Calcium-Rich Supernova SN 2019ehk Detected in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Calcium-Rich Supernova SN 2019ehk Detected in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Hubble Space Telescope image of SN 2019ehk in its spiral host galaxy, Messier 100. The image is a composite made of pre- and post-explosion images. 

Artist’s interpretation of the calcium-rich supernova 2019ehk (annotated)

Astronomers have for the first time used X-ray imaging to examine a calcium-rich supernova located 50 million light-years away. Their findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal, show that a calcium-rich supernova is a compact star that sheds an outer layer of gas during the final stages of its life; when the star explodes, its matter collides with the loose material in that outer shell, emitting bright X-rays; the overall explosion causes intensely hot temperatures and high pressure, driving a chemical reaction that produces calcium. A supernova is the largest explosion that humans have ever seen.

Half of all the calcium in the Universe—including the calcium in our teeth and bones—was created in stellar explosions called calcium-rich supernovae. These events are so rare that astrophysicists have struggled to find and subsequently study them.

“Calcium-rich supernovae are so few in number that we have never known what produced them,” said Dr. Wynn Jacobson-Galan, a researcher at Northwestern University.

“By observing what this star did in its final month before it reached its critical, tumultuous end, we peered into a place previously unexplored, opening new avenues of study within transient science.”

Dr. Jacobson-Galan and colleagues studied a calcium-rich supernova dubbed SN 2019ehk in Messier 100, a star-forming spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices.

This stellar explosion was first spotted on April 29, 2019 by amateur astronomer Joel Shepherd.

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Lick Observatory and the W. M. Keck Observatory immediately examined SN 2019ehk in optical wavelengths.

Swift also observed the event in X-rays and ultraviolet. The X-ray emission only lingered for five days before completely disappearing.

“Before this event, we had indirect information about what calcium-rich supernovae might or might not be. Now, we can confidently rule out several possibilities,” said Dr. Raffaella Margutti, also from Northwestern University.

Typical stars create small amounts of calcium slowly through burning helium throughout their lives. Calcium-rich supernovae produce massive amounts of calcium within seconds.

“The explosion is trying to cool down. It wants to give away its energy, and calcium emission is an efficient way to do that,” Dr. Margutti said.

Using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) at the W. M. Keck Observatory, the astronomers discovered SN 2019ehk emitted the most calcium ever observed in a singular astrophysical event.

“The beautiful Keck spectrum revealed it wasn’t just calcium-rich. It was the richest of the rich,” Dr. Margutti said.

The researchers believe the progenitor star of SN 2019ehk—a white dwarf or very low-mass massive star—shed an outer layer of gas in its final days.

When it exploded, its material collided with this outer layer to produce a bright, energetic burst of X-rays.

“Its luminosity tells us how much material the star shed and how close that material was to the star,” Dr. Jacobson-Galan said.

“In this case, the star lost a very small amount of material right before it exploded. That material was still nearby.”

Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán et al. 2020. SN 2019ehk: A Double-peaked Ca-rich Transient with Luminous X-Ray Emission and Shock-ionized Spectral Features. ApJ 898, 166; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e66

This article is based on a press-release provided by the Northwestern University.

Credits: CTIO/SOAR/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Northwestern University/C. Kilpatrick/University of California Santa Cruz/NASA-ESA Hubble Space Telescope

Release Date: Aug. 5, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #Messier100 #SpiralGalaxy #Stars #Supernova #SN2019ehk #Calcium #Supernovae #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #Art #STEM #Education

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Por el oro: 2 de agosto 2024

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Por el oro: 2 de agosto 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

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov

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

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #SpaceXCrew9 #NorthropGrumman #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #Astronauts #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceTechnology #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft: Solar Panels Installed | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft: Solar Panels Installed | Kennedy Space Center

 

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays—spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court—will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

    

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays—spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court—will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life. 

Slated to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy, Europa Clipper will help determine if conditions exist below the surface Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa that could support life.

Europa Clipper is expected to reach the Jupiter system in April 2030, and it will accomplish a few milestones along the way, including a Mars flyby in February 2025 that will help propel the spacecraft toward Jupiter’s moon through a Mars-Earth gravity assist trajectory.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

The spacecraft was designed to withstand the pummeling of radiation from Jupiter and gather the measurements needed to investigate Europa’s surface, interior, and space environment.

Europa Clipper has nine dedicated science instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

The Europa Clipper mission demonstrates NASA’s commitment to exploring our solar system and searching for habitability beyond Earth. The data will contribute to our understanding of the Jovian system and will help pave the way for potential future missions to study Europa and other potentially habitable worlds.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

Image Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Image Date: Aug. 1, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #EuropaClipper #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #APL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station | NASA

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station | NASA

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo craft, carrying 8,200 pounds of science and supplies, approaches the International Space Station for a capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm commanded by Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick of NASA. The maneuver marked the 50th free-flying capture for the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft was successfully captured over the south Atlantic Ocean by NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick on the International Space Station at 3:11am ET, Aug. 6, 2024. The Cygnus spacecraft was then installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port on the International Space Station at 5:33 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft carried 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory for Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA. 

The mission launched at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Cygnus will remain at the space station until January 2025 when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will burn up "harmlessly".

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: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #NorthropGrumman #SSDickScobee #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #Astronaut #MatthewDominick #UnitedStates #CSA #Canadarm2 #Canada #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA X-33 Reusable Spaceplane & Linear Aerospike Engine Project (1996-2001)

NASA X-33 Reusable Spaceplane & Linear Aerospike Engine Project (1994-2001)

Developed for NASA's X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator, the Boeing Rocketdyne XRS-2200 engine used a linear aerospike arrangement instead of the classic bell nozzle using liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel and a liquid oxygen (LOX) oxidizer. The design was based on the J-2S, the upgraded version of the Apollo era J-2 engine developed in the 1960s. This shows a test of twin Linear Aerospike XRS-2200 engines, originally built for the X-33 program. It was performed on August 6, 2001 at NASA's Sternis Space Center in Mississippi. The engines were fired for the planned 90 seconds and reached a planned maximum power of 85 percent.

NASA's Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, also known as the Space Launch Initiative (SLI), made advances in propulsion technology with this third and final successful engine hot fire, designed to test electro-mechanical actuators that control the flow of propellants in rocket engines.

A NASA SR-71 successfully completed its first flight October 31, 1997 as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (now known as the Armstrong Flight Research Center). The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the first flight was to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. The engine was not fired during the flight.

To provide data before flying on the X-33 vehicle and the RLV, a spacecraft rocket engine was flight-tested atop the NASA SR-71 aircraft as the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE). A 20 percent-scale, semispan model of the X-33 vehicle, the aerospike engine, and all the required fuel and oxidizer tanks and propellant feed systems was mounted atop the SR-71 airplane.

This photograph shows a ground cold flow test of the linear aerospike rocket engine mounted on the rear fuselage of an SR-71.

This is an artist's concept of an X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator, a subscale protoptye launch vehicle being developed by NASA Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. (Vehicle configuration in October 1997) The X-33 is a subscale prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Lockheed Martin has labeled "Venture Star TM." The X-33 program was cancelled in 2001.

Pictured here is an artist's concept of the experimental X-33 in-flight. The X-33 program was designed to pave the way to a full-scale commercially developed, reusable launch vehicle (RLV). 

The wedge-shaped X-33 was a sub-scale technology demonstration prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). 

This is an artist's concept of the completely operational International Space Station being approached by an X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).

NASA's X-33 program began in 1994 as part of NASA’s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program. It awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to build and fly an uncrewed technology demonstrator. Much of the vehicle was entirely new, including the linear aerospace rocket motor and the composite cryogenic propellant tanks. The leap exceeded what existing and developing technology could support. The prototype was to be unpiloted. The X-33, a half-scale vehicle, was expected to feature a lifting-body shape, a new “aerospike” rocket engine, and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. It was expected to demonstrate in flight the new technologies needed for a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). It was designed to take off vertically like a rocket, reaching an altitude of up to 60 miles and speeds between Mach 13 and 15, and to land horizontally like an airplane.

Through demonstration flights and ground research, NASA's X-33 program was to provide the information needed for commercial firms, such as Lockheed Martin (builder of the X-33 Venture Star), to decide by the year 2000 whether to proceed with the development of a full-scale, commercial RLV program. The program was intended to put the U.S. on a path toward safe, affordable, reliable access to space by providing the latest spaceflight technology. 

The X-33 was to be the flagship demonstrator for technologies designed to dramatically lower the cost of access to space. This program would in turn create new opportunities for space access and significantly improve U.S. economic competitiveness in the worldwide launch marketplace. NASA would be a customer, not the operator in the commercial RLV. The X-33 program was cancelled in 2001. It is reported that failures of its 21-meter wingspan and multi-lobed, composite-material fuel tank during pressure testing ultimately led to the withdrawal of federal support for the program in early 2001.

Conceived of in the 1960's, aerospike engines had not yet beeen flown, and many questions remained regarding aerospike engine performance and efficiency in flight. To provide data before flying on the X-33 vehicle and the RLV, a spacecraft rocket engine was flight-tested atop the NASA SR-71 aircraft as the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE). A 20 percent-scale, semispan model of the X-33 vehicle, the aerospike engine, and all the required fuel and oxidizer tanks and propellant feed systems was mounted atop the SR-71 airplane for this experiment. A major technical objective of the LASRE flight test was to obtain installed-engine performance flight data for comparison to wind-tunnel results and for the development of computational fluid dynamics-based design methodologies. Five flights of the LASRE and firing the rocket engine using inert liquid nitrogen and helium in place of liquid oxygen and hydrogen were successfully completed.

NASA announced March 1, 2001, that it would not add Space Launch Initiative funds to the X-33 program. As a result, the X-33 program came to completion when the cooperative agreement between NASA and Lockheed Martin expired March 31, 2001. NASA invested nearly $1 billion in the project, and Lockheed Martin put in nearly $400 million.

Learn more about the XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine:

https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/research/propulsion/Info/rockets/liquids/xrs2200

Read the article: "X-33/VentureStar – What really happened" by Chris Bergin at NASASpaceflight

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2006/01/x-33venturestar-what-really-happened/

Image Credits: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (Alabama), Armstrong Flight Research Center (California), Stennis Space Center (Mississippi)

Image Dates: 1997-2004

#NASA #Space #CommercialSpace #X33 #X33Program #BoeingRocketdyne #XRS2200Engines #RLVProgram #SpaceTechnology #TechnologyDevelopment #ResearchProject #Aerospace #LASREFlightTests #SR71Aircraft #SR71 #Aviation #LockheedMartin #NASAStennis #MSFC #AFRC #UnitedStates #History #ArtistConcepts #STEM #Education

Shielding the Extremely Large Telescope from the Atacama Desert | ESO

Shielding the Extremely Large Telescope from Chile's Atacama Desert | ESO

The European Southern Observatory is building our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in the Atacama Desert. It is among the darkest skies on Earth, although it is a very harsh environment.

This is why we are currently covering the ELT steel dome with special cladding. It includes insulating layers and sheets of aluminum. This will protect the ELT and its delicate optics from the external environment.

Learn more about ESO’s ELT at: https://elt.eso.org/ 

Altitude: 3046 meters

Planned year of technical first light: 2027

Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Directing, Editing & Writing by: Angelos Tsaousis

Written by: Bárbara Ferreira

Footage and photos: ESO, Angelos Tsaousis, Martin Wallner

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dark Nebula LDN 810 in Vulpecula | Mayall Telescope

Dark Nebula LDN 810 in Vulpecula | Mayall Telescope

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. LDN 810 is a dark nebula that was first cataloged by B.T. Lynds in 1962. The dark region at the center contains gas and dust where new stars are forming. A bipolar outflow of gas from one of these stars has also been detected. A faint trail of dust and gas extends from the center of the image to the upper-left corner. The image was generated with observations in the Us (violet), B (blue), V (green) and I (red) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.

The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector telescope in Arizona named after the American observational astronomer of the same name. The telescope saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest in the world at that time.

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

Release Date: June 30, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #LDN810 #Vulpecula #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Virgin Galactic Introduces Design for New Delta Spaceship

Virgin Galactic Introduces Design for New Delta Spaceship

"Welcome to Virgin Galactic - The Spaceline for Earth."

"Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and researchers with its advanced air and space vehicles. Scale and profitability are driven by next generation vehicles capable of bringing humans to space at an unprecedented frequency with an industry-leading cost structure."

Learn more at: https://www.virgingalactic.com

Video Credit: Virgin Galactic

Duration: 2 minutes, 23 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #CommercialSpaceflight #VirginGalactic #DeltaSpaceship #SuborbitalFlight #Astronauts #SpaceTourism #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceportAmerica #NewMexico #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Hurricane Debby Strikes Florida | NASA Earth Observatory

Hurricane Debby Strikes Florida | NASA Earth Observatory

Hurricane Debby made landfall near the town of Steinhatchee, Florida, at 7 a.m. Eastern Time on August 5, 2024, as a Category 1 storm. As it moves northeast, the storm is forecast to stall over the U.S. Southeast and deliver torrential rainfall.

This GeoColor image was captured by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) at 3 a.m. Eastern Time, four hours before Debby made landfall. The satellite is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and includes the National Weather Service (NWS). NASA helps develop and launch the GOES series of satellites. They observe Earth from about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the equator.

Debby developed into a tropical storm on August 3, 2024, in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming the fourth named storm of the 2024 hurricane season. Bands of intense rainfall soon began to lash western Florida, dumping over a foot (30 centimeters) of rain near Sarasota between August 3 and 4.

By August 5, Debby had grown into a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of around 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour at the time of landfall. As of 11 a.m. Eastern Time that day, over 207,000 homes were without power, according to PowerOutage.us. NWS forecasts called for the storm to bring 10 to 20 inches of rain and “life-threatening” storm surge of up to 10 feet to parts of the Big Bend region, where Florida’s panhandle curves to meet the peninsula.

“There’s a lot of warm water and low vertical wind shear in the Gulf of Mexico right now, which are two key ingredients for storm intensification,” said Patrick Duran, a hurricane expert at NASA’s Short-Term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project, based at Marshall Space Flight Center. Vertical wind shear is the difference in the speed and direction of lower-level and upper-level winds. High shear rips the tops off of developing hurricanes and weakens them, while low shear allows storms to build.

NASA’s SPoRT team focuses on improving weather forecasts using satellite data from NASA and NOAA. Duran uses the ABI instrument on GOES satellites in his work to look at fine-scale structures in clouds and find the center of a storm’s circulation. ABI’s infrared bands are used during the day and night to look at the depth of a storm’s convection and how it is developing.

Debby hit the same stretch of sparsely populated land as Idalia. It came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane in August 2023. Though Debby is weaker than Idalia, its slower pace means it could unleash “potentially historic” rain across the Southeast, according to the NWS. Forecasts indicate that from August 5 to 10, parts of southeast Georgia, coastal South Carolina, and southeast North Carolina could see 10 to 20 inches of rain, with up to 30 inches possible in some places.

Image Credit: GOES 16 imagery courtesy of NOAA and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), Lauren Dauphin

Story Credit: Emily Cassidy

Image Date: August 5, 2024

Release Date: August 6, 2024

#NASA #NOAA #NESDIS #Space #Science #Satellite  #GOESEast #GOES16 #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthAmerica #GulfOfMexico #AtlanticOcean #Hurricanes #Storms #HurricaneDebby #Weather #Meteorology #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #STEM #Education

SpaceX Falcon 9 1st Stage Booster Landing+Sonic Boom | International Space Station

SpaceX Falcon 9 1st Stage Booster Landing+Sonic Boom | International Space Station

Watch tracking footage of Falcon 9’s reusable first stage booster landing and hear its sonic boom at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Aug. 4, 2024, after launching Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. 

Falcon 9’s first stage (B1080) previously supported nine missions: Ax-2, ESA Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, ASTRA 1P and 4 Starlink missions. 

Aboard the Cygnus spacecraft were tests of water recovery technology, a process to produce stem cells in microgravity, studies of the effects of spaceflight on microorganism DNA, liver tissue growth, and live science demonstrations for students.

This was Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA.

Learn about NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program (CRS):

https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 37 seconds

Capture Date: Aug. 4, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #NorthropGrumman #CygnusSpacecraft #CommercialCargo #CRS21 #NG21 #SSDickScobee #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #RocketFirstStage #CommercialResupply #CRS #CommercialSpace #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #NASAKennedy #KSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft was successfully captured over the south Atlantic Ocean by NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick on the International Space Station at 3:11am ET, Aug. 6, 2024. The Cygnus spacecraft was then installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port on the International Space Station at 5:33 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft carried 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory for Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA. 

The mission launched at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Cygnus will remain at the space station until January 2025 when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will burn up "harmlessly".

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.

Video NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 2 minutes, 35 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #NorthropGrumman #SSDickScobee #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #Astronaut #MatthewDominick #UnitedStates #CSA #Canadarm2 #Canada #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronauts Dyson & Williams Talk with Society of Women Engineers

NASA Astronauts Dyson & Williams Talk with Society of Women Engineers

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Tracy Dyson and Suni Williams discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview August 6, 2024, with the Society of Women Engineers. Dyson and Williams are in the midst of missions aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. 

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/tracy-caldwell-dyson

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/tracy-caldwell-dyson/biography

Astronaut Sunita Williams NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/williams-s.pdf

Society of Women Engineers

https://swe.org

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.

Video NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 24 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #Astronauts #TracyDyson #SunitaWilliams #SWE #Engineers #Engineering #WomenInEngineering #WomenInTechnology #UnitedStates #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Starburst Galaxy IC 10 in Cassiopeia | Mayall Telescope

Starburst Galaxy IC 10 in Cassiopeia | Mayall Telescope

This striking image from NOIRLab’s Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) presents a portrait of the irregular galaxy IC 10, a disorderly starburst galaxy close to the Milky Way. As well as a population of bright young stars, this irregular galaxy harbors exotic Wolf-Rayet stars and a black hole. IC 10 lies around 2 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation of Cassiopeia. Though this distance seems huge, it puts IC 10 in the ever-growing Local Group of galaxies.

The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector telescope in Arizona named after the American observational astronomer of the same name. The telescope saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest in the world at that time.

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Data Obtained and Processed by: P. Massey (Lowell Obs.), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (NOAO/AURA/NSF)

Image Processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin

Release Date: June 18, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #IC10 #StarburstGalaxy #IrregularGalaxy #WolfRayetStars #BlackHole #Cassiopeia #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Pan of Galaxy Merger Arp-Madore 417-391 in Eridanus | Hubble

Pan of Galaxy Merger Arp-Madore 417-391 in Eridanus | Hubble

The galaxy merger Arp-Madore 417-391 is the spotlight in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. The Arp-Madore catalogue is a collection of particularly peculiar galaxies spread throughout the southern sky, and includes a collection of subtly interacting galaxies as well as more spectacular colliding galaxies. Arp-Madore 417-391 lies around 670 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is one such galactic collision. The two galaxies have been distorted by gravity and twisted into a colossal ring, leaving the cores of the two galaxies nestled side by side.

Hubble used its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to capture this scene—the instrument is optimized to hunt for galaxies and galaxy clusters in the ancient Universe. Hubble’s ACS has been contributing to scientific discovery for 20 years, and throughout its lifetime it has been involved in everything from mapping the distribution of dark matter to studying the evolution of galaxy clusters.

Image Description: Two galaxies right of center form a ring shape. The ring is narrow and blue, and the cores of the two galaxies form a bulge on the ring’s side. A bright, orange star lies above the ring. Two smaller spiral galaxies appear left of center, as well as a few stars. The background is black and speckled with very small stars and galaxies.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, J. Dalcanton

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 21, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #AM0417391 #GalacticMergers #Eridanus #Constellation #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy Merger Arp-Madore 417-391 in Eridanus | Hubble

Galaxy Merger Arp-Madore 417-391 in Eridanus | Hubble

The galaxy merger Arp-Madore 417-391 is the spotlight in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. The Arp-Madore catalogue is a collection of particularly peculiar galaxies spread throughout the southern sky, and includes a collection of subtly interacting galaxies as well as more spectacular colliding galaxies. Arp-Madore 417-391 lies around 670 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is one such galactic collision. The two galaxies have been distorted by gravity and twisted into a colossal ring, leaving the cores of the two galaxies nestled side by side.

Hubble used its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to capture this scene—the instrument is optimized to hunt for galaxies and galaxy clusters in the ancient Universe. Hubble’s ACS has been contributing to scientific discovery for 20 years, and throughout its lifetime it has been involved in everything from mapping the distribution of dark matter to studying the evolution of galaxy clusters.

Image Description: Two galaxies right of center form a ring shape. The ring is narrow and blue, and the cores of the two galaxies form a bulge on the ring’s side. A bright, orange star lies above the ring. Two smaller spiral galaxies appear left of center, as well as a few stars. The background is black and speckled with very small stars and galaxies.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, J. Dalcanton

Release Date: Nov. 21, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #AM0417391 #GalacticMergers #Eridanus #Constellation #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Sun Releases Second Strong Solar Flare on Same Day | NASA SDO

Sun Releases Second Strong Solar Flare on Same Day | NASA SDO

The Sun emitted a second strong solar flare, peaking at 11:27 a.m. ET on Aug. 5, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.

The bright flash of a solar flare appears on the Sun's lower left in an ultraviolet view of the Sun. The Sun is dotted with darker and brighter regions and wispy loops of bright solar material.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash on the lower left of the first image–on Aug. 5, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in gold. 

The Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.

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 NOAA’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.

Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Release Date: Aug. 5, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #SolarFlare #XFlare #Ultraviolet #Science #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellite #SDO #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education