NASA

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Whimsy or wonder? We'll let you decide @NASAWebb recently took a look at the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud: the most massive, and active star-forming region in our galaxy, located only a few hundred light years from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Astronomers want to figure out why this cloud is so much more active than the rest of the galactic center. While Sgr B2 has only 10% of the galactic center's gas, it produces 50% of its stars. Even with Webb's sensitive infrared capability, which allows it to see through clouds of dust and gas, there are regions so dense that our orbiting telescope can't see through them. These thick clouds are the raw material of future stars—and a cocoon for those still too young to shine. The first three slides in this carousel show Sgr B2 as seen by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument, which captured glowing cosmic dust heated by very young massive stars in unprecedented detail. Note that while the dust and gas glow dramatically, all the bright stars disappear from view. In contrast, in near-infrared wavelengths (seen in the last three images), it's the colorful stars that steal the show. Astronomers will seek to discover the masses and ages of these stars to better learn about how they're formed in this dense, active region of the galactic center. Read more at the link in @NASAWebb's bio. Image credit: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Image description: Two images of space, each split up into three slides. The first three slides depict a swirling patch of red and magenta clouds, with bright blue, six-pointed spots shining through. In the second three slides, the same image is seen in shades of orange, but the stars are much more numerous, filling the screen almost completely. #NASA #Space #Universe #JWST #Astrophotography

09.24 23:56

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Take some time to enjoy the universe. 6,500 light-years away from Earth, the dusty Pillars of Creation reach out into the cosmos like a giant hand. Young stars are forming within this region of the Eagle Nebula, some "only" a few hundred thousand years old. Our orbiting @NASAWebb telescope captured this view of the Pillars in 2022. Previous images from other telescopes, taken with visible light, were much more opaque—but Webb's near-infrared vision allows it to partially see through these pillars of gas and dust, revealing the stars within. Scientists are using these findings to understand how stars are born and develop into solar systems like our own. Image description: Layers of semi-opaque, rusty-red gas and dust reach out from the bottom left of the image, forming finger-like pillars that extend into the top right. Peeking through the layers of gas and dust is the background, set in shades of blue and littered with tiny yellow and blue stars. Many of the tips of the pillars appear tinged with what looks like lava. There are also tiny red dots at the edges of the pillars, which are newly-born stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI #NASA #Webb #Universe #Mindfulness
Pardon our dust 🤧⁣ @NASAHubble captured this starry, dusty scene out in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.⁣ The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. This image shows a portion of the LMC’s second-largest star-forming region, where bright, young stars light up the gas clouds and sculpt clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation. Hubble observed this area roughly 20 years ago, but this latest observation focused on the dusty clouds that permeate the cluster, providing us with a new perspective on cosmic dust.⁣ Image description: Stars in a star cluster shine brightly blue, with four-pointed diffraction spikes radiating from them. The center shows a small, crowded group of stars while a larger group is partially visible on the right side of the image. The nebula is mostly thick, smoky clouds of gas, lit up in blue tones by the stars. Clumps of dust hover before and around the stars; they are mostly dark but lit around their edges where the starlight erodes them.⁣ Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, J. Maíz Apellániz⁣ #NASA #Hubble #Stars #Galaxy #Universe
Are you in this photo? On Jan. 10, 2017, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station snapped this pic as the @ISS soared over the northeastern United States at night. Near the center is New York City, with the distinctive shape of Long Island trailing off to the right. Newark and New Jersey sit across the river to the left; Philadelphia is in the bottom-left corner and Hartford, CT is in the top-right. Interstate 95, which connects many of the cities in this image, is visible here as a thin bright line. (Check the coast of Connecticut if you don't see it at first.) Astronaut photos taken from the space station aren't just pretty pictures: they provide a unique perspective of our changing Earth, especially for hazards and natural disasters. And Earth isn't the only world they're studying—when Artemis II lifts off in early 2026, our four-member crew will capture pictures of the Moon as it's never been seen before. Image description: The bright lights of New England and the mid-Atlantic shine in this image taken from the International Space Station. The brightest concentrations are near the center and the bottom-left and top-right corners, but cities and towns fill most of the photo. The Atlantic Ocean takes up most of the bottom-right part of this image, with rivers and other bodies of water showing up as dark lines. Credit: NASA/Shane Kimbrough #NASA #Earth #SpaceStation #NYC #Philly #EarthAtNight
She’s different, but shines in her own way 🌞 In this photo of Uranus captured by @NASAHubble, its auroras are on full display. But unlike other members of the Solar System, the pair of auroras shine on Uranus’s left and right sides instead of at the top and bottom of the planet. This is because of how the magnetic poles of Uranus are oriented. Most planets in our Solar System – like Earth – have magnetic poles on opposite vertical ends of the planet, with some tilting slightly to the side. Uranus, however, is the maverick of the planetary family. Its magnetic poles sit on opposite horizontal ends of the planet, as if the planet was lying on its side. Auroras happen when energetic particles from the Sun collide with a planet’s magnetic shield, transferring their energy to particles in the planet’s atmosphere. When that built-up energy is released, it creates a light show emanating from the magnetic poles. Since Uranus has horizontal poles rather than vertical, its auroras appear on the left and right sides of the planet. Image description: The sky blue planet of Uranus is centered against black space, glowing with deep blue auroras on its right and left sides. One of its rings is visible as a faint, white circle around the planet. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Lamy, L. Sromovsky #NASA #ESA #Uranus #Aurora #Planets #SolarSystem
@secduffynasa: Nothing embodies the American Dream more than our Astronaut Candidate Class of 2025. One of these ten could be the first person to set foot on the surface of Mars. Welcome to the Golden Age of Human Space Exploration! 💫🇺🇸🧑‍🚀
It just needs a little… shaping⁣ Combining data from @NASAChandraXray and @NASAWebb gave us this stunning view of a star-forming region, which highlights pink, wispy hair-like interstellar material.⁣ Closest to the center of the frame, there is a pair of bright stars – the most massive in this cluster. Winds from these stellar stylists may help sculpt the large loop seen on the right side of the field of view.⁣ Image description: Material resembling a tangle of dark pink hair swirls dramatically across the image. The picture is dotted with dozens of colorful orbs in various sizes. X-rays from Chandra are shown in red, green, and blue, while infrared data from Webb are pink, orange, and purple.⁣ Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major⁣ #NASA #Webb #Chandra #Telescope #Stars #Lights
Say hello to 10 future astronauts! 🧑‍🚀👋 On Monday, Sept. 22, we announced our 2025 class of astronaut candidates. These men and women, chosen from over 8,000 applicants, will embark on two years of training before graduating as flight-eligible astronauts, prepared for missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. Our astronaut candidates have backgrounds in aviation, engineering, and medicine; they've even served as NASA interns and supported our Mars rovers! Visit nasa.gov/astronauts to learn more about the new class. Image descriptions: NASA's 10 new astronaut candidates, wearing blue flight suits with their names and the NASA insignia, stand and smile at the camera. Our 2025 astronaut candidates are: 1) Ben Bailey, a chief warrant officer and Army experimental test pilot from Charlottesville, VA 2) Lauren Edgar, a geologist who worked on the Curiosity Mars rover and Artemis III science team, from Sammamish, WA 3) Adam Fuhrmann, a test pilot and major in the Air Force from Leesburg, VA 4) Cameron Jones, a test pilot and weapons officer in the Air Force from Savanna, IL 5) Yuri Kubo, a launch director and engineering executive from Columbus, IN 6) Rebecca Lawler, a former NOAA Hurricane Hunter and Naval aviator from Little Elm, TX 7) Anna Menon, who flew to space as a SpaceX engineer on the Polaris Dawn mission, from Houston, TX 8) Imelda Muller, an anesthesiologist from Copake Falls, NY 9) Erin Overcash, a Navy lieutenant commander and test pilot from Goshen, KY 10) Katherine Spies, a former flight test engineering director and Marine Corps test pilot from San Diego, CA Credit: NASA #NASA #Space #Astronaut
A cosmic phantom spiral 🌀 Our @NASAWebb telescope, studying the universe from its vantage point a million miles from Earth, captured this image of NGC 628, more informally known as the Phantom Galaxy. We're fortunate, from the viewpoint of our solar system, that the Phantom Galaxy appears face-on, allowing us to study its intricate spiral arms in great detail. The Phantom Galaxy is 32 million light-years away, and can be found in the constellation Pisces. Visit webb.nasa.gov to check out the latest updates from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Image description: An intricate net of spiral arms, in shades of red and orange, swirls towards a small, bright blue center. Blue and red dots fill the background of the image. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team #NASA #Webb #Space #Universe #Spiral
Here comes the Sun(-studying spacecraft) Here comes the Sun And I say, "it’s alright"... ...if you’re curious about two new NASA missions! Launching later this month, they will study bursts of solar energy that can impact technology and astronauts exploring space. When the Sun’s magnetic fields reconnect and create a solar flare, it sends out streams of charged particles. NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will track this solar wind as it reaches the boundaries of the solar system and interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond. IMAP will also be able to help provide real-time observations of the solar wind as it approaches Earth, providing about a half-hour’s warning of harmful radiation for spacecraft and astronauts. As Artemis astronauts venture beyond Earth’s magnetic protection to the Moon and Mars, IMAP’s data becomes ever more crucial to fill in missing puzzle pieces that will help mission planners predict and mitigate the effects of space weather. It will share a ride to space with NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. Carruthers will use its post nearly a million miles from Earth to view the exosphere, our home planet’s outermost atmospheric layer that plays a role in space weather. These two spacecraft will be the latest in a fleet that keeps watch for flares like the one seen in this Solar Dynamics Observatory image, captured on May 14, 2024. Image description: The image shows the Sun, with the bright flash of a solar flare on the right standing out against the yellow outline. Other bright spots and loops of plasma appear across the surface. At the bottom left, superimposed text identifies the wavelength used by the Solar Dynamics Observatory to capture the image — 171 angstroms — and the date and time. Credit: NASA/SDO #NASA #Sun #Space #SpaceWeather #SolarSystem
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