Latest Posts by astronomyandgalaxies - Page 3
Approaching the Agena target vehicle, earth horizon in background, Gemini VIII.
Stingray Nebula
“Archival data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveal that the nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, has faded precipitously over just the past two decades. Witnessing such a swift rate of change in a planetary nebula is exceedingly rare, say researchers. These images captured by Hubble in 1996 (left), when compared to Hubble images taken in 2016 (right), show a nebula that has drastically dimmed in brightness and changed shape. Bright blue shells of gas near the centre of the nebula have all but disappeared, and the wavy edges that earned this nebula its aquatic-themed name are virtually gone. The young nebula no longer pops against the black velvet background of the distant Universe.” - via Wikimedia Commons
Aurora on Saturn captured by the Hubble Telescope
Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 28
Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
A foreground grass field is shown below a distant field of stars. On the grass field are some trees. Dwarfing the trees, in the sky, is a comet with a long tail.
Image Credit & Copyright: Mauricio Salazar
Explanation: Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a small moon. When nearing the Sun, however, this nucleus can eject dust and gas and leave a thin tail that can spread to an enormous length -- even greater than the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Pictured, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sports a tail of sunlight-reflecting dust and glowing gas that spans several times the apparent size of a full moon, appearing even larger on long duration camera images than to the unaided eye. The featured image shows impressive Comet ATLAS over trees and a grass field in Sierras de Mahoma, San Jose, Uruguay about a week ago. After being prominent in the sunset skies of Earth's southern hemisphere, Comet G3 ATLAS is now fading as it moves away from the Sun, making its impressive tails increasingly hard to see.
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.
Which color would you choose to travel to?
These wallpapers are available on my ko-fi here!
The Star Cluster NGC 602
A image of star cluster NGC 602 from Chandra & NASAWebb is about 175 light-years across and it sparkles with the light from thousands of stars.
The star cluster NGC 602 lies on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, about 200,000 light-years from Earth. The stars in NGC 602 have fewer heavier elements compared to the Sun and most of the rest of the galaxy. Instead, the conditions within NGC 602 mimic those for stars found billions of years ago when the universe was much younger.
This new image combines data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory with a previously released image from the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope. The dark ring-like outline of the wreath seen in Webb data (represented as orange, yellow, green, and blue) is made up of dense clouds of filled dust.
Credit X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani;
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand.
Release Date December 17, 2024.
NGC 6543 Widefield (HAO3LRGB) Cats Eye!
Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
M64: BLACK-EYE GALAXY
The Boogeyman Nebula and Tarantula Nebula
IC 1295
"Insertion of astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr. (foreground) and Thomas P. Stafford into Gemini-6A spacecraft prior to launch."
Date: December 15, 1965
NASA ID: S65-66744
Launch of Gemini 6 Titan II (SC6/GLV-6 12561) from Launch Complex 19. "The Gemini VI, scheduled as a two-day mission, was launched from Pad 19, carrying astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr., Command Pilot, and Thomas P. Stafford, Pilot. Gemini VI rendezvoused with Gemini VII, already orbiting the Earth."
Date: December 15, 1965
NASA ID: KSC-65PC-0161, S65-44293, S65-59987
Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
Credits: Blake Estes, Christian Sasse
The Lonely Neutron Star in Supernova E0102 72.3
Credits: NASA, CXC, ESO, F. Vogt et al., ESO, VLT, MUSE, NASA, STScI
Moon Eater~ I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and ate everything and more!
Geminid Meteors over Chile
Credits: Yuri Beletsky, Carnegie, Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN
Visiting Kennedy Space Center yesterday was very emotional for me. It brought back the memories of how much I had longed to be an astronaut, and how hard I worked toward that goal until illness crushed my dreams. I also may have sobbed through the Challenger and Columbia Memorial Exhibit. If you get a chance to visit the center, I highly recommend it. It’s massive and awesome.