Tuesday, April 23, 2024

European & Australian Astronaut Class of 2022 Graduation Ceremony | ESA

European & Australian Astronaut Class of 2022 Graduation Ceremony | ESA


The European Space Agency's astronaut class of 2022, including Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency's Katherine Bennell-Pegg during their graduation ceremony at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre on April 22, 2024. Receiving certification marks their transition from candidates to fully qualified astronauts eligible for space missions. Selected in November 2022, the group began their training in April 2023. Basic astronaut training covers spacecraft systems, spacewalks, flight engineering, robotics, life support systems, survival, and medical training, followed by pre-assignment and mission-specific training, setting the stage for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.

Australian Space Agency astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg Biography

https://www.space.gov.au/Katherine-Bennell-Pegg

ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan (UK) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Rosemary_Coogan

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot (France) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Sophie_Adenot

ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández (Spain) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Pablo_Alvarez_Fernandez

ESA astronaut Marco Sieber (Switzerland) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Marco_Alain_Sieber

ESA astronaut Raphaël Liégeois (Belgium) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Raphael_Liegeois

Credits: ESA - P. Sebirot

Image Date: April 22, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Earth #Europe #Astronauts #AstronautCandidates #AstronautTraining #ISS #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceExploration #France #UK #Spain #Switzerland #Suisse #España #Belgium #Belgique #België #EAC #Cologne #Germany #Deutschland #Australia #AustralianSpaceAgency #STEM #Education

A Tour of The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble

A Tour of The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble

In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of NASA's legendary Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990, astronomers took a snapshot of the Little Dumbbell Nebula. Also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651, it is composed of a ring, seen edge-on as the central bar structure, and two lobes on either opening of the ring. The entire nebula is expected to vanish in about 15,000 years.

The Little Dumbbell Nebula is located 3,400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The photogenic nebula is a favorite target of amateur astronomers.

M76 is classified as a planetary nebula. This is a misnomer because it is unrelated to planets. However, its round shape suggested it was a planet to astronomers who first viewed it through low-power telescopes. In reality, a planetary nebula is an expanding shell of glowing gases that were ejected from a dying red giant star. The star eventually collapses to an ultra-dense, hot white dwarf.

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


Credits:

Video – Danielle Kirshenblat

Image – NASA, European Space Agency and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Duration: 2 minutes, 35 seconds

Release Date: April 23, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #M76 #Messier76 #DumbbellNebula #Star #WhiteDwarf #Perseus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #HST #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Hubble's 34th Anniversary Image: The Little Dumbbell Nebula | NASA Goddard

Hubble's 34th Anniversary Image: The Little Dumbbell Nebula | NASA Goddard

On April 24, 2024, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 34th year in orbit by premiering a never-before-seen view of the Little Dumbbell Nebula. The entire nebula is expected to vanish in about 15,000 years.

Hubble’s Senior Project Scientist Dr. Jennifer Wiseman takes us on a tour of this stunning new image, describes the telescope's current health, and summarizes some of Hubble's contributions to astronomy during its 34-year career.

The Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651) is located 3,400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The photogenic nebula is a favorite target of amateur astronomers.

M76 is classified as a planetary nebula. This is a misnomer because it is unrelated to planets. But its round shape suggested it was a planet to astronomers who first viewed it through low-power telescopes. In reality, a planetary nebula is an expanding shell of glowing gases that were ejected from a dying red giant star. The star eventually collapses to an ultra-dense, hot white dwarf.

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


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

Paul Morris: Lead Producer 

Jennifer Wiseman: Narrator

Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds

Release Date: April 23, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #M76 #Messier76 #DumbbellNebula #Star #WhiteDwarf #Perseus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #HST #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zoom into The Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble

Zoom into The Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble

This video takes the viewer on a journey to the 34th anniversary image of the launch of the legendary NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope: the Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651). The object is located 3,400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. This photogenic nebula is a favorite target of amateur astronomers.


Video Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Pagan (STScI)  

Acknowledgment: D. Crowson, A. Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey.

Duration: 38 seconds

Release Date: April 16, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #M76 #Messier76 #DumbbellNebula #Star #WhiteDwarf #Perseus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #HST #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble

The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) | Hubble


In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of the legendary NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers took a snapshot of the Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651) located 3,400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The photogenic nebula is a favorite target of amateur astronomers.

M76 is classified as a planetary nebula. This is a misnomer because it is unrelated to planets. But its round shape suggested it was a planet to astronomers who first viewed it through low-power telescopes. In reality, a planetary nebula is an expanding shell of glowing gases that were ejected from a dying red giant star. The star eventually collapses to an ultra-dense, hot white dwarf.

M76 is composed of a ring, seen edge-on as the central bar structure, and two lobes on either opening of the ring. Before the star burned out, it ejected the ring of gas and dust. The ring was probably sculpted by the effects of the star that once had a binary companion star. This sloughed-off material created a thick disc of dust and gas along the plane of the companion’s orbit. The hypothetical companion star is not seen in the Hubble image, and so it could have been later swallowed by the central star. The disc would be forensic evidence for that stellar cannibalism.

The primary star is collapsing to form a white dwarf. It is one of the hottest stellar remnants known at a scorching 120,000 degrees Celsius, 24 times our Sun’s surface temperature. The sizzling white dwarf can be seen as a pinpoint in the center of the nebula. A star visible in projection beneath it is not part of the nebula.

Pinched off by the disc, two lobes of hot gas are escaping from the top and bottom of the ‘belt’ along the star’s rotation axis that is perpendicular to the disc. They are being propelled by the hurricane-like outflow of material from the dying star, tearing across space at two million miles per hour. This is fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in a little over seven minutes! This torrential ‘stellar wind’ is ploughing into cooler, slower-moving gas that was ejected at an earlier stage in the star’s life, when it was a red giant. Ferocious ultraviolet radiation from the super-hot star is causing the gases to glow. The red color is from nitrogen, and blue is from oxygen.

The entire nebula is a flash in the pan by cosmological timekeeping. It will vanish in about 15,000 years.

Image Description: A Hubble image of the Little Dumbbell Nebula. The name comes from its shape. It is a two-lobed structure of colorful, mottled glowing gases that resemble a balloon that has been pinched around a middle waist. Like an inflating balloon, the lobes are expanding into space from a dying star seen as a white dot in the center Blistering ultraviolet radiation from the super-hot star is causing the gases to glow. The red color is from nitrogen, and blue is from oxygen.


Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Pagan (STScI)

Release Date: April 23, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #M76 #Messier76 #DumbbellNebula #Star #WhiteDwarf #Perseus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #HST #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Earth & Space Views: Shenzhou-17 Crew | China Space Station

Earth & Space Views: Shenzhou-17 Crew | China Space Station

A set of high-resolution pictures taken by the Shenzhou-17 crew in orbit, was released recently by the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

The three Shenzhou-17 astronauts have nearly completed their six month long-duration mission on China's Tiangong Space Station. The Shenzhou-17 crew launched to the station on October 26, 2023. Shenzhou-17 is the sixth spaceflight to the station. The Shenzhou-18 replacement crew will launch soon.

Shenzhou-17 Crew:

Hongbo Tang (Commander)

Shengjie Tang (Mission Specialist)

Xinlin Jiang (Mission Specialist)


Video Credit : CCTV Video News Agency/China Manned Space Engineering Office

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: April 23, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou17 #神舟十七号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #HongboTang #ShengjieTang #XinlinJiang #SpaceLaboratory #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #TiangongSpaceStation #中国空间站 #CMSA #国家航天局 #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Monday, April 22, 2024

Earth Day 2024: Water Touches Everything | NASA Earth Science

Earth Day 2024: Water Touches Everything | NASA Earth Science

NASA Science Mission Directorate's Art Director, Jenny Mottar, talks about the inspiration behind the 2024 Earth Day poster.

Celebrate Earth Day Every Day!

Visit: https://science.nasa.gov/multimedia-galleries/earth-day-2024-poster

(English/Español + PC/Mobile)

The ocean holds about 97 percent of Earth's water and covers 70 percent of our planet's surface. According to the United Nations, the ocean may be home to 50 to 80 percent of all life on Earth. Even if you live hundreds of miles from a coast, what happens in the ocean is fundamental to your life.

The 2024 NASA Earth Day poster is composited with real satellite imagery from NASA's Terra, Aqua, and Landsat missions. Download the poster and learn more about the imagery below.

Learn more about NASA Earth Science: https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/


Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: April 15, 2024

#NASA #Planet #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #Science #Space #Satellites #AquaMission #TerraMission #LandsatMission #Environment #Oceans #Climate #ClimateChange #GreenhouseEffect #GlobalHeating #EarthDay #EarthDay2024 #EarthDayPosters #Art #STEM #Education #HD #Video 

Download Free NASA Earth Day 2024 Posters & Virtual Backgrounds

Download Free NASA Earth Day 2024 Posters & Virtual Backgrounds

Celebrate Earth Day Every Day!

Visit: https://science.nasa.gov/multimedia-galleries/earth-day-2024-poster

(English/Español + PC/Mobile)



The ocean holds about 97 percent of Earth's water and covers 70 percent of our planet's surface. According to the United Nations, the ocean may be home to 50 to 80 percent of all life on Earth. Even if you live hundreds of miles from a coast, what happens in the ocean is fundamental to your life.

The 2024 NASA Earth Day poster is composited with real satellite imagery from NASA's Terra, Aqua, and Landsat missions. Download the poster and learn more about the imagery below.


Image Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)


#NASA #Planet #Earth #Science #Space #Satellites #AquaMission #TerraMission #LandsatMission #Environment #Oceans #Climate #ClimateChange #GreenhouseEffect #GlobalHeating #EarthDay #EarthDay2024 #EarthDayPosters #STEM #Education

Earth from Orbit: Celebrating Earth Day with U.S. Weather Satellites | NOAA

Earth from Orbit: Celebrating Earth Day with U.S. Weather Satellites | NOAA

Happy Earth Day 2024! | America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): "Throughout history, humans have wondered what Earth looked like from above. The advent of satellites changed our perspective dramatically, though early imagery was often blurry and lacked detail. Today, thanks to decades of technological advancements and innovation, the quality and resolution of satellite imagery has significantly improved. Satellites from NOAA and other organizations around the world capture vital information that help us stay safe, while also sharing the beauty of our planet from afar. For us, every day is Earth Day!" 

"As we celebrate Earth Day, let us marvel at the wonders of our planet and reflect on our responsibility to cherish and protect it. Together, let’s ensure that the view from space remains a symbol of hope and inspiration for generations to come."


Credits: NOAA, NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)

Additional imagery courtesy of Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: April 19, 2024


#NASA #NOAA #Planet #Earth #EarthDay #EarthDay2024 #Science #Space #Satellite #GeostationarySatellites #Weather #Meteorology #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #GOESSatellites #GSFC #UnitedStates #NorthAmerica #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Highlights of Basic Astronaut Training | European Space Agency

Highlights of Basic Astronaut Training | European Space Agency

The European Space Agency's newly graduated astronauts reach the end of one year of rigorous basic astronaut training. Watch the key moments during the journey of Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Selected in November 2022, the group began their training in April 2023.

Basic astronaut training provides the candidates with an overall familiarization and training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalks, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems as well as survival and medical training. They received astronaut certification at European Space Agency's European Astronaut Centre on April 22, 2024.

Following certification, the new astronauts will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training—paving the way for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.


Video Credit: European Space Agency / NASA / Royal Netherlands Air Force

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: April 22, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Earth #Europe #Astronauts #AstronautCandidates #AstronautTraining #ISS #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceExploration #France #UK #Spain #Switzerland #Suisse #España #Belgium #Belgique #België #EAC #Cologne #Germany #Deutschland #Australia #AustralianSpaceAgency #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panning across Spiral Galaxy ESO 422-41 in Columba | Hubble

Panning across Spiral Galaxy ESO 422-41 in Columba | Hubble


This picture depicts the spiral galaxy ESO 422-41. It lies about 34 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Columba. The patchy, star-filled structure of the galaxy’s spiral arms and the glow from its dense core are laid out in intricate detail here by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images of this galaxy have, however, a decades-long history.

The name ESO 422-41 comes from its identification in the European Southern Observatory (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky. In the times before automated sky surveys with space observatories, such as the European Space Agency’s Gaia, many stars, galaxies and nebulae were discovered by means of large photographic surveys. Astronomers used the most advanced large telescopes of the time to produce hundreds of photographs, covering an area of the sky. They later studied the resulting photographs, attempting to catalogue all the new astronomical objects revealed.

In the 1970s, a new telescope at ESO’s La Silla facility in Chile performed such a survey of the southern sky. It still had not been examined in as much depth as the sky in the north. At the time, the premier technology for recording images was glass plates treated with chemicals. The resulting collection of photographic plates became the ESO (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky. Astronomers at ESO and in Uppsala, Sweden collaborated to study the plates, recording hundreds of galaxies—ESO 422-41 being just one of those—star clusters, and nebulae. Many were new to astronomy.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy, with a brightly shining core and two large arms. The arms are broad, faint overall and quite patchy, and feature several small bright spots where stars are forming. A few foreground stars with small diffraction spikes can be seen in front of the galaxy.

Astronomical sky surveying has since transitioned through digital, computer-aided surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Legacy Surveys, to surveys made by space telescopes including Gaia and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. Even so, photographic sky surveys contributed immensely to astronomical knowledge for decades, and the archives of glass plates serve as an important historical reference for large swathes of the sky. Several are still actively used today, for instance to study variable stars through time. The objects that these surveys revealed, including ESO 422-41, can now be studied in depth by telescopes, such as Hubble. 


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: April 22, 2024


#NASA #Hubble #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #ESO42241 #SpiralGalaxy #Columba #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy ESO 422-41 in Columba | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy ESO 422-41 in Columba | Hubble Space Telescope

This picture depicts the spiral galaxy ESO 422-41. It lies about 34 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Columba. The patchy, star-filled structure of the galaxy’s spiral arms and the glow from its dense core are laid out in intricate detail here by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images of this galaxy have, however, a decades-long history.

The name ESO 422-41 comes from its identification in the European Southern Observatory (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky. In the times before automated sky surveys with space observatories, such as the European Space Agency’s Gaia, many stars, galaxies and nebulae were discovered by means of large photographic surveys. Astronomers used the most advanced large telescopes of the time to produce hundreds of photographs, covering an area of the sky. They later studied the resulting photographs, attempting to catalogue all the new astronomical objects revealed.

In the 1970s, a new telescope at ESO’s La Silla facility in Chile performed such a survey of the southern sky. It still had not been examined in as much depth as the sky in the north. At the time, the premier technology for recording images was glass plates treated with chemicals. The resulting collection of photographic plates became the ESO (B) Atlas of the Southern Sky. Astronomers at ESO and in Uppsala, Sweden collaborated to study the plates, recording hundreds of galaxies—ESO 422-41 being just one of those—star clusters, and nebulae. Many were new to astronomy.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy, with a brightly shining core and two large arms. The arms are broad, faint overall and quite patchy, and feature several small bright spots where stars are forming. A few foreground stars with small diffraction spikes can be seen in front of the galaxy.

Astronomical sky surveying has since transitioned through digital, computer-aided surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Legacy Surveys, to surveys made by space telescopes including Gaia and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. Even so, photographic sky surveys contributed immensely to astronomical knowledge for decades, and the archives of glass plates serve as an important historical reference for large swathes of the sky. Several are still actively used today, for instance to study variable stars through time. The objects that these surveys revealed, including ESO 422-41, can now be studied in depth by telescopes, such as Hubble. 


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

Release Date: April 22, 2024


#NASA #Hubble #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #ESO42241 #SpiralGalaxy #Columba #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Star Diary: The Lyrid Meteor Shower Reaches its Peak: April 22-28, 2024

Star Diary: The Lyrid Meteor Shower Reaches its Peak: April 22-28, 2024

The full Moon will wash out the dimmer meteors, but fortunately there are plenty of other stargazing highlights in this week’s stargazing podcast guide, Star Diary, April 22 to 28, 2024.

Transcript: www.skyatnightmagazine.com/podcasts/star-diary-22-apr-2024


Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Duration: 18 minutes

Release Date: April 21, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #Planets #SolarSystem #MeteorShowers #Comets #Stars #Planets #Constellations #StarClusters #MilkyWayGalaxy #Galaxies #Universe #Skywatching #BBC #UK #Britain #Europe #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Passing Planet Jupiter: Perijove 16 | NASA's Juno Mission

Passing Planet Jupiter: Perijove 16 | NASA's Juno Mission

NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno is continuing on its 53-day, highly-elongated orbits around our Solar System's largest planet. This video features perijove 16, the sixteenth time that Juno has passed near Jupiter since it arrived in mid-2016. Each perijove passes near a new part of Jupiter's cloud tops. 

This color-enhanced video has been digitally composed from 21 JunoCam still images, resulting in a 125-fold time-lapse. The video begins with Jupiter rising as Juno approaches from the north. As Juno reaches its closest view—from about 3,500 kilometers over Jupiter's cloud tops—the spacecraft captures the great planet in detail. 

Juno passes light zones and dark belts of clouds that circle the planet, as well as numerous swirling circular storms. Many are larger than hurricanes on Earth. As Juno moves away, a remarkable "dolphin-shaped" cloud is visible. After the perijove, Jupiter recedes into the distance, now displaying the unusual clouds that appear over Jupiter's south. To collect science data, Juno swoops so close to Jupiter that its instruments are exposed to very high levels of radiation.

Starting in April 2024, the spacecraft will carry out a series of occultation experiments that use Juno’s Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiter’s upper atmospheric makeup. This can provide key information on the planet’s shape and interior structure.


More About the Mission
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.

Video Credit: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS, Gerald Eichstadt

Duration: 54 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 2, 2019



#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Jupiter #Atmosphere #JunoMission #JunoSpacecraft #Perijove16 #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #MSFC #SwRI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD #HD #Video

The Sun: New High Resolution Images | Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

The Sun: New High Resolution Images | Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

A high-resolution image of solar sunspots captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope on May 11, 2021 (not from the first science observation). The data leading to this image were acquired with the Visible Broadband Imager blue channel at a wavelength of 450 nanometers.

The first images of the chromosphere—the area of the Sun’s atmosphere above the surface—taken with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on 3 June 2022. The image shows a region 82,500 kilometers across at a resolution of 18 km. This image is taken at 486.13 nanometers using the hydrogen-beta line from the Balmer series.
The surface of the Sun taken with the Visible Broadband Imager at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. The image shows a region 82,500 kilometers across at a resolution of 18 km. The image is taken in the Fraunhofer “G Band” at 430 nanometers.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has produced the highest resolution observations of the Sun’s surface ever taken. These are the latest images that have been released during the telescope's commissioning stage. Interestingly, they are reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh's famous "sunflower" paintings (1888-1889) that he made in France.

Learn about the world's most powerful solar telescope in Maui, Hawai’i:

https://nso.edu/telescopes/dki-solar-telescope/  

Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflower" paintings: 

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0031v1962


Credits: NOIRLab, National Solar Observatory (NSO)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Release Date: April 19, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #Sun #Corona #Atmosphere #Chromosphere #Sunspots #Plasma #Physics #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #DanielKInouyeSolarTelescope #Maui #Hawaii #NSO #NSF #AURA #NOIRLab #UnitedStates #Art #STEM #Education

China's Shenzhou-18 Crew Mission: Launch Prep Completed | China Space Station

China's Shenzhou-18 Crew Mission: Launch Prep Completed | China Space Station

China conducted an on-site comprehensive pre-launch rehearsal on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for the imminent launch of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship to the China Space Station. As scheduled, this new crew will replace the existing Shenzhou-17 astronauts (taikonauts) completing a long duration six-month mission. Shenzhou-18 will be the seventh crew of three astronauts to stay aboard the China Space Station. The Shenzhou-18 crew members will be officially announced shortly before launch.

Zou Pengfei, a staff member of the Astronaut Center of China stated:

"Throughout the joint rehearsal, the Shenzhou-18 crew members were full of energy, very calm and composed. They performed good teamwork in operation and coordinated smoothly with the ground team, thus achieving the expected results. The rehearsal demonstrated their good physical and psychological status and training level. After the joint rehearsal, they will enter the final preparation stage, which mainly includes medical examination and physical and psychological state adjustments, to ensure that they can perform the flight mission in the best shape possible."


Video Credit: CCTV Video News Agency

Duration: 1 minute, 11 seconds

Release Date: April 21, 2024


#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Rocket #LongMarch2FY18 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #CrewSpacecraft #Taikonauts #Astronauts #SpaceLaboratory #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video