NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Oct 20 2022
Pillars of Creation
A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed the Pillars of Creation. This James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image expands Hubble's exploration of that region in greater detail and depth inside the iconic stellar nursery. Particularly stunning in Webb's near infrared view is the telltale reddish emission from knots of material undergoing gravitational collapse to form stars within the natal clouds. The Eagle Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant. The larger bright emission nebula is itself an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes. M16 lies along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in a nebula rich part of the sky, toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake).
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA’s Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape – the iconic Pillars of Creation – where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light.
Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.
Newly formed stars are the scene-stealers in this image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). These are the bright red orbs that typically have diffraction spikes and lie outside one of the dusty pillars. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars of gas and dust, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars.
What about those wavy lines that look like lava at the edges of some pillars? These are ejections from stars that are still forming within the gas and dust. Young stars periodically shoot out supersonic jets that collide with clouds of material, like these thick pillars. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. The crimson glow comes from the energetic hydrogen molecules that result from jets and shocks. This is evident in the second and third pillars from the top – the NIRCam image is practically pulsing with their activity. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old.
Although it may appear that near-infrared light has allowed Webb to “pierce through” the clouds to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, there are no galaxies in this view. Instead, a mix of translucent gas and dust known as the interstellar medium in the densest part of our Milky Way galaxy’s disk blocks our view of the deeper universe.
This scene was first imaged by Hubble in 1995 and revisited in 2014, but many other observatories have also stared deeply at this region. Each advanced instrument offers researchers new details about this region, which is practically overflowing with stars.
This tightly cropped image is set within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/videos/2022/052/01GFNTBJC5392VRMW3B4V1M1RA
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This video tours areas of Webb’s near-infrared light view of the Pillars of Creation. This area is brimming with gas and dust – which are essential ingredients for star formation. Glowing, bright red wavy lines appear at the edges of some pillars, revealing where stars are ejecting material as they form. The bright red orbs are newly formed stars that have burst into view.
Distant galaxies typically make appearances in Webb’s images, but not this one. A translucent layer of gas and dust is drawn like a curtain, allowing the stars to take centerstage. Webb’s near-infrared image will help researchers update their models of star formation. Over time, we’ll learn how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.
https://youtu.be/1__KBHIo_xs
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Starlink Mission
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, October 20 for a Falcon 9 launch of 54 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:50 a.m. ET (14:50 UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, October 21 at 10:29 a.m. ET (14:29 UTC).
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://youtu.be/erH5mrvQkbc
https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar/2022/october/rocket-launch-spacex-falcon-9-starlink-4-36#:~:text=MISSION%3A,affordable%20internet%20across%20the%20globe.
M 6.7 Earthquake - 62 km SSW of Boca Chica, Panama
Time
2022-10-20 04:57:11 (UTC-07:00)
Location
7.671°N 82.340°W
Depth
10.0 km
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=us6000iv6c&extent=-10.09867,-117.50977&extent=25.44327,-47.19727
alley oop