NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7: Earth Return Highlights | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7: Earth Return Highlights | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia returned to Earth for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida at 5:47 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 12, 2024. 

They completed their six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and to demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights. This is part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

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.

Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 25 minutes

Release Date: March 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #SpaceX #SpaceCrewDragon #Crew8 #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbeli #UnitedStates #AndreasMogensen #Europe #ESA #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 Returns Home | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 Returns Home | International Space Station

The crew of the “Endurance” SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA's Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia, was successfully recovered after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on March 12, 2024, at 5:47am EDT.

Credit: NASA/SpaceX

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 3 minutes, 34 seconds

Release Date: March 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #CrewDragon #JasminMoghbeli #AndreasMogensen #Europe #ESA #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition70 #HumanSpaceflight #GulfofMexico #Florida #UnitedStates #Timelapse #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7: Recovery after Splashdown | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7: Recovery after Splashdown | International Space Station

NASA astronaut & Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli

European Space Agency astronaut & Crew-7 pilot Andreas Mogensen

Roscosmos cosmonaut & Crew-7 mission specialist Konstantin Borisov of Russia

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut & Crew-7 mission specialist Satoshi Furukawa

The crew of the “Endurance” SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA's Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia, was successfully recovered after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on March 12, 2024, at 5:47am EDT.

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.

Image Credit: NASA/SpaceX

Capture Date: March 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #CrewDragon #JasminMoghbeli #AndreasMogensen #Europe #ESA #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition70 #HumanSpaceflight #GulfofMexico #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Eight Countries, One Earth Photo | International Space Station

Eight Countries, One Earth Photo | International Space Station

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this highly oblique photograph of the Persian Gulf while in orbit over Saudi Arabia. The Gulf drains into the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz and forms part of the border for eight countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

The Persian Gulf occupies a large depression formed by a tectonic subduction zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The collision of these two tectonic plates also produced the Zagros Mountains in southern Iran, visible to the north-northwest of the Persian Gulf.

The image shows several cities concentrated along the coastline that serve as ports for goods moving in and out of the region. A significant amount of shipping within the Persian Gulf transports oil and petroleum products with an average of 21 million barrels carried through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

The photo provides a unique wide-angle perspective of Earth as viewed by astronauts aboard the space station. The 28 millimeter focal length of the camera lens lends a perspective similar to that of the human eye, which has an average focal length of between 22 to 24 millimeters based on the physical refraction of light. In this view, the camera’s focal length and the astronaut’s framing of the image offer the feeling of peering out over the planet from an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers).

Image Credit:  ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA's Johnson Space Center

Caption Credit: Cadan Cummings, Jacobs, JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.

Image Date: Sept. 26, 2023

Release Date: March 10, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planet #Earth #PersianGulf #MiddleEast #Iran #Iraq #Kuwait #SaudiArabia #Bahrain #Qatar #UAE #Oman #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Russia #Роскосмос #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #Expedition69 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Dragon Spacecraft Undocking | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Dragon Spacecraft Undocking | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia began their journey back to Earth on Monday, March 11, 2024. 

SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance closed its hatches and autonomously undocked shortly after at 11:20 a.m. EDT.  NASA and SpaceX are targeting 5:50 a.m. EDT Tuesday for a splashdown that will wrap up a six-month science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. 

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub

NASA: Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominik, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

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.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 12 minutes, 25 seconds

Release Date: March 11, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #CrewDragon #JasminMoghbeli #UnitedStates #AndreasMogensen #Europe #ESA #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition70 #HumanSpaceflight #HD #Video

Cepheid Host Galaxy NGC 5468 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

Cepheid Host Galaxy NGC 5468 | Webb & Hubble Space Telescopes

This image of NGC 5468, a galaxy located about 130 million light-years from Earth, combines data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most distant galaxy in which Hubble has identified Cepheid variable stars. These are important milepost markers for measuring the expansion rate of the Universe. The distance calculated from Cepheids has been cross-correlated with a Type Ia supernova in the galaxy. Type Ia supernovae are so bright they are used to measure cosmic distances far beyond the range of the Cepheids, extending measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate deeper into space.

The rate at which the Universe is expanding, known as the Hubble constant, is one of the fundamental parameters for understanding the evolution and ultimate fate of the cosmos. However, a persistent difference, called the Hubble Tension, is seen between the value of the constant measured with a wide range of independent distance indicators and its value predicted from the afterglow of the Big Bang. The NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed that the Hubble Space Telescope’s keen eye was right all along, erasing any lingering doubt about Hubble’s measurements.

The observational challenge is that past Hubble images of these more distant Cepheid variables look more huddled and overlapping with neighboring stars at ever greater distances between us and their host galaxies, requiring careful accounting for this effect. Intervening dust further complicates the certainty of the measurements in visible light. Webb slices through the dust and naturally isolates the Cepheids from neighboring stars because its vision is sharper than Hubble’s at infrared wavelengths.

“Combining Webb and Hubble gives us the best of both worlds. We find that the Hubble measurements remain reliable as we climb farther along the cosmic distance ladder,” said Riess.

The new Webb observations include five host galaxies of eight Type Ia supernovae containing a total of 1,000 Cepheids, and reach out to the farthest galaxy where Cepheids have been well measured—NGC 5468. “This spans the full range where we made measurements with Hubble. So, we’ve gone to the end of the second rung of the cosmic distance ladder,” said co-author Gagandeep Anand of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which operates the Webb and Hubble Telescopes for NASA.

Image Description: A face-on spiral galaxy with four spiral arms that curve outward in a counterclockwise direction. The spiral arms are filled with young, blue stars and peppered with purplish star-forming regions that appear as small blobs. The middle of the galaxy is much brighter and more yellowish, and has a distinct narrow linear bar angled from 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock. Dozens of red background galaxies are scattered across the image. The background of space is black.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Riess (JHU/STScI)

Release Date: March 11, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #CepheidVariables #HubbleTension #Galaxy #NGC5468 #Hubble #HST #Infrared #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescopes #JWST #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Farewell & Command Change | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Farewell & Command Change | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, Crew-7 which includes NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andy Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov provided farewell remarks on March 10, 2024, ahead of their upcoming departure. Joining Crew-7 for the farewell remarks were NASA astronauts Matthew Dominik, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, and Loral O’Hara as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Following the farewell remarks, a change of command ceremony took place in which Mogensen handed over command of the International Space Station to Kononenko as Mogensen prepares to head home with his Crew-7 crewmates. Crew-7 is slated to undock this week and will splashdown off the coast of Florida after completing a six-month mission. 

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)

NASA: Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominik, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

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.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 12 minutes, 25 seconds

Release Date: March 11, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #JasminMoghbeli #UnitedStates #AndreasMogensen #Europe #ESA #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition70 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

"The Dark Tower Nebula": Globule GN 16.43.7.01 | ESO

"The Dark Tower Nebula": Globule GN 16.43.7.01 | ESO

Astronomers are well-known for naming objects with odd conventions, and the cometary globule GN 16.43.7.01 seen in this image is no exception. Cometary globules have nothing to do with comets aside from appearance: they are named for their dusty head and elongated, dark tail, as seen in this image taken with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) hosted at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

This globule, dubbed the Dark Tower—astronomers compensate with obvious names—lies about 5,000 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion). It contains dense clumps of collapsing gas and dust that will form new stars.

The curious shape of this object is carved out from an intense bombardment of radiation from a cluster of young, bright stars located out-of-view to the upper-left. This radiation has swept around and outlined the cometary globule with the characteristic pink glow of hot, excited matter.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/VPHAS+ Team

Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU)

Release Date: March 11, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebula #Stars #StellarNursery #BokGlobule #GN1643701 #Scorpius #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VST #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Martian Barchan Dunes | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006-2024)

Martian Barchan Dunes | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006-2024)

On Jan. 16, 2020, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this image of two types of sand dunes on Mars: barchan and linear dunes.

The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their shape we can tell that they are upwind. The downwind dunes are long and linear. These two types of dune each show the wind direction in different ways: the barchans have a steep slope and crescent-shaped “horns” that point downwind, while the linear dunes are stretched out along the primary wind direction. Linear dunes, however, typically indicate at least two different prevailing winds, which stretch out the sand along their average direction.

Barchan and linear dunes are not just a Martian phenomenon. We also see them on Earth. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have snapped photos of them occurring in Brazil and Saudi Arabia.

This image was taken by the MRO spacecraft’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument. MRO was designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. This year marks its 18th anniversary at Mars.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE instrument, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Release Date: Mars 8, 2024 

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #SandDunes #BarchanDunes #LinearDunes #MRO #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UArizona #BallAerospace #STEM #Education

"The Spaghetti Nebula": Supernova Remnant Simeis 147

"The Spaghetti Nebula": Supernova Remnant Simeis 147

It is easy to get lost following the intricate, looping, and twisting filaments of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240, the filamentary nebula goes by the popular nickname the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. This is about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. 

This composite image includes data taken through narrow-band filters isolating emission from hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this massive stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left behind a pulsar, a spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the original star's core.

Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

Stéphane's Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/stephane.vetter.nuitsacrees 

Release Date: Feb. 27, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Star #NeutronStar #Pulsar #SupernovaRemnant #Simeis147 #Sharpless2240 #Taurus #Auriga #Constellations #Astronomers #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #StéphaneVetter #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #APoD

Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter View | JAXA

Planet Venus: Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter View | JAXA

Planet Venus (ultraviolet view) - December 2, 2022

"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), 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

Image Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Processed using UV (365nm, 283nm) filtered images of Venus taken by Akatsuki's UVI

Caption Credits: JAXA, Wikipedia

Image Date: Dec. 2, 2022

Release Date: March 7, 2024

#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

Planet Jupiter: Close Flyby Views | NASA's Juno Mission

Planet Jupiter: Close Flyby Views | NASA's Juno Mission

Jupiter & Galilean Moons (PJ57-21/12): From the left, the visible moons are Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callisto. 

Jupiter - PJ57-57

Jupiter - PJ57-57

Jupiter - PJ57-60

Jupiter - PJ57-50

Jupiter - PJ57-28: Of the two moons visible, Europa is the the left and Callisto is to the right (just off the left limb of Jupiter).

Since it arrived at Jupiter in 2016, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been probing beneath the dense, forbidding clouds encircling the giant planet—the first orbiter to peer so closely. It seeks answers to questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets across the cosmos.

The Juno orbiter has now performed over 57 flybys of Jupiter and documented close encounters with three of the gas giant’s four largest moons.

More About the Mission

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.

Learn more about NASA's Juno mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Image Processing: Kevin Gill

Image Release Dates: Jan. 5-Jan. 8, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Jupiter #Planet #Moons #Io #Europa #Ganymede #Callisto #Moons #Geology #JunoMission #JunoSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #MSFC #SwRI #UnitedStates #KevinGill #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

The Hubble Space Telescope: Our Cosmic Time Machine | NASA Goddard

The Hubble Space Telescope: Our Cosmic Time Machine | NASA Goddard

The Hubble Space Telescope is many things. It is an observatory, a satellite, and an icon of cultural and scientific significance—but perhaps most interestingly, Hubble is also a time machine.

Hubble is not that far away, locked in a low-Earth orbit just a few hundred miles up that takes about 90 minutes to complete. However, with its position above Earth’s murky atmosphere, Hubble’s transformative view of our universe literally lets us witness our universe’s past.  It allows us to effectively travel back in time.

The answer is simply light! Watch this video to learn more about Hubble: Humanity’s cosmic time machine!

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble

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

Paul Morris: Lead Producer 

Elizabeth Tammi: Script

Release Date: March 10, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Stars #Planets #Exoplanets #Galaxies #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Cosmos #Universe #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Star-forming Region NGC 604 (Mid-infrared view) | James Webb Space Telescope

Star-forming Region NGC 604 (Mid-infrared view) | James Webb Space Telescope

This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) of star-forming region NGC 604 shows how large clouds of cooler gas and dust glow at mid-infrared wavelengths. This region is a hotbed of star formation and home to more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives.

In the MIRI view of NGC 604, there are noticeably fewer stars than Webb’s NIRCam image. This is because hot stars emit much less light at these wavelengths. Some of the stars seen in this image are red supergiants—stars that are cool but very large, hundreds of times the diameter of our Sun. The blue tendrils of material signify the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs.

NGC 604 is located in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), 2.73 million light-years away from Earth. In this image, cavernous bubbles and stretched-out filaments of gas etch a more detailed and complete tapestry of star birth than seen in the past. NGC 604 was discovered by William Herschel on September 11, 1784.

Image Description: At the center of the image is a nebula on the black background of space. The nebula is composed of wispy filaments of light blue clouds. At the center-right of the blue clouds is a large cavernous bubble. The bottom left edge of this cavernous bubble is filled with hues of pink and white gas. Hundreds of dim stars fill the area surrounding the nebula.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Release Date: March 9, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StellarNursery #Nebulae #NGC604 #Nebula #TriangulumGalaxy #Triangulum #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Panning over Star-forming Region NGC 604 | James Webb Space Telescope

Panning over Star-forming Region NGC 604 | James Webb Space Telescope

Two new images from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) showcase the star-forming region NGC 604, located in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), 2.73 million light-years away from Earth. In these images, cavernous bubbles and stretched-out filaments of gas etch a more detailed and complete tapestry of star birth than seen in the past. NGC 604 was discovered by William Herschel on September 11, 1784.

Sheltered among NGC 604’s dusty envelopes of gas are more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives. These types of stars are known as B-types and O-types, the latter of which can be more than 100 times the mass of our own Sun. It is quite rare to find this concentration of them in the nearby Universe. In fact, there is no similar region within our own Milky Way galaxy.

This concentration of massive stars, combined with its relatively close distance, means NGC 604 gives astronomers an opportunity to study these objects at a fascinating time early in their life.

NGC 604 is estimated to be around 3.5 million years old. The cloud of glowing gases extends to about 1,300 light-years across.

Video Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: March 9, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StellarNursery #Nebulae #NGC604 #Nebula #TriangulumGalaxy #Triangulum #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star-forming Region NGC 604 in Triangulum | James Webb Space Telescope

Star-forming Region NGC 604 in Triangulum | James Webb Space Telescope

This is the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image of the star-forming region NGC 604, located in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), 2.73 million light-years away from Earth. In this image, cavernous bubbles and stretched-out filaments of gas etch a more detailed and complete tapestry of star birth than seen in the past. NGC 604 was discovered by William Herschel on September 11, 1784.

Sheltered among NGC 604’s dusty envelopes of gas are more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives. These types of stars are known as B-types and O-types, the latter of which can be more than 100 times the mass of our own Sun. It is quite rare to find this concentration of them in the nearby Universe. In fact, there is no similar region within our own Milky Way galaxy.

This concentration of massive stars, combined with its relatively close distance, means NGC 604 gives astronomers an opportunity to study these objects at a fascinating time early in their life.

In this Webb near-infrared NIRCam image, the most noticeable features are tendrils and clumps of emission that appear bright red, extending out from areas that look like clearings, or large bubbles in the nebula. Stellar winds from the brightest and hottest young stars have carved out these cavities, while ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding gas. This ionized hydrogen appears as a white and blue ghostly glow.

The bright orange streaks in this Webb near-infrared image signify the presence of carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. This material plays an important role in the interstellar medium and the formation of stars and planets, but its origin is a mystery. As you travel further from the immediate clearings of dust, the deeper red signifies molecular hydrogen. This cooler gas is a prime environment for star formation.

NGC 604 is estimated to be around 3.5 million years old. The cloud of glowing gases extends to about 1,300 light-years across.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Release Date: March 9, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StellarNursery #Nebulae #NGC604 #Nebula #TriangulumGalaxy #Triangulum #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #Cosmos #Universe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education