The North America Nebula in Cygnus | Palomar Observatory

The North America Nebula in Cygnus | Palomar Observatory

NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, is a giant emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus at a distance of about 1,800 light years. This image is a composite from black and white images taken with the Palomar Observatory's 48-inch (1.2 meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope in California as a part of the second National Geographic Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II). The images were recorded on two glass photographic plates—one sensitive to red light and the other to blue and later they were digitized. 

In order to produce the color image seen here a total of 62 different frames were processed with the European Space Agency/European Southern Observatory/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator by Italian amateur astronomer Davide De Martin—31 frames for each color band, coming from 4 different plates taken between 1990 and 1993. The original file is 14,264 x 15,429 pixels with a resolution of about 1 arc-second per pixel. The image covers an area of sky larger than 4› x 4.3› (for comparison, the Full Moon is about 0.5› in diameter).

Learn more about the Palomar Observatory and the Samuel Oschin Telescope:

https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/about/

https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/about/telescopes/oschin.html

Credit: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator & Digitized Sky Survey 2
Release Date: Aug. 8, 2005

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #Cygnus #Constellation #Star #Deneb #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #DSS2 #STScI #SamuelOschinTelescope #PalomarObservatory #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The North America Nebula & The Pelican Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The North America Nebula & The Pelican Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000), named for its resemblance to the North American continent here on Earth, is located in the constellation of Cygnus, along with the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) at a distance of about 1,800 light years. Most of the nebulosity shown here is in the foreground (superimposed) of the band of the Milky Way. The stars are very dense towards this spiral arm and where the dust and gas thins, their numbers are plain to see.This four frame mosaic subtends more than 4 degrees of the sky. You could easily fit over 30 Moons in this picture! 

The very bright star on the right of the frame is Deneb, and surprisingly it is not associated with the nebula as it is well over 1,500 light years away. Indeed, if Deneb were 50 times closer (30 light years, I am insinuating absolute magnitude) it would be brighter than Venus in the sky and rival the moon! (-7.2 in magnitude). However, the wonderfully glowing clouds shown here are closer, and until recently the star (or stars) responsible for making them glow was a mystery.

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 #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #PelicanNebula #IC5070 #Cygnus #Constellation #Star #Deneb #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #KPNO #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

North America Nebula Flythrough: Fulldome View | NASA/JPL

North America Nebula Flythrough: Fulldome View | NASA/JPL

NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, is a giant emission nebula within the Milky Way Galaxy in the constellation of Cygnus at a distance of about 1,800 light years.

Note: The full dome video display format is designed for projection systems in planetariums.

Credits:
Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ L. Rebull (SCC/Caltech)/ D. De Martin
Animation Credit: Robert Sawallisch (Zeiss-Planetarium Jena)
Duration: 27 seconds
Release Date: June 14, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #Cygnus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Planetariums #Fulldome #HD #Video

The North America Nebula: NGC 7000 East | WIYN Telescope

The North America Nebula: NGC 7000 East | WIYN Telescope

NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, is a giant emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus at a distance of about 1,800 light years. This image shows the eastern part of the nebula, where beautiful dust lanes are visible. The dust is slowly being eroded and blown away by the light from stars embedded in the nebula. The reddish color is characteristic of hydrogen and it dominates. In 1890, the pioneering German astrophotographer, Max Wolf, noticed this nebula's characteristic shape on a long-exposure photograph, and dubbed it the North America Nebula.

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9m-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. 

The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen alpha (red), Oxygen [OIII] (green) and Sulfur [SII] (blue) filters. In this image, North is left, East is down.

The Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOIRLab (WIYN) Observatory is situated atop Kitt Peak National Observatory, a partnership consisting of University of California Irvine, Purdue University, the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, and NASA.

Learn more about the WIYN Observatory:
https://www.wiyn.org/0.9m/index.html

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Release Date: June 30, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #Cygnus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #WIYNTelescope #KPNO #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The North America Nebula: NGC 7000 South | WIYN Telescope

The North America Nebula: NGC 7000 South | WIYN Telescope

NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, is a giant emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus at a distance of about 1,800 light years. This image shows only the southern tip of the nebula (the Mexico part of the nebula). The nebula is being energized by the light from stars embedded within. In 1890, the pioneering German astrophotographer, Max Wolf, noticed this nebula's characteristic shape on a long-exposure photograph, and dubbed it the North America Nebula.

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9m-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. 

The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen alpha (red), Oxygen [OIII] (green) and Sulfur [SII] (blue) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.

The Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOIRLab (WIYN) Observatory is situated atop Kitt Peak National Observatory, a partnership consisting of University of California Irvine, Purdue University, the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, and NASA.

Learn more about the WIYN Observatory:
https://www.wiyn.org/0.9m/index.html

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Release Date: April 15, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #Cygnus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #WIYNTelescope #KPNO #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Supercomputer 3D Simulation of Our Sun's Turbulent Upper Layers | NASA Ames

Supercomputer 3D Simulation of Our Sun's Turbulent Upper Layers | NASA Ames

A 3D simulation showing the evolution of turbulent flows in the upper layers of the Sun. The more saturated and bright reds represent the most vigorous upward or downward twisting motions. Clear areas represent areas where there are only relatively slow up-flows, with very little twisting.

NASA supercomputers are shedding light on what causes the Sun’s most complex behaviors. Using data from the suite of active Sun-watching spacecraft currently observing the star at the heart of our solar system, researchers can explore solar dynamics like never before. This animation shows the strength of the turbulent motions of the Sun’s inner layers as materials twist into its atmosphere, resembling a roiling pot of boiling water or a flurry of schooling fish sending material bubbling up to the surface or diving it further down below. 

“Our simulations use what we call a realistic approach, which means we include as much as we know to-date about solar plasma to reproduce different phenomena observed with NASA space missions,” said Irina Kitiashvili, a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley who helped lead the study. 

Using modern computational capabilities, the team was able for the first time to reproduce the fine structures of the subsurface layer observed with NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

“Right now, we don’t have the computational capabilities to create realistic global models of the entire Sun due to the complexity,” said Kitiashvili. “Therefore, we create models of smaller areas or layers, which can show us structures of the solar surface and atmosphere—like shockwaves or tornado-like features measuring only a few miles in size; that’s much finer detail than any one spacecraft can resolve.”

Scientists seek to better understand the Sun and what phenomena drive the patterns of its activity. The connection and interactions between the Sun and Earth drive the seasons, ocean currents, weather, climate, radiation belts, auroras and many other phenomena. Space weather predictions are critical for exploration of space, supporting the spacecraft and astronauts of NASA’s Artemis campaign. Surveying this space environment is a vital part of understanding and mitigating astronaut exposure to space radiation and keeping our spacecraft and instruments safe.

This has been a big year for our special star, studded with events like the annular eclipse, a total eclipse, and the Sun reaching its solar maximum period. In December 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission—that is helping researchers to understand space weather right at the source—will make its closest-ever approach to the Sun and beat its own record of being the closest human-made object to reach the Sun. 

“The Sun keeps surprising us,” said Kitiashvili. “We are looking forward to seeing what kind of exciting events will be organized by the Sun.”

These simulations were run on the Pleaides supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility at NASA Ames over several weeks of runtime, generating terabytes of data.

Learn more about NASA's Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division at the Ames Research Center: https://www.nas.nasa.gov/index.html

https://www.nas.nasa.gov/pubs/stories/2014/feature_Sun_Kitiashvili.html

3D Visualization Credit: NASA/Irina Kitiashvili and Timothy A. Sandstrom
Duration: 26 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 21, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #SolarPlasma #SpaceWeather #NASASDO #ParkerSolarProbe #SolarSystem #Heliophysics #Astrophysics #NASASupercomputers #Supercomputers #SupercomputerSimulations #NASAAmes #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualizations #3DSimulations #Animation #HD #Video

Planet Earth's Exceptional & Unexpected Heat of 2023 & 2024 | NASA GISS

Planet Earth's Exceptional & Unexpected Heat of 2023 & 2024 | NASA GISS

Temperatures 1880 - October 2024

This chart shows Schmidt’s expectation for how much monthly temperatures from January 2023 to August 2024 would differ from NASA’s 1951-1980 baseline (also known as an anomaly). The expectation (represented as the dashed line in the chart) was based on an equation that calculates global average temperature based on the most recent 20-year rate of warming (about 0.25°C per decade) and NOAA’s sea surface temperature measurements from the tropical Pacific, accounting for a three-month delay for these temperatures to affect the global average. The shaded area shows the range of variability (plus or minus two standard deviations).

The chart above shows how global temperatures calculated from January 2023 to August 2024 differed from NASA’s baseline (1951–1980). The previous record temperature anomalies for each month—set in 2016 and 2020—are indicated by the red dashed line. Starting in June 2023, temperatures exceeded previous records by 0.3 to 0.5°C every month. Although temperature anomalies in 2024 were closer to past anomalies, they continued to break records through August 2024. The global average temperature in September 2024 was 1.26°C above NASA’s baseline—lower than September 2023 but still 0.3°C above any September in the record prior to 2023.

October 2024 was the second-hottest October ever, according to NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies' record, GISTEMP.

This October was 1.32°C (or about 2.38°F) above the long-term 1951-1980 average. It was slightly cooler than Oct. 2023, although the margins of error overlap, so the two are effectively tied.

In 2024, global temperatures for June through August 2024 were the hottest on record, narrowly topping the same period in 2023. The exceptional heat extended throughout other seasons, too, with global temperatures breaking records for 15 straight months from June 2023 until August 2024, according to scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

Although this spell of record heat fits within a long-term warming trend driven by human activity—primarily greenhouse gas emissions—the intensity of the heat, reaching a crescendo in the last half of 2023, surprised leading climate scientists. In a commentary in Nature, Gavin Schmidt, the director of GISS, used words like “humbling” and “confounding” to explain just how far temperatures overshot expectations during that period.

“Warming in 2023 was head-and-shoulders above any other year, and 2024 will be as well,” Schmidt said. “I wish I knew why, but I don’t. We’re still in the process of assessing what happened and if we are seeing a shift in how the climate system operates.”

Setting Expectations

Earth’s air and ocean temperatures during a given year typically reflect a combination of long-term trends, such as those associated with climate change, and shorter-term influences, such as volcanic activity, solar activity, and the state of the ocean.

In late 2022, as he has done each year since 2016, Schmidt used a statistical model to project global temperatures for the coming year. La Niña—which cools sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific—was present for the first part of 2023 and should have taken the edge off global temperatures. Schmidt calculated that average 2023 global temperatures would reach about 1.22 degrees Celsius above the baseline, putting it in the top three or four warmest years, but that it would not be a record-breaking year. Scientists at the UK Met Office, Berkeley Earth, and Carbon Brief made similar assessments using a variety of methods.

“More complex global climate models are helpful to predict long-term warming, but statistical models like these help us project year-to-year variability, which is often dominated by El Niño and La Niña events,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. Hausfather helps produce the Berkeley Earth global temperature record and also generates annual predictions of global temperature changes based on those data.

Schmidt’s statistical model—that successfully predicted the global average temperature every year since 2016—underestimated the exceptional heat in 2023, as did the methods used by Hausfather and other climatologists. Schmidt expected global temperature anomalies to peak in February or March 2024 as a lagged response to the additional warming from El Niño. Instead, the anomalous heat emerged well before El Niño had peaked. And the heat came with unexpected intensity—first in the North Atlantic Ocean and then virtually everywhere.

“In September, the record was broken by an absolutely astonishing 0.5 degrees Celsius,” Schmidt said. “That has not happened before in the GISS record.”

To calculate Earth’s global average temperature changes, NASA scientists analyze data from tens of thousands of meteorological stations on land, plus thousands of instruments on ships and buoys on the ocean surface. The GISS team analyzes this information using methods that account for the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and for urban heating effects that could skew the calculations.

Investigating Possible Contributors

Since May 2024, Schmidt has been compiling research about possible contributors to the unexpected warmth, including changes in greenhouse gas emissions, incoming radiation from the Sun, airborne particles called aerosols, and cloud cover, as well as the impact of the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption. However, none of these factors provide what Schmidt and other scientists consider a convincing explanation for the unusual heat in 2023.

Atmospheric greenhouse gas levels have continued to rise, but Schmidt estimates that the extra load since 2022 only accounted for additional warming of about 0.02°C. The Sun was nearing peak activity in 2023, but its roughly 11-year cycle is well measured and not enough to explain the temperature surge either.

Major volcanic eruptions, such as El Chichón in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991, have caused brief periods of global cooling in the past by lofting aerosols into the stratosphere. And research published in 2024 indicates the eruption in Tonga had a net cooling effect in 2022 and 2023. “If that’s the case, there’s even more warming in the system that needs to be explained,” Schmidt said.

Another possible contributor is reduced air pollution. A research team led by Tianle Yuan, an atmospheric research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has found a significant drop in aerosol pollution from shipping since 2020. The drop coincides with new international regulations on sulfur content in shipping fuels and with sporadic drops in shipping due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sulfur aerosol emissions promote the formation of bright clouds that reflect incoming sunlight back to space and have a net cooling effect. Reducing this pollution has the opposite effect: clouds are less likely to form. This could warm the climate. Although scientists, including Yuan, generally agree that the drop in sulfur emissions likely caused a net warming in 2023, the scientific community continues to debate the precise size of the effect.

“All of these factors explain, perhaps, a tenth of a degree in warming,” Schmidt said. “Even after taking all plausible explanations into account, the divergence between expected and observed annual mean temperatures in 2023 remains near 0.2°C—roughly the gap between the previous and current annual record.”

Grappling With Uncertainty

Both Hausfather and Schmidt expressed concern that these unexpected temperature changes could signal a shift in how the climate system functions. It could also be some combination of climate variability and a change in the system, Schmidt said. “It doesn’t have to be an either-or.”

One of the biggest uncertainties in the climate system is how aerosols affect cloud formation, which in turn affects the amount of radiation reflected back to space. However, one challenge for scientists trying to piece together what happened in 2023 is the lack of updated global aerosol emissions data. “Reliable assessments of aerosol emissions depend on networks of mostly volunteer-driven efforts, and it could be a year or more before the full data from 2023 are available,” Schmidt said.

NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite, which launched in February 2024, could help shed light on these uncertainties. The satellite will help scientists make a global assessment of the composition of various aerosol particles in the atmosphere. PACE data may also help scientists understand cloud properties and how aerosols influence cloud formation. This is essential to creating accurate climate models.

Schmidt and Hausfather invite scientists to discuss research related to the contributors of the 2023 heat at a session they are convening at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C., on December 9–13, 2024.

Updates and more at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS):

https://www.giss.nasa.gov

Credits: NASA Earth Observatory map and charts/Michala Garrison/NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Climate spiral visualization by Mark SubbaRao, NASA/GSFC/Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Article Credit: Emily Cassidy
Release Date: Nov. 20, 2024

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #GlobalTemperatureRecords #Weather #Meteorology #Model #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #Climate #Environment #InSituMeasurements #GlobalTemperatureMap #GreenhouseGases #Aerosols #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #NASAGISS #GISS #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dark Nebula LDN 1519 in Auriga

Dark Nebula LDN 1519 in Auriga

Dark nebula LDN 1519 lies in the constellation Auriga. The Auriga constellation lies in the northern hemisphere. Its name means “the charioteer” in Latin. Lynds' astronomical Catalogue of Dark Nebulae (abbreviation: LDN) was originally published in 1962. It was based on a study of the red and blue prints of the National Geographic - Palomar Observatory Sky Atlas. Objects listed in the catalog are numbered with the prefix LDN. Beverly Turner Lynds (August 19, 1929 – October 5, 2024) was best known for compiling the Lynds' Catalogue of Dark Nebulae. We honor her many lasting contributions to astronomical science.

Image Credit: Frankastro
Release Date: Nov. 30, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #Nebulae #Nebula #DarkNebula #LDN1519 #StellarNursery #Auriga #Constellation  #MilkyWayGalaxy #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #FrankAstro #France #STEM #Education

How Earth radar satellites are used to help humanity | European Space Agency

How Earth radar satellites are used to help humanity | European Space Agency

Radar allows us to see through what would otherwise be invisible. By sending out radio waves that bounce off objects and return as echoes, radar creates a detailed picture of our surrounding world.

This technology is everywhere—from guiding air traffic and enabling self-driving cars to tracking the movements of athletes. However, its reach does not stop there—radar is also transforming how we observe Earth from space.

Satellites like Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-1 Mission use radar to see through clouds, darkness and any weather conditions. This capability is valuable for detecting subtle changes on Earth’s surface—changes that are often hidden from the human eye. Discover how radar technology is helping us unlock these hidden insights about our planet.

Learn more about the European Space Agency's Copernicus Earth Observation Programme:

https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/copernicus/

Video Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Duration: 7 minutes, 40 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 28, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Satellites #Sentinel1 #CopernicusProgramme #RadarSatellites #SAR #SyntheticApertureRadar #ElectromagneticSpectrum #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Climate #ClimateChange #Environment #Weather #Meteorology #ExtremeWeather #Flooding #Valenica #Italy #Italia #Europe #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Lunabotics Student Challenge: May 2025 | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Lunabotics Student Challenge: May 2025 | Kennedy Space Center

Lunabotics provides accredited institutions of higher learning students an opportunity to apply the NASA systems engineering process to design and build a prototype Lunar construction robot. This robot would be capable of performing the proposed operations on the Lunar surface in support of future Artemis Campaign goals.

Event Dates: May 20-22, 2025

Event Location: NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Eligibility: Open to U.S. Students

Grade Levels: Vocational/Technical Schools, Colleges/Universities

Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/lunabotics-challenge/

Video Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Nov. 29, 2024

#NASA #NASAKennedy #KSC #Lunabotics #Space #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #RoboticsResearch #Science #Physics #Technology #Engineering #SystemsEngineering #Robotics #LunarConstructionRobots #Prototypes #Florida #Students #Colleges #Universities #TechnicalSchools #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

How are astronomical illustrations made? | European Southern Observatory

How are astronomical illustrations made? | European Southern Observatory

You have probably seen artist’s illustrations of the cosmos, but how are they made, and why? Besides stunning images, telescopes also capture more complex data that can be hard to interpret by non-astronomers.

In this episode of Chasing Starlight, we show you how astronomers, artists and communicators work together to translate astronomical data into visuals that are both stunning and scientifically accurate.

00:00 Why do we make illustrations?

01:19 Turning 2D images into 3D

02:35 Exoplanets

03:23 Spectra - what do they tell us?

05:02 Planet-forming discs

06:32 Quiz time!

Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Duration: 7 minutes, 30 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 29, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Planets #Exoplanets #CircumstellarMaterial #ProtoplanetaryDiscs #Nebulae #Galaxies #MilkyWayGalaxy #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #Telescopes #LightSpectrum #Spectra #AstronomicalImages #VisualRepresentations #Chile #ChasingStarlight #Art #Illustration #Artists #ArtistConcepts #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Journey to The Atmospheric Flames of Red Supergiant Star Betelgeuse | ESO

Journey to The Atmospheric Flames of Red Supergiant Star Betelgeuse | ESO

Using the VISIR instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have imaged a complex and bright nebula around the supergiant star Betelgeuse in greater detail than before. This structure, that resembles flames emanating from the star, is formed as the behemoth sheds its material into space.

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation of Orion, is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is also one of the biggest, being almost the size of the orbit of Jupiter—about four and half times the diameter of the Earth’s orbit. The VLT image shows the surrounding nebula, which is much bigger than the supergiant itself, stretching 60 billion kilometers away from the star's surface—about 400 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun.

Red supergiants like Betelgeuse represent one of the last stages in the life of a massive star. In this short-lived phase, the star increases in size, and expels material into space at a tremendous rate — it sheds immense quantities of material (about the mass of the Sun) in just 10,000 years.

The process of shedding material from a star like Betelgeuse involves two phenomena. The first is the formation of huge plumes of gas (although much smaller than the nebula now imaged) extending into space from the star’s surface, previously detected using the NACO instrument on the VLT. The other, behind the ejection of the plumes, is the vigorous up and down movement of giant bubbles in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere—like boiling water circulating in a pot.

The results show that the plumes seen close to the star are probably connected to structures in the outer nebula now imaged in the infrared with VISIR. The nebula cannot be seen in visible light, as the very bright Betelgeuse completely outshines it. The irregular, asymmetric shape of the material indicates that the star did not eject its material in a symmetric way. The bubbles of stellar material and the giant plumes they originate may be responsible for the clumpy look of the nebula.

The material visible in the image is most likely made of silicate and alumina dust. This is the same material that forms most of the crust of the Earth and other rocky planets. At some time in the distant past, the silicates of the Earth were formed by a massive (and now extinct) star similar to Betelgeuse.

NACO is a VLT instrument that combines the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS) and the Near-infrared Imager and Spectrograph (CONICA). It provides adaptive optics assisted imaging, imaging polarimetry, coronography and spectroscopy, at near-infrared wavelengths.

Video Credit: ESO/A. Fujii/Digitized Sky Survey 2/P. Kervella.
Duration: 41 seconds
Release Date: June 23, 2011

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #Betelgeuse #AlphaOrionis #Atmosphere #RedSupergiant #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #NACO #Chile #Europe #GSFC #STSc #DSS2 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Red Supergiant Star Betelgeuse: First Direct Image of Another Star's Atmosphere

Red Supergiant Star Betelgeuse: First Direct Image of Another Star's Atmosphere

This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with the Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter.

The Hubble image reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, which is many hundreds times the diameter of Sun, is at least 2,000 Kelvin degrees hotter than the surface of the star.

This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with the Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter (diagram at right).

This image is a color composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). It shows the area around the red supergiant star Betelgeuse.

This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with the Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter. It is usually the tenth-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel, the second-brightest in its constellation. It is a distinctly reddish

Distance: 750 light years

The Hubble image also reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, which is many hundreds times the diameter of Sun, is at least 2,000 Kelvin degrees hotter than the surface of the star.

Image Credits: Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI), NASA and European Space Agency/European Southern Observatory/Digitized Sky Survey 2 

Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin
Release Dates: Dec. 10, 1996 - Aug. 13, 2020

#NASA #Hubble #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Star #Betelgeuse #AlphaOrionis #Atmosphere #RedSupergiant #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Chile #Europe #GSFC #STSc #DSS2 #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

The Meteor and The Comet

The Meteor and The Comet

How different are these two streaks? The streak on the upper right is Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas showing an impressive dust tail. The comet is a large and dirty iceberg that entered the inner Solar System and is shedding gas and dust as it is warmed by the Sun's light. The streak on the lower left is a meteor showing an impressive evaporation trail. The meteor is a small and cold rock that entered the Earth's atmosphere and is shedding gas and dust as it is warmed by molecular collisions. The meteor was likely once part of a comet or asteroid—perhaps later composing part of its tail. The meteor was gone in a flash and was only caught by coincidence during a series of exposures documenting the comet's long tail. This image was captured just over a month ago from Sichuan province in China.

Image Description: A star-filled sky has two streaks in the foreground. A green and red streak toward the lower left was created by an ablating meteor, while the blue and white streak on the upper right is the coma and tail of a comet.

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the solar system's Oort cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory east of Nanjing, China, on January 9, 2023, and independently found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa on February 22, 2023. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. C/2023 A3 passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million miles) on September 27, 2024.

The Oort cloud is theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years).

Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Hao
Processing: Song Wentao

Image Date: September 2024

Image Location: Sichuan province, China
Release Date: Nov. 27, 2024

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Happy Thanksgiving Message from NASA Astronauts | International Space Station

Happy Thanksgiving Message from NASA Astronauts | International Space Station

Happy Thanksgiving from our crew to yours!🦃

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 72 crew members Suni Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit shared their best wishes during the holiday season and the feast they plan to enjoy while in space! 🦃

The four NASA astronauts sent down an American Thanksgiving message video highlighting their upcoming meal and expressing their gratitude for their families and living and working in space on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. The quartet along with the three Roscosmos cosmonauts aboard the space station took the day off on Thursday, November 28, enjoying a hearty meal, talking to family members on the ground, and relaxing aboard the orbital outpost.

We hope you enjoyed these stories and photographs from Thanksgivings celebrated in space. We would like to wish everyone here on the ground and the seven-member crew of Expedition 72 aboard the space station a very Happy Thanksgiving! For NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore and Donald R. Pettit, this will mark the third time they celebrate the holiday in space.

The Thanksgiving holiday typically brings families and friends together in a celebration of common gratitude for all the good things that have happened during the previous year. People celebrate the holiday in many ways, with parades, football marathons, and attending services, but food remains the over-arching theme. For astronauts embarked on long-duration space missions, separation from family and friends is inevitable and they rely on fellow crew members to share in the tradition and enjoy the culinary traditions as much as possible. 

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.

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

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Nov. 27, 2024

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Thanksgiving Celebrations in Space (1973-2024)

Thanksgiving Celebrations in Space (1973-2024)

The four NASA astronauts of Expedition 72 aboard the International Space Station sent down an American Thanksgiving message video highlighting their upcoming meal and expressing their gratitude for their families and living and working in space on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. The quartet along with the three Roscosmos cosmonauts aboard the space station took the day off on Thursday, November 28, enjoying a hearty meal, talking to family members on the ground, and relaxing aboard the orbital outpost.

We hope you enjoyed these stories and photographs from Thanksgivings celebrated in space. We would like to wish everyone here on the ground and the seven-member crew of Expedition 72 aboard the space station a very Happy Thanksgiving! For NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore and Donald R. Pettit, this will mark the third time they celebrate the holiday in space.

The Thanksgiving holiday typically brings families and friends together in a celebration of common gratitude for all the good things that have happened during the previous year. People celebrate the holiday in many ways, with parades, football marathons, and attending services, but food remains the over-arching theme. For astronauts embarked on long-duration space missions, separation from family and friends is inevitable and they rely on fellow crew members to share in the tradition and enjoy the culinary traditions as much as possible. 

Over the past decades, astronauts have celebrated the holiday during their time in space in a variety of unique ways. Enjoy the stories and photographs from orbital Thanksgiving celebrations over the years.

Skylab 4 astronauts Edward G. Gibson, left, William R. Pogue, and Gerald P. Carr demonstrate eating aboard Skylab during Thanksgiving in 1973.

Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue hold the distinction as the first crew to celebrate Thanksgiving in space on Nov. 22, 1973. On that day, their seventh of an 84-day mission, Gibson and Pogue completed a 6-hour and 33-minute spacewalk, while Carr remained in the Multiple Docking Adapter, with no access to food. All three made up for missing lunch by consuming two meals at dinner time, although neither included special items for Thanksgiving.

Twelve years passed before the next orbital Thanksgiving celebration. On Nov. 28, 1985, the seven-member crew of STS-61B, NASA astronauts Brewster H. Shaw, Bryan D. O’Connor, Jerry L. Ross, Mary L. Cleave, and Sherwood C. “Woody” Spring, and payload specialists Charles D. Walker from the United States and Rodolfo Neri Vela from Mexico, feasted on shrimp cocktail, irradiated turkey, and cranberry sauce aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.

STS-80 astronauts Tamara E. Jernigan, left, Kent V. Rominger, and Thomas D. Jones enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in Columbia’s middeck in 1996.

Neri Vela introduced tortillas to space menus, and they have remained favorites among astronauts ever since. Unlike regular bread, tortillas do not create crumbs, a potential hazard in weightlessness, and have multiple uses for any meal of the day. The crew of STS-33, NASA astronauts Frederick D. Gregory, John E. Blaha, Manley L. “Sonny” Carter, F. Story Musgrave, and Kathryn C. Thornton, celebrated Thanksgiving aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1989. Gregory and Musgrave celebrated their second Thanksgiving in space two years later, joined by fellow STS-44 NASA astronauts Terrence T. “Tom” Henricks, James S. Voss, Mario Runco, and Thomas J. Hennen aboard space shuttle Atlantis.

In 1996, Blaha celebrated his second Thanksgiving in space with Russian cosmonauts Valeri G. Korzun and Aleksandr Y. Kaleri aboard the space station Mir. Blaha watched the beautiful Earth through the Mir windows rather than his usual viewing fare of football. The STS-80 crew of NASA astronauts Kenneth D. Cockrell, Kent V. Rominger, Tamara E. Jernigan, Thomas D. Jones, and Musgrave, now on his third turkey day holiday in orbit, celebrated Thanksgiving aboard space shuttle Columbia. Although the eight crew members worked in different spacecraft in different orbits, they exchanged holiday greetings via space-to-space radio. This marked the largest number of people in space on Thanksgiving Day up to that time.

One year later, NASA astronaut David A. Wolf celebrated Thanksgiving with his Russian crewmates Anatoli Y. Solovev, who translated the holiday into Russian as den blagodarenia, and Pavel V. Vinogradov aboard the Soviet/Russian space station, Mir. The word Mir in Russian means 'peace' or 'world'. The crew enjoyed smoked turkey, freeze-dried mashed potatoes, peas, and milk. Also in orbit at the time was the crew of STS-87, NASA astronauts Kevin R. Kregel, Steven W. Lindsey, Kalpana Chawla, and Winston E. Scott, Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Leonid K. Kadenyuk of Ukraine, aboard Columbia. The nine crew members aboard the two spacecraft broke the one-year-old record for the largest number of people in space at one time for Thanksgiving, also setting the record for the most nations represented, four.

NASA astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, left, and Vladimir N. Dezhurov of Roscosmos enjoy Thanksgiving dinner aboard the International Space Station in 2001.

The Expedition 1 crew of NASA astronaut William M. Shepherd, and Yuri P. Gidzenko and Sergei K. Krikalev of Roscosmos celebrated the first Thanksgiving aboard the International Space Station on Nov. 23, 2000, three weeks after their arrival aboard the facility. The crew took time out of their busy schedule to enjoy ham and smoked turkey and send words of thanks to people on the ground who provided excellent support to their flight. Crews have celebrated Thanksgiving in space every November since then.

In 2001, Expedition 3 crew members NASA astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, and Vladimir N. Dezhurov and Mikhail V. Tyurin of Roscosmos enjoyed the first real Thanksgiving aboard the space station, complete with a cardboard turkey as decoration. The following year’s orbital Thanksgiving celebration included the largest number of people to that time, the combined 10 crewmembers of Expedition 5, STS-113, and Expedition 6. After a busy day that included the first Thanksgiving Day spacewalk from the space station, the crews settled down to a dinner of smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans with mushrooms. Blueberry-cherry cobbler rounded out the meal.

The crews of Expeditions 18 and STS-126 share a Thanksgiving meal in the space shuttle middeck in 2008.

Expedition 18 crew members NASA astronauts E. Michael Fincke and Gregory E. Chamitoff and Yuri V. Lonchakov representing Roscosmos, welcomed the STS-126 crew of NASA astronauts Christopher J. Ferguson, Eric A. Boe, Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Donald R. Pettit, Stephen G. Bowen, R. Shane Kimbrough, and Sandra H. Magnus during Thanksgiving in 2008. They dined in the space shuttle Endeavour’s middeck on smoked turkey, candied yams, green beans and mushrooms, cornbread dressing and a cranapple dessert. 

The following year saw the largest and an internationally diverse group celebrating Thanksgiving in space. The six Expedition 21 crew members, NASA astronauts Jeffrey N. Williams and Nicole P. Stott, Roman Y. Romanenko and Maksim V. Suraev of Roscosmos, Frank L. DeWinne of the European Space Agency, and Robert B. Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency hosted the six members of the STS-129 crew, NASA astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, Barry E. Wilmore, Michael J. Foreman, Robert L. Satcher, Randolph J. Bresnik, and Leland D. Melvin. The twelve assembled crew members represented the United States, Russia, Belgium, and Canada. The celebration took place two days early, since the shuttle undocked from the space station on Thanksgiving Day.

Expedition 42 crew members enjoy Thanksgiving dinner aboard the International Space Station in 2014.

Expedition 45 crew members gather at Thanksgiving dinner table aboard the orbital outpost in 2015.

Expedition 50 crew members at the Thanksgiving dinenr table aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2016.

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

Article Credit: John Uri/JSC

Release Date: Nov. 27, 2024

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