NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

August 18, 2024

A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO

One of the most spectacular solar sights is an erupting prominence. In 2011, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence erupting from the surface. The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the featured time lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame was taken every 24 seconds. The scale of the prominence is huge – the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas. A solar prominence is channeled and sometimes held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelling hot gas into the Solar System. The energy mechanism that creates a solar prominence is a continuing topic of research. Our Sun is again near solar maximum and so very active, featuring numerous erupting prominences and CMEs, one of which resulted in picturesque auroras just over the past week.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

NASA shares stunning image of 10-billion-year-old globular cluster NGC 6496. Netizens say, ‘Looks like glitter’

17 Aug 2024, 10:23 AM IST

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared stunning image 10-billion-year-old globular cluster of stars, NGC 6496, which the space agency describes it as “heavy metal.”

NASA added that the clusters is about 35,000 light-years away from Earth. In a post on Instagram, the space agency also added that the stars in this cluster have a notably higher concentration of metals, elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, than those found in comparable stellar clusters.

NASA further explained that NGC 6496 hosts a selection of long-period variables — giant pulsating stars whose brightness can take up to, and even over, a thousand days to change."

It also has short-period eclipsing binaries, where the brightness dims as one star passes in front of the other, it added.

People were captivated by the stunning image of NGC 6496. One person remarked, “Looks like glitter,” while another reflected “We are dust in the universe.”

Another user commented on the beauty of the sky and asked, “What a beautiful sky". One user also asked, “I have been fascinated by the universe since childhood and am eager to understand more about its boundaries.

Is there an end to the universe, or is it infinite? I would greatly appreciate any insights you can provide.”

https://www.livemint.com/science/news/nasa-shares-stunning-image-of-10-billion-year-old-globular-cluster-ngc-6496-netizens-say-looks-like-glitter-11723868088118.html