Watch the 'Christmas Tree Cluster' twinkle in X-rays (video)
Watch the 'Christmas Tree Cluster' twinkle in X-rays (video) | Hubble Telescope gifts us a dazzling starry 'snow globe' | Camera Christmas gift guide 2023: Capture the cosmos
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(NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: T.A. Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A. Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA); Infrared: NASA/NSF/IPAC/CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J.Major)
This month, space feels a bit more festive. That could be because of a new composite image of the Christmas Tree Cluster that shows star formation in a merry way, complete with green pine needles and twinkling lights. This image, in fact, arrives to our computer screens just after we laid eyes on the James Webb Space Telescope's cosmic Christmas ornament portrait and shortly before the Hubble Space Telescope released its version of a Christmas "globe."
(ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESA, Yumi Choi (NSF's NOIRLab), Karoline Gilbert (STScI), Julianne Dalcanton (Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Inst., UWashington))
'Tis the season for twinkling lights, both in your neighborhood and deep in space. To celebrate the festive season, NASA has published this composite image, which resembles something of a wonderland of Christmas lights - or perhaps a colorful snow globe. The image's subject is the billion-star-containing UGC 8091, an irregular dwarf galaxy located within the constellation Virgo, some 7 million light-years from Earth.
You'll find an affordable sub-$20 option, which is great if you're looking for a cheap stocking filler or you're buying a Secret Santa gift and don't have much knowledge about cameras and photography. Then there's a sub-$100 price tier for great quality gifts that don't break the bank, and finally, a $100+ category for if you really want to splurge.
Some star projectors are more toys or night lights than science instruments, suitable for children with an interest in space to help soothe them at bedtime. But other star projectors are great tools for adults, acting either as a relaxation tool with in-built Bluetooth to synchronize with music, podcasts or audiobooks, or a powerful scientific device that can turn your living room into a home planetarium.
The annual December meteor shower, the Ursids, peaks on Saturday (Dec. 23), offering skywatchers willing to brave the cold the opportunity to see meteors in the form of bright streaks of light and the occasional fireball.
Intuitive Machines, which had hoped to launch its robotic IM-1 mission no earlier than Jan. 12, 2024, will now wait an extra month to launch with SpaceX. The new launch window begins no earlier than mid-February, Intuitive representatives said in a release on Tuesday (Dec. 19). Once the launch window opens, it will last several days.
(X-ray: NASA/CXC/University of Alberta/A.Bahramian et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
In the 1930s, when physicist and engineer Karl Jansky pointed his radio antenna towards the center of our galaxy, he detected a continual source of radio waves. After some analysis, scientists realized these radio waves were being emitted by something vastly further from our planet than the sun -- but oddly enough, they were comparable in energy to the waves we do receive from the sun. With this information, they began to suspect something truly powerful must be lurking in the center of the Milky Way.
SpaceX's next private astronaut launch has been delayed until mid-January. The company had been planning to launch Axiom Space's Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station on Jan. 9. However, the timeline has slipped by a little over a week, to Jan. 17, NASA announced today (Dec. 21). The delay is "due to recent unfavorable weather conditions and changes in SpaceX's launch manifest," agency officials said.
Chinese launch startup Landspace appears ready to test launching and landing rockets. The company launched its third Zhuque-2 methane-fueled rocket on Dec. 8, successfully sending two satellites into orbit. It also revealed plans following the launch for a large stainless steel Zhuque-3 reusable rocket that it aims to launch for orbit for the first time in 2025.
New research suggests there are locations on the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus, where spacecraft could land to scoop up pristine traces of the key ingredients for life. It's believed that these biosignatures come from subsurface oceans within the world's icy shell.
This guide aims to ensure that the telescope you choose meets the requirements of the astronomer in your life, with the instrument not being too difficult or simple to use while ensuring that the buyer -- that's you -- doesn't have to break the bank in order to tick a telescope off your list.
Buying astronomical equipment as a gift for a loved one can be a tricky task if you don't know much about the equipment. Binoculars are a lower-cost alternative to telescopes that can provide hours of enjoyment while stargazing, but how can you tell the good models from the bad ones?
Netflix just offered up a curious sneak peek at director Johan Renck's ("Chernobyl") off-planet odyssey, which arrives March 1, 2024 starring Sandler, Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano.
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