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Meteors over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in Arizona
A meteor shower puts on a dazzling show above the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NOIRLab outside of Tucson, AZ. The unique structure dominating this picture is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, renowned for its many decades as the world’s most powerful solar telescope. Now decommissioned, this impressive building is transitioning into a new role as the Windows on the Universe outreach center, designed to educate and inspire future generations. At first glance, a powerful solar telescope under a meteor shower may seem to be a strange juxtaposition. While the telescope may not enhance views of meteor showers, its presence here hints at the interconnectedness of our Universe. The Sun and meteors, though they seem unrelated, share a common heritage as they formed from the same nebula of gas and dust that also gave birth to the planets. This connection, captured brilliantly here underscores the broader mission of Kitt Peak National Observatory and the field of astronomy at large. It studies the skies and identifies our place within the cosmos while bridging the gap between astronomical research and public outreach.
The meteor shower shown here is the Geminids. It produces almost as many meteors per hour as the Perseids every year.
Zodiacal Light over Paranal Observatory in Chile | ESO
This picture takes you to the Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert, to enjoy a spectacular sunset next to the Very Large Telescope (VLT). However, that is not the only wonder displayed by the clear skies of the Atacama. See that blueish glow across the sky?
The zodiacal light—also called “false dawn” when seen before sunrise—is a faint, diffuse band of light in the night sky, reaching up from the horizon. It follows the direction of the ecliptic—the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun. This plane is rich in tiny particles of dust. It scatters sunlight and creates this phenomenon. The other planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in roughly the same plane, and therefore can be often seen within the zodiacal light. In this particular image, Venus is the brightest source and Mars is the faint, reddish dot to the upper-right of Venus.
If you have never seen zodiacal light before, you are not alone. The glow is so faint that light pollution or even moonlight can outshine it. Luckily, the Atacama Desert still preserves the full glory of its night skies, a heritage to be protected. How appropriate also that the VLT Unit Telescope enjoying this spectacle of sunlight in the image is the one nicknamed Antu. In the Mapudungun language of central-southern Chile, it means “The Sun”.
Image Description: A fisheye-lense photograph of a telescope against the night sky. The telescope, a light-grey cylindrical structure, takes up the right half of the image. Behind it, the sky is washed in shades of dark blue, green, pink and orange, dotted with thousands of small white and bluish stars. A blue light stretches across the sky towards the bottom left of the image. The bottom third of the image is taken up by the ground, covered in gravel and crossed by a grey walkway.
Credit: D. Gasparri/European Southern Observatory (ESO)
BBC Star Diary: Saturn’s moon casts its shadow across the planet: (July 29-Aug. 4)
Saturn’s moon Dione casts its shadow across the ringed planet this week. Find out how to see the sight for yourself by listening to this week’s episode of Star Diary, July 29 to August 4, 2024, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Sun Releases Strong X1.5 Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 10:37 p.m. on July 28, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.
The Sun is shown in orange with dark splotches and bright yellow areas against a black background. Toward the center of the star is a bright yellow area—the solar flare.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash in the center–on July 28, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in yellow and orange.
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 X1.5 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/, 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.
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. M17, also informally known as the “Omega Nebula” is one of the largest and brightest star-forming regions inside our galaxy. Its size and brightness make it one of the first nebulae to be discovered. This occurred in 1745. The hydrogen gas that gives it its distinctive red color is energized by hot, massive blue stars embedded in the nebula.
Distance: ~5,500 light years
The image was generated with observations in the Hydrogen-alpha (orange), Oxygen [OIII] (green) and Sulfur [SII] (blue) filters. In this image, North is left, East is down.
The Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOIRLab (WIYN) Observatory is situated atop Kitt Peak National Observatory, a partnership consisting of University of California Irvine, Purdue University, the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, and NASA.
This Hubble picture reveals the subtle glow of the galaxy named IC 3430, located 45 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. It is part of the Virgo cluster, a rich collection of galaxies large and small. Many are very similar in type to this diminutive galaxy.
IC 3430 is a dwarf galaxy, a fact well reflected by this view from Hubble, but it is more precisely known as a dwarf elliptical or dE galaxy. Like its larger cousins, this galaxy has a smooth, oval shape lacking any recognizable features like arms or bars, and it is bereft of gas to form very many new stars. Interestingly, IC 3430 does feature a core of hot, massive blue stars, an uncommon sight in elliptical galaxies that indicates recent star-forming activity. It is believed that ram pressure from the galaxy ploughing through gas within the Virgo cluster has ignited what gas remains in IC 3430’s core to form new stars.
Dwarf galaxies are really just galaxies with not many stars, usually fewer than a billion, but that is often enough for them to reproduce in miniature the same forms as larger galaxies. There are dwarf elliptical galaxies like IC 3430, dwarf irregular galaxies, dwarf spheroidal galaxies and even dwarf spiral galaxies! The so-called Magellanic spiral is a distinct type of dwarf galaxy, too, the best example being the well-known dwarf galaxies that are the Magellanic Clouds.
Image Description: A relatively small, oval-shaped galaxy, tilted diagonally. It glows brightly at the center and dims gradually to its edge. At the center it is crossed by wisps of dark dust, and a few small, blue, glowing spots are visible, where stars are forming. The galaxy is on a dark background where many background galaxies and foreground stars can be seen.
This Hubble picture reveals the subtle glow of the galaxy named IC 3430, located 45 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. It is part of the Virgo cluster, a rich collection of galaxies large and small. Many are very similar in type to this diminutive galaxy.
IC 3430 is a dwarf galaxy, a fact well reflected by this view from Hubble, but it is more precisely known as a dwarf elliptical or dE galaxy. Like its larger cousins, this galaxy has a smooth, oval shape lacking any recognizable features like arms or bars, and it is bereft of gas to form very many new stars. Interestingly, IC 3430 does feature a core of hot, massive blue stars, an uncommon sight in elliptical galaxies that indicates recent star-forming activity. It is believed that ram pressure from the galaxy ploughing through gas within the Virgo cluster has ignited what gas remains in IC 3430’s core to form new stars.
Dwarf galaxies are really just galaxies with not many stars, usually fewer than a billion, but that is often enough for them to reproduce in miniature the same forms as larger galaxies. There are dwarf elliptical galaxies like IC 3430, dwarf irregular galaxies, dwarf spheroidal galaxies and even dwarf spiral galaxies! The so-called Magellanic spiral is a distinct type of dwarf galaxy, too, the best example being the well-known dwarf galaxies that are the Magellanic Clouds.
Image Description: A relatively small, oval-shaped galaxy, tilted diagonally. It glows brightly at the center and dims gradually to its edge. At the center it is crossed by wisps of dark dust, and a few small, blue, glowing spots are visible, where stars are forming. The galaxy is on a dark background where many background galaxies and foreground stars can be seen.
Examples of Our Galaxy’s Black Holes | European Southern Observatory
This artist’s animation shows the locations and distances (in light-years [ly]) to examples of our galaxy’s stellar black holes: Gaia BH3, a black hole now found to be the most massive stellar black hole ever identified; Cygnus X-1, the next most massive stellar black hole; and Gaia BH1, the closest black hole to Earth. At the center of our galaxy, lurks Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole.
Note that, due to a projection effect, Gaia BH3 looks closer to the Sun than Gaia BH1, but in reality the former is further away. It is the second-closest black hole to Earth identified to date.
Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/L. Calçada/Space Engine
Zooming to Black Hole at Milky Way Galaxy's Core: Sagittarius A* | ESO
The European Southern Observatory’s exquisitely sensitive GRAVITY instrument has added further evidence to the long-standing assumption that a supermassive black hole lurks in the center of the Milky Way. New observations show clumps of gas swirling around at about 30% of the speed of light on a circular orbit just outside a four million solar mass black hole—the first time material has been observed orbiting close to the point of no return, and the most detailed observations yet of material orbiting this close to a black hole.
This video starts with a wide view of the Milky Way and then zooms into a visualization of data from simulations of orbital motions of gas swirling around at about 30% of the speed of light on a circular orbit around the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*.
This annotated, infrared image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the scale of the galactic core. The galaxy's nucleus (marked) is home to a central, supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A-star.
Peering deep into the dusty heart of our Milky Way galaxy using infrared, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveals a rich tapestry of more than half a million stars. Except for a few blue foreground stars, the stars are part of the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster, the most massive and densest star cluster in our galaxy. So packed with stars, it is equivalent to having a million suns crammed between us and our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri. At the very hub of our galaxy, this star cluster surrounds the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole—about 4 million times the mass of our sun.
This picture, spanning 50 light-years across, is a mosaic stitched from nine separate images from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The center of the Milky Way is located 27,000 light-years away. The “snowstorm” of stars in the image is just the tip of the iceberg: Astronomers estimate that about 10 million stars in this cluster are too faint to be captured in this image.
In this image, scientists translated the infrared light, invisible to human eyes, into colors our eyes can see. The red stars are either embedded or shrouded by intervening dust. Extremely dense clouds of gas and dust are seen in silhouette, appearing dark against the bright background stars. These clouds are so thick that even Hubble’s infrared capability could not penetrate them.
Hubble’s sharp vision allowed astronomers to measure the movements of the stars here over four years. Using this information, scientists were able to infer important properties such as the mass and structure of the nuclear star cluster. The motion of the stars may also offer a glimpse into how the star cluster was formed—whether it was built up over time by globular star clusters that happen to fall into the galaxy’s center, or from gas spiraling in from the Milky Way’s disk to form stars at the core.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, T. Do and A. Ghez (UCLA), and V. Bajaj (STScI)
Update on Shenzhou-18 Astronauts' Latest Work | China Space Station
Halfway through their mission aboard China's orbiting space station, the Shenzhou-18 crew has tested their physical coordination as a future reference for task arrangement and ergonomic design.
The Shenzhou-18 trio was launched on April 25, 2024, to the orbiting Tiangong space station for a six-month mission as the third manned mission in the application and development stage of China's space station, and the 32nd flight mission of the country's overall crewed space program.
Nebula NGC 6188 in Aria Glows Crimson | European Southern Observatory
An image of the emission nebula NGC 6188 taken by the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile in 1986. The nebula is located in the southern constellation Ara and is about 4,000 light-years away. Radiation from stars within the nebula heats up the surrounding gases, making them glow.
Nebula NGC 6188 in Ara: Close-up view | European Southern Observatory
This is a close-up image of the NGC 6188 nebula, located about 4,000 light-years away, in the southern constellation of Ara (the Altar). The red color is due to emission from hydrogen, lit up by massive, recently-formed stars. The emission nebula is embedded in a large and dark molecular cloud.
Nebula NGC 6188 in Ara: Wide view | European Southern Observatory
This is an image of the NGC 6188 nebula, located about 4,000 light-years away, in the southern constellation of Ara (the Altar). The red color is due to emission from hydrogen, lit up by massive, recently-formed stars. The emission nebula is embedded in a large and dark molecular cloud.
The Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946: 25 million light years away | Hubble
In the last century alone, galaxy NGC 6946 has experienced 10 observed supernovae, earning its nickname as the Fireworks Galaxy. In comparison, our Milky Way averages just 1-2 supernova events per century. This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image shows the stars, spiral arms, and stellar environments of NGC 6946 in phenomenal detail.
We are able to marvel at NGC 6946 as it is a face-on galaxy. It means that we see the galaxy “facing” us, rather than seeing it from the side (known as edge-on). The Fireworks Galaxy is further classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy and as a starburst galaxy. The former means the structure of NGC 6946 sits between a full spiral and a barred spiral galaxy, with only a slight bar in its center, and the latter means it has an exceptionally high rate of star formation.
The galaxy resides 25.2 million light-years away, along the border of the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus (The Swan).
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Flight Crew News Conference | International Space Station
Crew members discuss their upcoming mission to the International Space Station in this Friday, July 26, 2024 news conference. As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, four crew members are preparing to launch to the International Space Station in August. They will conduct a wide-ranging set of operational and research activities for the benefit of all.
Launching aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman, Pilot Nick Hague, and Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia, will join Expedition 71 and 72 crew members no earlier than August. They will arrive to the space station for a short duration handover with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
This will be the first spaceflight for Cardman. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. The Williamsburg, Virginia, native holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At time of selection, she was a doctoral candidate in geosciences. Cardman’s research focused on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and development for lunar surface exploration.
With a total of 203 days in space, this will be Hague’s third launch and second mission to the orbiting laboratory. During his first launch in 2018, Hague and his crewmate, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, experienced a rocket booster failure resulting in an in-flight launch abort. The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft landed safely. Five months later, Hague launched aboard Soyuz MS-12 and served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expeditions 59 and 60. Hague and his crewmates participated in hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science. Hague conducted three spacewalks, to upgrade space station power systems and install a docking adapter for commercial spacecraft. As an active-duty colonel in the U.S. Space Force, Hague completed a developmental rotation at the Defense Department in Washington, where he served as the USSF director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022. In August 2022, Hague resumed duties at NASA working on the Boeing Starliner Program until this flight assignment.
A veteran of three spaceflights, STS-121, STS-120, and STS-131, Wilson has spent 42 days in space aboard three separate space shuttle Discovery missions. Before her selection as a NASA astronaut in 1996, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, and worked at Martin Marietta and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. During her first mission, STS-121 in November 2004, she and her crewmates spent 13 days in orbit. Wilson served as the robotic arm operator for spacecraft inspection, for the installation of the “Leonardo” Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, and for spacewalk support. In November 2006, Wilson and her STS-120 crewmates aboard Discovery delivered the Harmony module to the station and relocated a solar array. In May 2009, Wilson and her STS-131 crewmates completed another mission to resupply the station, delivering a new ammonia tank for the station cooling system, new crew sleeping quarters, a window observation facility, and a freezer for experiments. During her nearly 30 years with NASA, Wilson served as the integration branch chief for NASA’s Astronaut Office focusing on International Space Station systems and payload operations, and on a nine-month detail, served as the acting chief of NASA’s Program and Project Integration Office at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
This will be Gorbunov’s first trip to space and the station. Born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operation and repair of aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corporation Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
This is the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It works with the American aerospace industry to meet the goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.
For more than two decades, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars.
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.
Find more information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
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