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So which is it — spiral or elliptical? The answer is neither! NGC 6861, a galaxy discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, does not belong to either the spiral or the elliptical family of galaxies. It is a lenticular galaxy, a family which has features of both spirals and ellipticals. Dust lanes are very useful for working out whether we are seeing the galaxy disk edge-on, face-on or, as is the case for NGC 6861, somewhat in the middle. Dust lanes like these are typical of a spiral galaxy. The dust lanes are embedded in a white oval shape, which is made up of huge numbers of stars orbiting the center of the galaxy. This oval is, rather puzzlingly, typical of an elliptical galaxy. The relationships between these three kinds of galaxies are not yet well understood. A lenticular galaxy could be a faded spiral that has run out of gas and lost its arms, or the result of two galaxies merging. Being part of a group increases the chances for galactic mergers, so this could be the case for NGC 6861, which is in the small constellation of Telescopium (The Telescope).. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; acknowledgement: J. Barrington #nasa #hubble #hubble25 #hst #galaxy #space #telescope #astronomy #science; -
The year 2014 ranks as Earth's warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York. In an independent analysis of the raw data, also released Friday, NOAA scientists also found 2014 to be the warmest on record. Image Credit: NASA/NOAA #nasa #noaa #earth #earthrightnow #climate #climatechange #science; -
Mystery solved! Three images from our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show Beagle 2 partially deployed on the surface of the planet, ending the mystery of what happened to the mission more than a decade ago. They show that the lander survived its Dec. 25, 2003, touchdown enough to at least partially deploy its solar arrays. This annotated image shows where features seen in an observation by MRO have been interpreted as hardware from the Dec. 25, 2003, arrival at Mars of the United Kingdom's Beagle 2 Lander. The image was taken in 2014 by the orbiter's HiRISE camera. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/University of Leicester #nasa #esa #hirise #beagle2 #mro #planets #mars #redplanet #science; -
Our Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft discovered and characterized 40 near-Earth objects (NEOs) in the first year after the mission was re-started in December 2013. Eight of the discoveries have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), based on their size and how close their orbits could come to Earth's orbit. The mission has further observed and characterized 245 previously known near-Earth objects. It also sees comets. Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is one of more than 32 comets imaged by our NEOWISE mission from December 2013 to December 2014. This image of comet Lovejoy combines a series of observations made in November 2013, when comet Lovejoy was 1.7 astronomical units from the sun. (An astronomical unit is the distance between Earth and the sun.) Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech #nasa #neowise #lovejoy #comet #neo #space #science; -
Approaching an unexplored world! Our New Horizons spacecraft recently began its long-awaited, historic encounter with Pluto. The spacecraft is entering the first of several approach phases that culminate July 14 with the first close-up flyby of the dwarf planet, 4.67 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. This image is an artist’s concept of New Horizons spacecraft as it passes Pluto and Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, in July 2015. Image Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben #nasa #newhorizons #pluto #solarsystem #science;
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Ten years ago, an explorer from Earth parachuted into the haze of an alien moon toward an uncertain fate. After a gentle descent lasting more than two hours, it landed with a thud on a frigid floodplain, surrounded by icy cobblestones. With this feat, the Huygens probe accomplished humanity's first landing on a moon in the outer solar system. Huygens was safely on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. These images of Saturn's moon Titan were taken on Jan. 14, 2005 by the Huygens probe at four different altitudes. The images are a flattened (Mercator) projection of the view from the descent imager/spectral radiometer on the probe as it landed on Titan's surface. Image Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona #nasa #otd #space #titan #cassini #huygens #huygens10 #esa #moon #science; -
The hatches to Dragon were opened for business Tuesday morning and the International Space Station crew began unpacking critical gear that will support 256 science experiments. The SpaceX commercial cargo craft was attached Monday to the Harmony module. Image: The "cockpit" in the space station's cupola- where Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA, with the assistance of Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA - European Space Agency, successfully captured the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with the station's robotic arm. Image Credit: NASA #iss #nasa #isscargo #space #spacestation #spacex #exp42 #astrobutch #dragon #science; -
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory see first notable solar flare of 2015: The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 11:24 p.m. EST on Jan. 12, 2015. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. Pictured is an M-class solar flare erupting from the right side of the sun in this image that blends two wavelengths of light -- 171 and 304 angstroms -- as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Image Credit: NASA/SDO; -
Astronaut Terry Virts shared this image on Twitter saying that it was "Dragon’s first sunrise as part of ISS." Earlier today, while the International Space Station was traveling over the Mediterranean Sea, Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA, with the assistance of Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, successfully captured the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with the station's robotic arm at 5:54 a.m. EST this morning. Later, the Dragon cargo spacecraft was berthed to the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 8:54 a.m. EST. The hatch between the newly arrived spacecraft and the Harmony module of the space station is scheduled to be opened Tuesday, but could occur earlier. The capsule is scheduled to spend four weeks attached to the station. More than two tons of experiments, equipment and supplies are in the Dragon spacecraft that was sent to the International Space Station early Jan. 10. Image credit: NASA; -
Comet LoveJoy! Discovered in August of 2014, Comet Lovejoy is currently sweeping north through the constellation Taurus, bright enough to offer good binocular views. Glowing softly with a greenish hue, Comet Lovejoy passed closest to planet Earth on January 7, while its perihelion (closest point to the Sun) will be on January 30. Classed as a long period comet, it should return again ... in about 8,000 years. Image of Comet Lovejoy taken Saturday, January 10, by Dr. Bill Cooke. Image is a 3 minute exposure using the iTelescope T3 refractor. At the time of this image, the comet was some 45 million miles from Earth. Image credit: NASA/MSFC/B. Cooke, Meteoroid Environment Office #comet #nasa #lovejoy #cometlovejoy #space #earth #science;
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Scientists Pinpoint Saturn With Exquisite Accuracy: Scientists have paired NASA's Cassini spacecraft with the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio-telescope system to pinpoint the position of Saturn and its family of moons to within about 2 miles (4 kilometers). The measurement is some 50 times more precise than those provided by ground-based optical telescopes. The feat improves astronomers' knowledge of Saturn's orbit and benefits spacecraft navigation and basic physics research. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute #nasa #science #cassini #nsf #vlba #saturn #planets; -
And Liftoff! Another great shot of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 4:47 a.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. The commercial resupply mission will deliver 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations on the space station. Image Credit: NASA/Jim Grossman #nasa #spacex #launch #exp42 #iss #isscargo #science #spacestation; -
The SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off at 4:47 a.m. EST and is en route to the International Space Station. Dragon's solar arrays have deployed and will provide 5 kilowatts of power to the spacecraft as it begins a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the station. At the time of launch, the International Space Station was orbiting 261 miles over the middle of the Indian Ocean. The spacecraft is carrying more than 2 tons of supplies, science experiments and technology demonstrations, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 42 and 43 and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS). At 6:12 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, the Dragon spacecraft will catch up to the orbiting laboratory, and Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA will use the station's 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture it. Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency will support Wilmore as they operate from the station's cupola. Image credit: NASA; -
Twas the night before launch, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were prepared to liftoff to the International Space Station to deliver cargo that will be sent aloft on the resupply flight. Launch of the SpaceXCRS-5 mission is scheduled for 4:47 a.m. EST today from Florida. Live NASA TV coverage starts at 3:30 a.m. To watch, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Image credit: SpaceX #ISScargo; -
Fired Up! The new year is off to a hot start for our Space Launch System (SLS). The engine that will drive America's next great rocket to deep space blazed through its first successful test Jan. 9 at the agency's Stennis Space Center (@nasastennis ) St. Louis, Mississippi. The RS-25, formerly the space shuttle main engine, fired up for 500 seconds on the A-1 test stand at Stennis, providing our engineers critical data on the engine controller unit and inlet pressure conditions. This is the first hot fire of an RS-25 engine since the end of space shuttle main engine testing in 2009. Four RS-25 engines will power SLS on future missions, including to an asteroid and Mars. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #enginetest #test #journeytomars #stennis #asteroid #mars @;
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