ASTRONOMY

2022-11-14 20:11:21 Open / Comment

2022-11-14 20:08:09 Today Chandra is studying a cloud in #Sagittarius. Nearby in the sky is the Swan Nebula, one of the brightest star-forming regions in our galaxy. Located more than 5,000 light years from Earth, the Swan is a glowing reservoir of #hydrogen, #oxygen, and #sulfur gas.

Infrared: #NASA, SOFIA, ESA, Herschel, JPL-Caltech

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2022-11-14 20:06:12 W44 is a #supernova remnant located about 8,000 light-years from Earth. The remnant is interacting with the thick interstellar material that surrounds it, encouraging the birth of new #stars. W44 is more than 125 light-years across and it's still expanding.

X-ray (Chandra): NASA, CXC, Univ. of Georgia/R.Shelton & NASA, CXC, GSFC/R.Petre;
Infrared (Spitzer): #NASA, JPL-Caltech

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2022-11-12 21:00:01 425 million light-years away…

That’s how far away this group of galaxies known as NGC 7764A resides, in the constellation Phoenix.

NGC 7764A is a good example of just how weird naming conventions can get for galaxies. The three galaxies individually are referred to as NGC 7764A1, NGC 7764A2, and NGC 7764A3.

Though this might seem haphazard, it’s important to keep in mind that many astronomical catalogs were compiled over a century ago, well before modern technology made standardizing scientific terminology easier. As a result, many cosmic objects have multiple names!

Music credit: "Space Creatures," Andrew Griffiths [PRS], Robert Edward Bradley [PRS], The Retro Music Library [PRS], Universal Production Music

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2022-11-12 20:55:41 Today Chandra is pointed into the constellation Ara. Nearby in the sky is the Stingray Nebula. This noteworthy nebula has dimmed considerably over a short amount of time due to its central star. The star expanded due to a temperature drop, and in turn it's emitting less ionizing radiation.

Optical (#Hubble): #NASA, ESA, B. Balick (University of Washington), M. Guerrero (Instituto de Astrofi‌sica de Andaluci‌a), and G. Ramos-Larios (Universidad de Guadalajara)

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2022-11-12 20:52:14 Space Butterfly!

A dying star at the center of the Butterfly Nebula used to be about five times the mass of our Sun! But the star has cast off its envelope of gases and is unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet radiation that makes the ejected material glow.

This nebula is roughly 3,400 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

Music credit : “A Story Told,” Toby Berger [PRS], Abbey Road Masters [PRS], Universal Production Music

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2022-11-12 20:42:46 It's often difficult to determine the timeline of a star's demise. By studying the remarkable remains of a supernova in Dorado using NASA telescopes, a team has found enough clues to help wind back the clock. More about the discovery in the comments!

X-ray - Chandra: #NASA, CXC, GSFC/B. J. Williams et al.;
Optical - #Hubble: NASA, ESA, STScI

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2022-11-12 20:38:18 Today Chandra is studying Centaurus A. This famous galaxy features a spectacular jet, thousands of light years long, that's generated by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. In this Chandra view, red, green, and blue show low, medium, and high-energy X-rays. Centaurus A is located about 12 million light years from Earth.

X-ray (Chandra): NASA, CXC, U.Birmingham, M.Burke et al.

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2022-11-12 20:24:04 This elegant sphere of gas is about 23 light-years across and it's expanding at more than 17 million kilometers per hour. The supernova explosion that produced SNR 0509 may have been visible to observers in the southern hemisphere around the year 1600, however, there are no known records of a "new star" appearing in its vicinity at the time.

X-ray (Chandra): NASA, CXC, SAO/J.Hughes et al.;
Optical (Hubble): #NASA, ESA, #Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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2022-10-07 12:38:26 Listen to the first sonifications of images from NASAWebb! A multi-mission team of scientists, musicians, and an accessibility expert/member of the blind community worked to map Webb's history-making data to sound. The results are captivating! More in the at: https://s.si.edu/sonifywebb

Description:
A sonification of the Carina Nebula, a large cloud of gas and dust where stars are forming or have already formed, scans the image from left to right. The soundtrack is vibrant and full, representing the detail in this gigantic, gaseous cavity that has the appearance of a mountain range.

Gas and dust in the top half of the image are represented in blue hues and windy, drone-like sounds. The bottom half, in ruddy shades of orange and red, has a clearer, more melodic composition.

Brighter light is louder. Vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. Example: bright light near the top sounds lo ...

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