NASA SpaceX CRS-29 Falcon 9 & Dragon Pre-Launch | Kennedy Space Center

NASA SpaceX CRS-29 Falcon 9 & Dragon Pre-Launch | Kennedy Space Center

In preparation for SpaceX’s 29th commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station for NASA, the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, was raised to a vertical position at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. The mission will carry scientific research, technology demonstrations, crew supplies, and hardware to the space station to support its Expedition 70 crew, including NASA’s Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) and Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE). 

Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 8:28 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Date: Nov. 8, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #DragonSpacecraft #CRS29 #CommercialResupplyServices #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #Spaceport #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #Russia #Japan #InternationalCooperation #Expedition70 #STEM #Education

NASA's "Espacio A Tierra" | Caminata espacial de noviembre: 3 de noviembre 2023

NASA's "Espacio A Tierra" | Caminata espacial de noviembre: 3 de noviembre 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's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #HumanSpaceflight #Astronauts #EVA #Spacewalk #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbeli #AndreasMogensen #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #ESA #Europe #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition70 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

"Mothra" Star in Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

"Mothra" Star in Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

This image of galaxy cluster MACS0416 highlights one particular gravitationally lensed background galaxy that existed about 3 billion years after the big bang. That galaxy contains a transient, or object that varies in observed brightness over time, that the science team nicknamed “Mothra”.

Mothra is a star that is magnified by a factor of at least 4,000 times. The team believes that Mothra is magnified not only by the gravity of galaxy cluster MACS0416, but also by an object known as a “milli-lens” that likely weighs about as much as a globular star cluster.

Image Description: A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle, stretching from left to right, is a collection of dozens of yellowish spiral and elliptical galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features created when the light of a background galaxy is bent and magnified through gravitational lensing. At center left, a particularly prominent example stretches vertically about three times the length of a nearby galaxy. It is outlined by a white box, and a lightly shaded wedge leads to an enlarged view at the bottom right. The linear feature is reddish and curves gently. It is studded with about a half dozen bright clumps. One such spot near the middle of the feature is labelled “Mothra".

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri).

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2023

#NASA #Space #Hubble #JWST #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #MACS0416 #Star #Mothra #Eridanus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #CSA #STEM #Education

Pan of Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

Pan of Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. To make the image, in general the shortest wavelengths of light were color-coded blue, the longest wavelengths red, and intermediate wavelengths green. The resulting wavelength coverage, from 0.4 to 5 microns, reveals a vivid landscape of galaxies that could be described as one of the most colorful views of the universe ever created.

MACS0416 is a galaxy cluster located about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that the light from it that we see now left the cluster shortly after the formation of our Solar System. This cluster magnifies the light from more distant background galaxies through gravitational lensing. As a result, the research team has been able to identify magnified supernovae and even very highly magnified individual stars.

Those colors give clues to galaxy distances: the bluest galaxies are relatively nearby and often show intense star formation, as best detected by Hubble, while the redder galaxies tend to be more distant, or else contain copious amounts of dust, as best detected by Webb. The image reveals a wealth of details that it is only possible to capture by combining the power of both space telescopes.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Oct. 31, 2023

#NASA #Space #Hubble #JWST #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #MACS0416 #Eridanus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescopes #Optical #Infrared #ESA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #CSA #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. To make the image, in general the shortest wavelengths of light were color-coded blue, the longest wavelengths red, and intermediate wavelengths green. The resulting wavelength coverage, from 0.4 to 5 microns, reveals a vivid landscape of galaxies that could be described as one of the most colorful views of the universe ever created.

Image Description: A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle is a collection of dozens of yellowish spiral and elliptical galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features, which mostly appear to follow invisible concentric circles curving around the center of the image. The linear features are created when the light of a background galaxy is bent and magnified through gravitational lensing. A variety of brightly colored, red and blue galaxies of various shapes are scattered across the image, making it feel densely populated.

MACS0416 is a galaxy cluster located about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that the light from it that we see now left the cluster shortly after the formation of our Solar System. This cluster magnifies the light from more distant background galaxies through gravitational lensing. As a result, the research team has been able to identify magnified supernovae and even very highly magnified individual stars.

Those colors give clues to galaxy distances: the bluest galaxies are relatively nearby and often show intense star formation, as best detected by Hubble, while the redder galaxies tend to be more distant, or else contain copious amounts of dust, as best detected by Webb. The image reveals a wealth of details that it is only possible to capture by combining the power of both space telescopes.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri)

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2023

#NASA #Space #Hubble #JWST #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #MACS0416 #Eridanus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #CSA #STEM #Education

The Hamburger Galaxy: NGC 3628 in Leo | Víctor Blanco Telescope

The Hamburger Galaxy: NGC 3628 in Leo | Víctor Blanco Telescope

NGC 3628, sometimes nicknamed the Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah's Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Extending to the left of NGC 3628 for around 300,000 light-years is a ‘tidal tail’—an elongated region of stars that arises as a result of gravitational interaction with another galaxy. Embedded within this tidal tail is the ultra-compact dwarf galaxy known as NGC 3628-UCD1.

NGC 3628 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. Along with M65 and M66, NGC 3628 forms the Leo Triplet, a small group of galaxies. Notice the broad and obscuring band of dust located along the outer edge of its spiral arms, effectively transecting the galaxy to the view from Earth.

This image was captured 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.

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA

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

Release Date: Nov. 8, 2023

#NASA #Gemini #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC3628 #HamburgerGalaxy #SarahsGalaxy #SpiralGalaxy #TidalTail #DwarfGalaxy #NGC3628UCD1 #Leo #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #VictorBlancoTelescope #Optical #CTIO #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #DOE #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Panning across Spiral Galaxy IC 342 | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Panning across Spiral Galaxy IC 342 | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

One of the first galaxies that the European Space Agency's new Euclid space telescope observed is nicknamed the ‘Hidden Galaxy’. This galaxy, also known as IC 342 or Caldwell 5, is difficult to observe because it lies behind the busy disc of our Milky Way, and so dust, gas and stars obscure our view. Euclid could take this beautiful and sharp image thanks to its incredible sensitivity and superb optics. Most important here is that Euclid used its near-infrared instrument to peer through the dust and measure the light from the many cool and low-mass stars that dominate the galaxy's mass. 

IC 342 is located around 11 million light-years from Earth, very nearby our own galaxy (in astronomical distances). It is as large as the full Moon on the sky. And as a spiral galaxy, it is considered a look-alike of the Milky Way. “It is difficult to study our own galaxy as we are within it and can only see it edge on. So, by studying galaxies like IC 342, we can learn a lot about galaxies like our own,” adds Leslie.

Image Description: A big spiral galaxy is visible face-on in white/pink colors at the center of this square astronomical image. The galaxy covers almost the entire image and appears whiter at its center where more stars are located. Its spiral arms stretch out across the image and appear fainter at the edges. The entire image is speckled with stars ranging in color from blue to white to yellow/red, across a black background of space. Blue stars are younger and red stars are older. A few of the stars are a bit larger than the rest, with six diffraction spikes.

Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA

Image Processing: J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Duration: 42 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #IC342 #Caldwell5 #SpiralGalaxy #Camelopardalis #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #EST #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy IC 342 in Camelopardalis | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy IC 342 in Camelopardalis | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

One of the first galaxies that the European Space Agency's new Euclid space telescope observed is nicknamed the ‘Hidden Galaxy’. This galaxy, also known as IC 342 or Caldwell 5, is difficult to observe because it lies behind the busy disc of our Milky Way, and so dust, gas and stars obscure our view. Euclid could take this beautiful and sharp image thanks to its incredible sensitivity and superb optics. Most important here is that Euclid used its near-infrared instrument to peer through the dust and measure the light from the many cool and low-mass stars that dominate the galaxy's mass. 

IC 342 is located around 11 million light-years from Earth, very nearby our own galaxy (in astronomical distances). It is as large as the full Moon on the sky. And as a spiral galaxy, it is considered a look-alike of the Milky Way. “It is difficult to study our own galaxy as we are within it and can only see it edge on. So, by studying galaxies like IC 342, we can learn a lot about galaxies like our own,” adds Leslie.

Image Description: A big spiral galaxy is visible face-on in white/pink colors at the center of this square astronomical image. The galaxy covers almost the entire image and appears whiter at its center where more stars are located. Its spiral arms stretch out across the image and appear fainter at the edges. The entire image is speckled with stars ranging in color from blue to white to yellow/red, across a black background of space. Blue stars are younger and red stars are older. A few of the stars are a bit larger than the rest, with six diffraction spikes.

“That’s what is so brilliant about Euclid images. In one shot, it can see the whole galaxy in all its beautiful detail,” explains Euclid Consortium scientist Leslie Hunt of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy, on behalf of a broader team working on showcasing galaxies imaged by Euclid.

“This image might look normal, as if every telescope can make such an image, but that is not true. What’s so special here is that we have a wide view covering the entire galaxy, but we can also zoom in to distinguish single stars and star clusters. This makes it possible to trace the history of star formation and better understand how stars formed and evolved over the lifetime of the galaxy.”

Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA

Image Processing: J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #IC342 #Caldwell5 #SpiralGalaxy #Camelopardalis #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #EST #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education

Panning over Spiral Galaxy NGC 941 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

Panning over Spiral Galaxy NGC 941 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

This image features the spiral galaxy NGC 941. It lies about 55 million light-years from Earth. The data used for this image were collected by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The beautiful NGC 941 is undoubtedly the main attraction in this image; however, this hazy-looking galaxy was not the motivation for the data being collected. That distinction belongs to an astronomical event that took place in the galaxy years before: the supernova SN 2005ad. The location of this faded supernova was observed as part of a study of multiple hydrogen-rich supernovae, also known as type II supernovae, in order to better understand the environments in certain types of supernovae take place. Whilst the study was conducted by professional astronomers, SN 2005ad itself owes its discovery to a distinguished amateur astronomer named Kōichi Itagaki, who has discovered over 170 supernovae.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy, seen face-on from Earth. The spiral arms of the galaxy are bright but not well defined, merging into a swirling disc with a faint halo of dimmer gas around it. The core glows brightly in a lighter color and has a bit of faint dust crossing it. Two redder, visually smaller galaxies and a bright star are prominent around the galaxy, with more tiny objects in the background.

This might raise the question of how an amateur astronomer could spot something like a supernova event before professional astronomers—who have access to telescopes such as Hubble. The answer is in part that the detection of supernovae is a mixture of skill, facilities and luck. Most astronomical events happen over time spans that dwarf human lifetimes, but supernova explosions are extraordinarily fast, appearing very suddenly and then brightening and dimming over a period of days or weeks. 

Another aspect is that professional astronomers often do not spend that much time actually observing. There is a great deal of competition for time on telescopes such as Hubble, and then data from a few hours of observations might take weeks, months, or sometimes even years to process and analyze to their full potential. Amateur astronomers can spend much more time actually observing the skies, and sometimes have extremely impressive systems of telescopes, computers and software that they can put to use. 

So many supernovae are spotted by skillful amateurs, such as Itagaki, that there is actually an online system set up for reporting them (the Transient Name Server). This is a big help to professional astronomers, because with supernova events time is truly of the essence. After the discovery of SN 2005ab was reported, professional astronomers were able to follow up with spectroscopic studies and confirm it as a type II supernova, which eventually led to its location being included in this study with Hubble. Such a study would not be possible without a rich library of previous supernovae, built with the keen eyes of amateur astronomers.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 8, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC941 #Galaxy #Supernovae #Supernova #SN2005ab #Cetus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Recientemente: Una salida para una caminata fuera de la estación espacial

Recientemente: Una salida para una caminata fuera de la estación espacial

Recientemente en la NASA, la versión en español de las cápsulas This Week at NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la NASA. 

Credit: NASA en Español

Duration: 2 minutes, 20 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #Asteroid #LucySpacecraft #HumanSpaceflight #Astronauts #EVA #Spacewalk #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbeli #JAXA #Japan #ESA #Europe #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition70 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Mars: Carbon Dioxide Snow on Sand Dunes | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Mars: Carbon Dioxide Snow on Sand Dunes | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

This is a Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) image of frozen carbon dioxide (CO₂) on Martian sand dunes. Note: This is not frozen water.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image. 

“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.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages MRO for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Caltech, in Pasadena, manages JPL for NASA. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. The Context Camera was built by, and is operated by, Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.

For more information on MRO, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mro

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/mission/index.html

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Processing: Stuart Rankin

Release Date: Oct. 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Science #Atmosphere #Meteorology #Weather #CO2 #CarbonDioxide #FrozenCO2 #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #SandDunes #Geoscience #MRO #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #BallAerospace #MSSS #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis II Moon Crew Vehicle: European Service Module Integration

NASA Artemis II Moon Crew Vehicle: European Service Module Integration

The Artemis II mission will bring astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time in over 50 years. Engineers connected the Orion crew and European service modules for the Artemis II mission on Oct. 19, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the crew and service modules integrated, the team will power up the combined crew and service module for the first time. After power on tests are complete, Orion will begin altitude chamber testing, which will put the spacecraft through conditions as close as possible to the environment it will experience in the vacuum of deep space. 

The crew and service modules are the two major components of Orion that will fly NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a mission around the Moon and bring them home safely.

Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux/Amanda Stevenson

Image Date: Oct. 19, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Earth #Moon #MoonToMars #Mars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #EuropeanServiceModule #ESM #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #Science #Exploration #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #ESA #STEM #Education

Highlights of The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Highlights of The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

These high resolution cutouts from Euclid's full view of the Perseus Cluster showcases the power of the European Space Agency's new Euclid space telescope in obtaining extremely sharp images over a large region of the sky in one single pointing. Although these images represent only a small part of the entire color view, the same quality shown here is available over the full field.

Many faint galaxies were previously unseen. Several of them are so distant that their light has taken 10 billion years to reach us. By mapping the distribution and shapes of these galaxies, cosmologists will be able to find out more about how dark matter shaped the Universe that we see today.

This is the first time that such a large image has allowed us to capture so many Perseus galaxies with a high level of detail. Perseus is one of the most massive structures known in the Universe, located ‘just’ 240 million light-years away from Earth, containing thousands of galaxies, immersed in a vast cloud of hot gas. Astronomers demonstrated that galaxy clusters like Perseus can only have formed if dark matter is present in the Universe.

Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA 

Image Processing: J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #PerseusGalaxyCluster #Perseus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #ESAEuclid #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education

Pan & Zoom: The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Pan & Zoom: The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

The European Space Agency's new Euclid space telescope captured this incredible snapshot—a revolution for astronomy. This image shows ~1,000+ galaxies belonging to the Perseus Cluster, and more than 100,000 additional galaxies further away in the background, each containing up to hundreds of billions of stars. 

Many of these faint galaxies were previously unseen. Several of them are so distant that their light has taken 10 billion years to reach us. By mapping the distribution and shapes of these galaxies, cosmologists will be able to find out more about how dark matter shaped the Universe that we see today.

This is the first time that such a large image has allowed us to capture so many Perseus galaxies in such a high level of detail. Perseus is one of the most massive structures known in the Universe, located ‘just’ 240 million light-years away from Earth, containing thousands of galaxies, immersed in a vast cloud of hot gas. Astronomers demonstrated that galaxy clusters like Perseus can only have formed if dark matter is present in the Universe.

Video Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA 

Image Processing: J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Duration: 49 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #PerseusGalaxyCluster #Perseus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #ESAEuclid #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panning across The Horsehead Nebula | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Panning across The Horsehead Nebula | ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Euclid shows us a spectacularly panoramic and detailed view of the Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33 and part of the constellation Orion.

At approximately 1375 light-years away, the Horsehead—visible as a dark cloud shaped like a horse’s head—is the closest giant star-forming region to Earth. It sits just to the south of star Alnitak, the easternmost of Orion’s famous three-star belt, and is part of the vast Orion molecular cloud.

Many other telescopes have taken images of the Horsehead Nebula, but none of them are able to create such a sharp and wide view as Euclid can with just one observation. Euclid captured this image of the Horsehead in about one hour, which showcases the mission's ability to very quickly image an unprecedented area of the sky in high detail.

Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA Image Processing: J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Duration: 37 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 6, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #HorseheadNebula #Barnard33 #Star #SigmaOrionis #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #ESAEuclid #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Horsehead Nebula | Europe's Euclid Space Telescope

The Horsehead Nebula | Europe's Euclid Space Telescope

The European Space Agency's new Euclid space telescope shows us a spectacularly panoramic and detailed view of the Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33 and part of the constellation Orion. About 1,375 light-years away, it is the closest giant star-forming region to Earth.  It sits just to the south of star Alnitak, the easternmost of Orion’s famous three-star belt, and is part of the vast Orion molecular cloud. With Euclid, which captured this image, scientists hope to find many dim and previously unseen Jupiter-mass planets in their celestial infancy, as well as baby stars. 

Many other telescopes have taken images of the Horsehead Nebula, but none of them are able to create such a sharp and wide view as Euclid can with just one observation. Euclid captured this image of the Horsehead in about one hour, which showcases the mission's ability to very quickly image an unprecedented area of the sky in high detail.

In Euclid’s new observation of this stellar nursery, scientists hope to find many dim and previously unseen Jupiter-mass planets in their celestial infancy, as well as young brown dwarfs and baby stars.

“We are particularly interested in this region, because star formation is taking place in very special conditions,” explains Eduardo Martin Guerrero de Escalante of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias in Tenerife and a legacy scientist for Euclid.

These special conditions are caused by radiation coming from the very bright star Sigma Orionis, which is located above the Horsehead, just outside Euclid’s field-of-view (the star is so bright that the telescope would see nothing else if it pointed directly towards it).

Ultraviolet radiation from Sigma Orionis causes the clouds behind the Horsehead to glow, while the thick clouds of the Horsehead itself block light from directly behind it; this makes the head look dark. The nebula itself is made up largely of cold molecular hydrogen, which gives off very little heat and no light. Astronomers study the differences in the conditions for star formation between the dark and bright clouds.

The star Sigma Orionis itself belongs to a group of more than a hundred stars, called an open cluster.

Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2023

#NASA #ESA #ESAEuclid #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #HorseheadNebula #Barnard33 #Star #SigmaOrionis #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #ESAEuclid #EuclidSpaceTelescope #Europe #STEM #Education