Dusty galaxy looks like a cosmic net in gorgeous new Hubble Telescope photo

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A new Hubble image highlights the intricacies of a distant galaxy glowing with a bright white core surrounded by complex dust structures.  A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope captures the sharpest view yet of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. The photo, released on Monday (May 13), offers a nearly edge-on view of the galaxy, revealing its bright central bulge.  Lenticular galaxies are a cross between spirals and ellipticals; they exhibit an elliptical shape but have ill-defined spiral arms. Given NGC 4753’s low-density environment and complex structure, this particular…

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Huge, solar flare-launching sunspot has rotated away from Earth. But will it return?

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Talk about a dramatic exit! The sunspot AR3664, which is about 15 times wider than Earth, has finally rotated out of our planet’s view — but not before firing off two more big solar storms. The most recent solar flares from AR3664 were in the X class, the strongest category — an X3.4 monster that peaked today (May 15) at 4:37 a.m. EDT (0837 UTC) and an X2.9 that followed at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT).  Related: Watch monster flare-spewing sunspot grow to be 15 times wider than Earth (video)…

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How do you forecast a solar storm? Space weather experts explain

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For those who had the opportunity to see the aurora this weekend, it was quite a spectacular moment.  But while seeing the aurora borealis is thrilling and exciting for us, the same coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and geomagnetic storms that make these light shows possible can also wreak havoc on some of the technology that’s part of our daily lives. There was a lot of buzz last weekend about other possible impacts when the historic geomagnetic storms reached the extreme G5 category. Companies that operate satellites like SpaceX reported on…

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Expedition 70 Astronauts to Share Mission in NASA Welcome Home Event

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May 15, 2024 MEDIA ADVISORY: J24-010 NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara along with JAXA astronuat Satoshi Furukawa and ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen NASA Expedition 70 Astronauts to Share Mission in NASA Welcome Home Event Four astronauts will participate in a welcome home ceremony at Space Center Houston after recently returning from a mission aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, will share highlights from their…

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The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024

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15 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024 Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Visits Marshall Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his wife Christine Grady, and son Luke Grady talk with Nick Benjamin, right, a payload operations director for the International Space Station, at the Payload Operations Integration Center during the vice chairman’s tour of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on May 6. (NASA/Charles Beason) › Back to Top Marshall Team Members Honored with Space Flight Awareness Awards Astronaut Victor Glover, far right,…

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NASA Invites Media to View NOAA’s Newest Environmental Satellite

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Technicians monitor movement and guide NOAA’s Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) as a crane hoists it on to a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA will host a media availability to view NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) spacecraft Thursday June 6, at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. NASA is targeting a two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday,…

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Artemis 2 astronauts simulated a day in the life on their moon mission. Here’s what they learned (exclusive)

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Ever have one of those nightmares where you forget your pencil, or some key item, before a big test? Astronauts flying to the moon face that situation in spades: Once everything is on the spacecraft and they’re on the way, there’s no way to add to or change anything on the Orion spacecraft. So the Artemis 2 crew practiced a “day in the life” of their moon mission, expected to fly there in 2025, to see if there were any little items they may have forgotten. The astronaut quartet literally…

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Satellite images of Rafah illustrate Palestinians fleeing the city

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Satellite images taken earlier this month offer a spaceborne perspective of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. They include scenes such as a before-and-after sequence that illustrates Palestinian civilians fleeing Rafah, a view of damaged buildings in the region and conglomerates of Israeli hardware.  For the past several months, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have destroyed major portions of areas in which Palestinian civilians live as a response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, an attack orchestrated by the radical militant group Hamas. As Reuters reported on May 14, Israel says…

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Big decision! Curiosity rover keeps following possible Mars river remnant

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For the past month, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been shadowing Gediz Vallis, a channel that scientists think may be the fossil of an ancient Martian river.  Last week, Curiosity reached the north side of Pinnacle Ridge, part of a rock wall that looms over Gediz Vallis. In fact, after Curiosity navigated bumpy ground to do that, it found that the ridge’s south side is navigable. That left Curiosity’s overseers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California with a choice: Should they keep on their planned course, continuing to…

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