Strong X1.9 Solar Flare Erupts from Sun | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Strong X1.9 Solar Flare Erupts from Sun | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 9:26 A.M. ET on July 16, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, watching the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. It came  from departing active (sunspot) region 3738. The flare was associated with radio signatures that suggest a coronal mass ejection (CME) was likely associated with this activity, but due to its far southwestern location, an Earth-directed one is not anticipated.

The Sun, shown in gold, against a black background. On the right is a bright white flash, on the limb of the star. The Sun has swirls of bright gold and darker gold regions, and one very large, dark black splotch toward the top called a coronal hole.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash on the right—on July 16, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in gold.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.9 (R3-Strong) flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center: https://spaceweather.gov

NOAA is the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts.

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Credit: NASA/SDO

Capture Date: July 16, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #SolarFlares #Ultraviolet #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellites #ElectricalGrids #SDO #SolarSystem #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-18 Astronauts: Second Spacewalk Photos | China Space Station

Shenzhou-18 Astronauts: Second Spacewalk Photos | China Space Station

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts aboard China's orbiting space station completed their second spacewalk on Wednesday, July 4, 2024, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu worked for about 6.5 hours to accomplish multiple tasks with Li Guangsu remaining inside the space station.

With the assistance of the space station's robotic arm and researchers on Earth, they installed space debris protection devices for the pipelines, as well as cables and key equipment outside the Tiangong space station, and conducted an extravehicular inspection.

"The main purpose of the spacewalk this time is to install protection devices for extravehicular equipment, mainly cables and pipelines, so as to improve the space station's ability to operate safely and steadily over the long term," said Liu Ming, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

After installing protection devices, Li Cong mounted the robotic arm and conducted an extravehicular inspection of the space station's facilities through his helmet camera.

After completing the predetermined tasks, Ye Guangfu and Li Cong returned safely to the Wentian lab module.

"The Chinese space station is very beautiful. Whenever the robotic arm moves to the highest point, I can't help taking more glances at the space station despite the glaring sunlight. I really feel the greatness of the project from my heart, and I applaud all the space professionals and our motherland. We will make continuous efforts to successfully and efficiently complete the follow-up tasks to the end. Let's meet again inside the cabin," Li Cong said outside the space station.

In their previous spacewalk on May 28, the Shenzhou-18 trio mainly installed protection devices for the extravehicular cables of the Mengtian lab module.

The Shenzhou-18 crew, sent to the space 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, the agency said.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander)

Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist)

Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)

Image Credit: CMSA

Release Date: July 16, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #EVA #Spacewalks #ScientificExperiments #Taikonauts #Astronauts #YeGuangfu #LiCong #LiGuangsu #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CASC #CMSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education

When Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Collided with Planet Jupiter | Hubble

When Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Collided with Planet Jupiter | Hubble

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 left an indelible mark on our understanding of the cosmos when it collided with Jupiter. Discover the significance of this event and the crucial role of the Hubble Space Telescope in capturing its dramatic impact.

Join us on a journey to explore the dynamic forces that shape our solar system, unveiling the intricate interactions between comets and planets.

In this video, Dr. Heidi Hammel delves into the story of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and highlights the importance of Hubble in exploring the mysteries of the universe.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Producer, Director & Editor: James Leigh

Director of Photography: James Ball

Executive Producers: James Leigh & Matthew Duncan

Production & Post: Origin Films 

Video Credits:

Hubble Space Telescope Animation:

ESA/Hubble - M. Kornmesser

SL-9 Comet Jupiter Impact Animation: 

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

SL-9 Comet Fragments Animation:

ESA/Hubble - M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: July 16, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Hubble #Jupiter #Planet #Comet #CometShoemakerLevy9 #SolarSystem #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #History #HD #Video

Northrop Grumman Cygnus Cargo Ship Departure | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman Cygnus Cargo Ship Departure | International Space Station

On July 12, 2024, the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm. It had detached Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module earlier. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed the International Space Station more than five and a half months after arriving at the microgravity laboratory to deliver about 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo for NASA.

The Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2), stowed inside Cygnus, later recorded measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for spacecraft and their contents during re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere. This can be difficult to replicate in ground simulations.

Following a deorbit engine firing on Saturday, July 13, Cygnus began its planned destructive re-entry. The spacecraft—filled with trash packed by the station crew—"safely burn up" in Earth’s atmosphere.

Cygnus arrived at the space station Feb. 1, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was the company’s 20th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson in honor of the former NASA astronaut.

Expedition 71 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

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

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

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

Image Date: July 12, 2024 

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #NorthropGrumman #CygnusSpacecraft #Canadarm2 #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education

Expedition 71 Crew Photos: July 2024 | International Space Station

Expedition 71 Crew Photos: July 2024 | International Space Station

Clockwise from bottom, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams, Mike Barratt, Tracy C. Dyson, and Butch Wilmore, pose for a team portrait inside the vestibule between the Unity module and the Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman. Dyson holds a photograph of NASA astronaut Patrica Hilliard for whom the Cygnus spacecraft, S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson, is named after.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson is pictured in the galley aboard the International Space Station's Unity module showing off food packets from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

NASA astronaut and Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore performs spacesuit maintenance inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps is pictured inside the International Space Station's Columbus laboratory module. She was exploring ways to control a robot on the ground from a spacecraft. Epps coordinated with robotics engineers on Earth remotely manipulating a robot using a computer while testing its ergonomic features and haptic feedback for conditions such as wind and gravity. Results may inform future exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick is pictured inside the Unity module after preparing Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter for its depressurization and departure from the International Space Station. At left, is the Quest airlock where astronauts service spacesuits and stage spacewalks. To the right, is the vestibule in between Unity and the Zarya module that leads to the orbital outpost's Roscosmos segment.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson is pictured inside the vestibule between the Unity module and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter. She had just closed Cygnus' hatch in preparation for its depressurization and departure from the International Space Station.

Expedition 71 Commander Oleg Kononenko (foreground) and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos cosmonauts of Russia, are pictured inside the International Space Station's Zvezda service module monitoring the automated rendevous and docking of the Progress 88 cargo craft to the Poisk module. The duo was at the controls of Zvezda's TORU, or telerobotically-operated rendezvous unit, ready to take remote control of the Progress 88, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 71 crew, in the unlikely event the spacecraft would be unable to dock on its own.

The long duration photograph from the International Space Station highlights the Rassvet module (left) and the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft (right) docked to the Prichal module which is itself attached to the Nauka science module. 255 miles below the orbital outpost is a cloudy Pacific Ocean blanketing islands northeast of Indonesia's province of Papua. Above Earth's horzon is the planet's atmospheric glow and star trails glittering in the vastness of space.

Expedition 71 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

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

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

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

Image Dates: July 1-11, 2024 

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

Star Diary: Mars Meets The Pleiades: July 15-21, 2024 | BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Star Diary: Mars Meets The Pleiades: July 15-21, 2024 | BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Watch Mars as it passes by the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, in this week’s night sky, while bright Jupiter shines nearby. Find out how to see the sight for yourself by listening to this week’s episode of Star Diary, July 15 to 21, 2024, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.

Transcript: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/podcasts/star-diary-15-jul-202

Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Duration: 18 minutes, 40 seconds

Release Date: July 14, 2024

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

The Sun: Abundant Sunspot Activity | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun: Abundant Sunspot Activity | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

An abundance of sunspot groups are present on the visible solar disk—at least 12 active regions. Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface. Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing, or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots. The southern solar hemisphere has the most and largest sunspot complexes at this time, to include the most likely flare sources: Regions 3738, 3743, and 3751. Region 3738 is the most magnetically complex, but growth has slowed and it will rotate out to the western solar limb by Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) solar flares remain likely between July 15-18, 2024.  

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of sunspot activity on July 13, 2024. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center: https://spaceweather.gov

NOAA is the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts.

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO

Release Date: July 14, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #Sunspots #ActiveRegions #SolarFlares #Ultraviolet #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Spacecraft #Satellites #ElectricalGrids #SDO #SolarSystem #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Take a Ride on Artemis Astronaut Launchpad Emergency Escape System | NASA

Take a Ride on Artemis Astronaut Launchpad Emergency Escape System | NASA

Take a look inside one of the emergency egress baskets at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Artemis missions. In the event of an emergency at the pad during the launch countdown, these baskets, similar to gondolas on ski lifts, will take the astronauts and pad personnel safely from the mobile launcher to the base of the pad where emergency transport vehicles will drive them away.

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.

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Video Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Duration: 49 seconds

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #LaunchPad39B #Astronauts #EscapeSystem #MoonToMars #Science #DeepSpace #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Spots Unusual Rock in Ancient River Channel

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Spots Unusual Rock in Ancient River Channel

As NASA’s Perseverance rover prepares to ascend to the rim of Jezero Crater, its team is investigating a rock unlike any that they have seen so far on Mars. Deputy project scientist Katie Stack Morgan explains why this rock, found in an ancient channel that funneled water into the crater, could be among the oldest that Perseverance has investigated—or the youngest. 

Plus, learn how the rover is equipped to determine when rocks are formed, and get a preview of where it will journey next. 

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 with a key objective to collect and cache samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. 

For more information on Perseverance, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #ASU #MSSS #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Artemis II Moon Mission Progress at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Artemis II Moon Mission Progress at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have been progressing toward the launch of four astronauts around the Moon on the Artemis II mission. Engineers and technicians with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) are ensuring they are ready to build, launch and recover the rocket and spacecraft for the mission.

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.

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Video Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Duration: 3 minutes, 13 seconds

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #DeepSpace #Astronauts #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #ReidWiseman #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Surprising Ring 10 Billion Light Years Away: Galaxy PJ0116-24 | ESO

A Surprising Ring 10 Billion Light Years Away: Galaxy PJ0116-24 | ESO

This picture shows the distant galaxy PJ0116-24, a so-called Hyper Luminous Infrared Galaxy (HyLIRG). HyLIRGs are incredibly bright galaxies, lit up by the extremely rapid star formation within them. What triggers this?

Previous studies suggested that such extreme galaxies must result from galactic mergers. These galactic collisions are thought to create dense gas regions where rapid star formation is triggered. However,  isolated galaxies can also become HyLIRGs via internal processes alone, if star-forming gas is rapidly funneled towards the galaxy’s center.

In a new paper led by Daizhong Liu of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, observations from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) were combined to study the motion of gas within PJ0116-24. ALMA traces cold gas, seen here in blue, whereas the VLT, with its new Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS), traces warm gas, shown in red. Thanks to these detailed observations, the team discovered that the gas in this extreme galaxy was rotating in an organized way, rather than in the chaotic way expected after a galactic collision––a surprising result! This shows convincingly that mergers are not always needed for a galaxy to become a HyLIRG.

PJ0116-24 is so far away that its light took about 10 billion years to reach us. Luckily, a foreground galaxy (not shown here) acted as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying the light of PJ0116-24 behind it into the Einstein ring seen here. This precise cosmic alignment allows astronomers to zoom in on very distant objects and see them in a level of detail that would otherwise be very hard to achieve.

Learn more: 

https://www.mpe.mpg.de/8025063/news20240715

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/ESO/D. Liu et al.

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #PJ011624 #HyLIRG #Constellation #Cetus #ALMA #RadioTelescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Cosmos #Universe #Chile #MPE #Germany #Deutschland #Europe #STEM #Education

Sun Releases Strong X1.2 Class Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Sun Releases Strong X1.2 Class Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 10:34 p.m. EDT on July 13, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.

The Sun, shown in teal against a black back ground. The Sun is a mix of darker, almost black areas and bright teal regions. On the right is an extremely bright flash of white.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash on the right—on July 13, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in teal. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.2 class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center: https://spaceweather.gov

NOAA is the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts.

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #SolarFlares #Ultraviolet #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellites #ElectricalGrids #SDO #SolarSystem #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Dwarf Irregular Galaxy NGC 5238 in Canes Venatici | Hubble

Dwarf Irregular Galaxy NGC 5238 in Canes Venatici | Hubble

The galaxy featured in this Hubble picture is the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 5238, located 14.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. Its unexciting, blob-like appearance, resembling more an oversized star cluster than a galaxy, belies a complicated structure that has been the subject of considerable research. Here, the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope is able to pick out the galaxy’s countless stars, as well as its associated globular clusters— the glowing spots both inside and around the galaxy that contain ever more stars.

NGC 5238 is theorized to have recently—here meaning no more than a billion years ago—had a close encounter with another galaxy. The evidence for this is the tidal distortions of NGC 5238’s shape, the kind produced by two galaxies pulling on each other as they interact. There is no nearby galaxy that could have caused this disturbance, so the hypothesis is that the culprit is a smaller satellite galaxy that was devoured by NGC 5238. Traces of the erstwhile galaxy might be found by closely examining the population of stars in NGC 5238, a task for which the Hubble Space Telescope is an astronomer’s best tool. Two tell-tale signs would be groups of stars with properties that look out of place compared to most of the galaxy’s other stars, indicating that they were originally formed in a separate galaxy, or stars that look to have all formed abruptly at around the same time. This would occur during a galactic merger. The data used to make this image will be put to use in testing these predictions.

Despite their small size and unremarkable appearance, it is not unusual for dwarf galaxies like NGC 5238 to drive our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. One main theory of galaxy evolution is that galaxies formed ‘bottom-up’ in a hierarchical fashion: star clusters and small galaxies were the first to form out of gas and dark matter, and they gradually were assembled by gravity into galaxy clusters and superclusters, explaining the shape of the very largest structures in the Universe today. A dwarf irregular galaxy like NGC 5238 merging with an even smaller companion is just the type of event that might have begun this process of galaxy assembly in the early Universe. So, it turns out that this tiny galaxy may serve as a testbed for the most fundamental predictions in astrophysics!

Image Description: A dwarf irregular galaxy. It appears as a cloud of bluish gas, filled with point-like stars that also spread beyond the edge of the gas. A few glowing red clouds sit near its center. Many other objects can be seen around it: distant galaxies in the background, four-pointed stars in the foreground, and star clusters that are part of the galaxy—shining spots surrounded by more tiny stars.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Annibali

Release Date: July 15, 2024

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC5238 #GalacticMergers #InteractingGalaxies #Stars #GlobularClusters #CanesVenatici #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Spiral Galaxy NGC 5643 in Lupus | Hubble

Spiral Galaxy NGC 5643 in Lupus | Hubble

This image by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy NGC 5643 in the constellation of Lupus (The Wolf). It required thirty exposures for a total of 9 hours observation time to produce an image of such high detail and beauty.

NGC 5643 is about 60 million light-years away from Earth. It has been the host of a recent supernova event (not visible in this latest image). This supernova (2017cbv) involves a white dwarf star stealing so much mass from a companion star that it becomes unstable and explodes. The explosion releases significant amounts of energy and lights up that part of the galaxy.

The observation was proposed by Adam Riess. He was awarded a Nobel Laureate in physics 2011 for his contributions to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe, alongside Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess et al. 

Acknowledgement: Mahdi Zamani

Release Date: Sept. 28, 2020

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC5643 #Spiral #Supernova #Supernova2017cbv #Lupus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416 | NASA Chandra, Hubble & Webb Space Telescopes

Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416 | NASA Chandra, Hubble & Webb Space Telescopes

This is a composite image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Pictured is galaxy cluster MACS J0416 at a distance of about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus.

Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity, and ones 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 in purple show this reservoir of hot gas while Hubble and Webb pick up the individual galaxies in red, green, and blue. 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.

Image Description: Here, the blackness of space is packed with glowing dots and tiny shapes, in whites, purples, oranges, golds, and reds, each a distinct galaxy. Upon close inspection (and with a great deal of zooming in) spiraling arms of the seemingly tiny galaxies can be revealed in this highly detailed image. Gently arched across the middle of the frame is a soft band of purple—a reservoir of superheated gas detected by Chandra.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/G. Ogrean et al.; Optical/Infrared: (Hubble) NASA/ESA/STScI; IR: (JWST) NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan (University of Missouri)

Release Date: July 11, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #MACSJ0416 #GravitationalLensing #Eridanus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #Xray #MSFC #JWST #Infrared #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #CSA #STEM #Education

Galaxy NGC 3627 in Leo | NASA Chandra, Hubble & Webb Space Telescopes

Galaxy NGC 3627 in Leo | NASA Chandra, Hubble & Webb Space Telescopes

This is a composite image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Pictured is galaxy NGC 3627, located 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. Meanwhile Webb finds the dust, gas, and stars throughout the galaxy in red, green, and blue. This image also contains optical data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in red, green, and blue.

Image Description: A hazy image of a spiral galaxy known as NGC 3627. Here, the galaxy appears pitched at an oblique angle, tilted from our upper left down to our lower right. Much of its face is angled toward us, making its spiral arms, composed of red and purple dots, easily identifiable. Several bright white dots ringed with neon purple speckle the galaxy. At the galaxy’s core, where the spiral arms converge, a large white and purple glow identified by Chandra provides evidence of a supermassive black hole.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESO/STScI, ESO/WFI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JWST

Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major

Release Date: July 11, 2024

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