spacetelescopescience

[spacetelescopescience]

From the depths of the ocean to the most distant galaxies, we’re all connected! 💫 💙

Recently, @montereybayaquarium Executive Director Julie Packard and Space Telescope Science Institute Director Dr. Jennifer M. Lotz were honored with 2024 Clarke Foundation awards.

In celebration, the Aquarium has partnered with STScI to bring you images from outer space and Earth’s life-giving ocean. It’s in moments like these that we can pause to appreciate and be in awe of the world we live in. As John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts wrote in “The Log from the Sea of Cortez”: “It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.” ✨

Credit: NASA,ESA, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

[spacetelescopescience]

Over the last several months, engineers have been at work in the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, putting together the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

The Coronagraph Instrument—a technology demonstration designed to image exoplanets—and Optical Telescope Assembly—which includes the primary mirror and nine additional mirrors—are now attached to the Instrument Carrier.

With those components in place, the team then added Roman’s primary instrument, the Wide Field Instrument. This 300-megapixel infrared camera will give Roman a deep, panoramic view of the universe.

The observatory is on track for completion by fall 2026 and launch no later than May 2027.

Credit: NASA, Chris Gunn, and Sydney Rohde.

[spacetelescopescience]

New James Webb Space Telescope data affirms Hubble findings and is causing researchers to rethink current models of planet formation in the universe’s early days: https://webbtelescope.pub/4guN0gE

[spacetelescopescience]

The galaxies in IC 1623 are known as Luminous Infrared Galaxies. These are more than 100 billion times as luminous as the Sun and need high-resolution infrared telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope, for detailed observations.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans; R. Colombari.

[spacetelescopescience]

The James Webb Space Telescope recently found a galaxy that not only existed around 600 million years after the big bang, but is also similar to what our Milky Way galaxy’s mass might have been at the same stage of development. See its 10 distinct star clusters: https://webbtelescope.pub/3O5IJUD

[spacetelescopescience]

For a decade, Hubble has kept an eye on the outer planets, making global studies of their cloud coloration, activity, and atmospheric motion to understand the underlying mechanics of their weather and climate systems: https://bit.ly/3VmSyS6

[spacetelescopescience]

In December, step out to spot a ragged spiral galaxy, an open star cluster, and an edge-on galaxy. Watch “Tonight’s Sky” to learn about this month’s constellations—and stay tuned for the space-based views from across the electromagnetic spectrum of light.

[spacetelescopescience]

Some stars pulse, becoming brighter and and dimmer. A certain type, known as Cepheid variable stars, brighten and dim on regular schedules. This spiral galaxy, NGC 5584, contains over 600 of them. They’re useful for studying great distances in space. Credit: Hubble/NASA, ESA.

[spacetelescopescience]

Astronomers have used Hubble to peer closer than ever into an energetic monster black hole powering a quasar. The new image details a lot of weird things: filaments, lobes, and a mysterious L-shaped structure: https://bit.ly/4fIkNTC

[spacetelescopescience]

This video compares images of the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The first image is in infrared light, and was captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The second image shows the Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared look at the galaxy using the MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). The final image shows visible light observed by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Pagan (STScI).

[spacetelescopescience]

TONIGHT at 8 P.M.: Just as Van Helsing hunted Dracula, astronomers like Dr. Gregory Sivakoff are on the case of hunting the stellar undead. He will introduce these cosmic beasties, discuss some astronomers' favorite hunting tricks, and reveal a few essential lessons learned from the stellar undead.

[spacetelescopescience]

This young star cluster shines like a kaleidoscope thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope's near- and mid-infrared instruments. NGC 602 is in our neighboring dwarf galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA.

[spacetelescopescience]

It’s always nice to have someone in your corner, or in this case, space!

Scientists combined Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes data to build a fuller picture of galaxy pair VV 191, which is composed of an elliptical galaxy at left and spiral at right: bit.ly/4esprnX

[spacetelescopescience]

The James Webb Space Telescope’s sensitive instruments are helping researchers make significant strides in analyzing molecular clouds— super cold environments where stars form.

One to note are the deep, cold ices found in Chamaeleon I. Details: https://webbtelescope.pub/3U9BtKX

[spacetelescopescience]

The Sombrero Galaxy stuns in a new portrait from James Webb Space Telescope: https://webbtelescope.pub/3CzPHPc

[spacetelescopescience]

James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument reveals that galaxy NGC 1433 contains dust and bubbles of gas throughout its spiral arms. Despite that, the galaxy has a low amount of dust and brightness, which hints at a recent collision with another galaxy: https://bit.ly/3ZXX4cN

[spacetelescopescience]

Young star FU Orionis is pretty shocking! Astronomers used Hubble to observe the sizzling star in ultraviolet light. At 16,000 kelvins, nearly three times our sun’s surface temperature, its disk is nearly twice as hot as prior models have calculated: https://bit.ly/4fZwSU5