July 2011
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ESO - Very Large Telescope Ready for Action
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This unusual 360-degree panoramic projection reveals the observing site from a fresh perspective. In the centre of the image, staff at Paranal have gathered to watch the sunset. On the right, the enclosures of the VLT’s Unit Telescopes can be seen: vast machines, each with a primary mirror 8.2 metres across and weighing 23 tonnes. Also visible are several of the smaller 1.8-metre...
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Hubble - Sunset Glow in Orion
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NGC 2023 surrounds a massive young B-type star. These stars are large, bright and blue-white in colour, and have a high surface temperature, being several times hotter than the Sun. The energy emitted from NGC2023’s B-type star illuminates the nebula, resulting in its high surface brightness: good news for astronomers who wish to study it. The star itself lies outside the field...
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NASA Dawn Spacecraft Returns Close-Up Image of...
This is the first image obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft after successfully entering orbit around Vesta. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On Friday, July 15, Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the...
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ESO - Hidden Treasure on Our Doorstep
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The MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla in Chile is a powerful instrument that can capture distant celestial objects, but it has been used here to image a heavenly body that is much closer to home: the Moon. The data used for this image were selected by Andy Strappazzon from Belgium, who participated in ESO’s Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition. Andy’s...
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Hubble - Edge-on Galaxy Hosts Supernova Explosion
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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged an elongated stream of stars, gas and dust called IC 755, which is actually a spiral galaxy that we are seeing edge-on.
In 1999 a star within IC 755 was seen to explode as a supernova and named SN 1999an. The supernova was discovered by the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Supernova Survey and three years later Hubble was used to...
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NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around...
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, illustrated in this artist’s concept, is propelled by ion engines. Image credit: NASA/JPL › Larger view
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on Saturday became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Dawn will study the asteroid, named Vesta, for a year before departing for a...
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NASA JPL - NASA Spacecraft to Enter Asteroid's...
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 9, 2011. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA › Full image and caption
PASADENA, Calif. — On July 15, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft will begin a prolonged encounter with the asteroid Vesta, making the mission the first to enter orbit around a main-belt asteroid. The main...
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NASA JPL - Comet Hartley 2 Leaves a Bumpy Trail
Comet Hartley 2 as seen by WISE. Data from the infrared telescope revealed that the comet’s trail, seen here as the long, thin yellow line, consists of particles as large as golf balls. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA › Full image and caption | › View image gallery
New findings from NEOWISE, the asteroid- and comet-hunting portion of NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer...
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Zooniverse - Latest blog posts
I’ve not been posting in here as much just recently because my mother isn’t well and I’m having to care for her. As a result of this some Zooniverse blog posts are getting missed.
So here is a summary of their posts to date:
Galaxy Zoo Blog: Insane Happiness in Massachuse Today’s post is by Alice Sheppard: Last winter I got a phone call from ZookeeperChris who asked...
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eso1124 - Science Release - What Activates a...
Galaxy collisions not the culprits, even in the jam-packed early Universe
13 July 2011
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A new study combining data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory has turned up a surprise. Most of the huge black holes in the centres of galaxies in the past 11 billion years were not turned on by mergers between galaxies, as had been previously...
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ESO - A Galactic Embrace
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Two galaxies, about 50 million light-years away, are locked in a galactic embrace — literally. The Seyfert galaxy NGC 1097, in the constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), is seen in this image taken with the VIMOS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). A comparatively tiny elliptical companion galaxy, NGC 1097A, is also visible in the top left. There is evidence that NGC...
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Hubble - Rare Cosmic Footprint
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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been used to capture a striking image of a rare astronomical phenomenon called a protoplanetary nebula. This particular example, called Minkowski’s Footprint, also known as Minkowski 92, features two vast onion-shaped structures either side of an ageing star, giving it a very distinctive shape.
Protoplanetary nebulae like Minkowski’s...
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NASA JPL - Herschel Helps Solve Mystery of Cosmic...
This layout compares two pictures of a supernova remnant called SN 1987A — the left image was taken by the Herschel Space Observatory, and the right is an enlarged view of the circled region at left, taken with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: ESA/NASA-JPL/UCL/STScI › Full image and caption
PASADENA, CALIF. — New observations from the infrared Herschel Space...
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NASA JPL - Dawn Team Members Check out Spacecraft
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, illustrated in this artist’s concept, is propelled by ion engines. Image credit: NASA/JPL › Larger view
Dawn Mission Status Update Mission managers for NASA’s Dawn spacecraft are studying the spacecraft’s ion propulsion system after Dawn experienced a loss of thrust on June 27. Dawn team members were able to trace the episode to an electronic...
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NASA JPL - Gas Giant Spacecraft All Gassed Up
NASA’s Juno spacecraft passes in front of Jupiter in this artist’s depiction. Juno, the second mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program, will improve our understanding of the solar system by advancing studies of the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech › Full image and caption
Juno Mission Status Update The Juno spacecraft completed hydrazine fuel...
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NASA JPL - Cassini Captures Images and Sounds of...
The huge storm churning through the atmosphere in Saturn’s northern hemisphere overtakes itself as it encircles the planet in this true-color view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI › Full image and caption
PASADENA, Calif. — Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that...
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ESO1123 - Science Release - Hydrogen Peroxide...
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Molecules of hydrogen peroxide have been found for the first time in interstellar space. The discovery gives clues about the chemical link between two molecules critical for life: water and oxygen. On Earth, hydrogen peroxide plays a key role in the chemistry of water and ozone in our planet’s atmosphere, and is familiar for its use as a disinfectant or to bleach hair blonde. Now...
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ESO - A VLT Auxiliary Telescope and Cerro...
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ESO Photo Ambassador Gianluca Lombardi was in the perfect position to capture a crisp dusk view of Auxiliary Telescope (AT) 2, on Cerro Paranal. Once the Sun sets, the cloudless skies above the Chilean desert will be filled with stars, and AT2 will begin its work. In the background on the left is Cerro Armazones, with a road zigzagging to its peak, home of the future European...
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Hubble - Return to the Carina Nebula
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Looking like an elegant abstract art piece painted by talented hands, this picture is actually a NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a small section of the Carina Nebula. Part of this huge nebula was documented in the well-known Mystic Mountain picture (heic1007a) and this picture takes an even closer look at another piece of this bizarre astronomical landscape...
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