed Space Mission: Crew Escape System Test | ISRO

India Prepares for First Crewed Space Mission: Crew Escape System Test | ISRO

For the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Gaganyaan TV-D1 mission, a liquid-propelled single stage test vehicle launched a Gaganyaan Crew Module (CM) for an in-flight abort demonstration of the Crew Escape System (CES), on Oct. 21, 2023, at 04:30 UTC (10:00 IST). 

This test vehicle mission with this crew module (CM) is a significant milestone for India's overall Gaganyaan crewed spaceflight program. It represents a near-complete system integrated for a flight test. This successful test flight sets the stage for the remaining qualification tests and uncrewed missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian astronauts.

The CM is where astronauts would be contained in a pressurized earthlike atmospheric condition during the upcoming Gaganyaan mission. However, for the Test Vehicle Abort mission-1 (TV-D1), the CM was an unpressurised version with the overall size and mass of the actual Gaganyaan CM. It houses all the systems for deceleration and recovery with its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids actuation systems and pyros. The avionics systems in the CM were in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. The Crew Module was recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.

The flight test vehicle (TV-D1) was a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payload consisted of the crew module (CM) and crew escape systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. This flight simulated an abort condition during an ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 that could be encountered in the official Gaganyaan mission.

The CES and CM separated from the test vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. A series of parachutes deployed ending with a safe touchdown of the CM in the Bay of Bengal, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota.

Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 

Duration: 4 minutes, 19 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 21, 2023

#NASA #ISRO #Space #India #GaganyaanMission #TVD1 #Rocket #CrewModule #CrewEscapeSystem #CESTest #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #Science #Engineering #SpaceExploration #BayOfBengal #Sriharikota #BhāratGaṇarājya #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Robotic Arm "Waves" at The Moon | International Space Station

Robotic Arm "Waves" at The Moon | International Space Station

The Canadarm2 robotic arm is pictured extending from the International Space Station while orbiting 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean near the Aleutian Islands. The Canadarm2 robotic arm is 17-meters-long (55+ feet) and has a 3.7m (12 feet) high Dextre fine-tuned robotic hand attached.

The robot is operated by ground control teams at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) headquarters outside Montreal, Quebec, and at NASA.

Discover more about Canadian space robotics:

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/robotics/default.asp

Follow Expedition 70 Updates: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)

Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

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: Oct. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Earth #Moon #PacificOcean #AleutianIslands #Alaska #HumanSpaceflight #Astronauts #JAXA #Japan #日本 #ESA #Europe #Denmark #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Роскосмос #Canada #Canadarm2 #Robotics #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition70 #STEM #Education

Galaxies and a Comet

Galaxies and a Comet

Galaxies abound in this sharp telescopic image recorded on October 12, 2023, in dark skies over June Lake, California. The celestial scene spans nearly 2 degrees within the boundaries of the well-trained northern constellation Canes Venatici. Prominent at the upper left 23.5 million light-years distant is big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 4258, known to some as Messier 106. Eye-catching edge-on spiral NGC 4217 is above and right of center about 60 million light-years away. 

Just passing through the pretty field of view is comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon, discovered during April 2023 in image data from the Mount Lemmon Survey. Here the comet sports more of a lime green coma though, along with a faint, narrow ion tail stretching toward the top of the frame. This visitor to the inner Solar System is presently less than 7 light-minutes away and still difficult to spot with binoculars, but it is growing brighter. 

Comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon will reach perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, on October 29, 2023, and perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on November 10 as it transitions from morning to evening northern skies.

Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Dan's website: 

https://www.astrobin.com/users/h2ologg/

Release Date: October 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Earth #Comets #CometC2023H2Lemmon #SolarSystem #CanesVenatici #Constellation #Galaxies #NGC4217 #NGC4258 #Messier106 #Galaxy #Astrophotography #DanBartlett #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #JuneLake #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

Highlighting the “Ring of Fire” Solar Eclipse | This Week @NASA

Highlighting the “Ring of Fire” Solar Eclipse | This Week @NASA 

Week of October 20, 2023: Highlighting the “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse, learning how the human body reacts to long spaceflights, and a new engine test series for future Artemis missions . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Video Producer, Video Editor & Narrator: Andre Valentine

Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #ArtemisProgram #Earth #Moon #Umbra #Sun #SolarEclipse #AnnularEclipse #RingOfFire #Eclipse2023 #Canada #Mexico #SouthAmerica #GSFC #UnitedStates #LongDuration #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s 2021 Class of Astronaut Candidates Visit Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s 2021 Class of Astronaut Candidates Visit Kennedy Space Center

NASA's 2021 Astronaut Class

Astronauts in-training Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad al-Mulla of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA’s 2021 class of astronaut candidates visit the Vehicle Assembly Building during a familiarization tour of facilities on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Astronauts in-training Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad al-Mulla of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are training with NASA 2021 class.

Image Credit: NASA/Isaac Watson

KSC Image Date: October 17, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #ISS #ArtemisProgram #Astronauts #AstronautCandidates #ASCANs #Training #NoraAlMatrooshi #MohammadAlMulla #UAE #MBRSC #UAESA #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #VAB #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA RAMFIRE Nozzle Hot Fire Test | Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA RAMFIRE Nozzle Hot Fire Test | Marshall Space Flight Center

The RAMFIRE nozzles complete hot fire testing at Marshall’s East test area using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen (orange/clear plume), as well as liquid oxygen and liquid methane (blue plume) fuel configurations. As hot combustion gases approach 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, icicles are forming on the outside of the engine nozzle. The nozzle is made of the novel aluminum alloy 6061-RAM2.

NASA built and tested this additively-manufactured—or 3D printed—rocket engine nozzle made of aluminum, making it lighter than conventional nozzles. This will support deep space flights that can carry higher payloads.

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 27 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #RAMFIRE #HotFireTest #AluminumNozzle #6061RAM2 #LiquidOxygen #LiquidHydrogen #LiquidMethane #SpaceTechnology #3DPrinting #AdditiveManufacturing #Science #Engineering #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China's Shenzhou-17 Crewed Mission: Long March Rocket Moved to Launchpad

China's Shenzhou-17 Crewed Mission: Long March Rocket Moved to Launchpad

The Long March-2F rocket and the Shenzhou-17 crew spacecraft have been transported to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center ahead of a scheduled flight to China's space station later in October 2023. It will carry three taikonauts or astronauts. The mission will be the twelfth crewed and seventeenth flight overall of the Shenzhou program.

The Long March-2F carrier rocket is nearly 60 meters in length and over three meters in diameter.

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 2 minutes, 23 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Shenzhou17 #神舟十七号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #LongMarch2FRocket #SpaceLaboratory #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #TiangongSpaceStation #中国空间站  #CMSA #国家航天局 #JSLC #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #Science #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: A Variety of Science | Week of Oct. 20, 2023

NASA's Space to Ground: A Variety of Science | Week of Oct. 20, 2023

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. 

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

Follow Expedition 70 Updates: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)

Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

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: 2 minutes, 39 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 19, 2023 

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Earth #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbelli #AndreasMogensen #SatoshiFurukawa #HumanSpaceflight #Astronauts #JAXA #Japan #日本 #ESA #Europe #Denmark #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #Expedition70 #STEM #Education

NASA's Lucy Mission Flyby of Asteroid Dinkinesh | NASA Goddard

NASA's Lucy Mission Flyby of Asteroid Dinkinesh | NASA Goddard

On Nov. 1, 2023, NASA's Lucy spacecraft will fly by the small Main Belt asteroid Dinkinesh (previously known as 1999 VD57). This asteroid flyby was added to Lucy’s list of targets in January 2023. The primary purpose of the Dinkinesh encounter is to test the spacecraft’s Terminal Tracking System, which will keep Lucy's instruments pointing at the asteroid as it flies by at 10,000 miles per hour. The Lucy mission’s record-breaking tour will now explore at least ten small solar system bodies. 

Lucy will have the close approach with Dinkinesh as the spacecraft skims the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. After the encounter, Lucy will head back towards Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024. That assist will send the spacecraft to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

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

Produced, Edited, and Narrated by: David Ladd (AIMM)

Animations by: Walt Feimer (KBRWyle) and Jonathan North (KBRWyle)

Visualizations by: Kel Elkins (USRA)

Duration: 3 minutes, 25 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 19, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #LucyMission #Spacecraft #Planet #Jupiter #Asteroids #Asteroid #Dinkinesh #1999VD57 #Trojans #Earth #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualizations #Animation #HD #Video

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Restablecer el horario: 13 de octubre de 2023

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Restablecer el horario: 13 de octubre de 2023

Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional. 

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete

Credit: NASA en Español/NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 4 minutes, 22 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Earth #HumanSpaceflight #EVA #Spacewalks #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbelli #AndreasMogensen #Denmark #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #ESA #Europe #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition70 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Jupiter's Atmosphere: A High Speed Jet Stream Detected | NASA Webb

Planet Jupiter's Atmosphere: A High Speed Jet Stream Detected | NASA Webb

This image of Jupiter from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness indicates high altitude. The numerous bright white "spots" and "streaks" are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Auroras, appearing in red in this image, extend to higher altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial region have little cloud cover.

In Webb’s images of Jupiter from July 2022, researchers recently discovered a narrow jet stream traveling 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) sitting over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) have discovered a high-speed jet stream sitting over Jupiter’s equator, above the main cloud decks. At a wavelength of 2.12 microns, which observes between altitudes of about 12-21 miles (20-35 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops, researchers spotted several wind shears, or areas where wind speeds change with height or with distance, which enabled them to track the jet. This image highlights several of the features around Jupiter’s equatorial zone that, between one rotation of the planet (10 hours), are very clearly disturbed by the motion of the jet stream.

These image of Jupiter from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness indicates high altitude. The numerous bright white "spots" and "streaks" are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Auroras, appearing in red in this image, extend to higher altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial region have little cloud cover.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter’s famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.

“This is something that totally surprised us,” said Ricardo Hueso of the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, lead author on the paper describing the findings. “What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter’s atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet’s fast rotation.”

In Webb’s images of Jupiter from July 2022, researchers recently discovered a narrow jet stream traveling 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) sitting over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks.

While Jupiter is different from Earth in many ways–Jupiter is a gas giant, Earth is a rocky, temperate world–both planets have layered atmospheres. Infrared, visible, radio, and ultraviolet-light wavelengths observed by these other missions detect the lower, deeper layers of the planet’s atmosphere–where gigantic storms and ammonia ice clouds reside.

“Jupiter has a complicated but repeatable pattern of winds and temperatures in its equatorial stratosphere, high above the winds in the clouds and hazes measured at these wavelengths,” explained team member Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. “If the strength of this new jet is connected to this oscillating stratospheric pattern, we might expect the jet to vary considerably over the next 2 to 4 years – it’ll be really exciting to test this theory in the years to come.”

While Webb’s exquisite resolution and wavelength coverage allowed for the detection of small cloud features used to track the jet, the complementary observations from Hubble taken one day after the Webb observations were also crucial to determine the base state of Jupiter’s equatorial atmosphere and observe the development of convective storms in Jupiter’s equator not connected to the jet.  

The researchers’ results were recently published in Nature Astronomy:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02099-2

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ricardo Hueso (UPV), Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley), Thierry Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: Oct. 19, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Atmosphere #JetStream #SolarSystem #NIRCam #Infrared #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #JWST #Hubble #HST #SpaceTelescopes #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #Infographics #STEM #Education

Stellar Layers of a Galactic Onion: Shell Galaxy NGC 3923 | NOIRLab

Stellar Layers of a Galactic Onion: Shell Galaxy NGC 3923 | NOIRLab

Cosmoview Episode 73: The symmetrical, onion-like layers of shell galaxy NGC 3923 are showcased in this galaxy-rich image taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. A nearby, massive galaxy cluster is also captured exhibiting the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing.

Much like humans, galaxies are shaped by the environment in which they form. While no two are exactly alike, they can be divided into three main types: spiral, elliptical and irregular. Of these types, elliptical galaxies are the largest and are thought to evolve out of galactic collisions and mergers between spirals. About one-tenth of elliptical galaxies are classified as shell galaxies, characterized by the concentric shells that make up their galactic halos.

A striking example of this type of galaxy is NGC 3923, with its onion-like layers beautifully showcased in this image. Located in the constellation Hydra (the Serpent), NGC 3923 is about 70 million light-years away from Earth and 150,000 light-years across, making it about 50% larger than our Milky Way.

As is thought to be the story of all shell galaxies, the layered structure seen in NGC 3923 likely developed as a consequence of a merger with another, smaller spiral galaxy in the past. As they merged, the larger galaxy’s gravitational field slowly peeled off stars from the smaller galaxy’s disk. Those stars began to gradually mix with the larger galaxy’s outer halo, forming concentric bands, or shells. A simple analogy is adding a drop of food color to a bowl of batter that you’re slowly stirring. The drop gets stretched out in a spiral that remains visible for a long time before completely mixing.

The shells of NGC 3923 make the galaxy quite exceptional. Not only does it have the largest known shell of all observed shell galaxies, but it also has the largest number of shells and the largest ratio between the radii of the outermost and innermost shells. A 2016 study determined that NGC 3923 could be made up of as many as 42 distinct shells, with the outermost layers having been created first, followed by the innermost layers as the galaxies’ celestial dance slowed.

Another notable characteristic of NGC 3923 is that its shells are much more subtle than those of other shell galaxies. Its shells are also interestingly symmetrical, while other shell galaxies are more skewed. These uncommon features are a sublime example of the unique structures that galaxies can embody depending on their specific evolutionary conditions.

While NGC 3923 is certainly the main attraction in this expansive, 250-megapixel image, the longer one spends perusing the glittering field the more cosmic treasures can be found. Among the thousands of galaxies and countless foreground Milky Way stars speckling this image are the face-on spiral galaxies LEDA 744285 and ESO 440-11. And near the top of the image is the extremely large gravitational lens around galaxy cluster PLCK G287.0+32.9.

Discussed in scientific journals since the 1930s, gravitational lenses are predicted by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which states that a massive object, such as a cluster of galaxies, can warp spacetime. Narrow arc-like shapes located around clusters of galaxies were first found in 1989 by NOIRLab (then NOAO) astronomer Roger Lynds and Stanford colleague Vahé Petrosian using the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. These extragalactic properties were interpreted as the result of strong gravitational lensing from distant galaxies in the background.

Indeed, when zoomed into this image, a handful of galaxies can be seen stretched out and distorted under the gravitational influence of dark matter, the mysterious substance found concentrated around clusters of galaxies. Gravitational lenses allow astronomers to explore the most profound questions of our Universe, including the nature of dark matter and the value of the Hubble constant, which defines the expansion of the Universe.

Video Credits: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard/T. Matsopoulos

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), R. Colombari (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2023

#NASA #Gemini #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC3923 #EllipitcalGalaxies #ShellGalaxies #GravitationalLensing #Galaxies #LEDA744285 #ESO44011 #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #VictorBlancoTelescope #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KittPeak #KPNO #Tucson #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pan on Galaxies NGC 520 & IC 4212 | Victor Blanco Telescope

Pan on Galaxies NGC 520 & IC 4212 | Victor Blanco Telescope

Panning on galaxies NGC 520 and IC 4212, both from the Siena Galaxy Atlas.

Credit: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO)/NOIRLab/Department of Energy (DOE)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)/N. Bartmann  

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)  

PI: J. Moustakas  

Release Date: Oct. 17, 2023

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