Detecting Gamma Ray Bursts | NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Mission 2024 Update FriendsofNASA.org: After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. Since its launch on Nov. 20, 2004, the spacecraft has made great scientific strides in exploring gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. Gamma-ray bursts occur all over the sky without warning with about one a day detected on average. Astronomers generally divide these bursts into two categories. Long bursts produce an initial pulse of gamma rays for two seconds or more and occur when the cores of massive stars collapse to form black holes. Short bursts last less than two seconds and are caused by the mergers of dense objects like neutron stars. Originally called the Swift Observatory for its ability to quickly point at cosmic events, like gamma-ray bursts, the mission team renamed the spacecraft in 2018 after its first principal investigator Neil Gehrels. Swift uses several methods for orienting and stabilizing itself in space. Sensors that detect the Sun’s location and the direction of Earth’s magnetic field provide the spacecraft with a general sense of its location. Then, a device called a star tracker looks at stars and tells the spacecraft how to maneuver to keep the observatory precisely pointed at the same position during long observations. Swift uses three spinning gyroscopes, or gyros, to carry out those moves along three axes. The gyros were designed to align at right angles to each other, but once in orbit the mission team discovered they were slightly misaligned. The flight operations team developed a strategy where one of the gyros worked to correct the misalignment while the other two pointed Swift to achieve its science goals. The team wanted to be ready in case one of the gyros failed, however, so in 2009 they developed a plan to operate Swift using just two. Any change to the way a telescope operates once in space carries risk, however. Since Swift was working well, the team sat on their plan for 15 years. Then, in July 2023, one of Swift’s gyros began working improperly. Because the telescope could not hold its pointing position accurately, observations got progressively blurrier until the gyro failed entirely in March 2024. The team was able to quickly shift to the new operational strategy, and the spacecraft is now performing better than ever. Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Duration: 2 minutes, 41 seconds Release Date: Nov. 20, 2024 #NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #GammaRayBursts #GRB #GRBExplosions #BlackHoles #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #Physics #NeilGehrelsSwiftObservatory #NeilGehrelsSwiftMission #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video
Friends of NASA’s Post
More Relevant Posts
-
Detecting Gamma Ray Bursts | NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Mission 2024 Update FriendsofNASA.org: After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. Since its launch on Nov. 20, 2004, the spacecraft has made great scientific strides in exploring gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. Gamma-ray bursts occur all over the sky without warning with about one a day detected on average. Astronomers generally divide these bursts into two categories. Long bursts produce an initial pulse of gamma rays for two seconds or more and occur when the cores of massive stars collapse to form black holes. Short bursts last less than two seconds and are caused by the mergers of dense objects like neutron stars. Originally called the Swift Observatory for its ability to quickly point at cosmic events, like gamma-ray bursts, the mission team renamed the spacecraft in 2018 after its first principal investigator Neil Gehrels. Swift uses several methods for orienting and stabilizing itself in space. Sensors that detect the Sun’s location and the direction of Earth’s magnetic field provide the spacecraft with a general sense of its location. Then, a device called a star tracker looks at stars and tells the spacecraft how to maneuver to keep the observatory precisely pointed at the same position during long observations. Swift uses three spinning gyroscopes, or gyros, to carry out those moves along three axes. The gyros were designed to align at right angles to each other, but once in orbit the mission team discovered they were slightly misaligned. The flight operations team developed a strategy where one of the gyros worked to correct the misalignment while the other two pointed Swift to achieve its science goals. The team wanted to be ready in case one of the gyros failed, however, so in 2009 they developed a plan to operate Swift using just two. Any change to the way a telescope operates once in space carries risk, however. Since Swift was working well, the team sat on their plan for 15 years. Then, in July 2023, one of Swift’s gyros began working improperly. Because the telescope could not hold its pointing position accurately, observations got progressively blurrier until the gyro failed entirely in March 2024. The team was able to quickly shift to the new operational strategy, and the spacecraft is now performing better than ever. Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Duration: 2 minutes, 41 seconds Release Date: Nov. 20, 2024 Zahra T. Mitra Nikpay Nikhil Churi, Ph.D, PM, FM, Lean, Six Sigma, Data Analytics Vera Mimsborne Behrokh Beiranvand Carla Antonella Gatti #NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #GammaRayBursts #GRB #GRBExplosions #BlackHoles #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #Physics #NeilGehrelsSwiftObservatory #NeilGehrelsSwiftMission #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
[NASA's Roman Space Telescope Gets Ready To Stare At Distant Suns To Find Alien Planets] In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, scientists have successfully integrated a crucial component onto the Roman Space Telescope. This device, known as the Roman Coronagraph Instrument, is designed to block starlight, enabling scientists to detect the faint light from planets beyond our solar system. This achievement marks a significant milestone for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a next-generation space observatory that will launch around May 2027. With a field of view at least 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman will be used to investigate scientific mysteries related to dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. The coronagraph, which is roughly the size of a baby grand piano, is a sophisticated system composed of masks, prisms, detectors, and self-flexing mirrors that work together to block the glare from distant stars, allowing scientists to detect the planets orbiting them. Currently, exoplanets are observed through indirect methods, particularly using a technique called transiting. This method involves measuring dips in the light of a distant star that occur when an exoplanet passes in front of it. These dips provide valuable insights, including information about the planet's atmospheric composition, which is important in determining habitability. They may even reveal the presence of gases that could indicate the existence of life. For one, only a small fraction of planets can be observed this way, as transits occur for just a brief period during a planet's total orbital cycle, restricting the amount of data that can be gathered. Although technologies for obtaining direct images of exoplanets are advancing, they have mainly focused on giant planets that continue to emit light from their recent formation due to their high temperatures, making them easier for telescopes to identify. One notable example is a sequence of images capturing four exoplanets orbiting the star HR 8799, produced by astronomers using data from Hawaii's Keck Observatory. The Roman Coronagraph Instrument aims to showcase how this direct imaging technology, which has proven effective with ground-based telescopes, can achieve even greater success in space. The coronagraph was successfully attached to the telescope's Instrument Carrier, a large grid-like structure positioned between the space telescope's primary mirror and the spacecraft bus, which will transport the telescope into orbit. Engineers will now perform different checks and tests before moving forward with the integration of the Wide Field Instrument and finally, the telescope itself. Source: https://lnkd.in/eUz42x4g #galaxyaerosgh #space #spaceexploration #SpaceNews
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Panning over Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1559 | James Webb Space Telescope FriendsofNASA.org: This image features the barred spiral galaxy galaxy NGC 1559 as seen by the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxy hosts a visible central region with a distinct open pattern in the loosely-wound spiral arms. NGC 1559 resides approximately 35 million light-years away in the little-observed southern constellation Reticulum (The Reticule). The data featured in this portrait make use of two of Webb’s instruments: the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) and Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). Here MIRI captures the glow of interstellar dust grains that traces out the interstellar medium, the fuel for future star formation. NIRCam shows the light from stars, even young stars hidden behind prodigious amounts of dust. NIRCam also captures emission from ionized nebulae around young stars. NGC 1559 has massive spiral arms that abound with star formation, and it is receding from us at a speed of about 1300 kilometers per second. Although NGC 1559 appears to sit near one of our nearest neighbors in the sky—the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This is just a trick of perspective. In reality, NGC 1559 is physically nowhere near the LMC in space; in fact it truly is a loner, lacking the company of any nearby galaxies or membership of any galaxy cluster. NGC 1559 may be alone in space, but with Webb we are admiring from far away. Image Description: A barred spiral galaxy on a dark, nearly empty background. The whole galaxy glows with a pale light, particularly along the galaxy’s bar which runs from top to bottom through the galactic core. It is speckled with tiny stars. The center is surrounded by rich clouds of hot gas and dust along the arms. The arms are loosely wound and a bit ragged, and contain a few star-forming regions that shine brightly. Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy, J. Lee and the PHANGS Team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb) Duration: 30 seconds Release Date: Feb. 27, 2024 Dan Goldin Tony Liolio MBA, CDCMP, CDCTP Tymothy S. F. X. Carroll2 Monika Didiova Ljiljana Milić Jankovic Hartmut Schöne Roberto Daw Jnr William Santelli Vern Hupp Deacon Michael Hogan Pere Mir Jonathan Hipps #NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #PHANGSGalaxies #Galaxy #NGC1559 #BarredGalaxy #SpiralGalaxy #Reticulum #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #Cosmos #Universe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
EPIC Solar Eclipse View (GIF): The Deep Space Climate Observatory | NOAA/NASA Support FriendsofNASA.org | Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR): Celebrating The 9-Year Anniversary (2015-2024) From one million miles away, NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s DSCOVR satellite captured these spectacular views of the total solar eclipse that swept across a narrow portion of the North American continent from Mexico’s Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada on April 8, 2024. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of Central America and Europe. Learn more on NASA's Eclipse page: https://lnkd.in/gRsEMR-F This is NOAA's first operational deep space satellite and became its primary system of warning Earth in the event of solar magnetic storms. On Feb. 11, 2015, DSCOVR was finally lofted into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After a journey of about 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) to the L1 Lagrange Point, the satellite and its Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). At L1—four times farther than the orbit of the Moon—the gravitational pull of the Sun and Earth cancel out, providing a stable orbit and a continuous view of Earth. These images were made by combining information from EPIC’s red, green, and blue bands. (Bands are narrow regions of the electromagnetic spectrum to which a remote sensing instrument responds. When EPIC collects data, it takes a series of 10 images at different bands—from ultraviolet to near-infrared.) Image Credit: The DSCOVR EPIC team Capture Date: April 8, 2024 NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory AGENCIA ESPACIAL MEXICANA Secretaría de Educación Pública Canadian Space Agency | Agence spatiale canadienne Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada American Astronomical Society (AAS) The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada U.S. Department of Education National Science Teaching Association National Space Society Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Space Generation Advisory Council Canadian Space Society SEDS-ÉEDS Canada Science Teachers' Association of Ontario (STAO) Ontario Science Centre Montréal Science Centre International Space University Ellen Stofan Susan Still Kilrain Ellen Ochoa Naoko Yamazaki Nicole Stott Cady Coleman, PhD Jimmy Balimis Byron Hood #NASA #NOAA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Satellite #Planet #Earth #Moon #Sun #SolarEclipses #SolarEclipse #SolarEclipse2024 #TotalSolarEclipse #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #ClimateChange #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #EarthFromSpace #DeepSpace #DSCOVR #EPIC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #GIF
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
[NASA's Chandra Spacecraft Spots Supermassive Black Hole Erupting In The Milky Way's Heart] Using NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope, scientists have discovered a new cosmic "exhaust vent" funneling hot gas away from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole that sits at the very heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The newly discovered vent is linked to a chimney-like formation orientated at a right angle in the Milky Way's disk. The Chandra observation reveals how a "tunnel" at the center of our galaxy helps channel matter to its outer regions. Many supermassive black holes across the universe are voracious consumers of gas and dust, and even stars, around them. The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sgr A*, on the other hand, is a light eater. It consumes so little matter, in fact, that if it were a human, it would sustain itself on about one grain of rice every one million years. The Chandra observations could reveal how this cosmic picky eater selects some matter to consume and rejects other material. The vent discovered in X-ray observations of the Galactic Center by Chandra is located around 700 light-years from the region's exact central area, and at the top of the "chimney." This radio-wave data reveals the impact of magnetic fields that entrap the chimney's gas. In the enhanced image that contains only Chandra data white ridges of brighter X-rays appear. The team behind this research theorizes that these are the walls of a cylindrical tunnel through which hot gas moves upwards and away from Sgr A*, as well as away from its immediate surroundings. The researchers theorize that the left side of the vent appears brighter in the image than the right side does because the upward-moving hot gas hits the left side of the chimney wall more directly and, thus, with greater force. As for where this jet of hot gas is coming from? Scientists think that, as material falls toward Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole erupts, and this pushes that matter up through the chimney and out along the vent. Research conducted prior to these findings has suggested that Sgr A* and its surroundings in the Galactic Center experience dramatic X-ray flaring every few centuries. These X-ray flares could be an important part of the process that sees hot gas pushed away from Sgr A*. Sgr A* also experiences much more infrequent feeding events that could play an important role in the whole gas-funneling process. A pre-peer-reviewed version of the team's Sgr A* research is available on the paper repository arXiv. Source: https://lnkd.in/e_nGnA9r #galaxyaerosgh #space #spaceexploration #SpaceNews
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
[NASA X-ray Telescope 'Weighs' The Closest Rapidly Spinning Dead Star to Earth] Using a NASA X-ray telescope mounted on the International Space Station (ISS), astronomers have weighed a rapidly spinning dead star that signifies the heart of the closest millisecond pulsar to Earth. Like all neutron stars, pulsars are born when massive stars die, but what really sets millisecond pulsars apart is the fact that they spin hundreds of times per second. As they do this, beams of radiation and matter blast out of the poles of these dead stars and sweep across the universe, making pulsars akin to powerful "cosmic lighthouses." Located around 510 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor, PSR J0437-4715 (PSR J0437) is the closest example of a millisecond pulsar to our solar system and the brightest example of such an object in the night sky. PSR J0437 spins 174 times a second, meaning it blasts Earth with X-rays and radiowaves every 5.75 milliseconds. Now, scientists know the neutron star forming PSR J0437 is 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) wide and has a mass equivalent to 1.4 times that of the sun. The team also discovered the hot magnetic poles of the neutron star are misaligned and not directly opposite one another. To collect the new measurements of PSR J0437, the team turned to NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) that's connected to the ISS. They treated this X-ray data with a modeling method called "pulse profile modeling" and then created simulations of PSR J0437 using the Dutch national supercomputer Snellius. There is another consequence of the rapid shrinking of a stellar core to birth a neutron star. Because of the conservation of angular momentum, the radical radius reduction causes the spin speed of the stellar remnant to increase. This is akin to an ice skater on Earth drawing in their arms to increase the speed of a pirouette. Neutron stars that form pulsars can also get an additional speed boost from a companion star. When the neutron star and stellar companion are close enough, the former can strip material from the latter. This stellar matter carries with it angular momentum, which further increases the neutron star's speed of rotation. PSR J0437 may well have engaged in this stellar cannibalism in the past to reach its spin speeds of 174 rotations per second. The evidence for this is the fact that it has a helium-rich companion white dwarf star with a mass just a quarter of that of the sun, which seems to have had its outer layers removed. While many of the measurements of PSR J0437 confirmed scientists' understanding of how these objects form, this millisecond pulsar did deliver one surprise. The mass of PSR J0437 implies to the team that the maximum mass of neutron stars could be lower than some theories currently predict. Source: https://lnkd.in/eU2SJsRN #galaxyaerosgh #space #spaceexploration #SpaceNews
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
The Horsehead Nebula: Euclid, Hubble & Webb Space Telescope Views FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gixgp9Uu This image showcases three views of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. This object resides in part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of the Orion B molecular cloud. Rising from turbulent waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, otherwise known as Barnard 33, which resides roughly 1,300 light-years away. The first image (left), released in November 2023, features the Horsehead Nebula as seen by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope. Euclid captured this image of the Horsehead in about one hour. It showcases the mission's ability to very quickly image an unprecedented area of the sky in high detail. The second image (middle) shows the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula, which was featured as the telescope’s 23rd anniversary image in 2013. This image captures plumes of gas in the infrared and reveals a beautiful, delicate structure that is normally obscured by dust. The third image (right) features a new view of the Horsehead Nebula from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) instrument. It is the sharpest infrared image of the object to date, showing a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, and capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Image Description: A collage of three images of the Horsehead Nebula. In the left image labelled “Euclid (Visible-Infrared)”, the Nebula is seen amongst its surroundings. A small box around it connects to the second image labelled “Hubble (Infrared)”, where the Nebula is zoomed in on. A portion of the Nebula’s head has another box, which leads with a callout to the third image, labelled “Webb (Infrared)”, of that area. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), ESA/Webb, CSA, K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) Release Date: April 29, 2024 Dan Goldin Monika Didiova Whitney Kamena Hana Tran William Santelli Vern Hupp Deacon Michael Hogan Jacob Hart #NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #Barnard33 #HorseheadNebula #PDR #Orion #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Hubble #Euclid #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Wide-field View: Star Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gFzbrYGN This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features NGC 6440, a globular cluster that resides roughly 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The object was first discovered by William Herschel in May 1786. Globular clusters like NGC 6440 are roughly spherical, tightly packed, collections of old stars bound together by gravity. They can be found throughout galaxies, but often live on the outskirts. They hold hundreds of thousands to millions of stars that are on average about one light-year apart, but they can be as close together as the size of our Solar System. NGC 6440 is known to be a high-mass and metal-rich cluster that formed and is orbiting within the Galactic bulge. It is a dense, near-spherical region of old stars in the inner part of the Milky Way. This image was obtained with 2023 data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) as part of an observation program to explore the stars in the cluster and to investigate details of the cluster’s pulsars. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles. To us, that beam appears as a short burst or pulse as the star rotates. Pulsars spin extremely fast. Astronomers have clocked the fastest pulsars at more than 716 rotations per second, but a pulsar could theoretically rotate as fast as 1500 rotations per second before slowly losing energy or breaking apart. The new data obtained by the science team indicate the first evidence from Webb observations of abundance variations of helium and oxygen in stars in a globular cluster. These results open the window for future, in-depth investigations of other clusters in the Galactic bulge, which were previously infeasible with other telescope facilities given the significant crowding of stars in the cluster and the strong reddening caused by interstellar dust between the cluster and Earth. Image Description: A spherical collection of stars fills the entire view. The cluster is dominated by a concentrated group of bright white stars at the center, with several large yellow stars scattered throughout the image. Many of the stars have visible diffraction spikes. The background is black. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Freire Acknowledgement: M. Cadelano and C. Pallanca Release Date: May 1, 2024 Patrick CUVELIER Hartmut Schöne Neil Di Spirito Sirivella Siva Abhilash Olga Dragunova Natalia Czortek #NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6440 #Sagittarius #GalacticBulge #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #Infrared #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #CSA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
The Horsehead Nebula: Euclid, Hubble & Webb Space Telescope Views FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gixgp9Uu This image showcases three views of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. This object resides in part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of the Orion B molecular cloud. Rising from turbulent waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, otherwise known as Barnard 33, which resides roughly 1,300 light-years away. The first image (left), released in November 2023, features the Horsehead Nebula as seen by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope. Euclid captured this image of the Horsehead in about one hour. It showcases the mission's ability to very quickly image an unprecedented area of the sky in high detail. The second image (middle) shows the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula, which was featured as the telescope’s 23rd anniversary image in 2013. This image captures plumes of gas in the infrared and reveals a beautiful, delicate structure that is normally obscured by dust. The third image (right) features a new view of the Horsehead Nebula from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) instrument. It is the sharpest infrared image of the object to date, showing a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, and capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Image Description: A collage of three images of the Horsehead Nebula. In the left image labelled “Euclid (Visible-Infrared)”, the Nebula is seen amongst its surroundings. A small box around it connects to the second image labelled “Hubble (Infrared)”, where the Nebula is zoomed in on. A portion of the Nebula’s head has another box, which leads with a callout to the third image, labelled “Webb (Infrared)”, of that area. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), ESA/Webb, CSA, K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) Release Date: April 29, 2024 ESA Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes European Space Agency - ESA European Astronomical Society American Astronomical Society (AAS) Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada U.S. Department of Education National Science Teaching Association Jimmy Balimis Patrick CUVELIER Hartmut Schöne Martin Folly Katherine Farrow Young Holly Pascal Daniel Scuka 🚀🛰️📡☄️🔭 #NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #Barnard33 #HorseheadNebula #PDR #Orion #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Infrared #Hubble #Euclid #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #CSA #GSFC #STSc #UnitedStates #STEM #Education
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Pesky Glitch Forces NASA to Change the Way Hubble Works, and It's Not for the Better For much than 30 years, NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope has been scouring the cosmos to look for past galaxies and dazzling nebulae. The deterioration and teardrop of traveling done debased Earth orbit is starting to amusement connected the aging telescope, forcing it to edifice to utilizing lone 1 of its 3 remaining gyroscopes to find its orientation. Webb Telescope Images the Pillars of Creation NASA made the determination to modulation Hubble to one-gyro mode aft a bid of issues with 1 of its 3 gyroscopes caused the telescope to repeatedly suspend its subject operations, the abstraction bureau announced connected Tuesday. “We judge this is our champion attack to enactment Hubble’s subject done this decennary and into the next,” Mark Clampin, manager of the astrophysics part astatine NASA, said during a property briefing. “One-gyro mode really returns Hubble to accordant subject operations and it allows america to support different gyro working...for imaginable aboriginal use.” Gyroscopes are utilized to find the absorption successful which the scope is pointing and to support its orientation. Hubble started disconnected with six gyros connected board, but lone 3 stay operational today. The scope tin run with conscionable one, but it uses each 3 for accrued efficiency. “Although Hubble tin proceed subject operations successful one-gyro mode, determination are immoderate limitations successful examination to our mean three-gyro settings,” Patrick Crouse, task manager of Hubble, said during the briefing. With 1 gyro, the scope volition instrumentality much clip to determination from 1 people cognition to the adjacent and to beryllium capable to fastener onto that caller target, which volition pb to little efficiency, according to Crouse. In presumption of however galore subject observations are scheduled passim a azygous week, the squad expects to spot a 12% simplification successful the fig of observations (which is presently astatine 85 per week). The ongoing contented with Hubble’s gyroscope has triggered the scope to participate harmless mode automatically 4 consecutive times. Most recently, Hubble entered harmless mode connected May 24 owed to 1 of its 3 gyroscopes giving faulty telemetry readings. The scope had lone resumed operations connected April 29, recovering from different glitchy episode. Earlier successful November 2023, 1 of the gyros returned akin wacky readings, which prompted Hubble’s harmless mode the archetypal time. The scope resumed operations the adjacent day, lone to participate harmless mode erstwhile again. Despite its downgraded status, NASA dismissed a proposal to rise Hubble to its archetypal altitude of 373 miles (600 km), ...
Pesky Glitch Forces NASA to Change the Way Hubble Works, and It's Not for the Better For much than 30 years, NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope has been scouring the cosmos to look for past galaxies and dazzling nebulae. The deterioration and teardrop of traveling done debased Earth orbit is starting to amusement connected the aging telescope, forcing it to edifice to utilizin...
marstopresources.com
To view or add a comment, sign in
12,748 followers