Thursday, November 14, 2024

4 Typhoons Line Up in Western Pacific | NOAA Deep Space Climate Observatory

4 Typhoons Line Up in Western Pacific | NOAA Deep Space Climate Observatory


In an unusual sight, four storms churned simultaneously in the Western Pacific Ocean in November 2024—many set their sights on the storm-ravaged Philippines. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that it was the first time since records began in 1951 that so many storms co-existed in the Pacific basin during November.

At 8:55 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (12:55 a.m. Universal Time) on November 11, 2024, NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) imager on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite observed the storms—named Yinxing, Toraji, Usagi, and Man-Yi—visible in this image. At the time of the image, the storms were either approaching the Philippines or had already passed over the islands and surrounding areas.

About 40 minutes before the image was acquired, Typhoon Toraji (locally known as Nika) made landfall on the northeastern side of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. The storm unleashed flooding and brought power outages to Aurora Province. Landslides induced by the rain buried roads in the Cordillera mountain range. The Japan Metrological Agency reported that the storm reached peak intensity the night before with sustained winds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour.

To the west, Typhoon Yinxing (locally known as Marce) hit the Philippines on November 7, four days prior to this image. On the day it made landfall on northern Luzon, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that the storm had sustained winds of 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour, making it a super typhoon, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm then weakened before hitting Vietnam and dissipating on November 12.

Typhoon Usagi (locally known as Ofel) is forecast to become the fifteenth tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines archipelago this year, closely following the path of Toraji. On the day of the image, Usagi was a tropical storm that later rapidly intensified to become a super typhoon. By 6:00 p.m. Universal Time on November 13, Usagi had winds around 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. It was forecast to hit the islands later that same day.

To the east, Man-Yi was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 85 kilometers (50 miles) per hour at the time of this image. The JTWC forecast that the storm is likely to intensify into a typhoon and make landfall on the Philippines on November 17.

The Philippines has borne the brunt of typhoon activity in the Pacific this year. Past storms include Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-Rey, which brought deadly flooding and landslides to Luzon in late October.

Typhoon season in the West Pacific stretches across the entire year, but most storms form between May and October. November typically sees three named storms, with one becoming a super typhoon, based on the 1991-2000 average.

NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera, or EPIC, is a million miles from the planet. The camera is attached to NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR, satellite. From this distance, EPIC captures a color image of the sunlit side of Earth at least once every two hours. This capability allows researchers to track features as the planet rotates in the instrument’s field of view.

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (US Navy):


Image Credit:  Wanmei Liang/DSCOVR EPIC data
Article Credit: Emily Cassidy
Image Date: Nov. 11, 2024
Release Date: Nov. 14, 2024


#NASA #NOAA #Science #Space #Satellite #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology  #Typhoones #PacificOcean #WesternPacific #Philippines #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GlobalWarming #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #DeepSpace #DSCOVR #EPIC #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

Lunar Pipelines: Supplying Moon Stations with Off-World Oxygen | NASA Space Tech

Lunar Pipelines: Supplying Moon Stations with Off-World Oxygen | NASA Space Tech

Researchers are working on a new concept that may one day sustain a permanent human presence on the Moon. Here is the idea: an off-Earth robot-built pipeline transporting lunar-extracted oxygen to future Moon stations. It may sound out-of-this-world (and it is) but this concept could help make a future human presence on the Moon sustainable and cost-efficient.

NASA 360 takes a look at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) that could help sustain a permanent human presence on the Moon. 

To learn more visit: https://go.nasa.gov/45QEmDK 

To watch the in-depth presentation about this topic please visit the 2023 NIAC Symposium Vimeo site: 
https://vimeo.com/showcase/11002468/video/912886601#t=10809s

To learn more about NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program visit: https://www.nasa.gov/niac

This video represents a research study within the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. NIAC is a visionary and far-reaching aerospace program, one that has the potential to create breakthrough technologies for possible future space missions. However, such early-stage technology developments may never become actual NASA missions.


Video Credit: NASA Space Tech
Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 14, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #Robotics #Moon #ArtemisProgram #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #MoonStations #MoonBases #Oxygen #LunarPipeline #LunarInfrastructure #NIAC #SpaceResearch #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #MoonToMars #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The Iris Nebula: NGC 7023 in Cepheus | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Iris Nebula: NGC 7023 in Cepheus | Kitt Peak National Observatory


NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula because of its flower-like shape, is a bright reflection nebula. The bluish glow of the nebula comes from a hot, massive star at the center of the nebula, named HD 200775. Blue light from the star is scattered off dust grains in the nebula, giving it its distinctive color. The dust can also be seen on the outer portions of the nebula, where it has a faint brownish color and blocks out stars behind it. 


Distance: 1,300 light years

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block
Release Date: June 11, 2014


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #IrisNebula #NGC7023 #ReflectionNebula #Caldwell4 #Star #HD200775 #Cepheus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #KPNO #Arizona #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Iris Nebula: NGC 7023 in Cepheus | Mayall Telescope

The Iris Nebula: NGC 7023 in Cepheus | Mayall Telescope


This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic Camera on the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula because of its flower-like shape, is a bright reflection nebula. The bluish glow of the nebula comes from a hot, massive star at the center of the nebula, named HD 200775. Blue light from the star is scattered off dust grains in the nebula, giving it its distinctive color. The dust can also be seen on the outer portions of the nebula, where it has a faint brownish color and blocks out stars behind it. 

Distance: 1,300 light years

NGC 7023 was observed in the filters B (blue), V (green), R (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red). The image is rotated 30 degrees CCW from 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.

Learn more about the Mayall Telescope: 

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 #IrisNebula #NGC7023 #ReflectionNebula #Caldwell4 #Star #HD200775 #Cepheus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The "Chinese Dragon" Nebula: NGC 6559 in Sagittarius | Gemini South Telescope

The "Chinese Dragon" Nebula: NGC 6559 in Sagittarius | Gemini South Telescope


This Gemini South Telescope image of dragon-like dark nebula NGC 6559 NGC 6559 is a relatively small, nearby dust cloud in our Milky Way galaxy that measures about seven light-years across. NGC 6559 is part of a larger star-forming region in the southern constellation Sagittarius. 

The dark structure that resembles a Chinese dragon is caused by cool dust that absorbs background radiation from hydrogen gas that glows in red light due to ionization from nearby stars. The intricate details and wispy structure in the dark cloud is determined by turbulence flow dynamics influenced by variables, such as nearby star radiation and motions of other nearby gas and dust.

These kinds of clouds illustrate how past generations of stars are dispersing heavier elements into our galaxy, material that will seed future generations of stars and possibly planetary systems.

Learn more about the Gemini South Telescope:

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/gemini-observatory/gemini-south/


Credit: International Gemini Observatory
Release Date: Aug. 26, 2005


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC6559 #ChineseDragonNebula #StellarNursery #Sagittarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #GeminiSouthTelescope #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Oman's First Earth Observation Cubesat & China's First Commercial Customer

Oman's First Earth Observation Cubesat & China's First Commercial Customer

Oman Lens OL-1 Earth observation CubeSat in orbit: The country of Oman's first satellite


Oman Lens OL-1 Earth observation CubeSat illustration

China's CAS Space commercial Lijian-1 (Kinetica 1) carrier rocket (solid fuel)


Oman Lens and CAS Space Teams

Beijing-based rocket manufacturer CAS Space, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), successfully launched their Lijian-1 Y5 commercial carrier rocket with 15 satellites aboard in northwest China on Monday, November 11, 2024, including a remote-sensing satellite for the West Asia country of Oman. This marked the first time a Chinese commercial space company's rocket has launched a satellite for an international client. This was also Oman's first satellite in a landmark commercial launch. Omani space-tech startup Oman Lens LLC produced and arranged the launched of the country's first Earth observation, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered CubeSat. The satellite will assist Oman with data collection and imaging for land mapping, urban planning, forestry monitoring, and disaster management.

Officially the Sultanate of Oman, the country is located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. It overlooks the entrance to the Persian Gulf. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. 

The Kinetica 1-Y5 rocket lifted off at 12:03pm on November 11, 2024, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gobi Desert, placing the satellites into their designated orbit, CAS Space announced.

CAS Space upgraded the Lijian-1 Y5/Kinetica 1's payload fairing—the protective shell housing the satellite payloads—for this mission, expanding its diameter from 2.65 to 3.35 meters to accommodate the 15 satellites. This adaptation marks a milestone for the series. This rocket has now deployed a total of 57 satellites since its debut, maintaining a 100 percent success rate.


Image Credit: Star.Vision
Caption Credit: ChinaDaily/New China TV/CGTN
Release Date: Nov. 13, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #CASSPace #Kinetica1Y5 #Lijian1Y5Rocket #CarrierRocket #Satellites #CommercialSatellites #Oman #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #ChineseTechnology #ChineseEngineering #CommercialSpace #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

NASA Espacio a Tierra | Ubicación, ubicación, ubicación : 08 de noviembre de 2024

NASA Espacio a Tierra | Ubicación, ubicación, ubicación : 08 de noviembre de 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/

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

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 31 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 13, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #SpaceX #CRS31 #CargoDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew9 #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CrewDragonFreedom #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 72 Crew Photos: October-November 2024 | International Space Station

Expedition 72 Crew Photos: October-November 2024 | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams displays the Space Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (SpaceTED) hardware inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. SpaceTED is a technology demonstration that can measure radiation dosages and characterize the radiaton environment in microgravity to protect crew members and spacecraft hardware.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nick Hague exercises on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) aboard the International Space Station's Tranquility module. The ARED mimics the inertial forces of lifting free weights on Earth to maintain muscle health during long-term space missions. During his exercise session, Hague wore Bio-Monitor, a garment and headband set outfitted with sensors to collect physiological data and minimally interfere with space station life. Hague wore the garment 48 hours as part of Vascular Aging, a study that monitors an astronaut’s cardiovascular health in space.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams replaces particulate filters on the water recovery system, a component of the Tranquility module's waste and hygiene compartment, the International Space Station's bathroom.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams wears a pirate's eye patch in celebration of Halloween while orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station. Williams was also a wearing a thigh cuff on her left leg testing its ability to prevent space-caused fluid shifts toward a crew member's head safeguarding eye health in microgravity.
Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia plays an electronic keyboard aboard the International Space Station's Harmony module.
Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Russia gives a thumbs up inside the Internationla Space Station's Harmony module.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore works in the Harmony module printing and updating International Space Station emergency procedures.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit is pictured setting up one of his "Science of Opportunity" experiments aboard the International Space Station. For this specific experiment, Pettit grew thin wafers of water ice using the orbiting lab's freezer, and photographed them in front of a white, blank computer screen and polarizing filter to display the colorful fragments of ice crystals.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft recently delivered more than 6,000 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory. The resupply mission lifted off Nov. 4, 2024, on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and arrived at the International Space Station on Nov. 5. This launch was the 31st SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for the agency.

For more than two decades, the International Space Station has served as a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars.

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams

Roscosmos (Russia): Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov

NASA: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague

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.


Image Date: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Dates: Oct. 23-Nov. 3, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

Tianzhou-8 Cargo Spacecraft Rocket Rollout | China Space Station

Tianzhou-8 Cargo Spacecraft Rocket Rollout | China Space Station

The combination of the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y9 carrier rocket was vertically transferred to the launching area on Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The cargo spacecraft will be launched at an appropriate time from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China's southern island province of Hainan in the coming days, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Following the vertical transfer, a series of tests will be carried out over the next two to three days. These tests will include coordination checks between the rocket and the launch pad, storage tank replacements, air tightness verifications, and other pre-launch preparations before the fuel filling and launching.

"This is our eighth Tianzhou cargo spacecraft mission. Our rockets have entered a maturity stage, as after continuous hard work, the rocket have achieved a 100-percent localization rate. After it arrives at the launch area, our work will revolve around all test and launch procedures scheduled for the launch day," said Zhou Hong, an employee of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Compared to its predecessors, Tianzhou-6 and Tianzhou-7, the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft boasts a larger cargo capacity—an increase of more than 200 more liters of space and more than 100 kilograms of cargo load.

Alongside astronaut supplies and experimental facilities, the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft will carry bricks made of varying compositions from simulated lunar soil to the Tiangong space station. These bricks will undergo exposure tests to assess their durability in extreme conditions and their potential use in constructing lunar bases.

Shenzhou-19 Crew:
Commander Cai Xuzhe (蔡旭哲)
Mission Specialist Wang Haoze (王浩泽)
Mission Specialist Song Lingdong (宋令东)

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 17 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 13, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #LongMarch7Y9Rocket #Tianzhou8 #CargoSpacecraft #Shenzhou19 #神舟十九号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #LongDurationSpaceflight #CMSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #WenchangSLS #Hainan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

'Ominous' Dark Nebula SH2-136 in Cepheus: Wide-field view | NOIRLab

'Ominous' Dark Nebula SH2-136 in Cepheus: Wide-field view | NOIRLab


Dark nebula SH2-136 appears to celebrate Halloween all the time. The complex process of star formation has created dust clouds of many shapes and sizes. It is human perception that might identify a "ghoulish creature", on the left side of the image, "chasing humans". SH2-136 is over two light-years across.

Distance: 1,500 light years

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.


Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block
Caption Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Release Date: June 13, 2014


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #DarkNebula #GhostNebula #Globule   #SH2136 #VdB141 #StellarNursery #Cepheus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #KPNO #Arizona #UnitedStates #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

'Ominous' Dark Nebula SH2-136 in Cepheus: Close-up view | NOIRLab

'Ominous' Dark Nebula SH2-136 in Cepheus: Close-up view | NOIRLab

Dark nebula SH2-136 appears to celebrate Halloween all the time. The complex process of star formation has created dust clouds of many shapes and sizes. It is human perception that might identify a "ghoulish creature", on the left side of the image, "chasing humans". SH2-136 is over two light-years across.

Distance: 1,500 light years

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.


Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block
Caption Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Release Date: June 13, 2014


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #DarkNebula #GhostNebula #Globule   #SH2136 #VdB141 #StellarNursery #Cepheus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #KPNO #Arizona #UnitedStates #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Dying star "cocooned" in its own gases: NGC 6886 in Sagitta | Hubble

Dying star "cocooned" in its own gases: NGC 6886 in Sagitta | Hubble


Astronomers have used the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope to image the tiny planetary nebula NGC 6886. These celestial objects signal the final death throes of mid-sized stars (up to about eight times the mass of the Sun). When such a star exhausts its supply of hydrogen fuel, the outer layers begin to expand and cool, which creates an envelope of gas and dust that shrouds the dying star. However, the star does not go down without a fight, finding alternative ways to prevent it from collapsing under its own gravity and emerging as a white dwarf. In the process, the star's surface temperature increases and it is eventually hot enough to emit strong ultraviolet radiation and make the cocoon of gas glow as a planetary nebula.

Distance: 11,000 light years

Stellar death is not quick and painless—the planetary nebula stage typically lasts several tens of thousands of years. By studying the elements that are present in the nebula today, astronomers can determine the original chemical make-up of the star. Studies suggest that the star belonging to NGC 6886 may have originally been similar to the Sun, containing similar quantities of carbon, nitrogen and neon, although heavier elements, such as sulphur, were less plentiful.

Keen amateur astronomers with mid-level telescopes will find it a rewarding challenge to track down NGC 6886 in the small constellation of Sagitta. It is tiny, but not particularly faint: high magnification, a good chart, a dark site and averted vision are needed to spot this elusive celestial jewel.

This picture was created by combining images taken using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on Hubble. Filters that let through emission from ionized nitrogen gas (F658N, colored red), ionized oxygen (F502N, colored blue) and a broadband yellow filter (F555W, colored green, and also contributing to the blue) were used. The exposure times were 700 s, 600 s and 320 s respectively. The field of view is merely 30 arcseconds across.


Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Jan. 10, 2011


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #CatsEyeNebula #Nebula #PlanetaryNebula #NGC6886 #Sagitta #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Trimethyl Aluminum Clouds over Norway | NASA Earth Science

Trimethyl Aluminum Clouds over Norway | NASA Earth Science

These clouds are completely harmless, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center reports. Twisting clouds of trimethyl aluminum (TMA) appeared over Norway on Nov. 10, 2024, during a minor geomagnetic storm. Ivar Sandland photographed them from Narvik, a small town inside the Arctic Circle. Moments earlier, Sandland watched a rocket climb through colorful auroras. "It was a rocket launch from Andoya Space Center in northern Norway," he explains. "Moments later, the clouds appeared."

NASA's rocket carried 16 canisters of trimethyl aluminum. These were released into the upper atmosphere. Glowing clouds were visible from the ground, allowing researchers to study waves and vortices in air ~100 km above Earth's surface—a region which also contains the turbopause. This is fundamental research that may help improve computer models of our planet's atmosphere.

The turbopause, also called the homopause, marks the altitude in an atmosphere below which turbulent mixing dominates.

Earth's turbopause lies near the mesopause, at the intersection of the mesosphere and the thermosphere, at an altitude of roughly 90 km (56 mi). Other turbopauses in the Solar System that are known include Venus' turbopause at about 130–135 km (81–84 mi), Mars' at about 130 km (81 mi), Jupiter's at roughly 385 km (239 mi), and Titan's at around 800–850 km (500–530 mi). 

Earth's turbopause was discovered by French scientists following the firing of two Véronique sounding rockets on March 10 and 12, 1959.


Image Credit: Ivar Sandland
Caption Credit: SpaceWeather[dot]com
Image Date: Nov. 10, 2024
Release Date: Nov. 12, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #Sun #Heliophysics #SolarSystem #Earth #Atmosphere #Turbopause #AndoyaSpaceport #Narvik #ArcticCircle #Norway #Norge #SoundingRocket #RocketLaunch #SuborbitalFlight #TMAClouds #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #GSFC #WFF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Mining Old Data from NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries | JPL

Mining Old Data from NASA’s Voyager 2 Solves Several Uranus Mysteries | JPL

NASA’s Voyager 2 captured this image of planet Uranus while flying by the ice giant in 1986. New research using data from the mission shows a solar wind event took place during the flyby, leading to a mystery about the planet’s magnetosphere that may now be better understood.
Artist’s concept depicts how Uranus’s magnetosphere was acting before and during the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2. The first panel of this artist’s concept depicts how Uranus’s magnetosphere—its "protective bubble"—was before the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2. The second panel shows an unusual kind of solar weather was happening during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a skewed view of the magnetosphere.

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flyby of Uranus thirty-eight years ago in 1986 shaped scientists’ understanding of the planet but also introduced unexplained oddities. A recent data investigation has offered potential new answers.

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft provided scientists’ first—and, so far, only—close glimpse of this strange, sideways-rotating outer planet. Alongside the discovery of new moons and rings, new mysteries confronted scientists. The energized particles around the planet defied their understanding of how magnetic fields work to trap particle radiation, and Uranus earned a reputation as an outlier in our solar system.

Now, new research analyzing the data collected during that flyby 38 years ago has found that the source of that particular mystery is a cosmic coincidence. It turns out that in the days just before Voyager 2’s flyby, the planet had been affected by an unusual kind of space weather that compressed the planet’s magnetic field substantially. 

“If Voyager 2 had arrived just a few days earlier, it would have observed a completely different magnetosphere at Uranus,” said Jamie Jasinski of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California and lead author of the new work published in Nature Astronomy. “The spacecraft saw Uranus in conditions that only occur about 4% of the time.”

Magnetospheres act as "protective bubbles" around planets (including Earth) with magnetic cores and magnetic fields, shielding them from jets of ionized gas—or plasma—that stream out from the Sun in the solar wind. Learning more about how magnetospheres work is also important for understanding our own planet.

Inside Uranus’ magnetosphere were electron radiation belts with an intensity second only to Jupiter’s notoriously brutal radiation belts. However, there was apparently no source of energized particles to feed those active belts. In fact, the rest of Uranus’ magnetosphere was almost devoid of plasma.

The missing plasma also puzzled scientists because they knew that the five major Uranian moons in the magnetic bubble should have produced water ions, as icy moons around other outer planets do. They concluded that the moons must be inert with no ongoing activity.


Solving the Mystery

Why was no plasma observed, and what was happening to boost the radiation belts? The new data analysis points to the solar wind. When plasma from the Sun pounded and compressed the magnetosphere, it likely drove plasma out of the system. The solar wind event also would have briefly intensified the dynamics of the magnetosphere. This would have fed the belts by injecting electrons into them.

The findings could be good news for those five major moons of Uranus. Several of them may be geologically active after all. With an explanation for the temporarily missing plasma, researchers say it is plausible that the moons actually may have been spewing ions into the surrounding bubble all along.

Planetary scientists are focusing on bolstering their knowledge about the mysterious Uranus system. The National Academies’ 2023 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey prioritized it as a target for future NASA missions.

JPL’s Linda Spilker was among the Voyager 2 mission scientists concentrating on the images and other data that arrived during the Uranus flyby in 1986. She remembers the anticipation and excitement of the event. It changed how scientists thought about the Uranian system.

“The flyby was packed with surprises, and we were searching for an explanation of its unusual behavior. The magnetosphere Voyager 2 measured was only a snapshot in time,” said Spilker, who has returned to the iconic mission to lead its science team as project scientist. “This new work explains some of the apparent contradictions, and it will change our view of Uranus once again.”

Voyager 2, now in interstellar space, is almost 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) from Earth.


Credits: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech
Release Date: Nov. 11, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #SolarSystem #SolarWind #Planet #Uranus #Moons #MagneticField #Atmosphere #Voyager2Mission #Voyager2 #Voyager2Spacecraft #InterplanetarySpacecraft #UranusSystemFlyby #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #Art #Infographic #STEM #Education

New GOES-19 Satellite Captures Extended Images of Sun's Atmosphere | NOAA

New GOES-19 Satellite Captures Extended Images of Sun's Atmosphere | NOAA 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently unveiled the first images from the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR-1) and the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI). These are two advanced instruments onboard the NOAA's new GOES-19 satellite, launched on June 25, 2024. These tools are set to "revolutionize" space weather monitoring and forecasting as they begin observing the Sun and its influence on Earth. 

CCOR-1 is the world’s first dedicated operational space-based coronagraph. Using an occulting disk to block the bright surface of the sun, CCOR-1 provides images of the corona every 15 minutes. This powerful telescope is designed to detect and analyze coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—massive bursts of solar plasma and magnetic fields that can significantly impact Earth's space environment. By observing the Sun in the extreme ultraviolet part of the spectrum, SUVI captures phenomena like flares and coronal loop—critical to understanding hazardous space weather.

Note: Data from GOES-19, during its post-launch testing phase, should be considered preliminary and non-operational.

Learn More: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaas-goes-19-captures-extended-images-of-the-suns-atmosphere


Video Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: Nov. 12, 2024

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Sandy Sculptures in Morocco’s Erg Chebbi | International Space Station

Sandy Sculptures in Morocco’s Erg Chebbi | International Space Station

Windswept sand formations known as star dunes, or pyramid dunes, are a distinctive feature of the Sahara Desert in northern Africa. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph while orbiting over northern Africa. The image shows a dune field known as Erg Chebbi, located in southeastern Morocco, near the border with Algeria and northeast of the Little Atlas mountain range. This erg, a wide sandy area covered with dunes, lies in the northwestern region of the Sahara Desert.

Dunes are created when the wind transports and deposits fine sand, forming mounds of sediment. The dunes in this photo display multiple smooth sides, known as slip faces, where sand has cascaded down from the peak. The windward side, located on the opposite side from the slip face, is where the wind blows material upward. The dune continues to grow vertically as long as sediment is available and the wind is strong enough to transport it upward. The large dunes crossing the center of the image, characterized by sharp multidirectional ridges, are star dunes. These are also known as pyramid dunes and are a distinctive feature of the Sahara.

The town of Marzouga and nearby communities appear at the bottom right of the image. A large, natural aquifer supports palm groves as well as crops in this arid region. Agricultural fields are the long linear features visible in the image’s bottom right corner.

Tourism provides an additional source of income for the communities due to their proximity to the Erg Chebbi dunes. Road lines, mainly created by off-road vehicles, are visible at the top of the image. Tent camps are located on the east side of the dune field, visible from space as small clusters of light-colored rectangular shapes. These camps are mostly used by tourists, though some of them could represent settlements of the Indigenous Amazigh (Berber) peoples.

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south.

The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometers (3,600,000 sq mi) is comparable to the area of China or the United States. The name 'Sahara' is derived from a dialectal Arabic word for "desert", ṣaḥra (صَحَارَى).

The Sahara covers much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south, it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna around the Niger River valley and the Sudan Region of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Astronaut photograph ISS070-E-105480 was acquired on December 21, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 1,200 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center.


Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Article Credit: Wilfredo García López/Jacobs-JETS II Contract/NASA-JSC
Image Date: Dec. 21, 2023
Release Date: Nov. 10, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Africa #ErgChebbi #Marzouga #Morocco #Ergs #SandDunes #SaharaDesert #Sahara #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #Expedition70 #STEM #Education المملكة المغربية