Archive | Space | Armed with Science

Saturday Space Sight: Hubble Sees ‘Space Invader’ Image

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on March 23, 2013 at 7:51 am {no comments}

The gravitational field surrounding this massive cluster of galaxies, Abell 68, acts as a natural lens in space to brighten and magnify the light coming from very distant background galaxies.

In this photo, the image of a spiral galaxy at upper left has been stretched and mirrored into a shape similar to that of a simulated alien from the classic 1970s computer game “Space Invaders!” A second, less distorted image of the same galaxy appears to the left of the large, bright elliptical galaxy.

This image was taken in infrared light by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, and combined with near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. It is based in part on data spotted by Nick Rose in the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA
Acknowledgement: N. Rose

———-

Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD website.

Saturday Space Sight: Fiery, Glowing Shells In Space

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on March 16, 2013 at 7:42 am {no comments}

It may look like something from “The Lord of the Rings,” but this fiery swirl is actually a planetary nebula known as ESO 456-67. Set against a backdrop of bright stars, the rust-colored object lies in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer), in the southern sky.

In this image of ESO 456-67, it is possible to see the various layers of material expelled by the central star. Each appears in a different hue – red, orange, yellow, and green-tinted bands of gas are visible, with clear patches of space at the heart of the nebula.

It is not fully understood how planetary nebulae form such a wide variety of shapes and structures; some appear to be spherical, some elliptical, others shoot material in waves from their polar regions, some look like hourglasses or figures of eight, and others resemble large, messy stellar explosions – to name but a few.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA

———-

isclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD website.

Saturday Space Sight: The Whirlpool Galaxy

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on March 9, 2013 at 7:26 am {no comments}

If you’ve ever had a passing interest in space, this picture should seem familiar. This is the Whirlpool Galaxy. It is a classic spiral galaxy, and practically the headliner for the amazing space photos. At only 30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky.

This image is a digital combination of a ground-based image from the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and a space-based image from the Hubble Space Telescope highlighting sharp features normally too red to be seen.

Image Credit: NASA/Hubble

———–

Detecting Nuclear Tests With Radio Telescopes

Filed under Space, STEM, Technology by jtozer on March 6, 2013 at 7:04 am {no comments}

The VLA is a radio-frequency interferometer consisting of 27, 25-m dish antennas configured in an inverted “Y” with “arms” extending to the north, southeast, and southwest. The antennas are periodically cycled through four configurations, A, B, C, and D (its most compact configuration), spanning 36, 11, 3.4, and 1 kilometer[s], respectively. (Photo: NRAO/AUI)

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory radio astronomer, Joseph Helmboldt, Ph.D., and researchers at Ohio State University Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering analyzed radio telescope interferometry and Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data recorded of the ionosphere during one of the last underground nuclear explosions (UNEs) in the U.S., codenamed Hunters Trophy.

Situated in the Plains of San Agustin, 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, twenty-seven 25-meter parabolic dish antennas collectively make up the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope.

The VLA is an interferometer, meaning it operates by multiplying the data from each pair of telescopes together to form interference patterns.

The structure of those interference patterns, and how they change with time as the earth rotates, reflect the structure of radio sources in the sky.

Designed as a radio synthesis telescope, observing bands between 1 and 50 gigahertz (GHz), the VLA is chiefly used to observe cosmic sources. While such observations require detailed calibration schemes to remove the effects of the ionosphere, this calibration data is seldom used to actually study the ionosphere.

(more…)

Saturday Space Sight: Flux Ropes on the Sun

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on March 2, 2013 at 7:40 am {no comments}

This is an image of magnetic loops on the sun, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It has been processed to highlight the edges of each loop to make the structure more clear.

A series of loops such as this is known as a flux rope, and these lie at the heart of eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs.) This is the first time scientists were able to discern the timing of a flux rope’s formation. (Blended 131 Angstrom and 171 Angstrom images of July 19, 2012 flare and CME.)

Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

———-

Saturday Space Sight: The Cosmic Hearth

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on February 23, 2013 at 7:40 am {no comments}

The Orion nebula is featured in this sweeping image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

The constellation of Orion is prominent in the evening sky throughout the world from about December through April of each year. The nebula (also catalogued as Messier 42) is located in the sword of Orion, hanging from his famous belt of three stars.

The star cluster embedded in the nebula is visible to the unaided human eye as a single star, with some fuzziness apparent to the most keen-eyed observers. Because of its prominence, cultures all around the world have given special significance to Orion. The Maya of Mesoamerica envision the lower portion of Orion, his belt and feet (the stars Saiph and Rigel), as being the hearthstones of creation, similar to the triangular three-stone hearth that is at the center of all traditional Maya homes.

The Orion nebula, lying at the center of the triangle, is interpreted by the Maya as the cosmic fire of creation surrounded by smoke.

This metaphor of a cosmic fire of creation is apt. The Orion nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged. It is one of the closest sites of star formation to Earth and therefore provides astronomers with the best view of stellar birth in action.

(more…)

The Phoenix Program

Filed under Space, STEM, Technology, Videos by jtozer on February 22, 2013 at 7:21 am {no comments}

The goal of the Phoenix program is to develop and demonstrate technologies to cooperatively harvest and re-use valuable components from retired, nonworking satellites in GEO and demonstrate the ability to create new space systems at greatly reduced cost.

Phoenix seeks to demonstrate around-the-clock, globally persistent communication capability for warfighters more economically, by robotically removing and re-using GEO-based space apertures and antennas from de-commissioned satellites in the graveyard or disposal orbit.

This video illustrates DARPA‘s Phoenix program and some of the technical progress that has been made since it began in July 2012. As performers demonstrate the progress of their work in a lab, an artist’s simulation of a fully-realized Phoenix demonstration scenario runs in the background to help illustrate how the technology may be applied.

Video provided by DARPAtv, the DARPA YouTube channel

———-

Saturday Space Sight: A Portrait Of Venus

Filed under Photos, Space, STEM by jtozer on February 16, 2013 at 7:14 am {no comments}

Made using an ultraviolet filter in its imaging system, the photo has been color-enhanced to bring out Venus’s cloudy atmosphere as the human eye would see it. Venus is perpetually blanketed by a thick veil of clouds high in carbon dioxide and its surface temperature approaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit.