Friends of NASA

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Take a Summer Cosmic Road Trip with NASA's Chandra & Webb Space Telescopes

Take a Summer Cosmic Road Trip with NASA's Chandra & Webb Space Telescopes

It is time to take a cosmic road trip using light as the highway and visit four stunning destinations across space. The vehicles for this space get-away are NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope.

In each of the images, the colors represent different wavelengths of X-ray, optical or infrared light.

The first stop on this tour is the closest, Rho Ophiuchi, at a distance of about 390 light-years from Earth. Rho Ophiuchi is a cloud complex filled with gas and stars of different sizes and ages. Being one of the closest star-forming regions, Rho Ophiuchi is a great place for astronomers to study young stars. In this image, X-rays from Chandra are purple and reveal the hot, outer atmospheres of infant stars.

The next destination is the Orion Nebula. Still located in the Milky Way galaxy, this region is a little bit farther from our home planet at about 1,500 light-years away. If you look just below the middle of the three stars that make up the “belt” in the constellation of Orion, you may be able to see this nebula through a small telescope. With Chandra and Webb, however, we get to see so much more. Chandra reveals young stars that glow brightly in X-rays, while Webb shows the gas and dust that will help build the next generation of stars here.

It is time to leave our galaxy and visit another at a much greater distance of about 36 million light-years away. Like the Milky Way, NGC 3627 is a spiral galaxy that we see at a slight angle. NGC 3627 is known as a “barred” spiral galaxy because of the rectangular shape of its central region. From our vantage point, we can also see two distinct spiral arms that appear as arcs. X-rays from Chandra in purple show evidence for a supermassive black hole in its center as well as other dense objects like neutron stars and black holes pulling in matter from companion stars. Meanwhile Webb, plus optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope, finds the dust, gas, and stars throughout the galaxy.

Our final stop is the biggest and the farthest about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth. MACS J0416 is a galaxy cluster, which are the largest objects in the Universe held together by gravity. Galaxy clusters like this can contain hundreds or even thousands of individual galaxies all immersed in massive amounts of superheated gas that Chandra can detect. In this view, Chandra’s X-rays show this reservoir of hot gas while Hubble and Webb pick up the individual galaxies. The long thin lines are caused by matter in the cluster distorting the light from galaxies behind MACS J0416 in a process known as gravitational lensing.

We hope you enjoy this cosmic road trip!

Video Credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 3 minutes, 29 seconds

Release Date: July 11, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebulae #StellarNurseries #RhoOphiuchi #OrionNebula #Galaxies #NGC3627 #GalaxyClusters #MACSJ0416 #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #Xray #MSFC #JWST #Infrared #HST #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #CSA #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tracing Dark Matter in Faint Draco Dwarf Galaxy using Stellar Motions | Hubble

Tracing Dark Matter in Faint Draco Dwarf Galaxy using Stellar Motions | Hubble

A three-paneled image shows different perspectives of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. At left is the Digitized Sky Survey view of the Draco dwarf galaxy. Many yellow, blue-white, and white stars are dispersed across the black background of space. They vary in shape and size, though most resemble small, circular points of light. Larger stars, some with four diffraction spikes, are scattered infrequently across the field of view. A thin, light brown oval highlights the area of interest, which contains two small white squares in its center. The area of each square is magnified at right, showing views captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The top right square reveals a black patch of space with many small points of light and a large, four-point diffraction spike toward the left. The bottom right square shows a black patch of space filled with small points of light, some with diffraction spikes.

Digitized Sky Survey wide-field image of region around Draco dwarf galaxy

Close-up of area around Draco dwarf galaxy. It is one of the faintest galaxies known.

When theory and observations favor different results, how can astronomers determine which one is more feasible? Increasing confidence in one theory over another oftentimes requires building a richer dataset to improve current models and lower uncertainties. A team of astronomers has turned toward NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to try and clarify this debate by measuring the dynamic motions of stars within the Draco dwarf galaxy, a system located roughly 250,000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the faintest galaxies known. Using observations that spanned 18 years, they succeeded in building the most accurate three-dimensional understanding of stars' movements within the diminutive galaxy.

Since dwarf galaxies are known to have a higher proportion of dark matter content than other types of galaxies, the team honed in on the Draco dwarf galaxy. It is a relatively small and spheroidal nearby satellite of the Milky Way galaxy.

The team analyzed a series of epochs spanning from 2004 to 2022, an extensive baseline that only Hubble could offer, due to the combination of its sharp stable vision and record time in operation. The telescope's rich data archive helped decrease the level of uncertainty in the measurement of the stars' proper motions. The precision is equivalent to measuring an annual shift a little less than the width of a golf ball as seen on the Moon from Earth.

With three dimensions of data, the team reduced the amount of assumptions applied in previous studies and considered characteristics specific to the galaxy—such as its rotation, and distribution of its stars and dark matter—in their own modeling efforts.

To learn about dark matter within a galaxy, scientists can look to its stars and their movements that are dominated by the pull of dark matter. A common approach to measure the speed of objects moving in space is by the Doppler Effect—an observed change of the wavelength of light if a star is approaching or receding from Earth. Although this line-of-sight velocity can provide valuable insight, only so much can be gleaned from this one-dimensional source of information.

These results are accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad571c

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, Eduardo Vitral (STScI), Roeland van der Marel (STScI), Sangmo Tony Sohn (STScI), DSS

Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: July 11, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #DwarfGalaxies #DracoDwarfGalaxy #Draco #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #DarkMatter #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #DSS #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Punto medio: 5 de julio 2024

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Punto medio: 5 de julio 2024

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.

Aprende más sobre la ciencia a bordo de la estación espacial: https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/ciencia-en-la-estacion/

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

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

Duration: 5 minutes, 25 seconds

Release Date: July 10, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #NASAenespañol #español #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Engineering #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket: First Flight Highlights | ESA

Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket: First Flight Highlights | ESA

On July 9, 2024, Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket successfully powered into space taking with it a selection of experiments, satellites, payload deployers and reentry demonstrations that represent thousands across Europe—from students to industry and experienced space actors.

This inaugural demonstration flight, designated VA262, is to show the capabilities of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space.

Ariane 6 was built by prime contractor and design authority ArianeGroup. In addition to the rocket, the liftoff demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on ground at Europe's Spaceport. The new dedicated launch zone was custom-built by France's space agency CNES and allows for a faster turnover of Ariane launches.

Ariane 6 is Europe’s newest heavy-lift rocket, designed to provide great power and flexibility at a lower cost than its predecessors. The launcher’s configuration—with an upgraded main stage, a choice of either two or four powerful boosters and a new restartable upper stage—will provide Europe with greater efficiency and possibilities. It can launch multiple missions into selected orbits on a single flight, while its upper stage will deorbit itself at the end of mission.

The European Space Agency’s main role in the Ariane 6 program is as a contracting authority—managing the budget from Member States participating in the Ariane 6 development program; and as launch system architect—ensuring that the rocket and launch pad infrastructure work together.

Ariane 6 is the latest in Europe's Ariane rocket series, taking over from Ariane 5 featuring a modular and versatile design that can launch missions from low-Earth orbit and farther out to deep space.

Learn more about Ariane 6:

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Launch_vehicles/Ariane_6_overview

https://www.arianespace.com/vehicle/ariane-6/

Video Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 2 minutes

Capture Date: July 9, 2024

Release Date: July 10, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Space #Arianespace #Ariane6 #Ariane6Rocket #HeavyLift #RocketLaunch #FlightVA262 #Satellites #Science #GuianaSpaceCentre #Spaceport #Kourou #FrenchGuiana #SouthAmerica #France #CNES #ArianeGroup #Europe #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Ariane 6 Rocket Payload: Young Professional Satellite—First Images | ESA

Ariane 6 Rocket Payload: Young Professional Satellite—First Images | ESA

The new Ariane 6 rocket successfully launched several payloads on its inaugural Flight VA262 from Europe's spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana in South America on July 9, 2024.

Two years ago, a team of young professionals at the European Space Agency (ESA), with diverse backgrounds, nationalities and expertise, came together to design, manufacture, and send their own satellite to space.

The Young Professional Satellite (YPSat) was developed to record the Ariane 6 rocket's fairing separation, to document CubeSat deployment, and to send back beautiful in-orbit images of Earth and space.

This scaled-down mission had all the elements of a large flagship mission—engineering, verification, testing and production assurance; project management, tight schedule, team coordination and communication; failures, crisis situations, and successes.

YPSat is a blueprint for the future of European space exploration. It has been a life changing opportunity for young professionals at ESA to obtain hands-on experience with developing a space mission. The European Space Agency has also been inspired by this younger generation bringing new ideas and technologies.

Learn more about Ariane 6: https://www.arianespace.com/vehicle/ariane-6/

Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image Release Date: July 10, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Space #Arianespace #Ariane6 #Ariane6Rocket #RocketLaunch #FlightVA262 #Satellites #CubeSats #YPSat #SpaceTeamEurope #Science #GuianaSpaceCentre #Spaceport #Kourou #FrenchGuiana #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket Takes Flight | European Space Agency

Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket Takes Flight | European Space Agency

Liftoff of Europe's new Ariane 6 heavy lift rocket on its inaugural Flight VA262 from Europe's spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana in South America on July 9, 2024.

Learn more about Ariane 6:

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Launch_vehicles/Ariane_6_overview

Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image Dates: July 8-9, 2024

Pan of Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

Pan of Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

An international team of astronomers has used more than 500 images from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope spanning two decades to detect seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. These stars provide compelling new evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH).

Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favorite celestial objects for stargazers in the southern hemisphere. Although the cluster is 17,000 light-years away, lying just above the plane of the Milky Way, it appears almost as large as the full Moon when seen from a dark rural area. The exact classification of Omega Centauri has evolved through time, as our ability to study it has improved. It was first listed in Ptolemy's catalog nearly two thousand years ago as a single star. Edmond Halley reported it as a nebula in 1677, and in the 1830s the English astronomer John Herschel was the first to recognize it as a globular cluster. Omega Centauri consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound.

Credit: NASA & ESA, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #StarCluster #GlobularCluster #OmegaCentauri #BlackHole #IntermediateMass #IMBH #Centaurus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zoom into Omega Centauri to Newly-discovered Medium-mass Black Hole

Zoom into Omega Centauri to Newly-discovered Medium-mass Black Hole

Omega Centauri is a spectacular collection of about ten million stars, visible as a smudge in the night sky from Southern latitudes. Through a small telescope, it looks no different from other so-called globular clusters: a spherical collection of stars, so dense towards the centre that it becomes impossible to distinguish individual stars. However, a new study, led by Maximilian Häberle (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), confirms what astronomers had been suspecting—Omega Centauri contains a central black hole. The black hole appears to be the “missing link” between its stellar and supermassive kin. It is stuck in an intermediate stage of evolution. It is considerably less massive than typical black holes in the centers of galaxies. Omega Centauri seems to be the core of a small, separate galaxy whose evolution was cut short when the Milky Way swallowed it.

Learn more here:

https://www.mpia.de/news/science/2024-10-omega-cen-imbh

Video: T. Müller (MPIA/HdA)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: July 10, 2024

#NASA #MPIA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #StarCluster #GlobularCluster #OmegaCentauri #BlackHole #IntermediateMass #IMBH #Astrophysics #Centaurus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Germany #Deutschland #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Evidence for Intermediate-Mass Black Hole | Hubble

Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Evidence for Intermediate-Mass Black Hole | Hubble

Intermediate-mass black holes are a long-sought “missing link” in black hole evolution. They are smaller than the supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies, but larger than stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of massive stars. Only a few candidates have been found to date.

Now, a team of astronomers analyzed over 500 images from 20 years of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observations to find evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole by tracking seven fast-moving stars in the Omega Centauri globular star cluster.

Scientists think a massive object is gravitationally pulling on the stars within Omega Centauri, keeping them close to its center. From the motions of the stars, they estimate it has a mass of at least 8,200 times that of our Sun, the mass range for an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole is between 100 and 100,000 solar masses, therefore the only object that can be so massive is a black hole.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Paul Morris: Lead Producer

Release Date: July 10, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #StarCluster #GlobularCluster #OmegaCentauri #BlackHole #IntermediateMass #IMBH #Astrophysics #Centaurus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

Globular Star Cluster Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri (cropped)

Location of intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favorite celestial objects for stargazers in the southern hemisphere. Although the cluster is 17,700 light-years away, lying just above the plane of the Milky Way, it appears almost as large as the full Moon when seen from a dark rural area. The exact classification of Omega Centauri has evolved through time, as our ability to study it has improved. It was first listed in Ptolemy's catalog nearly two thousand years ago as a single star. Edmond Halley reported it as a nebula in 1677, and in the 1830s the English astronomer John Herschel was the first to recognize it as a globular cluster. Omega Centauri consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound.

Science Paper:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07511-z

Image Description: A globular cluster, appearing as a highly dense and numerous collection of shining stars. A number appear a bit larger and brighter than others with the majority of stars appearing blue and orange. They are scattered mostly uniformly, but in the center they crowd together more and more densely, and merge into a stronger glow at the cluster’s core.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA)

Release Date: July 10, 2024

NASA Moon Rocket Stage for Artemis II Moved & Prepped for Shipment

NASA Moon Rocket Stage for Artemis II Moved & Prepped for Shipment

The Artemis II Core Stage moves from final assembly at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in preparation for delivery to Kennedy Spaceflight Center later this month.

NASA is preparing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign for shipment. On July 6, 2024, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency’s Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in mid-July.

Prior to the move, technicians began removing external access stands, or scaffolding, surrounding the rocket stage in early June. NASA and Boeing teams used the scaffolding surrounding the core stage to assess the interior elements, including its complex avionics and propulsion systems. The 212-foot core stage has two huge propellant tanks, avionics and flight computer systems, and four RS-25 engines. Together, these enable the stage to operate during launch and flight.

The stage is fully manufactured and assembled at Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting is a joint process for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company.

Four astronauts will venture around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft on Artemis II. It will be the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through the Artemis campaign.

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

For more information about SLS, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/sls

Image Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center/Michael DeMocker

Release Date: July 8, 2024

#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #SLS #SLSCoreStage #DeepSpace #Astronauts #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #ReidWiseman #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #NASAMichoud #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

Watch NASA Teams Move, Prep Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage for Shipment

Watch NASA Teams Move, Prep Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage for Shipment

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are preparing the core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) for shipment to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 212-foot-tall core stage and its four RS-25 engines will help power Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign.

In this video, watch as workers remove the external access stands, or scaffolding, before moving the rocket hardware to another area of the facility.

For more information about SLS, visit https://www.nasa.gov/sls

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Duration: 52 seconds

Release Date: July 8, 2024

Tuesday, July 09, 2024

Firefly Aerospace Alpha Rocket Launches NASA CubeSats in California

Firefly Aerospace Alpha Rocket Launches NASA CubeSats in California

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Learn more about Firefly Aerospace:

https://fireflyspace.com

Image Credit: Firefly Aerospace / Trevor Mahlamann / Pauline Acalin

Image Date: July 3, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Satellites #CubeSats #CSLI #FireflyAerospace #AlphaRocket #RocketLaunch #FLTA005 #NoiseOfSummer #Vandenburg #California #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Launch of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

Launch of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

This inaugural demonstration flight, designated VA262, is to show the capabilities of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space.

Image & Caption Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image Date: July 9, 2024

First Liftoff of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

First Liftoff of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

On July 9, 2024, Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 powered Europe into space taking with it a selection of experiments, satellites, payload deployers and reentry demonstrations that represent thousands across Europe—from students to industry and experienced space actors.

This inaugural demonstration flight, designated VA262, is to show the capabilities of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space.

Video Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 4 minutes, 19 seconds

Release Date: July 9, 2024

Liftoff of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

Liftoff of Europe's New Ariane 6 Rocket | European Space Agency

Liftoff of Europe's new Ariane 6 heavy lift rocket on its inaugural Flight VA262 from Europe's spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana in South America on July 9, 2024.

Learn more about Ariane 6:

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Launch_vehicles/Ariane_6_overview

Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image Dates: July 8-9, 2024

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