New research on Antarctica, including the first map of iceberg calving, doubles the previous estimates of loss from ice shelves and details how the continent is changing. Read More
Webb ushers in a new era of exoplanet science with the first unequivocal detection of carbon dioxide in a planetary atmosphere outside our solar system. Read More
Three teams selected for the agency’s first MSI Space Accelerator visited the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to work with mentors in an inspiring conclusion to the 10-week program. Read More
In space, being outshone is an occupational hazard. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a galaxy named NGC 7250. Despite being remarkable in its own right — it has bright bursts of star formation and recorded supernova explosions — it blends into the background somewhat thanks to the gloriously bright star hogging the limelight next to it. This bright object is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard), much closer than the much more distant galaxy. Only this way a normal star can outshine an entire galaxy, consisting of billions of stars. Astronomers studying distant objects call these stars “foreground stars” and they are often not very happy about them, as their bright light is contaminating the faint light from the more distant and interesting objects they actually want to study. In this case TYC 3203-450-1 million times closer than NGC 7250 which lies over 45 million light-years away from us. Would the star be the same distance as NGC 7250, it would hardly be visible in this image.
A little-studied star, TYC 3203-450-1, upstages a galaxy in this Hubble Telescope
image from December 2017. Both the star and the galaxy are within the Lizard
constellation, Lacerta. However, the star is much closer than the much more
distant galaxy.
Astronomers studying distant objects call these stars “foreground stars”
and they are often not very happy about them, as their bright light is
contaminating the faint light from the more distant and interesting
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, as the Artemis I launch teams load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants including liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the launch countdown progresses at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft
aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday,
Aug. 29, 2022, as the Artemis I launch teams loaded more than 700,000
gallons of cryogenic propellants including liquid hydrogen and liquid
oxygen. The Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of our deep
space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and
supporting ground systems.
NASA waved off the Aug. 29 launch attempt after a test to get
the RS-25 engines on the bottom of the core stage to the
proper temperature range for liftoff was not successful.
PHOTO DATE: August 23, 2022. LOCATION: Kennedy Space Center. SUBJECT: NASA T-38s fly in formation above the Space Launch System rocket on Launch Pad 39B. NASA 901: Chris Condon / Zena Cardman. 902: Nicole Ayers / Christina Koch. 903: Jeremy Hansen / Drew Morgan. 904: Reid Wiseman / Joe Acaba. 905 (Photo Chase): Jack Hathaway / Josh Valcarcel (NASA Photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: Josh Valcarcel
This is a forward-looking view of the X-1E that stands on static display in front of the main office building at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Captured in the background of the image is the Waning Gibbous Moon on November 22, 2021. Visible off the nose of the X-1E is the air data probe with alpha and beta vanes which measured vertical and horizontal motion.
A paddlewheeler makes its way up the Mississippi River as the moon rises over New Orleans on Sunday evening, August 22, 2021. The August Sturgeon Moon, which was also a rare Blue Moon, was full at 7:02 A.M. local time Sunday but the moon still put on a show when it rose over New Orleans later that evening. New Orleans is home to the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where the core stage of the Space Launch System that will return people to the moon is being built. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
A paddlewheeler makes its way up the Mississippi River as the Moon
rises over New Orleans on Sunday evening, Aug. 22, 2021.
The August Sturgeon Moon, which was also a rare Blue Moon,
was full at 7:02 a.m. local time Sunday but the nearly full
Moon still put on a show when it rose over New Orleans
later that evening. New Orleans is home to the NASA
Michoud Assembly Facility, where the core stage of the
Voyager 1 at Jupiter – Red spot Image taken on March 5, 1979 This image was re-processed on November 6, 1998 and re-recorded to film on the MDA film recorder, MRPS ID# 93779, from which this file was scanned. Original vidicon image size is 800 lines with 800 pixels per line.
Launched in 1977, the twin Voyager probes are NASA’s longest-operating
mission and the only spacecraft ever to explore interstellar space. 45 years
on, Voyager 1 and 2 continue to provide us with observations of the farthest
reaches of space.
Our Voyager 1 spacecraft zoomed toward Jupiter in January and
February 1979, capturing hundreds of images of Jupiter during its
approach, including this close-up of swirling clouds around
In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Perseid meteors are an annual event many skywatchers look forward to,
as they often produce lots of shooting stars to enjoy. The Perseids are
debris remnants of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the
Sun once. The meteors often leave long “wakes” of light and color behind
them as they streak through Earth’s atmosphere. They’re also known for
their fireballs, which are larger explosions of light and color that can
persist longer than an average meteor streak.
This photo was taken Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.
This celestial cloudscape from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the colourful region surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505. Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars, and are formed when ionised jets of gas spewing from these newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. In the case of HH 505, these jets originate from the star IX Ori, which lies on the outskirts of the Orion Nebula around 1000 light-years from Earth. The jets themselves are visible as gracefully curving structures at the top and bottom of this image, and are distorted into sinuous curves by their interaction with the large-scale flow of gas and dust from the core of the Orion Nebula. This observation was captured with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) by astronomers studying the properties of outflows and protoplanetary discs. The Orion Nebula is awash in intense ultraviolet radiation from bright young stars. Stellar jets are irradiated while they collide with the surrounding gas and dust, lighting them up for Hubble to see. This allows astronomers to directly observe jets and outflows and learn more about their structures. The Orion Nebula is a dynamic region of dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming, and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. As a result, it is one of the most scrutinised areas of the night sky and has often been a target for Hubble. This observation was also part of a spellbinding Hubble mosaic of the Orion Nebula, which combined 520 ACS images in five different colours to create the sharpest view ever taken of the region.
This celestial cloudscape from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the colorful region in the Orion Nebula surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505. Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars that form when stellar winds or jets of gas spew from these infant stars creating shockwaves that collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. In the case of HH 505, these outflows originate from the star IX Ori, which lies on the outskirts of the Orion Nebula around 1,000 light-years from Earth. The outflows themselves are visible as gracefully curving structures at the top and bottom of this image. Their interaction with the large-scale flow of gas and dust from the core of the nebula distorts them into sinuous curves.
Captured with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) by astronomers studying the properties of outflows and protoplanetary disks, the image reveals bright shockwaves formed by the outflows as well as slower moving currents of stellar material. The Orion Nebula is awash in intense ultraviolet radiation from bright young stars. Hubble’s sensitivity to ultraviolet light allows astronomers to directly observe these high-energy outflows and learn more about their structures.
The Orion Nebula is a dynamic region of dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. It is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth, making it one of the most scrutinized areas of the night sky and often a target for Hubble. This observation was also part of a spellbinding Hubble mosaic of the Orion Nebula, which combined 520 ACS images in five different colors to create the sharpest view ever taken of the region.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally; Acknowledgment: M. H. Özsaraç
STARS AND GALAXIES
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