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Orion Nebula | NASA Chandra & Webb Space Telescopes
This is a composite image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. Pictured is the Orion Nebula, a giant cloud where stars are forming. 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, colored in red, green, and blue, while Webb shows the gas and dust in darker red that will help build the next generation of stars here.
Image Description: This is a peek into the heart of the Orion Nebula. It blankets the entire image. Here, the young star nursery resembles a dense, stringy, dusty rose cloud, peppered with thousands of glowing golden, white, and blue stars. Layers of cloud around the edges of the image, and a concentration of bright stars at its distant core, help convey the depth of the nebula.
Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex | NASA Chandra & Webb Space Telescopes
This is a composite image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. Pictured is Rho Ophiuchi, at a distance of about 390 light-years from Earth. Rho Ophiuchi is a cloud complex filled with gas and stars of varying 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. Infrared data from Webb's NIRCam is red, yellow, cyan, light blue, and darker blue and provides views of the spectacular regions of gas and dust.
Image Description: The murky green and gold cloud resembles a ghostly head in profile, swooping down from the upper left, trailing tendrils of hair. Cutting across the bottom edge and lower righthand corner of the image is a long, narrow, brick red cloud which resembles the ember of a stick pulled from a fire. Several large white stars dot the image. Many are surrounded by glowing neon purple rings, and gleam with diffraction spikes.
Asteroid Photobombs Hubble Snapshot of Galaxy UGC 12158
This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158 looks like someone took a white marking pen to it. In reality it is a combination of time exposures of a foreground asteroid moving through Hubble’s field of view, photobombing the observation of the galaxy. Several exposures of the galaxy were taken, which is evidenced by the dashed pattern.
Distance of galaxy UGC 12158 to Earth: 400 million light years
The asteroid appears as a curved trail as a result of parallax: Hubble is not stationary, but orbiting Earth, and this gives the illusion that the faint asteroid is swimming along a curved trajectory. The uncharted asteroid is inside the asteroid belt in our Solar System, and hence is 10 trillion times closer to Hubble than the background galaxy.
Rather than being a nuisance, this type of data is useful to astronomers for doing a census of the asteroid population in our Solar System.
Image Description: This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. The majestic galaxy has a pinwheel shape made up of bright blue stars wound around a yellow-white hub of central stars. The hub has a slash of stars across it, called a bar. The galaxy is tilted face-on to our view from Earth. A slightly S-shaped white line across the top is the Hubble image of an asteroid streaking across Hubble’s view. It looks dashed because the image is a combination of several exposures of the asteroid flying by like a race car.
Credit: NASA, ESA, P. G. Martín (Autonomous University of Madrid), J. DePasquale (STScI).
Acknowledgment: A. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley)
Barred Spiral Galaxy UGC 12158 in Pegasus | Hubble
The galaxy captured in this image, called UGC 12158, is not camera-shy. This spiral stunner is posing face-on to the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing its structure in fine detail.
UGC 12158 is an excellent example of a barred spiral galaxy in the Hubble sequence—a scheme used to categorize galaxies based on their shapes. Barred spirals, as the name suggest, feature spectacular swirling arms of stars that emanate from a bar-shaped center. Such bar structures are common, being found in about two thirds of spiral galaxies, and are thought to act as funnels, guiding gas to their galactic centers where it accumulates to form newborn stars. These are not permanent structures: astronomers think that they slowly disperse over time, so that the galaxies eventually evolve into regular spirals.
The appearance of a galaxy changes little over millions of years, but this image also contains a short-lived and brilliant interloper—the bright blue star just to the lower left of the center of the galaxy is very different from the several foreground stars seen in the image. It is in fact a supernova inside UGC 12158 and much further away than the Milky Way stars in the field—at a distance of about 400 million light-years! This stellar explosion, called SN 2004ef, was first spotted by two British amateur astronomers in September 2004 and the Hubble data shown here form part of the follow-up observations.
This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through blue (F475W, colored blue), yellow (F606W, colored green) and red (F814W, colored red) as well as a filter that isolates the light from glowing hydrogen (F658W, also colored red) have been included. The exposure times were 1160 s, 700 s, 700 s and 1200 s respectively. The field of view is about 2.3 arcminutes across.
Space Weather: Potential Impacts of a Major Solar Storm | Johns Hopkins APL
Space weather affects all of us. Behind the beauty and wonder of our Sun lies powerful forces to create giant eruptions, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), that blast energy, light, and particles into space, creating so-called geospace storms. These storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations, while triggering spectacular displays of aurora on Earth. This video represents a hypothetical scenario for a space weather event.
Miranda Engine: 60 Second Hot Fire Test for Medium-lift Rocket | Firefly Aerospace
"Volume on! We completed a 60 second hot fire test of our full length Miranda engine! All of which was designed, built, and tested at our Rocket Ranch in Briggs, Texas . . . With 230,000 pounds of thrust (lbf), Miranda is building on the success of Lightning (15,759 lbf) and Reaver (45,000 lbf) with proven engine scalability. Miranda uses the same engine architecture, injector design, and patented tap-off cycle as the Reaver and Lightning engines that power Firefly’s orbital Alpha vehicle. Miranda also incorporates a scaled-up version of Reaver’s turbopump, fluid systems, and valve technology."
The Shenzhou-18 crew: "From the perspective of space, let's feel the pure and profound power of the ocean together, learn from its broad-minded spirit, and protect our beautiful home that we rely on for survival. Listening to music while looking at the Earth from space."
This video was released on July 12, 2024 to mark the 20th China Maritime Day.
The Shenzhou-18 crew, sent to China's Tiangong space station on April 25 this year, have completed one third of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a large amount of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests.
"No Country for Earth Men" | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006-2024)
There was not much by way of the science rationale for this image, outside of possible clays in contact with the plains. However, the rugged nature of the terrain, and the contrasting tones of the landscape, makes for a fascinating observation in enhanced color. The scene is located south of Eos Chasma in a relatively flat area, although what we see here would be daunting for even the most hardened explorer.
This is a non-narrated clip with ambient sound. Image is less than 1 km (under 1 mi) across and the spacecraft altitude was 255 km (159 mi).
The image was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft 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.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, that was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Big Build: Watch Assembly of Giant Core Stage for SLS Moon Rocket | NASA
NASA and industry partners are preparing to deliver the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission, from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The massive hardware stands 212 feet tall and serves as the powerhouse behind the agency’s powerful rocket. The stage is fully produced at NASA Michoud where technicians with NASA and core stage lead contractor Boeing thoroughly assessed and prepared the hardware before loading it onto NASA’s Pegasus barge for delivery to the Space Coast.
3D View of "Penguin & Egg": Interacting Galaxies Arp 142 | Webb Telescope
This visualization examines the three-dimensional structure of Arp 142, a pair of interacting galaxies nicknamed the Penguin and the Egg, as seen in near-infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Penguin, a spiral galaxy cataloged as NGC 2936, has passed by the Egg, an elliptical galaxy cataloged NGC 2937, seen at left.
During this gravitational encounter, the pancake-like shape of the spiral galaxy has become stretched and twisted. The stretched out lower part of the spiral galaxy looks like the body of a penguin, and the galaxy’s central bulge forms its eye. The far side of the Penguin has twisted to extend away from our point of view, producing what looks like a beak.
In contrast, the elliptical galaxy has been slightly elongated, producing the egg-like shape.
Examining these galaxy structures in three dimensions helps us better understand how galaxy encounters develop.
Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Video Credits: Visualization: Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Christian Nieves, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, Frank Summers, Greg Bacon (Space Telescope Science Institute), National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency.
This visualization examines the three-dimensional structure of Arp 142, a pair of interacting galaxies nicknamed the Penguin and the Egg, as seen in near-infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Penguin, a spiral galaxy cataloged as NGC 2936, has passed by the Egg, an elliptical galaxy cataloged NGC 2937, seen at left.
During this gravitational encounter, the pancake-like shape of the spiral galaxy has become stretched and twisted. The stretched-out lower part of the spiral galaxy looks like the body of a penguin, and the galaxy’s central bulge forms its eye. The far side of the Penguin has twisted to extend away from us, producing what looks like a beak. In contrast, the elliptical galaxy has been slightly elongated, producing the egg-like shape.
Examining these galaxy structures in three dimensions helps us better understand how galaxy encounters develop.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, R. Crawford (STScI), J. DePasquale (STScI), C. Nieves (STScI), J. Olmstead (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI), F. Summers (STScI), G. Bacon (STScI)
This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to the interacting galaxies known as Arp 142.
The distorted spiral galaxy at the center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at the left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. A new near- and mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, taken to mark its second year of science, shows that their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow.
The pair, known jointly as Arp 142, made their first pass between 25 and 75 million years ago — causing ‘fireworks’, or new star formation, in the Penguin. In the most extreme cases, mergers can cause galaxies to form thousands of new stars per year for a few million years. For the Penguin, research has shown that about 100 to 200 stars have formed per year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy (not interacting with a galaxy of the same size) forms roughly six to seven new stars per year.
Arp 142 lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
A Tour of "Penguin & Egg": Interacting Galaxies Arp 142 | Webb Telescope
This video tours Arp 142, an interacting galaxy pair affectionately known as the Penguin and the Egg that lies 326 million light-years from Earth.
The journey begins and ends on a new mid- and near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, and includes a brief fade to a visible light image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The pair are separated by only 100,000 light-years — relatively close in astronomical terms. Our Milky Way galaxy and nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, are separated by about 2.5 million light-years. This tour spotlights what’s happened since they’ve interacted, including a blue haze that joins them.
Also look for contrasting views of the spiral galaxy at top right, which “disappears” in Webb’s mid-infrared view.
Pan of "Penguin & Egg": Interacting Galaxies Arp 142 | Webb Telescope
This is Arp 142, two interacting galaxies, observed in near- and mid-infrared light. At left is NGC 2937, nicknamed the Egg. Its center is the brighter and whiter. There are six diffraction spikes atop its gauzy blue layers. At right is NGC 2936, nicknamed the Penguin. Its beak-like region points toward and above the Egg. Where the eye would be is a small, opaque yellow spiral. The Penguin’s distorted arms form the bird’s beak, back, and tail. The tail is wide and layered, like a beta fish’s tail. A semi-transparent blue hue traces the Penguin and extends from the galaxy, creating an upside-down U over top of both galaxies. At top right is another galaxy seen from the side, pointing roughly at a 45-degree angle. It is largely light blue. Its length appears approximately as long as the Egg’s height. One foreground star with large, bright blue diffraction spikes appears over top of the galaxy and another near it. The entire black background is filled with tiny, extremely distant galaxies.
The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. Their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow.
The pair, known jointly as Arp 142, made their first pass between 25 and 75 million years ago— causing “fireworks,” or new star formation, in the Penguin. In the most extreme cases, mergers can cause galaxies to form thousands of new stars per year, for a few million years. For the Penguin, research has shown that about 100 to 200 stars have formed per year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy (which is not interacting with a galaxy of the same size) forms roughly six to seven new stars per year. Arp 142 lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.
This gravitational shimmy also remade the Penguin’s appearance. Its coiled spiral arms unwound, and gas and dust were pulled in an array of directions, like it was releasing confetti. It is rare for individual stars to collide when galaxies interact (space is vast), but galaxies’ mingling disrupts stars’ orbits.
Today, the Penguin’s galactic center looks like an eye set within a head, and the galaxy has prominent star trails that take the shape of a beak, backbone, and fanned-out tail. A faint, but prominent dust lane extends from its beak down to its tail.
Despite the Penguin appearing far larger than the Egg, these galaxies have approximately the same mass. This is one reason why the smaller-looking Egg has not yet merged with the Penguin. (If one was less massive, it may have merged earlier.)
The oval Egg is filled with old stars, and little gas and dust. This is why it is not sending out “streamers” or tidal tails of its own and instead has maintained a compact oval shape. If you look closely, the Egg has four prominent diffraction spikes—the galaxy’s stars are so concentrated that it gleams.
Now, find the bright, edge-on galaxy at top right. It is not nearby. Cataloged PGC 1237172, it lies 100 million light-years closer to Earth. It is relatively young and is not overflowing with dust. This is why it practically disappears in Webb’s mid-infrared view.
The background of this image is overflowing with far more distant galaxies. This is a testament to the sensitivity and resolution of Webb’s infrared cameras.
"Penguin & Egg": Interacting Galaxies Arp 142 | James Webb Space Telescope
This is Arp 142, two interacting galaxies, observed in near- and mid-infrared light. At left is NGC 2937, nicknamed the Egg. Its center is the brighter and whiter. There are six diffraction spikes atop its gauzy blue layers. At right is NGC 2936, nicknamed the Penguin. Its beak-like region points toward and above the Egg. Where the eye would be is a small, opaque yellow spiral. The Penguin’s distorted arms form the bird’s beak, back, and tail. The tail is wide and layered, like a beta fish’s tail. A semi-transparent blue hue traces the Penguin and extends from the galaxy, creating an upside-down U over top of both galaxies. At top right is another galaxy seen from the side, pointing roughly at a 45-degree angle. It is largely light blue. Its length appears approximately as long as the Egg’s height. One foreground star with large, bright blue diffraction spikes appears over top of the galaxy and another near it. The entire black background is filled with tiny, extremely distant galaxies.
The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. Their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow.
The pair, known jointly as Arp 142, made their first pass between 25 and 75 million years ago— causing “fireworks,” or new star formation, in the Penguin. In the most extreme cases, mergers can cause galaxies to form thousands of new stars per year, for a few million years. For the Penguin, research has shown that about 100 to 200 stars have formed per year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy (which is not interacting with a galaxy of the same size) forms roughly six to seven new stars per year. Arp 142 lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.
This gravitational shimmy also remade the Penguin’s appearance. Its coiled spiral arms unwound, and gas and dust were pulled in an array of directions, like it was releasing confetti. It is rare for individual stars to collide when galaxies interact (space is vast), but galaxies’ mingling disrupts stars’ orbits.
Today, the Penguin’s galactic center looks like an eye set within a head, and the galaxy has prominent star trails that take the shape of a beak, backbone, and fanned-out tail. A faint, but prominent dust lane extends from its beak down to its tail.
Despite the Penguin appearing far larger than the Egg, these galaxies have approximately the same mass. This is one reason why the smaller-looking Egg has not yet merged with the Penguin. (If one was less massive, it may have merged earlier.)
The oval Egg is filled with old stars, and little gas and dust. This is why it is not sending out “streamers” or tidal tails of its own and instead has maintained a compact oval shape. If you look closely, the Egg has four prominent diffraction spikes—the galaxy’s stars are so concentrated that it gleams.
Now, find the bright, edge-on galaxy at top right. It is not nearby. Cataloged PGC 1237172, it lies 100 million light-years closer to Earth. It is relatively young and is not overflowing with dust. This is why it practically disappears in Webb’s mid-infrared view.
The background of this image is overflowing with far more distant galaxies. This is a testament to the sensitivity and resolution of Webb’s infrared cameras.
Extreme Heat Hammers U.S. Coasts | NASA Earth Science
In June 2024, early summer heat waves hit both the western and eastern United States. Temperatures in July have not brought much relief.
The first and second maps show air temperatures across the U.S. on July 10, 2024. The map was produced by combining observations from satellites and other sources with temperatures predicted by a version of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model. It uses mathematical equations to represent physical processes in the atmosphere. The darkest reds indicate temperatures of more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) at about 6.5 feet (2 meters) above the ground.
In the West, areas of intense heat are visible across many areas west of the Rockies, from Mexico to Canada. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), temperatures commonly surged over 100°F on July 10, causing widespread heat risk. On that same day, parts of the East—from South Carolina to Massachusetts—were under heat warnings or advisories. High humidity boosted the heat index to over 100°F in some places. The higher the heat index, which indicates how hot it feels when accounting for both temperature and relative humidity, the harder it is for the human body to cool itself.
In parts of the Midwest, cooler-than-average temperatures followed the northeastward path of Cyclone Beryl’s remnants. However, in southeast Texas, temperatures on July 10 remained in the 90s, and heat indices climbed over 100°F. After Beryl swept ashore as a Category 1 hurricane on July 8, the lack of electrical power and air conditioning raised the risk for heat-related illnesses, according to NWS Houston.
The third map shows a detailed view of the Southwest, where heat in early July has been especially intense. On July 10, Las Vegas saw its fifth consecutive day of temperatures of at least 115°F (46°C), according to NWS Las Vegas. Those temperatures hovered around the city’s previous all-time high of 117°F (47°C) but below the new all-time record of 120°F (49°C) measured on July 7, 2024. Palm Springs, California, also hit an all-time high of 124°F on July 5, and Death Valley approached its record high when the temperature reached 129°F on July 7, according to The Washington Post.
Forecasters expect little relief from the long-lasting heat wave in the coming days with dangerous temperatures in the West persisting through July 13 and the threat of extreme heat in the West increasing starting July 15.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using GEOS-5 data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC
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