Spent Some Time Yesterday Checking Out Atlantis At KSC. #atlantis #spaceshuttleatlantis #nasa #solarsystemambassador

See the Universe in a New Way with the Webb Space Telescope's First Images

Are you ready to see unprecedented, detailed views of the universe from the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful space observatory ever made? Scroll down to see the first full-color images and data from Webb. Unfold the universe with us. ✨

Carina Nebula

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars, called the Cosmic Cliffs, is the edge of the star-birthing Carina Nebula. Usually, the early phases of star formation are difficult to capture, but Webb can peer through cosmic dust—thanks to its extreme sensitivity, spatial resolution, and imaging capability. Protostellar jets clearly shoot out from some of these young stars in this new image.

Southern Ring Nebula

The Southern Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula: it’s an expanding cloud of gas and dust surrounding a dying star. In this new image, the nebula’s second, dimmer star is brought into full view, as well as the gas and dust it’s throwing out around it. (The brighter star is in its own stage of stellar evolution and will probably eject its own planetary nebula in the future.) These kinds of details will help us better understand how stars evolve and transform their environments. Finally, you might notice points of light in the background. Those aren’t stars—they’re distant galaxies.

Stephan’s Quintet

Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies near each other, was discovered in 1877 and is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This new image brings the galaxy group from the silver screen to your screen in an enormous mosaic that is Webb’s largest image to date. The mosaic covers about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter; it contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. Never-before-seen details are on display: sparkling clusters of millions of young stars, fresh star births, sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars, and huge shock waves paint a dramatic picture of galactic interactions.

WASP-96 b

WASP-96 b is a giant, mostly gas planet outside our solar system, discovered in 2014. Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) measured light from the WASP-96 system as the planet moved across the star. The light curve confirmed previous observations, but the transmission spectrum revealed new properties of the planet: an unambiguous signature of water, indications of haze, and evidence of clouds in the atmosphere. This discovery marks a giant leap forward in the quest to find potentially habitable planets beyond Earth.

Webb's First Deep Field

This image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, looks 4.6 billion years into the past. Looking at infrared wavelengths beyond Hubble’s deepest fields, Webb’s sharp near-infrared view reveals thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—in the most detailed view of the early universe to date. We can now see tiny, faint structures we’ve never seen before, like star clusters and diffuse features and soon, we’ll begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions.

These images and data are just the beginning of what the observatory will find. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space—and for milestones like this!

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

My published Mission Juno image…

I had a wonderful time talking about human space flight to 3rd Graders at Starling Elementary today! The kids were very knowledgeable and had fantastic questions! I love the reaction I get when I tell my two “Gemini Astronauts” they have to sit next to each other and not shower for two weeks! Everybody: “EEEEWWWWWWW!!!” #stemeducation #STEM #NASA #ArtemisGeneration #Artemis #SolarSystemAmbassador #Orion #sls #spaceflight #gwinnettcounty #gwinnettcountyschools #graysongeorgia #wearegoing #explorepage #space https://www.instagram.com/p/CmLF0wZuxw8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Become a SKYWARN Spotter

Help the National Weather Service track current conditions, prepare for severe weather, and perform damage assessments. Click below to learn more about SKYWARN.

“Skywarn® and the Skywarn® logo are registered trademarks of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.”

Spent yesterday afternoon talking about “NASA In The 60s” to kids at a Gwinnett Parks Summer Camp. I love being a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador!!! #stemeducation #nasa #solarsystemambassador #nasasolarsystemambassador #gwinnetcountyparks https://www.instagram.com/p/CfHbeldO82N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Maybe after a long day at work isn’t the best time for a lecture...

What’s Up October 2017

What’s Up For October? 

Planet Pairs, Stellar Superstars, Observe The Moon Night!!

This month, catch planet pairs, our moon near red stars, an asteroid, meteors and International Observe the Moon Night!

You can’t miss bright Venus in the predawn sky. Look for fainter Mars below Venus on the 1st, really close on the 5th, and above Venus after that.

Midmonth, the moon is visible near Regulus, the white starry heart of the constellation Leo.

In the October 8-11 predawn sky watch the moon glide near the Pleiades star cluster and pass near the red stars Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus and Betelgeuse in Orion.

After dusk in the early part of the month look for Saturn in the southwest sky above another red star: Antares in Scorpius. Later in the month, find the moon above Antares October 22 and 23.

Saturn will be above the moon on the 23rd and below it on the 24th.

Uranus reach opposition on October 19th. It’s visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable. It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye–and for sure in binoculars.

The Orionids peak on October 20–a dark, moonless night. Look near Orion’s club in the hours before dawn and you may see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour.

Use binoculars to look for bright asteroid 7 Iris in the constellation Aries. Newbies to astronomy should be able to spot this magnitude 6.9 asteroid - even from the city. 

Look later in the month and sketch its positions a day or two apart–to see it move.

Finally, celebrate International Observe the Moon Night on October 28 with your local astronomy club, Solar System Ambassador, museum, or planetarium. The first quarter moon that night will display some great features!

Watch the full What’s Up for October Video: 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

Pleiades

If Alan Shepard can take swings on the Moon, then I call dibs on Mars. I’ll have Perseverance data to keep me out of the bunkers. @nasa @nasajpl #mars #perseverance #nasaperseverance #marsrover #mars2020 #mars2020rover https://www.instagram.com/p/CDsSY85nQoj/?igshid=192a1toh0qhtm

Playing with false color to bring out detail. . . . . #celestron127slt #celestrontelescope #solarsystemambassador #backyardastronomy #moon https://www.instagram.com/p/CSnu-exs0kp/?utm_medium=tumblr