Vivid Green Earth Aurora | International Space Station

Vivid Green Earth Aurora | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Don Pettit has released this short timelapse video of aurora over Earth. Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]

Solid Colored Aurora

Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.

Element Emission Colors

Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.

Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.

Aurora Colors According to Altitude

Above 150 miles: red, oxygen

Up to 150 miles: green, oxygen

Above 60 miles: purple or violet, nitrogen

Up to 60 miles: blue, nitrogen

NASA - About Aurora

https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/auroras/

https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/polar/EPO/auroral_poster/aurora_all.pdf

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)
https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: 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 Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit
Duration: 8 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 6, 2024

#NASA #FoN #Space #Science #ISS #Sun #Earth #Aurora #AstronautPhotography #Astronauts #DonPettit #SuniWilliams #ButchWilmore #NickHague #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

Distant Galaxy LEDA 803211 in Hydra: Ringing in The New Year | Hubble

Distant Galaxy LEDA 803211 in Hydra: Ringing in The New Year | Hubble

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture shows a tiny patch of sky in the constellation Hydra. The stars and galaxies depicted here span a mind-bending range of distances. Nearest to us in this image are stars within our own Milky Way galaxy that are marked by diffraction spikes. The bright star that sits just at the edge of the prominent bluish galaxy is only 3,230 light-years away, as measured by the European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory.

Behind this star is a galaxy named LEDA 803211. At 622 million light-years distant, this galaxy is close enough that its bright galactic nucleus is clearly visible, as are numerous star clusters scattered around its patchy disc. Many of the more distant galaxies in this frame appear star-like, with no discernible structure, but without the diffraction spikes of a star in our galaxy.

Of all the galaxies in this frame, one pair stands out in particular: a smooth golden galaxy encircled by a nearly complete ring in the upper-right corner of the image. This curious configuration is the result of gravitational lensing, where the light from a distant object is warped and magnified by the gravity of a massive foreground object, like a galaxy or a cluster of galaxies. Einstein predicted the curving of spacetime by matter in his general theory of relativity, and galaxies seemingly stretched into rings like the one in this image are called Einstein rings.

The lensed galaxy, whose image we see as the ring, lies incredibly far away from Earth: we are seeing it as it was when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years old. The galaxy acting as the gravitational lens itself is likely much closer. A nearly perfect alignment of the two galaxies is necessary to give us this rare kind of glimpse into galactic life in the early days of the Universe.

Image Description: Many mostly small, bright objects scattered over a dark background in space. In the top half on the right is an elliptical galaxy, a round light larger than the others, with a slightly warped ring of light around it. In the bottom half there is a barred spiral galaxy, big enough that we can see its bluish arms and its core in detail. Other objects include distant galaxies and nearby stars.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, D. Erb
Release Date: Jan. 6, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #LEDA803211 #Hydra #Constellation #Astrophysics #GravitationalLensing #EinsteinRings #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion : 3D Animation | ESO

Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion : 3D Animation | ESO

This is a 3D animation of Messier 78. It provides a closer look at the many strange and fascinating structures hidden in this object.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/M. Kornmesser

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 16, 2011

#NASA #FoN #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #3D #Animation #HD #Video

Close-up view: Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | MPG/ESO Telescope

Close-up view: Reflection Nebula Messier 78 in Orion | MPG/ESO Telescope

In this video, we pan across an image of Messier 78 from the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory. This provides a closer look at the many strange and fascinating structures hidden in this very detailed image. This color picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through a filter that isolates the light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Learn about the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Igor Chekalin

Duration: 42 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 16, 2011

#NASA #FoN #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Messier 78: A Reflection Nebula in Orion | Wide-field view | MPG/ESO Telescope

Messier 78: A Reflection Nebula in Orion | Wide-field view | MPG/ESO Telescope

This image of the reflection nebula Messier 78 was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. This color picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through a filter that isolates light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Learn about the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Date: May 2, 2012

#NASA #FoN #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #ReflectionNebula #Messier78 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Mars Images: Dec. 30-Jan. 3, 2024 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars Images: Dec. 30-Jan. 3, 2024 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 4408

Mars 2020 - sol 1377

Mars 2020 - sol 1368

Mars 2020 - sol 1362

Mars 2020 - sol 1374

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 12+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 3+ Years on Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: Dec. 30-Jan. 3, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Astronaut "Snacks": Peanut Butter & Spherical Honey | International Space Station

Astronaut "Snacks": Peanut Butter & Spherical Honey | International Space Station

Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Tasty orbital snack, peanut butter with spherical honey."

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: 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 Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit
Release Date: Jan. 4, 2025

#NASA #FoN #Space #Science #ISS #Sun #Star #Earth #MicrogravityResearch #FluidPhysics #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #DonPettit #SuniWilliams #ButchWilmore #NickHague #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-19 Crew Tests New "Xiao Hang" Smart Assistant | China Space Station

Shenzhou-19 Crew Tests New "Xiao Hang" Smart Assistant  | China Space Station

Last week, the crew aboard the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft conducted a series of in-orbit verifications for China's first space station intelligent flight robot, "Xiao Hang."

During the mission, astronauts utilized Xiao Hang alongside human-robot collaborative interaction software. This allowed them to carry out a variety of experiments related to human-robot spatial relationships, robot behavior characterization, and multimodal interaction technologies. The goal of these experiments is to help improve mission efficiency through effective interaction between astronauts and robotic systems.

In the field of space life sciences and human research, the crew made significant progress on the "biological effects of fruit flies under sub-magnetic environment in space and molecular mechanisms" experiment.

Last week, the crew successfully completed tasks such as collecting fruit flies, emptying their culture containers, and organizing samples. With careful attention, the "fruit fly family" has grown and may become the first species to achieve "three generations under one roof" on China's space station.

The astronauts also performed a series of detailed movement measurements and related experiments using precision motion measurement devices and experimental software.

Tests focused on fine motor adaptation, force control, and object weight perception. The results will assist ground researchers in studying the changes in fine motor control and the adaptive learning mechanisms of astronauts during long-term space missions.

In addition to these experiments, the astronauts used specialized software to test their emotional states and assess their emergency decision-making abilities while in orbit. This data will be crucial for understanding how long-term spaceflight impacts astronauts' emotions and decision-making skills in high-pressure situations.

In the realm of space technology and applications, the crew completed the installation of the fourth batch of microbial sampling module test samples.

Research on space microbial control technology plays a crucial role in understanding and preventing microbial contamination and corrosion issues aboard the space station.

Currently, the findings in this field have been applied to spacecraft design and material selection for various mission models. This includes evaluating the antimicrobial and antifungal properties of spacecraft materials in orbit, as well as verifying the service performance of these materials under space conditions.

In the field of microgravity physical sciences, the crew carried out routine tasks such as replacing experimental samples in fluid physics and high-temperature materials cabinets.

They also cleaned non-container experimental chambers and performed maintenance on axis mechanisms and electrodes.

The astronauts followed their planned maintenance schedule for life-supporting systems and other station equipment. They used specialized noise measurement tools to assess noise levels in different areas of the station, contributing to the ongoing monitoring of the station's acoustic environment. In addition, they carried out cleaning and organizing tasks to ensure a clean and efficient workspace.

After more than two months in orbit, the crew has maintained a regular exercise routine and undergone periodic medical check-ups.

Last week, astronauts completed ultrasound exams of their abdomen and muscles, bone density measurements, as well as electrocardiogram and blood pressure tests. They also conducted maximum isometric strength tests using resistance exercise devices to measure muscle strength during isometric contractions. This is crucial for assessing the functional state of specific muscle groups under fixed postures.

The Shenzhou-19 mission continues to make significant strides in scientific research and technological advancements, paving the way for the future of human space exploration.

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: 2 minutes, 41 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 5, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Robotics #Robots #Shenzhou19 #神舟十九号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #CAS #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Saturn's Rings with Moons Janus & Titan | NASA Cassini Mission

Saturn's Rings with Moons Janus & Titan | NASA Cassini Mission

Planet Saturn's Titan moon and tiny Janus moon almost appear to be embedded within Saturn's rings from the viewpoint of NASA's Cassini spacecraft. 

Janus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn X. It is named after the mythological Roman god, Janus. This natural satellite was first identified by French astronomer Audouin Dollfus on December 15, 1966, although it had been unknowingly photographed earlier by French optical engineer, Jean Texereau. 

Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is the second largest moon in our solar system. Jupiter's moon Ganymede is just a little bit larger (by about 2 percent). Titan’s atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen, like Earth’s, but with a surface pressure 50 percent higher than Earth’s. Titan has clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons like methane and ethane. The largest seas are hundreds of feet deep and hundreds of miles wide. Beneath Titan’s thick crust of water ice is more liquid—an ocean primarily of water rather than methane. Titan’s subsurface water could be a place to harbor life as we know it, while its surface lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons could conceivably harbor life that uses different chemistry than we are used to—that is, life as we do not yet know it. 

NASA's Cassini spacecraft arrived in the Saturn system in 2004 and ended its mission in 2017 by deliberately plunging into Saturn's atmosphere. This method was chosen because it is necessary to ensure protection and prevent biological contamination to any of the moons of Saturn thought to offer potential habitability.

The Cassini-Huygens mission was a cooperative project of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. The Cassini radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries.

NASA's Cassini Mission: 
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/cassini

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill
Image Date: March 21, 2006
Release Date: Dec. 31, 2024

#NASA #FoN #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Saturn #Rings #Moons #Janus #SaturnX #Titan #Astrobiology #SolarSystem #CassiniMission #CassiniSpacecraft #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #ESA #Italy #Italia #ASI #Europe #History #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis over Eagle River, Alaska

Aurora Borealis over Eagle River, Alaska

Astrophotographer Michael Burch: "The Aurora was so brilliant and strong I was able to see the pink color dancing in the sky with my naked eye, it was an incredible start to the new year!"

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, but they typically originate with activity on the Sun. Occasionally, during explosions called coronal mass ejections, the Sun releases charged particles that speed across the solar system. 

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]

Solid Colored Aurora

Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.

Element Emission Colors

Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.

Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.

Aurora Colors According to Altitude

Above 150 miles: red, oxygen

Up to 150 miles: green, oxygen

Above 60 miles: purple or violet, nitrogen

Up to 60 miles: blue, nitrogen

NASA - About Aurora

https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/auroras/

https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/polar/EPO/auroral_poster/aurora_all.pdf

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)
https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Image Credit: Michael Burch 
Image Date: Jan. 1, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Sun #Heliophysics #EagleRiver #Alaska #Photography #MichaelBurch #Astrophotography #STEM #Education

Waning Crescent Moon | International Space Station

Waning Crescent Moon | International Space Station

Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Glowing fingernail clipping in the sky; it’s the waning crescent moon."

The illuminated side of a waning crescent moon always points in the direction of sunrise.

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: 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 Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit
Release Date: Jan. 4, 2025

#NASA #FoN #Space #Science #ISS #Sun #Star #Earth #Moon #WaningCrescent #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #DonPettit #SuniWilliams #ButchWilmore #NickHague #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #LongDurationMissions #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

Cosmic Cliffs in Carina: Nebula NGC 3324 | Hubble Space Telescope

Cosmic Cliffs in Carina: Nebula NGC 3324 | Hubble Space Telescope

Located in the Southern Hemisphere, NGC 3324 is at the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), home of the Keyhole Nebula and the active, outbursting star Eta Carinae. The entire Carina Nebula complex is located at a distance of roughly 7,200 light-years, and lies in the constellation Carina.

This image is a composite of data taken with two of Hubble's science instruments. Data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in 2006 isolated light emitted by hydrogen. More recent data, taken in 2008 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), isolated light emitted by sulfur and oxygen gas. To create a color composite, the data from the sulfur filter are represented by red, from the oxygen filter by blue, and from the hydrogen filter by green.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2008

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC3324 #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory & Webb

Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory & Webb

Astronomers nicknamed this region of star formation the “Cosmic Cliffs.” It is found in the nearby Carina Nebula. X-rays from young stars in two clusters are detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. X-rays from Chandra (purple); infrared from Webb (yellow, green, cyan, and blue)

Distance: 7,500 light years

This composite image features two star clusters, viewed through a churning tunnel of golden cloud. The cloud creates a border around the entire image, like a thick swirling smoke ring. Beyond it, in the open center, is a vast field of neon purple specks. These specks are young stars observed by Chandra. Within the central field, two cluster groupings are suggested by separate swirls of faint, steel blue mist. One sits near our upper right. The other is near the bottom left, partially obscured by the golden yellow ring cloud.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ludwig Maximilian Univ./T. Preibisch et al.
Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
Release Date: Dec. 7, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC3324 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #NASAChandra #XrayAstronomy #MSFC #NASAWebb #InfraredAstronomy #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education

Journey to Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | MPG/ESO Telescope

Journey to Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | MPG/ESO Telescope

The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory has imaged a region of star formation called NGC 3324. The intense radiation from several of NGC 3324's massive, blue-white stars has carved out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust. The ultraviolet radiation from these young hot stars also cause the gas cloud to glow in rich colors. 

Distance: 7,500 light years

Learn about the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Duration: 56 seconds
Release Date: February 1, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC3324 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #DSS2 #UnitedStates #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star Formation Region: Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | MPG/ESO Telescope

Star Formation Region: Nebula NGC 3324 in Carina | MPG/ESO Telescope

The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory has imaged a region of star formation called NGC 3324. The intense radiation from several of NGC 3324's massive, blue-white stars has carved out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust. The ultraviolet radiation from these young hot stars also cause the gas cloud to glow in rich colors. 

Distance: 7,500 light years

Learn about the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Date: February 1, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC3324 #Carina #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #MPGESOTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Sonification: Three Years of Solar Fireworks | Solar Orbiter Mission

Sonification: Three Years of Solar Fireworks | Solar Orbiter Mission

At the start of this new year, close-up pictures and solar flare data that the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter mission has been recording for more than three years. See and hear for yourself how the number of flares and their intensity increase, a clear sign of the Sun approaching the peak of the 11-year solar cycle.

This video combines ultraviolet images of the Sun's outer atmosphere (the corona, yellow) taken by Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument, with the size and locations of solar flares (blue circles) as recorded by the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) instrument. The accompanying audio is a sonification based on the detected flares and the spacecraft's distance to the Sun.

Solar Orbiter moves on an elliptical path around the Sun, making a close approach to our star every six months. We can see this in the video from the spacecraft's perspective with the Sun moving closer and farther over the course of each year. In the sonification, this is represented by the low background humming that loudens as the Sun gets closer and becomes quieter as it moves further away. (There are some abrupt shifts in distance visible in the video, as it skips over dates where one or both instruments were inactive or collecting a different type of data.)

The blue circles represent solar flares: bursts of high-energy radiation of which STIX detects the X-rays. Flares are sent out by the Sun when energy stored in 'twisted' magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. The size of each circle indicates how strong the flare is, with stronger flares sending out more X-rays. We can hear the flares in the metallic clinks in the sonification, where the sharpness of the sound corresponds to how energetic the solar flare is.

Many thanks to Klaus Nielsen (DTU Space / Maple Pools) for making the sonification in this video. If you would like to hear more sonifications and music by this artist, please visit: https://linktr.ee/maplepools

Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, operated by ESA.

Credits 
Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI & STIX, Klaus Nielsen (DTU Space/Maple Pools)
Acknowledgements: Data processing for video by Laura Hayes
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 or ESA Standard License
Duration: 1 minute, 20 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 3, 2025  

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Star #Sun #Corona #Atmosphere #Plasma #Physics #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Ultraviolet #SolarOrbiter #Satellite #Spacecraft #Earth #Europe #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Sonification #HD #Video