Official Space is Awesome Thread

[Argonne69]

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy (SGAS J143845+145407), resulting in a mirror image of the galaxy.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, J. Rigby
 

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The galaxy CGCG 396-2, an unusual multi-armed galaxy merger which lies ~520 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, W. Keel
 

[Argonne69]

Watching the live broadcast of the NASA DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission. If everything goes as planned, the golf cart sized impactor spacecraft traveling at 6 km/s will crash into the 525 foot wide asteroid Dimorphos within the hour. The mission will test the ability of an autonomous spacecraft to target and deflect an asteroid. Telescopes on Earth will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the impact. The craft was launched in late November 2021. 

 

At 43 minutes before impact the spacecraft has locked on to the target. 

 

The Japanese Italian Space Agency has a spacecraft in the vicinity, so hopefully we'll get some good photos and/or video of the impact. 

 

 

 

 

Success! The last frame before loss of signal showed numerous boulders on the surface. 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Images from the Italian-built LICIACube as the NASA DART spacecraft rammed into the asteroid Dimorphos. The asteroid in the foreground is Didymos. LICIACube was trailing behind DART at the time of impact.

 

 

 

Images: ASI/NASA

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

A few more stills from DART just before impact. The last photo was literally the last frame sent back to Earth before impact. 

 

 

 

 

 

Images: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Webb’s mid-infrared instrument captures spiral galaxy IC 5332. The galaxy lies 29 million light years away.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, STScI

 

IC 5332 taken by Hubble.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, STScl

 

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Buzz with both feet on the LM footpad, just moments away from stepping onto the lunar surface for the first time. 'Magical stuff.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

[Argonne69]

This deep field by the Dark Energy Camera peers inward towards the center of our Milky Way. There are more than 180,000 stars visible here. In this direction, dust and stars drown out the faint light of distant galaxies.

 

 

Image: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/STScI, W. Clarkson, C. Johnson, and M. Rich
 

[Argonne69]

NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed a close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa recently. The second image was taken from 219 miles above the moon’s surface.

 

 

 

 

Images: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SWR, MSSS, Thomas Appere, Thomas Thomopoulos
 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

A massive plume of plasma shooting out of the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), extends a distance of more than 1 million miles from the solar surface.

 

 

Image: A. McCarthy
 

[Argonne69]

It never gets old looking at Saturn's rings. The rings are estimated to be 100 million years old, fairly young compared to the planet's age, and were likely created when one of Saturn's moons drifted too close to the planet was was torn into pieces.

 

 

Image: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI

 

[Argonne69]

Arp-Madore 608-333 consists of two interacting galaxies.

 

 

Image: ESA, Hubble, NASA, Dark Energy Survey, DOE, FNAL, DECam, CTIO, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA, J. Dalcanton

 

[Argonne69]

A composite image of the Orion Nebula taken by Hubble spans 24 light-years across. At the center of the image sits the Trapezium cluster. It is located 1344 light-years away, and contains thousands of new stars.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto, Hubble

 

[Argonne69]

Herbig–Haro objects HH 1 (upper right), and HH 2 (lower left). Both are in the constellation Orion and are ~1250 light-years away. Herbig-Haro objects are young stars that blast twin superheated jets of ionized gas from their poles through surrounding bodies of dust and gas. HH objects are difficult to observe because the surrounding dust and gas absorb much of the visible light.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, B. Reipurth, B. Nisini
 

[Argonne69]

The Pillars of Creation as seen by the Webb telescope. The PoC is an arm of the Eagle Nebula, located 6,500 light-years away. The nebula is 70 light-years by 55 light-years in size. The PoC is an ~5 light-year long arm of the larger nebula.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale, A. M. Koekemoer, A. Pagan

 

Hubble (left) vs. Webb (right)

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale, A. M. Koekemoer, A. Pagan

 

[Argonne69]

Spiral galaxy NGC 5495 lies ~300 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, J. Greene, R. Colombari
 

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The Little Sombrero galaxy, NGC 7814 (Caldwell 43) is 66,000 light years wide, and ~66 million light-years away. 

 

 

Image: E. Sheldon, Dark Energy Survey

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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this panorama of a hill nicknamed “Bolívar”.

 

 

Image: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

 

Selfie.

 

 

Image: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

NASA's Lucy spacecraft is on a six year journey to Jupiter to study the Trojan asteroids. Lucy captured this photo of our home and the Moon from a distance of 890,000 miles as it swung by Earth in the first of its three gravity assist maneuvers. Its dark and lonely out in space.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

[Argonne69]

Another haunting image of the Pillars of Creation taken by the JWST. This one was taken with the mid-infrared instrument. The photos released last week were taken in near-infrared.

 

 

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale, A. Pagan

 

[Argonne69]

The reflection nebula NGC 1999 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a "peculiar portrait" of the swirling cloud of gas and dust. The most distinctive feature of the photo is the dark void in the heart of the nebula shaped like a keyhole. NGC 1999 is ~1,350 light-years away near the Orion Nebula.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll
 

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Messier 76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula, is an impressive planetary nebula in the constellation Perseus. Planetary nebulae are the short-lived end-point in the lives of Sun-like stars, their outer layers expelled with the hot core exposed as an ever-cooling white dwarf remnant.

 

 

Image: P. Goodhew
 

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The Webb telescope captures a pair of galaxies smashing together, triggering waves of new star formation. At the center of the collision, the merger of the two supermassive black holes at the center of each is likely underway. IC 1623 lies 270 million light-years away.

 

 

Image: ESA

Hubble's view of IC 1623.

 

 

Image: ESA
 

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This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows two of the galaxies in the galactic triplet Arp 248 (Wild's Triplet). It lies ~200 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The two large spiral galaxies seem to be connected by a luminous bridge. This stream of stars and interstellar dust is known as a tidal tail, and was formed by the mutual gravitational attraction of the two galaxies.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, J. Dalcanton
 

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Spiral galaxy NGC 7038 lies ~220 million light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Indus.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Jones, G. Anand, L. Shatz

 

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A bright young star, IRAS 05506+241, is surrounded by a shroud of thick gas and dust in this image from Hubble. It is located ~9,000 light years away in the constellation Taurus.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sahai
 

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Neil stows away rock samples on the Lunar surface.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

The Dorado Group with spiral galaxy NGC 1515 at its center, and thousands of other galaxies in the background.

 

 

Image: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, T.A. Rector, J. Miller, M. Zamani, D. de Martin

 

[Argonne69]

Hopefully this is the beginning of the next phase of space travel. NASA'a Artemis 1 mission was successfully launched early this morning, and will spend four days traveling to the Moon. After 17 days in orbit the unmanned Orion capsule will make its return to Earth.

 

SLS' two side boosters and four RS-25 engines produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making SLS the most powerful rocket in existence. The rocket is capable of lifting more than 57,320 pounds (26 metric tons) of cargo and crew.
 

 

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With the Earth and the Sun in the background, Artemis 1 begins its 4 day journey to the Moon.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Image: NASA

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Argonne69