Jupiter's north pole seen by Juno spacecraft

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5_WQ0xFmCEEecwPHAzKLYZBVT8BjGi1f8t63vx7I-ex2yIP3rm-l2kLo9lIp4iSaca9qeV7rAMYpmj4T4llu_erDBgaPwJIFOr4Ck_Da_cwDIdqERceyGGuSJ7Mch38lxCjiutBL1SHe/s1600/jupiters-north-pole-10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Jupiter's north pole seen by Juno spacecraft" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5_WQ0xFmCEEecwPHAzKLYZBVT8BjGi1f8t63vx7I-ex2yIP3rm-l2kLo9lIp4iSaca9qeV7rAMYpmj4T4llu_erDBgaPwJIFOr4Ck_Da_cwDIdqERceyGGuSJ7Mch38lxCjiutBL1SHe/s640/jupiters-north-pole-10.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In this composite image, derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, shows the central cyclone at the planet's north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiant heat: the yellow (thinner) clouds are about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13° Celsius) in brightness temperature and the dark red (thickest) are around -181 degrees Fahrenheit (-118.33° Celsius).</div><br />Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM<br />Explanation from: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22335

Jupiter's north pole seen by Juno spacecraft

In this composite image, derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission...

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Exoplanet WASP-39b

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbZ18W4bUjcD1Crm9Ifo1t1cmV9rwDqtB5s0dq8i3A1lWw6bY2ebHz6VoUzdZsP0e1RL_ygMUxmpWVfzdxMn1wi6uyz_pELSCUaxXQ6SExwnZknzitUkuQ0pOfLQIVT3JUg5R-EFsODhQ/s1600/Exoplanet-Wasp-39b.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Exoplanet Wasp-39b" border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbZ18W4bUjcD1Crm9Ifo1t1cmV9rwDqtB5s0dq8i3A1lWw6bY2ebHz6VoUzdZsP0e1RL_ygMUxmpWVfzdxMn1wi6uyz_pELSCUaxXQ6SExwnZknzitUkuQ0pOfLQIVT3JUg5R-EFsODhQ/s640/Exoplanet-Wasp-39b.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">An international team of scientists has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the hot exoplanet WASP-39b. By combining this new data with older data they created the most complete study yet of an exoplanet atmosphere. The atmospheric composition of WASP-39b hints that the formation processes of exoplanets can be very different from those of our own Solar System giants.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Investigating exoplanet atmospheres can provide new insight into how and where planets form around a star.<i>“We need to look outward to help us understand our own Solar System,”</i> explains lead investigator Hannah Wakeford from the University of Exeter in the UK and the Space Telescope Science Institute in the USA.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Therefore the British-American team combined the capabilities of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope with those of other ground- and space-based telescopes for a detailed study of the exoplanet WASP-39b. They have produced the most complete spectrum of an exoplanet’s atmosphere possible with present-day technology.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">WASP-39b is orbiting a Sun-like star, about 700 light-years from Earth. The exoplanet is classified as a “Hot-Saturn”, reflecting both its mass being similar to the planet Saturn in our own Solar System and its proximity to its parent star. This study found that the two planets, despite having a similar mass, are profoundly different in many ways. Not only is WASP-39b not known to have a ring system, it also has a puffy atmosphere that is free of high-altitude clouds. This characteristic allowed Hubble to peer deep into its atmosphere.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">By dissecting starlight filtering through the planet’s atmosphere the team found clear evidence for atmospheric water vapour. In fact, WASP-39b has three times as much water as Saturn does. Although the researchers had predicted they would see water vapour, they were surprised by the amount that they found. This surprise allowed to infer the presence of large amount of heavier elements in the atmosphere. This in turn suggests that the planet was bombarded by a lot of icy material which gathered in its atmosphere. This kind of bombardment would only be possible if WASP-39b formed much further away from its host star than it is right now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“WASP-39b shows exoplanets are full of surprises and can have very different compositions than those of our Solar System,”</i> says co-author David Sing from the University of Exeter, UK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The analysis of the atmospheric composition and the current position of the planet indicate that WASP-39b most likely underwent an interesting inward migration, making an epic journey across its planetary system. <i>“Exoplanets are showing us that planet formation is more complicated and more confusing than we thought it was. And that’s fantastic!”</i>, adds Wakeford.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Having made its incredible inward journey WASP-39b is now eight times closer to its parent star, WASP-39, than Mercury is to the Sun and it takes only four days to complete an orbit. The planet is also tidally locked, meaning it always shows the same side to its star. Wakeford and her team measured the temperature of WASP-39b to be a scorching 750 degrees Celsius. Although only one side of the planet faces its parent star, powerful winds transport heat from the bright side around the planet, keeping the dark side almost as hot.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“Hopefully this diversity we see in exoplanets will help us figure out all the different ways a planet can form and evolve,”</i>explains David Sing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Looking ahead, the team wants to use the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope — scheduled to launch in 2019 — to capture an even more complete spectrum of the atmosphere of WASP-39b. James Webb will be able to collect data about the planet’s atmospheric carbon, which absorbs light of longer wavelengths than Hubble can see. Wakeford concludes: <i>“By calculating the amount of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere, we can learn even more about where and how this planet formed.”</i></div><br />Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1804/

Exoplanet WASP-39b

An international team of scientists has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the hot exoplanet WASP-39b. By c...

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Mount Sinabung Volcano Eruption

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu07lsu2-Kn9ltASS3MatUMcYg_jPOKjZPvRnwwB48tHq54Ody5uIdXAO4WD6NWD7SqJsBLMUMnzEi6OOQFu2D6H-o8UMuKO20ExkNBHMFw39kG4fZhegbE7NNzpV_Ae3BbC6zV41xoqEE/s1600/Mount-Sinabung-Volcano-Eruption-10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Mount Sinabung Volcano Eruption" border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu07lsu2-Kn9ltASS3MatUMcYg_jPOKjZPvRnwwB48tHq54Ody5uIdXAO4WD6NWD7SqJsBLMUMnzEi6OOQFu2D6H-o8UMuKO20ExkNBHMFw39kG4fZhegbE7NNzpV_Ae3BbC6zV41xoqEE/s640/Mount-Sinabung-Volcano-Eruption-10.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Berastagi, Sumatra, Indonesia</div><div style="text-align: center;">February 19, 2018</div><br />Image Credit: Reuters

Mount Sinabung Volcano Eruption

Berastagi, Sumatra, Indonesia February 19, 2018 Image Credit: Reuters

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Dwarf Galaxy IC 4710

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQ5oy7Z75ISnTHHWkqOb8a6yc0lW1gvDOpI5S0No0sb95iqXAMKEnncBzBYxk93i5hf0whBswyOYMW_n2rGgcnCDUMccxI3tu00v107bNW3os2q5HoGQmUVIFg3ZBteP6q_3Vhx5pWr-1/s1600/Dwarf-Galaxy-IC-4710.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Dwarf Galaxy IC 4710" border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="1600" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQ5oy7Z75ISnTHHWkqOb8a6yc0lW1gvDOpI5S0No0sb95iqXAMKEnncBzBYxk93i5hf0whBswyOYMW_n2rGgcnCDUMccxI3tu00v107bNW3os2q5HoGQmUVIFg3ZBteP6q_3Vhx5pWr-1/s640/Dwarf-Galaxy-IC-4710.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Discovered in 1900 by astronomer DeLisle Stewart and here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, IC 4710 is an undeniably spectacular sight. The galaxy is a busy cloud of bright stars, with bright pockets — marking bursts of new star formation — scattered around its edges.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">IC 4710 is a dwarf irregular galaxy. As the name suggests, such galaxies are irregular and chaotic in appearance, lacking central bulges and spiral arms — they are distinctly different from spirals or ellipticals. It is thought that irregular galaxies may once have been spirals or ellipticals, but became distorted over time through external gravitational forces during interactions or mergers with other galaxies. Dwarf irregulars in particular are important to our overall understanding of galactic evolution, as they are thought to be similar to the first galaxies that formed in the Universe.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">IC 4710 lies roughly 25 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Pavo (The Peacock). This constellation is located in the southern skies and also contains the third-brightest globular cluster in the sky, NGC 6752, the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, and six known planetary systems (including HD 181433 which is host to a super-Earth).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The data used to create this image were gathered by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Judy Schmidt<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1809a/<br /><div></div>

Dwarf Galaxy IC 4710

Discovered in 1900 by astronomer DeLisle Stewart and here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, IC 4710 is an undeniably spectacula...

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Hawaii seen from the International Space Station

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRep4klpghtmFG8Awok_R1XFb2FBuTph1oas8edZnWs4DVnLn5G7UVYFsOGP3VdKRqjGrYtpvqUI6mDn7oTWMYh6uAMkcAB5Uc0qpduxG5xzt1bud4Il0xC5q7V7YEo8eYEFvTVQaAkiun/s1600/Hawaii-from-ISS.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Hawaii seen from the International Space Station" border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRep4klpghtmFG8Awok_R1XFb2FBuTph1oas8edZnWs4DVnLn5G7UVYFsOGP3VdKRqjGrYtpvqUI6mDn7oTWMYh6uAMkcAB5Uc0qpduxG5xzt1bud4Il0xC5q7V7YEo8eYEFvTVQaAkiun/s640/Hawaii-from-ISS.JPG" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Crews aboard the International Space Station oriented the camera specifically to capture this panorama of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano (image left) with the long swirls of volcanic gases (top half of the image) wafting west from the volcano. Astronauts are trained to take oblique images of hard-to-see atmospheric haze by shooting obliquely to enhance visibility. The gas haze--termed vog, a combination of fog, smog and volcanic--is well known in Hawai'i, and is defined as "a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases ... emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight".</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here the vog haze is transported hundreds of km downwind of the volcano (for scale the Big Island is 137 km, 85 miles, long). In this unusual view the vog forms a series of subtle but distinct alternating swirls (arrows) known as von Karman vortices, a favorite topic for crew photography. Swirls form under specific conditions of high atmospheric pressure and relatively slow wind speeds. They usually develop in clouds downwind of islands, as shown in many astronaut images of cloud patterns. Images of vog haze are captured often by astronauts, but few show the swirl phenomenon.</div><br />Image Credit: NASA<br />Explanation from: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS042&roll=E&frame=281151

Hawaii seen from the International Space Station

Crews aboard the International Space Station oriented the camera specifically to capture this panorama of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano (imag...

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Protoplanetary Disk AS 209

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Nk1rExolj0bdkhs2sVdGpCmEmEmY-KAZZtqPAEwStwCiEH2rnhw8EDRifKm25wqeXg2ONKWvEWsQd53PiavTiClmNsu-dneg10yQ2TROw-gwnG2AYAL-lWW410OX2CaKQJMTmE1xbb0T/s1600/Protoplanetary-Disk-AS-209.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Protoplanetary Disk AS 209" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Nk1rExolj0bdkhs2sVdGpCmEmEmY-KAZZtqPAEwStwCiEH2rnhw8EDRifKm25wqeXg2ONKWvEWsQd53PiavTiClmNsu-dneg10yQ2TROw-gwnG2AYAL-lWW410OX2CaKQJMTmE1xbb0T/s640/Protoplanetary-Disk-AS-209.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nestled in the young Ophiuchus star-forming region, 410 light-years from the Sun, a fascinating protoplanetary disc named AS 209 is slowly being carved into shape. This wonderful image was captured using the high-resolution ALMA telescope, revealing a curious pattern of rings and gaps in the dust surrounding a young star.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Protoplanetary discs are dense, rotating planes of gas and dust that surround newly formed stars; providing the matter that one day becomes orbiting planets, moons and other minor bodies. At less than one million years old, this system is very young, but already two clear gaps are being sculpted from the disc.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The outer gap is deep, wide, and largely a dust-free zone, leading astronomers to believe that a giant planet almost the mass of Saturn is orbiting here — around 800 light-minutes from the central star, and more than three times the distance between Neptune and the Sun! As the planet carves out its path, dust piles up at the outer edge of its orbit, creating ever more defined rings in the disc. The thinner, inner dust gap could have been formed by a smaller planet, but astronomers have raised the intriguing possibility that the large and distant circling planet in fact created both paths.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This inferred Saturn-like planet so far from its central star raises fascinating questions about planet formation at the edges of protoplanetary discs on particularly short timescales.</div><br />Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/ D. Fedele et al.<br />Explanation from: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1809a/

Protoplanetary Disk AS 209

Nestled in the young Ophiuchus star-forming region, 410 light-years from the Sun, a fascinating protoplanetary disc named AS 209 is slowly b...

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Spiral Galaxy NGC 3344

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqUKOVl1OucjyAj9Ie6UNBRU4cqnSP6PzYN4x-2c8PksgHNEwvy_4ptzmorLmMzC3q3jrB5KHk-oNq0C-tLYrLyS5EyvQOGTceApOsVs1FKN2Fk-JMUCr5xAS4sZKX7M4jm0-xK1i2-P7/s1600/Spiral-Galaxy-NGC-3344-10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Spiral Galaxy NGC 3344" border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="1600" height="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqUKOVl1OucjyAj9Ie6UNBRU4cqnSP6PzYN4x-2c8PksgHNEwvy_4ptzmorLmMzC3q3jrB5KHk-oNq0C-tLYrLyS5EyvQOGTceApOsVs1FKN2Fk-JMUCr5xAS4sZKX7M4jm0-xK1i2-P7/s640/Spiral-Galaxy-NGC-3344-10.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 3344 presents itself face-on, allowing astronomers a detailed look at its intricate and elegant structure. And Hubble’s ability to observe objects over a wide range of different wavelengths reveals features that would otherwise remain invisible.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Spiral galaxies are some of the most spectacular sights in the sky, but to an observer they do not all look the same. Some are seen edge-on, giving astronomers an excellent idea of the galaxy’s vertical structure; others are seen at an angle, providing a hint of the size and structure of the spiral arms; while others are seen face-on, showcasing their arms and bright core in all their beauty.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Approximately 20 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo Minor (the Lion Cub), NGC 3344 is seen from a breathtaking face-on perspective. Half the size of the Milky Way, it is classified as a weakly barred spiral galaxy. The central bar is just visible in this image, taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3: an elongated lane of stars, trailing through the nucleus of the galaxy. Astronomers estimate that two-thirds of all spiral galaxies are barred, including our own Milky Way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hubble’s capacity to observe celestial objects in different wavelengths allows us to see more than just the spiral arms sweeping out loosely around the centre in a gorgeous whorl. This image is a composite of images taken through different filters, ranging from the near ultraviolet, to the optical and the near-infrared. Together they show a more complete picture of the galaxy than the human eye alone could possibly see.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The swirling spiral arms are the birthplace of new stars, whose high temperatures make them shine blue, resulting in them being easily identifiable in this image. Clouds of dust and gas distributed through the spiral arms — glowing red in this image — are reservoirs of material for even more stars. The bright jewel-like stars on the left of the picture, however, are much closer to Earth — they belong to our own galaxy and just happened to photobomb this Hubble image.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">While its face-on orientation reveals much about NGC 3344’s detailed structure, this galaxy is still enigmatic; astronomers have noticed that some of its outer stars are moving in a strange way. Often, the high concentration of stars in the centre of a galaxy can affect the movements of the outer stars, but this does not seem to be the case in NGC 3344. Astronomers suspect that these weirdly behaving outer stars may actually have been stolen from another galaxy, after a close encounter that took place long ago.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The location of NGC 3344 is also intriguing. Our galaxy is part of the Local Group, which is made up of approximately 40 other galaxies, with the Andromeda Galaxy being the largest member. But NGC 3344 is not part of a local galactic neighbourhood like we are. It is actually part of a small spur that leads off the larger Virgo Supercluster — a gargantuan collection of several thousand galaxies.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But it stands out from these thousands of galaxies because of its beauty, which highlights to us the elegance of the Universe.</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1803/

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3344

Captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 3344 presents itself face-on, allowing astronomers a detailed look at its in...

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