NASA

NASA

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Long-distance friendships can be a beautiful thing 💞 In this case captured by @NASAHubble, two galaxies in the trio known as Arp 295 have created a 250,000-light-year-long bridge of stars, connecting each other across the distance between them. When galaxies get close to each other, their gravity can distort their shapes. When this happens, they’re known as interacting galaxies; if they get close enough together, they can eventually merge into one. Researchers believe that galactic mergers are common, and it is even expected that our own Milky Way will merge with our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, in four billion years. This stellar stripe connects the galaxy in the center of the image, known as Arp 295a, to a second galaxy out of frame above it, Arp 295b. The bridge then trails off down below Arp 295a. Image description: An image focused on Arp 295a against the backdrop of black space littered with stars and distant galaxies. Arp 295a is viewed edge-on, appearing as a thin stripe of pale light shrouded by a smoky dust pattern. A faint streak of light extends both upward and downward from it. Another member of the trio, Arp 295c, is pictured to the right of Arp 295a, and appears smaller, bluer, and face-on. Credit: NASA/ESA/J. Dalcanton (University of Washington)/R. Windhorst (Arizona State University)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) #Space #NASA #Galaxy #Universe #LDR

12.09 01:15

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Swipe right to see a lot more of Mars When our astronauts set foot on the surface of Mars, they could be treated to a panorama like this one, taken by our Curiosity rover earlier this year. Curiosity has been rolling through the Gale Crater region for more than 4,000 Martian days, exploring the Red Planet's geology from a time when it could have once been home to microbial life. Curiosity captured this view on Feb. 7, 2025, as it climbed Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall mountain made up of layers which formed in different eras of Martian history. By studying each layer, Curiosity's scientists can learn more about how the planet's environment changed over time from a warmer, wetter, and more Earthlike world to the freezing desert it is today. This view looks back down from the slopes of Mount Sharp into Gale Crater. Image description: A very wide panorama, split into several images, shows off a rocky Martian landscape. A rippled, reddish-brown surface dominates the foreground, with hilly slopes descending into a flat plain—the surface of Gale Crater. The far wall of the crater can be faintly seen in the distance. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS #NASA #Space #Mars #CuriosityRover #Explore
Group photo with the besties! @NASAHubble captured this rare shot of Jupiter with three of its moons perfectly in view: Europa, Callisto, and Io. While it is common to see any of Jupiter’s larger moons transiting the planet, it is rare to see three do so at once, happening only once or twice per decade. To date, we have discovered over 90 moons around Jupiter. Jupiter has more moons than almost any other planet in our solar system, only beat by Saturn with more than 270. Europa, Callisto, and Io are three of Jupiter's four largest moons, which were first spotted in 1610 by astronomer Galileo Galilei. They were also three of the first moons ever discovered in our solar system (besides our own). Image description: Jupiter dominates the image, shown at an almost perfectly diagonal angle. Three of the planet’s moons — Europa, Callisto, and Io — are visible around its equatorial line, appearing as small circles of varying brightness. Two of the moons cast very noticeable shadows on Jupiter’s body. Io is at the top right of the planet in the image. Europa and Callisto are at the bottom left, with Europa below Callisto. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) #NASA #Hubble #SolarSystem #Jupiter #Squad
Look up at the Moon! The last full moon of 2025 reaches its peak on Thursday, Dec. 4. This month's full moon is also a supermoon—meaning that it's near its closest point to Earth in its orbit, so it will appear slightly bigger and brighter than usual. The Moon will be just under 222,000 miles away from Earth on Dec. 4. If you were able to drive to the Moon at 60 miles an hour, it would take you five months to get there—but when our Artemis II mission lifts off next year, it will fly around the Moon and back in just ten days! Our four Artemis II astronauts will observe the Moon from close-up and test out the equipment we'll use on future missions to the Moon's surface. Image description: A large, full moon takes up much of this photo's top-right corner; it shines a pale yellow, and many craters and other landmarks are visible. A small plane can be seen passing in front of the Moon near its bottom-left. The background is a dark blue, with the blurry outline of shrubbery visible at the left and bottom of the photo. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky #NASA #Space #Moon #FullMoon #Artemis
lizard 🦎 lizard 🦎 The Lacerta constellation (Latin for 'lizard') isn't the brightest in the night sky, but it's still full of spectacular sights when viewed through a telescope like @NASAHubble. The trail of lights on the right of this image is a galaxy known as NGC 7250, which contains billions of stars—but they all blend into the background (like a chameleon, perhaps?) compared to the single bright star just left of center. This is only possible because that star is 7,500 times closer to us than NGC 7250. Images like this are a good reminder that just because stars appear close in a constellation, this is only true from Earth's perspective. In actuality, the lights of the Lizard (or any other constellation) may actually be countless light-years away from each other. Image description: A large, bright star with eight diffraction spikes dominates this image, with many smaller stars and galaxies spread throughout the image. A number of blue and red stars from a more distant galaxy trail off to the star's right. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA #NASA #Space #Universe #Telescope #Lizard
In this close flyby of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, our Juno spacecraft was able to capture this crisp photo of the moon’s surface.⁣ Ganymede is marked by multiple impact craters – most of which have white rays streaking out from them. However, a small percentage of impact scars are marked by dark rays instead, like streaks of charcoal. The dark crater named Kittu, shown here, is one example of these dark marks.⁣ Scientists believe that when dark craters occur, contaminants from the object that crashed into Ganymede are responsible for the darker debris. The dark material stays dark because it remains warmer than its surroundings, preventing ice from forming and turning it a lighter shade.⁣ Our Europa Clipper spacecraft, which launched in 2024, is on a mission to survey Europa, another one of Jupiter's moons—but not before passing by Ganymede in 2030. Ganymede might even serve as the spacecraft’s site of retirement, crashing into its surface at the end of its mission.⁣ Image description: The gray, streaky surface of Ganymede dominates the image, with a small amount of black space peeking out at the top of the image. The charcoal-black crater is in the center of the image, with sharp rays radiating out from the impact site. The rest of the surface is various shades of gray, dotted with white impact craters.⁣ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Thomas Thomopoulos © CC BY⁣ #Space #SolarSystem #Jupiter #Ganymede #JunoCam
Spider Nebula, Spider Nebula⁣ Does whatever a Spider Nebula does 🎵⁣ @NASAWebb was recently able to capture never-before-seen details of the very photogenic Red Spider Nebula. For the first time, we can see the full extent of the nebula’s lobes (in blue), and we can tell that the lobes are closed, bubble-like structures that each extend about 3 light-years.⁣ Planetary nebulae like this one are made when a Sun-like star reaches the end of its life. After ballooning into a red giant, the star then throws off its outer layers into space, revealing its white-hot core. Ultraviolet light from the central star causes the cast-off material to glow.⁣ Though we can only see one star – the central star – here, it’s possible that there is a companion star, too. Its presence could explain the nebula’s shape: the characteristic narrow waist and wide outflows.⁣ Image description: A multicolored nebula stands out against the star-studded background of space. The nebula’s central star is hidden by a blotchy pinkish cloud of dust. A strong red light radiates from this area, lighting up the nearby dust. An elongated purple ‘S’ shape is centered on the heart of the nebula, while two blue lobes stretch diagonally outward to the edges of the image, making the entire structure look like a tilted hourglass.⁣ Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology)⁣ #NASA #Webb #Telescope #Nebula #Stars #Space
No need to turn your phone – or yourself – upside down to appreciate the view!⁣ JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui snapped this photo of southern Europe from the @ISS as it orbited 261 miles above Earth. At left, the Po Valley urban corridor in Italy shines with the metropolitan areas of Milan and Turin and their surrounding suburbs.⁣ Space station crew have taken hundreds of thousands of images of the land, oceans, and atmosphere of Earth over the years. Their photographs record how our home planet changes over time. This allows scientists to monitor disasters and direct response on the ground and study phenomena.⁣ Image description: Earth is a dark sphere with a glowing green border in this photo. We can only see one portion of it; in this photo’s orientation, we’re looking at the “bottom” of Earth’s sphere. City lights shine brightly at middle left; they are more dispersed throughout the rest of Earth that’s visible. Part of the space station is just barely visible at top left.⁣ Credit: JAXA/Kimiya Yui⁣ #NASA #World #Europe #Space #Earth
Making history ✈️ On Oct. 28, 2025, our X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took off for the first time. Though this initial flight was subsonic - that is, slower than the speed of sound - the X-59 is designed to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce the sound of loud sonic booms to quieter sonic thumps.⁣ ⁣ For this first flight, NASA test pilot Nils Larson flew the X-59 up to an altitude of about 12,000 feet and an approximate top speed of 230 mph (370 kph), precisely as planned. These conditions allowed the team to conduct in-flight system and performance checks.⁣ ⁣ Next up for @NASAAero and the X-59? We’re prepping for a series of test flights where the plane will operate at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds. This phase will ensure the X-59 meets performance and safety expectations.⁣ ⁣ Image description: The X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off from Palmdale, California. The white and silver plane has a distinctive shape with a long, sharply pointed nose. The words "NASA" and "X-59" are on the body of the aircraft. There are hazy mountains in the distance.⁣ ⁣ Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas⁣ ⁣ #NASA #Aeronautics #Aviation #Supersonic #Quiet #Flying
We just released our newest images of an interstellar comet. Here's what you need to know. 3I/ATLAS, first discovered in July, is only the third object we've ever seen passing through our solar system from elsewhere in the galaxy. Its trajectory will take it no closer than 170 million miles from Earth—almost twice the distance between Earth and the Sun. Every observation our spacecraft and telescopes have made is consistent with 3I/ATLAS being a comet. Interstellar objects give us a unique opportunity to learn more about what solar systems beyond ours are made of, so astronomers have been keeping a close eye on comet 3I/ATLAS on its arc around our Sun. Though releasing data from our spacecraft was not an excepted activity during the recent lapse in government funding, we've still been studying the comet from our Lucy mission en route to the asteroid belt, our Sun-watching PUNCH satellites in low Earth orbit, and even our Perseverance rover on Mars! The first image in this carousel was taken from our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which observed 3I/ATLAS from a distance of 19 million miles on Oct. 2, 2025. Swipe on to see newly-released images, annotations, and diagrams from other space missions—and check the link in our bio to read more about our latest 3I/ATLAS discoveries. Image descriptions and credits are available in the comments. #NASA #3IATLAS #ATLAS #Space #Astronomy
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