Solar Wx

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• NASA's Hubble Sees a Stranger in the Crowd
• Image of the week
• NASA's Hubble Shows Link between Stars' Ages and Their Orbits
• Spacecraft Processing Procedures at Kennedy Space Center
• NASA Interplanetary Probes to Take Pictures of Earth from Space
• Kepler Mission: Recovery Begins
• NASA's Sofia Investigates the Southern Sky from New Zealand
• Earth from Space
• Before the leak
• Deep-space listening stations gain made-in-Europe hearing boost

NASA's Hubble Sees a Stranger in the Crowd Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:17 AM PDT The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is the largest of the Zodiac constellations, and the second largest overall after Hydra (The Water Snake). Its most appealing feature, however, is the sheer number of galaxies that lie within it. In this picture, among a crowd of face- and edge-on spiral, elliptical, and irregular galaxies, lies NGC 4866, a lenticular galaxy situated about 80 million light-years from Earth.   Lenticular galaxies are somewhere between spirals and ellipticals in terms of shape and properties. From the picture, we can appreciate the bright central bulge of NGC 4866, which contains primarily old stars, but no spiral arms are visible. The galaxy is seen from Earth as almost edge-on, meaning that the disc structure — a feature not present in elliptical galaxies — is clearly visible. Faint dust lanes trace across NGC 4866 in this image, obscuring part of the galaxy's light.  To the right of the galaxy is a very bright star that appears to lie within NGC 4866's halo. However, this star actually lies much closer to us; in front of the galaxy, along our line of sight. These kinds of perspective tricks are common when observing, and can initially deceive astronomers as to the true nature and position of objects such as galaxies, stars, and clusters. This sharp image of NGC 4866 was captured by the Advanced Camera for Surveys, an instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.  Image Credit: European Space Agency Original Source

Image of the week Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:14 AM PDT This Envisat radar image features a chain of volcanoes called the Virunga Mountains that stretch across Rwanda's northern border with Uganda and east into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Original Source

NASA's Hubble Shows Link between Stars' Ages and Their Orbits Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:17 PM PDT Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have determined the orbital motion of two distinct populations of stars in an ancient globular star cluster, offering proof they formed at different times and providing a rare look back into the Milky Way galaxy's early days. Original Source

Spacecraft Processing Procedures at Kennedy Space Center Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:14 PM PDT In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane operator lifts a full-size mock-up of the Orion spacecraft high in the air for transfer to High Bay 4. Crane operators and technicians practice stacking and destacking operations in order to keep processing procedures and skills current for the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion's first unpiloted test flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASA's Space Launch System rocket. Image Credit: NASA/Dan Casper Original Source

NASA Interplanetary Probes to Take Pictures of Earth from Space Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:11 PM PDT Two NASA spacecraft, one studying the Saturn system, the other observing Mercury, are maneuvering into place to take pictures of Earth on July 19 and 20. Original Source

Kepler Mission: Recovery Begins Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:07 PM PDT Over the next week, the team will attempt tests to explore recovery of the spacecraft's reaction wheels. Original Source

NASA's Sofia Investigates the Southern Sky from New Zealand Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:05 PM PDT NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory will be based in New Zealand for the next two weeks, taking advantage of the Southern Hemisphere's orientation to study celestial objects that are difficult or impossible to see in the northern sky. Original Source

Earth from Space Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:03 PM PDT Join us Friday, 19 July, at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellite. Original Source

Before the leak Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:02 PM PDT Luca Parmitano and Chris Cassidy took these photographs of each other during their spacewalk. Shortly afterwards Luca reported water floating behind his head inside his helmet and NASA Mission Control decided to end the spacewalk early. Original Source

Deep-space listening stations gain made-in-Europe hearing boost Posted: 18 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT Picking up ultra-weak signals from spacecraft exploring deep in our Solar System requires cooling a detector to within a few degrees of absolute zero. Thanks to ESA's support, the technology is now available in Europe for the first time. Original Source

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