Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.1 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.1 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 2:40 a.m. ET on Aug. 14, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.

A portion of the Sun, shown in teal. In the middle a large flash of light bursts out, appearing white.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash in the center—on Aug. 14, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It 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 X1.1 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

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.

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.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Duration: 1 second

Release Date: Aug. 14, 2024

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

Gaganyaan: India Prepares for First Crewed Spaceflight Missions | ISRO

Gaganyaan: India Prepares for First Crewed Spaceflight Missions | ISRO

Gaganyaan ("sky craft" in Hindi) is a crewed orbital spacecraft for India's human spaceflight program. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. In its first crewed mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3-metric ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two- or three-person crew on board. Launch is expected in 2025. 

India became the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to reach its southern polar region on August 23, 2023 with the Chandrayaan-3 Mission. To honor this landmark achievement, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced August 23 as "National Space Day".

India is celebrating its maiden National Space Day on August 23, 2024 with the theme "Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India's Space Saga."

"A myriad of events will unfold highlighting India's remarkable achievements in space, profound benefits to the society, and boundless opportunities for people from all walks of life to engage with the Indian space program. These celebrations will culminate into the main event at New Delhi on August 23, 2024."

Learn more about Gaganyaan program:

https://www.isro.gov.in/Gaganyaan.html

Video Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Aug. 14, 2024

#NASA #ISRO #Space #Moon #Chandrayaan3Mission #Chandrayaan3 #Earth #India #GaganyaanMission #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #NationalSpaceDay #NationalSpaceDay2024 #SpaceTechnology #Science #Engineering #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

Moonbeams | International Space Station

Moonbeams | International Space Station

The Moon illuminates a cloud-covered Pacific Ocean as stars glitter in the background above the Earth's airglow. The International Space Station's solar arrays dominate the foreground as the orbital outpost soared 268 miles above.

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 Date: July 18, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #SolarArrays #Science #Moon #Earth #Atmosphere #Airglow #Clouds #PacificOcean #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

How Does a Photographer 'Shoot' Stars?

How Does a Photographer 'Shoot' Stars?

The most beautiful summertime meteor shower in the northern hemisphere, the Perseids, has been witnessed by many people in China recently. Professional photographers are among those in attendance. Among them is Jeff Dai, who talked about his experience with Zheng Yibing of CGTN.

Video Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Meteors #ThePerseids #Perseids #Meteor #Fireballs #Perseus #Constellation #Astrophotography #JeffDai #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #SolarSystem #China #中国 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA CubeSat Rocket Launch Recap: Noise of Summer | Firefly Aerospace

NASA CubeSat Rocket Launch Recap: Noise of Summer | Firefly Aerospace

The Alpha rocket lit up the night sky across the southwest United States just before Independence Day! Relive the excitement of Firefly's Noise of Summer Mission that launched 8 NASA CubeSats. 

As part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, Firefly Aerospace launched eight small satellites on July 3, 2024, aboard the company’s Alpha rocket. Named “Noise of Summer,” the rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT.

The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers and cover science that includes climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace completed its Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract with this launch. The agency’s venture-class contracts offer launch opportunities for new providers, helping grow the commercial launch industry and leading to cost-effective competition for future NASA missions.

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative provides a low-cost way for universities, non-profits, science centers, and other researchers to conduct science and technology demonstrations in space.

Learn more here: https://fireflyspace.com/missions/noise-of-summer/

Video Credit: Firefly Aerospace

Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 13, 2024

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

The Moon, Aurora & Sunrise | International Space Station

The Moon, Aurora & Sunrise | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick: "Timelapse of the Moon setting into streams of red and green aurora followed by a sunrise lighting up Soyuz with a light blue. The aurora have been amazing the past few days. Great timing for trying out a new lens that recently arrived on Cygnus." 

Technical details: 15mm, T1.8, 1/3s exposure, 1/2 s interval

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)

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Moon #Earth #Aurora #Sunrise #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronaut #MatthewDominick #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy NGC 6902 in Sagittarius | SPECULOOS Southern Observato

Galaxy NGC 6902 in Sagittarius | SPECULOOS Southern Observatory

This is a first-light image from the SPECULOOS Southern Observatory at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory. This planet-hunting machine is designed to observe nearby but dim stars to locate exoplanets for other telescopes—such as European Southern Observatory's upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)—to study in detail. Comprising four one-meter telescopes, each named after one of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, SPECULOOS aims to open up new frontiers in exoplanet research.

This image, however, is obviously not of a faint star, but of a galaxy called NGC 6902. Before a telescope starts its primary mission it must successfully undertake an event called “first light”: the first time it is used for a scientific observation. Astronomers typically pick well-known objects for this initial test of a telescope’s capabilities. It is half demonstration and half celebration. In this case, the team settled on NGC 6902 as the first-light target for the Ganymede telescope.

The result was this stunning image of the spiral galaxy. It is found about 120 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). The galaxy’s spiral arms swirl outwards from a bright center until they dissolve into streams of blue haze at the galaxy’s edge. Discovered in the year 1836 by John Herschel, NGC 6902 is a beautiful spiral galaxy located more than 130 million light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer.

Credit: ESO/SPECULOOS Team/E. Jehin

Release Date: Feb. 25, 2019

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC6902 #Sagittarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SPECULOOSTelescopes #ParanalObservatory #AtacamaDesert #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Harnesses Kraken Spinning Device to Simulate Human Spaceflight

NASA Harnesses Kraken Spinning Device to Simulate Human Spaceflight

This summer, NASA is using the Kraken, a 50-foot-long, 100-ton U.S. Navy research device, to simulate space motion sickness and test possible recovery strategies for astronauts. The Kraken, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, can rotate participants at exposures of up to 3G. 

As missions stretch further to the Moon and eventually to Mars, a priority is reducing symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and vertigo so that astronauts stay healthy and ready for their missions.

Learn more about the Kraken:

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/818426/namru-d-releases-the-kraken/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC); Kraken footage courtesy of U.S. Navy/Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Technology #ISS #ArtemisProgram #Kraken #Astronauts #SpaceflightTraining #AerospaceMedicine #MedicalResearch #AerospaceResearch #HumanSpaceflight #MoonToMars #USNavy #WPAFB #Dayton #Ohio #UnitedStates #HD #Video

Distant Edge-on Spiral Galaxy: LO95 0313-192 in Eridanus | Hubble

Distant Edge-on Spiral Galaxy: LO95 0313-192 in Eridanus | Hubble

Despite its unassuming appearance, the edge-on spiral galaxy captured in the left half of this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image is actually quite remarkable.

Located about one billion light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus, this striking galaxy—known as LO95 0313-192—has a spiral shape similar to that of the Milky Way. It has a large central bulge, and arms speckled with brightly glowing gas mottled by thick lanes of dark dust. Its companion, sitting pretty in the right of the frame, is known rather unpoetically as [LOY2001] J031549.8-190623.

Jets, outbursts of superheated gas moving at close to the speed of light, have long been associated with the cores of giant elliptical galaxies, and galaxies in the process of merging. However, in an unexpected discovery, astronomers found LO95 0313-192 to have intense radio jets spewing out from its center! The galaxy appears to have two more regions that are also strongly emitting in the radio part of the spectrum, making it even rarer still.

The discovery of these giant jets in 2003—not visible in this image, but indicated in this earlier Hubble composite—has been followed by the unearthing of a further three spiral galaxies containing radio-emitting jets in recent years. This growing class of unusual spirals continues to raise significant questions about how jets are produced within galaxies, and how they are thrown out into the cosmos.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Release Date: Jan. 25, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #LO950313192 #RadioJets #SpiralGalaxies #LOY2001 #Eridanus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Testing Technology for Mars Exploration: LOFTID | NASA

Testing Technology for Mars Exploration: LOFTID | NASA

On November 10, 2022, NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, successfully demonstrated a cross-cutting aeroshell—a type of heat shield—for atmospheric re-entry. Video of the mission highlights and analysis of performance of NASA’s cutting-edge entry, descent and landing technology: Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID).

Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID): https://www.nasa.gov/loftid

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 4 minutes, 24 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #Spacecraft #Propulsion #HeatShields #LOFTID #Aeroshells #Planets #Mars #MartianAtmosphere #EDL #JourneyToMars #MoonToMars #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #MSFC #ULA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

How NASA Sees the Shift from La Niña to El Niño | NASA Goddard

How NASA Sees the Shift from La Niña to El Niño | NASA Goddard

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is an ocean-atmosphere coupled phenomenon that affects global weather such as rainfall and drought patterns. We use several NASA and NOAA data products (listed below) to visualize the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere during the transition from La Niña 2021 to El Niño 2023. 

The visualization is a comprehensive explainer showing changes in the upper 300 meters of the Pacific Ocean (such as thermocline relaxation and eastward movement of warm temperature anomalies) and the changes in the lower atmosphere (e.g., the Walker Circulation). 

It is among the first efforts in visualizing the Walker Circulation and its convective branch moving across the Pacific without schematic plots but rather with verified model outputs.

Global Climate Change - NASA

https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC AMA): Lead Producer

Jefferson Beck (GSFC KBR): Producer

Atousa Saberi (NASA GSFC): Lead Scientist, Lead Visualizer

Greg Shirah (NASA GSFC): Visualizer

Duration: 6 minutes, 49 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #NOAA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #WalkerCirculation #Oceans #PacificOcean #Climate #Weather #Meterology #ElNiño #ElNino #ENSO #LaNiña #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #Europe #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualization #HD #Video

Northern Lights over Shallow Lake, Ontario, Canada

Northern Lights over Shallow Lake, Ontario, Canada

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.

Earth auroras have different names depending on the pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

The Colors of the Aurora (U.S. National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Image Credit: Northern Lights Graffiti

Image Date: August 12, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Sun #Star #Astrophotography #NorthernLightsGraffiti #Astrophotographer #ShallowLake #Ontario #Canada #NorthAmerica #STEM #Education

Wildfire Smoke from Canada in Earth's Atmosphere | International Space Station

Wildfire Smoke from Canada in Earth's Atmosphere | International Space Station

A wildfire in Canada and its smoke circulating in the Earth's atmosphere, pictured from the Intenational Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above North Dakota in the United States.

Visit National Wildland Fire Situation Report (Canada) for updates:

https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/report

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 NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Canada #Alberta #Saskatchewan #Wildfires #Smoke #NorthDakota #GlobalHeating #Forests #ClimateChange #Environment #SpaceLaboratory #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education

The Hyades Star Cluster in Taurus | Digitized Sky Survey 2

The Hyades Star Cluster in Taurus | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Wide-field view of the Hyades star cluster in the Milky Way galaxy created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. 

Distance: ~150 light years

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Digitized Sky Survey 2/STScI

Release Date: Aug. 4, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Hyades #Caldwell41 #Collinder50 #Melotte25 #Taurus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #DSS2 #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Barred, Spiral Galaxy MCG+07-07-072 in Perseus | Hubble

Barred, Spiral Galaxy MCG+07-07-072 in Perseus | Hubble

The subject of this picture is located in the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426, 320 million light-years from Earth. It is a barred spiral galaxy known as MCG+07-07-072, seen here among a number of photobombing stars that are much closer to Earth than it is. A barred spiral galaxy has a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.

MCG+07-07-072 has quite an unusual shape, for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms emerging from the ends of its barred core to draw a near-circle around its disc. It is classified, using a common extension of the basic Hubble scheme, as an SBc(r) galaxy: the c denotes that its two spiral arms are loosely wound, each only performing a half-turn around the galaxy, and the (r) is for the ring-like structure they create. Rings in galaxies come in quite a few forms, from merely uncommon, to rare and astrophysically important.

Lenticular galaxies are a type that sit between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They feature a large disc, unlike an elliptical galaxy, but lack any spiral arms. Lenticular means lens-shaped, and these galaxies often feature ring-like shapes in their discs.

 Meanwhile, the classification of “ring galaxy” is reserved for peculiar galaxies with a round ring of gas and star formation, much like spiral arms look, but completely disconnected from the galactic nucleus—or even without any visible nucleus! They are thought to be formed in galactic collisions. 

Finally, there are the famous gravitational lenses, where the ring is in fact a distorted image of a distant, background galaxy, formed by the ‘lens’ galaxy bending light around it. Ring-shaped images, called Einstein rings, only form when the lensing and imaged galaxies are perfectly aligned.

Image Description: A galaxy. It is almost circular. It has a glowing bar stretching across its core; from the ends of the bar, thin spiral arms wrap around the galaxy to form a closed disc. The arms are fuzzy from the dust and stars they contain. The galaxy is on a black, mostly-empty background. A few foreground stars with cross-shaped diffraction spikes can be seen, as well as distant galaxies in the background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, I. Chilingarian

Release Date: Aug. 12, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #PerseusCluster #Abell426 #Galaxy #MCG0707072 #Spiral #Barred #SBcrGalaxy #Perseus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy Captured between a Unit Telescope | ESO

Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy Captured between a Unit Telescope | ESO

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) captured between the enclosure of one of the four Unit Telescopes that forms part of the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) at Paranal Observatory in Chile—the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy.

Learn more about the VLT:

https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

Credit: ESO/Babak Tafreshi 

Release Date: May 9, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #LargeMagellanicCloud #Barred #Spiral #LMC #Yepun #UT4 #VLT #LaserGuideStar #AdaptiveOptics #Astrophotography #ParanalObservatory #MilkyWayGalaxy #SolarSystem #Earth #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education