Supermassive Black Holes — G. S. Jennsen

missions

Webb & the Cartwheel Galaxy

Well this is just ridiculous. What an incredibly cool galaxy! This image is dancing with color and verve and motion. There's a party going on in this sector of the universe.

“NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole. Webb’s powerful infrared gaze produced this detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies. This image provides a new view of how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years.

“The Cartwheel Galaxy, located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, is a rare sight. Its appearance, much like that of the wheel of a wagon, is the result of an intense event – a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image.” Learn more here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/webb-captures-stellar-gymnastics-in-the-cartwheel-galaxy

Originally posted on Facebook.

Jupiter's Polar Vortices

“As NASA’s Juno mission completed its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter on July 5, 2022, its JunoCam instrument captured this striking view of vortices — hurricane-like spiral wind patterns — near the planet’s north pole.

“These powerful storms can be over 30 miles (50 kilometers) in height and hundreds of miles across.” Learn more here: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-mission-spies-vortices-near-jupiter-s-north-pole

Originally posted on Twitter.

Behold the Power of This Fully Operational Webb Telescope

This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

The other images released are as follows:

1. The Cosmic Cliffs of Carina (oh, you lovely, wondrous spectacle of a creation!)

2. Stephen's Quintet

3. Southern Ring Nebula

4. Wasp-96 b atmospheric composition

If I posted all their details here this post would get quite long. But, you can go here: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages to download the high-res images and more. Just click on each image, and you’ll be taken to a page full of details about the target, what the image shows and how Webb captured it. Highly recommended!

Originally posted on Facebook, (2).

Saturn's Rings

Well this is just insanely beautiful. Cassini was an absolute legend.

From Jason Major on Twitter: “Here's a view of Saturn's rings made from images captured by #Cassini on July 4, 2008. Prometheus is visible inside the F ring at the bottom, as is Atlas at left along the outer edge of the A ring. Spoke structures can be seen within the B ring. Saturn's shadow is at upper right.”

https://twitter.com/JPMajor/status/1411694496010719235

Originally posted on Twitter.

Webb Images Coming Soon, and They're Tearjerkers

Get the tissues ready on July 12, guys. NASA is ramping up the anticipation of the first real Webb images to 11, and we've still got a week to go!

“NASA scientists say images from the Webb telescope nearly brought them to tears”: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/nasa-teases-extraordinary-images-captured-by-its-webb-telescope/

Originally posted on Facebook.

Hello, Mercury!

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission captured this beautiful view of Mercury’s rich geological landscape on June 23, 2022 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for a gravity assist maneuver. 

The image was taken by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was within about 920 km from the surface of Mercury. Closest approach of about 200 km took place shortly before.

Read all about the details of the image here: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/06/BepiColombo_surveys_Mercury_s_rich_geology

Originally posted on Twitter.

Catching A Rocket

Rocket Lab has just joined SpaceX in the club of space companies that can launch an orbital-class rocket booster and bring it back alive.

In a sense, the California-based company one-upped SpaceX by having a helicopter snag the first-stage booster of its Electron rocket with a cable and a hook as it floated past on the end of a parachute, 6,500 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

Read more about it here: https://www.universetoday.com/155706/they-did-it-rocket-lab-uses-copter-to-catch-and-release-a-rocket/

Originally posted on Twitter.

Keep Exploring

NASA has extended the planetary science missions of eight of its spacecraft due to their scientific productivity and potential to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the solar system and beyond.

The missions – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), InSight lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, OSIRIS-REx, and New Horizons – have been selected for continuation

Check that out! Curiosity is such a champ, showing no signs of slowing down on Mars after a decade of exploring the Red Planet. OSIRIS-REx is going to visit * another * asteroid, and New Horizons - can you believe it made its extraordinary visit to Pluto SEVEN years ago - will continue to probe the far outer reaches of our solar system.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-extends-exploration-for-8-planetary-science-missions

Originally posted on Twitter.

Good News From Space

NASA is bursting with great news for us this week!

(1) Following the completion of the final critical mirror alignment steps, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team now expects that Webb’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed the science goals the observatory was built to achieve. Every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations. The team also found no critical issues and no measurable contamination or blockages to Webb’s optical path. The observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.

The image was taken to "prove" alignment had been successfully completed - and, yes, all those smudges are galaxies. Expect the science images to start arriving this summer!

(2) After 21 flights, NASA has extended Ingenuity’s flight operations through September as it continues with scouting efforts for Perseverance. The helicopter that so many insisted would never be able to fly at all, will now fly on Mars for a second year. Go, Ginny! #thelittlehelicopterthatcould

Originally posted on Facebook.

Ringshine

“This view, made from images acquired by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on February 17, 2007, shows the effect of "ringshine" on Saturn's night side. Twilight and pre-dawn on Saturn would be pretty bright, thanks to its reflective rings.”

Cassini graced us with a lifetime’s worth of some of the most stunning images imaginable of Saturn and its satellites. Until such time as we can send humans to orbit amidst the rings, let us stare upon them with wonder and joy.

Posted by Jason Major: https://twitter.com/JPMajor/status/1494317365072482307.

Originally posted on Twitter.

Galactic Core As We've Never Seen It

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) has released new MeerKAT radio telescope images of the radio emissions at the center of our galaxy, and they are INCREDIBLE! I am once again in awe of our universe. Who wishes they could see radio waves now? Me, that’s who.

The primary image (first below) show nearly 1,000 strands of magnetic filaments, measuring up to 150 light-years in length. "It's unclear what they are, or how they came into existence. What we do know is that they contain cosmic-ray electrons, spinning around in filaments of magnetic fields at close to light-speeds."

"The image captures radio emission from numerous phenomena, including outbursting stars, stellar nurseries, and the chaotic region around the 4 million solar mass supermassive black hole that lurks in the centre of our Galaxy."

About the second image: "The complex, cirrus-like emission from the Galactic centre super bubble dominates this image. This is traversed by the Radio Arc, a complex of many parallel radio filaments. The radio bubble nestles against the diffuse Sagittarius A region in the lower centre of the image. The bright dot near the centre of this region is Sagittarius A*, a 4 million solar mass black hole."

And the third: "In the centre of the image is the supernova remnant G359.1-0.5. To the left is ‘the Mouse’, a runaway pulsar possibly formed and ejected by the supernova event. To the upper right is one of the longest and most famous radio filaments, known as ‘the Snake’."

More about the research here: https://www.sciencealert.com/jaw-dropping-new-image-of... and here: https://www.sarao.ac.za/.../new-meerkat-radio-image.../

Originally posted on Facebook.

JWST Has Arrived

The James Webb Space Telescope is home! On Monday it completed its orbital burn and inserted itself perfectly into orbit at the L2 Lagrange Point.

What's next? A three-month process of aligning the telescope’s optics to nearly nanometer precision so it can bring us those sweet, sweet images of the cosmos.

Learn more: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/24/orbital-insertion-burn-a-success-webb-arrives-at-l2/

Originally posted on Facebook.

JWST Is Launching Christmas Eve

Who's very nervous about this launch? I am very nervous about this launch. Next Friday, Christmas Eve, is the moment of truth....

“5 critical moments will determine the success or failure of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope”: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/5-moments-nasas-james-webb/.

“NASA confirms next Friday for Webb Space Telescope launch”: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasa-confirms-friday-webb-space-telescope-launch-81816784

JWST has been so expensive and delayed so many times, and it's so important (Hubble is on its 18th life now), and it's such a complex yet delicate device.... The article points out 5 big things that can go wrong, but so can 1,000 smaller ones. And if it does fail, will we build another one? Will it take another 20 years to do so? Will we have to wait until one of the billionaires takes pity on the scientists and builds one on the moon?

But I also realize that, excepting the exorbitant cost and absurd delays, these risks apply to every launch. We've lost several rovers to Mars on the landing attempt, but we keep going back. We thought we'd lost Hubble not long after launch, but we fixed it, and look what it's done. So, yes, I'm always nervous at big launches.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Touching the Sun

This video of the Parker Solar Probe's dive through the sun's corona is absolutely mind-blowing. It's only 13 seconds, so take those seconds to watch it - you won't regret it: https://youtu.be/IQXNqhQzBLM

And look at the Milky Way in the background! WOW. I am amazed and humbled at these incredible images.

More info on the event:

"For the first time ever, a spacecraft has flown through the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The Parker Solar Probe passed through the out portion of the Sun’s corona in April of 2021, passing directly through streamers of solar plasma. Not only are the solar particles and dust visible streaming past the spacecraft, astronomer Karl Battams confirmed that other objects visible in the video are Mercury, Venus, THE MILKY WAY (the large vertical structure seen in the video, which is stunning/jarring when you realize it) then Saturn, Earth and Jupiter. https://www.universetoday.com/.../parker-solar-probe.../

(Note: this video is actually from the probe's previous pass - data from its most recent dive will begin arriving Dec. 23. Might it include an even *more* astounding video?)

Originally posted on Facebook.

Picture Postcard From Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a remarkable image from its most recent perch on the side of Mars’ Mount Sharp. The mission team was so inspired by the beauty of the landscape, they combined two versions of the black-and-white images from different times of the day and added colors to create a rare postcard from the Red Planet.

More about how the image was created here: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9080/nasas-curiosity-rover-sends-a-picture-postcard-from-mars/

Originally posted on Twitter.

A Stunning Launch

The weather + launch time combined to create some uniquely stunning images of this week’s SpaceX Falcon9 launch of additional Starlink satellites. Head over to their Flikr page to download high-res versions: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/with/51676136282/

Originally posted on Facebook.

Mind the Stars

We've got so much further we want to go and so much more we want to explore, but look what we've done already. My goodness.

"Space can be a cruel mistress, but she is a beautiful one.

As we await the launch of ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and the return of Thomas Pesquet, let us marvel at the fact that humans live and work in space, an environment so inhospitable to us.

As Thomas nears the end of his six-month mission Alpha on the Space Station, he took this image, noting that living on the International Space Station “really feels like flying on a spaceship into the cosmos… or wait… that’s what we do.”"

Read more and download the high-res image: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/11/Mind_the_stars#.YYQCdwJtqh8.link

Originally posted on Facebook.

To Boldly Go - After-Action Report

Captain Kirk has finally made it to space and come home again! (Or if he's in a time loop, gone to space for the first time of many?).

His words on returning are for the ages. “That was unlike anything you’ll ever feel, ever.”

"Everybody in the world needs to do this. Needs to see this. It was unbelievable."

"What you have given me is the most profound experience you can imagine. I hope I never recover from it. What I feel right now, I don't want to lose it."

...and now I'm bawling. Who wants to go? #ToBoldlyGo

Also, how incredible does Shatner look? 90 years old, seriously? He doesn't look a day over 70.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Staring At The Sun

“On April 29, 2015, NuSTAR, Hinode, and Solar Dynamics Observatory all stared at our Sun. 

Flaring, active regions of our Sun are highlighted in this image combining observations from  Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR (shown in blue); low-energy X-rays from Japan's Hinode spacecraft are green; and extreme ultraviolet light from Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, are yellow and red. This NuSTAR image is a mosaic made from combining smaller images.

The active regions across the Sun’s surface contain material heated to several millions of degrees. The blue-white areas showing the NuSTAR data pinpoint the most energetic spots. During the observations, microflares went off, which are smaller versions of the larger flares that also erupt from the sun's surface. The microflares rapidly release energy and heat the material in the active regions.”

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-at-the-sun

pia19821-nustar_xrt_sun.jpg

Originally posted on Twitter.