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The Unfurling Spiral Arms of Galaxy NGC 3981 | Victor Blanco Telescope
This unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Crater features a bright central core, where a supermassive black hole lies, surrounded by a disk of hot, young stars and spiral arms laced with streams of dust and more young stars. The irregular, outstretched shape of its arms is likely due to gravitational influence from an encounter with one of its galactic neighbors. NGC 3981 is a member of the NGC 4038 Group of galaxies. The NGC 4038 Group is a small component of the Virgo Supercluster, the immense collection of galaxies that hosts our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Distance:65 million light years
The unfurling arms of NGC 3981 appear to dissolve right into the cosmos in this image captured by the DOE-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab.
Credit: Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA
Image Processing: R. Colombari & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)
The Pillars of Creation and The Interplay of Stars & Dust | NASA Goddard
This scientific visualization explores the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula and the various ways that stars and dust are intertwined in the process of star formation. In developing the contextual story and the three-dimensional model, the video uses data from science papers, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The sequence begins with zoom from our Milky Way Galaxy down to the Pillars of Creation, a scale change of more than a factor of 10,000. Along the way, the general distribution of stars and dust clouds on the sky leads to the specific details of the star-forming Eagle Nebula. The stellar winds and high energy light from hot young stars at the center of the nebula are responsible for creating the pillars' shapes.
The video then enters a journey into the three-dimensional structure of the pillars. Based on scientific results, astronomers and artists modeled this striking formation in three dimensions and created a sequence that flies past and amongst the pillars. What can look like 3 connected pillars in a two-dimensional image separates into four dust clouds with ionized gas streaming away from each.
As the virtual camera files through the model, the view shifts back and forth between Hubble's visible light and Webb's infrared light perspectives. The audience gains an appreciation of the contrasting observations and how the telescopes complement each other by probing different scientific aspects of the clouds.
The Pillars of Creation nickname derives from the fact that stars are forming within these clouds. The visual tour highlights various stages of star formation including an embedded protostar at the top of the central pillar, bipolar jets from a unseen forming star in the upper part of the left pillar, and a newborn star in the middle of the left pillar.
This visualization is a product of the AstroViz Project of NASA's Universe of Learning. A shorter non-narrated visualization that focuses on the experiential flythrough of the pillars is available as "The Pillars of Creation: A 3D Multiwavelength Exploration".
NOAA GOES-U Weather Satellite Launch: SpaceX Falcon Heavy | NASA Kennedy
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carries NOAA's GOES-U Weather Satellite to geostationary orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters (B1072 and B1086) prepare to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral
Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters (B1072 and B1086) prepare to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The GOES-U satellite is the final satellite in the GOES-R series. It serves a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
On board GOES-U is a suite of seven instruments for collecting advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, providing real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards. Also onboard for the first time is the compact coronagraph that will observe the Sun’s outermost layer, called the corona, for large explosions of plasma that could produce geomagnetic solar storms.
NOAA GOES-U Weather Satellite Separates from SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Watch as GOES-U separates from the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of insertion into geostationary orbit.
The GOES-U satellite will be the final satellite in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-R series satellite program and the bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology. For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of "the most sophisticated weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather monitoring satellite system in the world."
The most recent U.S. weather satellite generation is the GOES-R series that first launched in 2016 with GOES-R or GOES-16. This series came with new instruments such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). GOES-U, the final satellite of the series, also has the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) to monitor the Sun’s corona for space weather forecasts.
After GOES-U launches, its successor will be a series called Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO. The first satellite in the series is expected to launch in the early 2030s. GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical Earth-observing data with new instruments onboard.
China's Chang'e-6 Mission Brings First Samples from Moon's Far Side to Earth
The returner of the Chang'e-6 probe touched down safely on Earth Tuesday, June 25, 2024, bringing back the world's first samples collected from the Moon's far side south polar region.
Launched on May 3, 2024, the Chang'e-6 spacecraft has successfully completed its complex and challenging 53-day mission. It included landing on the Moon's far side, collecting south polar region samples, ascending, docking, and returning.
Samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin (43°±2° south latitude, 154°±4° west longitude)—a large impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is the largest, oldest, and deepest basin recognized on the Moon.
The Chang'e-6 Moon mission featured scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. The international scientific payloads carried by the Chang'e-6 mission included the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Italian Space Agency), as well as the Pakistani ICUBE-Q cube lunar satellite.
On March 20, 2024, the Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite was launched and put into orbit in order to facilitate Chang'e-6 mission communications between the far side of the Moon and the Earth.
NOAA GOES-U Weather Satellite Rocket Liftoff | NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Watch the liftoff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
The GOES-U satellite will be the final satellite in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-R series satellite program and the bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology. For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of "the most sophisticated weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather monitoring satellite system in the world."
The most recent U.S. weather satellite generation is the GOES-R series that first launched in 2016 with GOES-R or GOES-16. This series came with new instruments such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). GOES-U, the final satellite of the series, also has the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) to monitor the Sun’s corona for space weather forecasts.
After GOES-U launches, its successor will be a series called Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO. The first satellite in the series is expected to launch in the early 2030s. GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical Earth-observing data with new instruments onboard.
NOAA GOES-U Weather Satellite Launch | SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched the Lockheed Martin-built NOAA’s GOES-U weather satellite at 5:26 p.m. ET, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The GOES-U satellite will be the final satellite in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-R series satellite program and the bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology. For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of "the most sophisticated weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather monitoring satellite system in the world."
The most recent U.S. weather satellite generation is the GOES-R series that first launched in 2016 with GOES-R or GOES-16. This series came with new instruments such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). GOES-U, the final satellite of the series, also has the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) to monitor the Sun’s corona for space weather forecasts.
After GOES-U launches, its successor will be a series called Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO. The first satellite in the series is expected to launch in the early 2030s. GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical Earth-observing data with new instruments onboard.
Image Credit: NASA's Launch Services Program/Lockheed Martin
Advances in U.S. Weather Satellites: From GOES to GeoXO | NASA Goddard
When NOAA’s GOES-U satellite is launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, it will be the final satellite in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-R series satellite program and bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology. For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of "the most sophisticated weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather monitoring satellite system in the world."
The first GOES satellite, GOES-1 (SMS-3), was launched in October 1975. As groundbreaking as it was, it had limited capabilities and viewed Earth only about ten percent of the time. Each generation since the launch of GOES-1 has improved significantly, bringing with new capabilities and instruments. The most recent, and last generation is the GOES-R series that first launched in 2016 with GOES-R or GOES-16. This series came with new instruments such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). GOES-U, the final satellite of the series, also has the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) to monitor the Sun’s corona for space weather forecasts.
After GOES-U launches, its successor will be a series called Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO. The first satellite in the series is expected to launch in the early 2030s. GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical Earth-observing data with new instruments onboard.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NOAA
Producer: Elizabeth C. Wilk (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Technical support:Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Public affairs officers: Michelle Smith (NOAA) and John Leslie (NOAA)
Narrator: John Bateman (NOAA)
Writer: John Bateman (NOAA)
Interviewees:
Pam Sullivan (NOAA)
Ken Graham (NOAA)
Visualizer: Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
How China's Chang'e-6 Mission Returned Far Side Moon Samples to Earth
The returner of the Chang'e-6 probe touched down on Earth Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bringing back the world's first samples collected from the Moon's far side south pole region. This video demonstrates how Chang'e-6 returned these samples successfully.
Launched on May 3, 2024, the Chang'e-6 spacecraft has successfully completed its complex and challenging 53-day mission. It included landing on the Moon's far side, collecting south polar region samples, ascending, docking, and returning.
Samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin (43°±2° south latitude, 154°±4° west longitude)—a large impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is the largest, oldest, and deepest basin recognized on the Moon.
The Chang'e-6 Moon mission featured scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. The international scientific payloads carried by the Chang'e-6 mission included the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Italian Space Agency), as well as the Pakistani ICUBE-Q cube lunar satellite.
On March 20, 2024, the Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite was launched and put into orbit in order to facilitate Chang'e-6 mission communications between the far side of the Moon and the Earth.
Video Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)
China's Chang'e-6 Mission: Far Side South Pole Moon Samples Returned to Earth
History in the making—China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe returned to Earth on June 25, 2024. It is carrying the first-ever samples collected from the far side of the Moon. Xinhua correspondent Zhao Zehui reports from the landing area in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Launched on May 3, 2024, the Chang'e-6 spacecraft has successfully completed its complex and challenging 53-day mission. It included landing on the Moon's far side, collecting south polar region samples, ascending, docking, and returning.
Samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin (43°±2° south latitude, 154°±4° west longitude)—a large impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is the largest, oldest, and deepest basin recognized on the Moon.
The Chang'e-6 Moon mission featured scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. The international scientific payloads carried by the Chang'e-6 mission included the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Italian Space Agency), as well as the Pakistani ICUBE-Q cube lunar satellite.
On March 20, 2024, the Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite was launched and put into orbit in order to facilitate Chang'e-6 mission communications between the far side of the Moon and the Earth.
Full Video: Chinese-built Reusable Rocket Completes 10-km Vertical Return Test
A Chinese reusable carrier rocket completed a 10-kilometer vertical return test Sunday, June 23, 2024. This was the largest vertical return test for a Chinese reusable carrier rocket. This successful vertical takeoff, vertical landing test demonstrates continued progress towards a reusable rocket.
The test flight began at 13:00 and lasted for about six minutes. The 3.8-meter-diameter rocket, powered by three variable-thrust liquid oxygen-methane rockets, climbed to an altitude of about 12 kilometers before adjusting and descending. The rocket opened its landing pad supports at an altitude of 50 meters and landed slowly but stably on the pad.
This rocket development is led by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a member of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
This is the first use of the self-developed highly-variable thrust liquid oxygen-methane rocket engine in a 10-kilometer return test, laying a solid foundation for the 4-meter diameter reusable rocket to be tested in 2025.
After this, the development team will carry out a 70-kilometer vertical return test.
This event is the latest marker among several competing Chinese efforts to match and exceed the capabilities of SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket for commercial and domestic use on a large scale, combined with rapid rates of rocket production in higher volumes at a lower cost. This will further reduce the costs of payload delivery to Earth orbit and beyond for humanity.
Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency
China's Achievements in Moon Exploration: Historical Perspectives
We retrace the history of China's lunar exploration program—from early launches to the groundbreaking Chang'e-6 Mission to the Moon's far side south pole region to collect the first samples for return to Earth. This is a tale of legends, of dreams, and of cutting-edge engineering.
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft is expected to enter Earth's atmosphere and land at the designated landing site in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft is now in the final stage of its complex and challenging 53-day mission. It included landing on the Moon's far side, collecting south polar region samples, ascending, docking, and returning.
In 2020, China's Chang'e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.
This excerpt is taken from CGTN's upcoming documentary "Back to the Far Side."
Video Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)
Early Universe Star Clusters in The Cosmic Gems Arc | James Webb Space Telescope
This image shows two panels. On the right is field of many galaxies on the black background of space, known as the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746. On the left is a callout image from a portion of this galaxy cluster showing two distinct lensed galaxies. The Cosmic Gems arc is shown with several galaxy clusters.
An international team of astronomers have used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to discover gravitationally bound star clusters when the Universe was 460 million years old. This is the first discovery of star clusters in an infant galaxy less than 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Young galaxies in the early Universe underwent significant burst phases of star formation, generating substantial amounts of ionizing radiation. However, because of their cosmological distances, direct studies of their stellar content have proven challenging. Using Webb, an international team of astronomers have now detected five young massive star clusters in the Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD1), a strongly-lensed galaxy emitting light when the Universe was roughly 460 million years old, looking back across 97% of cosmic time.
The Cosmic Gems arc was initially discovered in NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images obtained by the RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey) program of the lensing galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746.
With Webb, the science team can now see where stars formed and how they are distributed, in a similar way to how the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study local galaxies. Webb’s view provides a unique opportunity to study star formation and the inner workings of infant galaxies at such an unprecedented distance.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Bradley (STScI), A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the Cosmic Spring collaboration
Galaxy Cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746: Wide-field View | James Webb Space Telescope
An international team of astronomers has used the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope to discover gravitationally bound star clusters when the Universe was 460 million years old. This is the first discovery of star clusters in an infant galaxy less than 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Young galaxies in the early Universe underwent significant burst phases of star formation, generating substantial amounts of ionizing radiation. However, because of their cosmological distances, direct studies of their stellar content have proven challenging. Using Webb, an international team of astronomers have now detected five young massive star clusters in the Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD1), a strongly-lenzed galaxy emitting light when the Universe was roughly 460 million years old, looking back across 97% of cosmic time.
The Cosmic Gems arc was initially discovered in NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images obtained by the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS) program of the lensing galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746.
With Webb, the science team can now see where stars formed and how they are distributed, in a similar way to how the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study local galaxies. Webb’s view provides a unique opportunity to study star formation and the inner workings of infant galaxies at an unprecedented distance.
Image Description: A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle is a collection of dozens of yellowish galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features that 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 with a variety of shapes are scattered across this densely populated image.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Bradley (STScI), A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the Cosmic Spring collaboration
Pan of Galaxy Cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746 in Pictor | James Webb Space Telescope
An international team of astronomers have used the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope to discover gravitationally bound star clusters when the Universe was 460 million years old. This is the first discovery of star clusters in an infant galaxy less than 500 million years after the Big bang.
Young galaxies in the early Universe underwent significant burst phases of star formation, generating substantial amounts of ionising radiation. However, because of their cosmological distances, direct studies of their stellar content have proven challenging. Using Webb, an international team of astronomers have now detected five young massive star clusters in the Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD1), a strongly-lensed galaxy emitting light when the Universe was roughly 460 million years old, looking back across 97% of cosmic time.
The Cosmic Gems arc was initially discovered in NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images obtained by the RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey) programme of the lensing galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746.
With Webb, the science team can now see where stars formed and how they are distributed, in a similar way to how the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study local galaxies. Webb’s view provides a unique opportunity to study star formation and the inner workings of infant galaxies at such an unprecedented distance.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Bradley (STScI), A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the Cosmic Spring collaboration, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
Galaxy Cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746 in Pictor | James Webb Space Telescope
An international team of astronomers has used the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope to discover gravitationally bound star clusters when the Universe was 460 million years old. This is the first discovery of star clusters in an infant galaxy less than 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Young galaxies in the early Universe underwent significant burst phases of star formation, generating substantial amounts of ionizing radiation. However, because of their cosmological distances, direct studies of their stellar content have proven challenging. Using Webb, an international team of astronomers have now detected five young massive star clusters in the Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD1), a strongly-lenzed galaxy emitting light when the Universe was roughly 460 million years old, looking back across 97% of cosmic time.
The Cosmic Gems arc was initially discovered in NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images obtained by the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS) program of the lensing galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615−5746.
With Webb, the science team can now see where stars formed and how they are distributed, in a similar way to how the Hubble Space Telescope is used to study local galaxies. Webb’s view provides a unique opportunity to study star formation and the inner workings of infant galaxies at an unprecedented distance.
Image Description: A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle is a collection of dozens of yellowish galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features that 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 with a variety of shapes are scattered across this densely populated image.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Bradley (STScI), A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the Cosmic Spring collaboration
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