X-Ray Sun

X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This is the first picture of the sun taken by NuSTAR. The field of view covers the west limb of the sun.

The NuSTAR data, seen in green and blue, reveal solar high-energy emission (green shows energies between 2 and 3 kiloelectron volts, and blue shows energies between 3 and 5 kiloelectron volts). The high-energy X-rays come from gas heated to above 3 million degrees.

The red channel represents ultraviolet light captured by SDO at wavelengths of 171 angstroms, and shows the presence of lower-temperature material in the solar atmosphere at 1 million degrees.

This image shows that some of the hotter emission tracked by NuSTAR is coming from different locations in the active regions and the coronal loops than the cooler emission shown in the SDO image.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC

Note: For more information, see Sun Sizzles in High-Energy X-Rays.

il Gioiello Galactic Cluster

il Gioiello Cluster: A galaxy cluster located about 9.6 billion light years from Earth.

The most massive cluster of galaxies with an age of 800 million years or younger has been discovered and studied. X-ray data from Chandra allowed astronomers to accurately determine the mass and other properties of this cluster, nicknamed the "Gioiello" (Italian for "Jewel") cluster. This composite image of the Gioiello Cluster contains X-rays from Chandra (purple), infrared data from Herschel (red), and an optical image from Subaru (red, green, and blue). Results like this help
astronomers better understand how galaxy clusters, the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity, have evolved over time.

Scale: Image is 3.7 arcmin across (about 6.2 million light years).

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF/P.Tozzi, et al; Optical: NAOJ/Subaru and ESO/VLT; Infrared: ESA/Herschel

Note: For more information, see il Gioiello Cluster: NASA's Chandra Weighs Most Massive Galaxy Cluster in Distant Universe.

X-Ray Emissions from Dwarf Galaxy J1329+3234

This image depicts the X-ray emission from dwarf galaxy J1329+3234 (center in this image), and from a background AGN (lower right), measured by XMM-Newton in June 2013.

Located over 200 million light-years away, the dwarf galaxy contains a few hundred million stars and is similar in size to the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of our nearest neighboring galaxies.

Astronomers were intrigued to discover infrared signatures of an accreting black hole when they studied this galaxy with NASA's WISE spacecraft in 2013. When they subsequently observed the galaxy with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory they were surprised to detect X-ray emission over 100 times stronger than expected for this galaxy.

The combined X-ray and infrared properties of this galaxy can only be explained by the presence of a massive black hole residing in J1329+3234, similar to the super-massive black holes found at the centers of much more massive galaxies.

The image is constructed from 2-10 keV X-ray emission and has been smoothed. The color code represents the intensity of X-ray emission with blue being more intense and red less intense. The white bar indicates a width of 10 arcseconds, equivalent to 3.3 kpc at the distance of this galaxy. North is up, east to the left.

Image credit: ESA/XMM-Newton/N. Secrest, et al. (2015)

Note: For more information, see XMM-Newton Spots Monster Black Hole Hidden in Tiny Galaxy.

Galaxy Cluster XDCPJ0044.0-2033

This multi-telescope composite combines X-ray, infrared and optical data of the galaxy cluster XDCPJ0044.0-2033.

The purple/pink in the image corresponds to infrared emission measured by Herschel and X-ray emission detected with NASA's Chandra telescope.

Infrared data from ESA's Herschel telescope has revealed where interstellar dust in the cluster's core is being heated by young, hot, stars. This is the first time that star formation has been found in the core of a cluster of this size and age.

The X-ray data were used to map the mass of this giant cluster.

These data have been combined with optical and near-infrared images of the cluster captured by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's Subaru telescope and the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope, the data from which are colored red, green and blue in this image.

XDCPJ0044.0-2033 is a massive galaxy cluster with an estimated mass of about four hundred thousand billion times that of our Sun. It lies at a redshift of almost 1.6, meaning that we see it as it was 9.6 billion years ago.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF/P.Tozzi, et al; Optical: NAOJ/Subaru and ESO/VLT; Infrared: ESA/Herschel/J. Santos, et al.

Note: For more information, see Herschel's View of the Early Universe Reveals Galaxy Cluster Fireworks

Color-Coded Image of the Milky Way's Cold Dust

Covering a portion of the sky about 55°, the image was obtained by Planck’s High Frequency Instrument at a frequency of 857 GHz (corresponding to a wavelength of 350 micrometers). The dark horizontal band is the plane of our Galaxy, seen in cross-section from our vantage point. The colors represent the intensity of heat radiation by dust.

Image credit: ESA and the HFI Consortium

Note: For more information, see Planck Image of a Region in the Constellation Perseus; also, see New Planck Images Reveal Large-Scale Structure in Milky Way and Planck's View of Orion.

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared

Sometimes a horse of a different color hardly seems to be a horse at all, as, for example, in this newly released image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The famous Horsehead nebula makes a ghostly appearance on the far right side of the image, but is almost unrecognizable in this infrared view. In visible-light images, the nebula has a distinctively dark and dusty horse-shaped silhouette, but when viewed in infrared light, dust becomes transparent and the nebula appears as a wispy arc.

The Horsehead is only one small feature in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, dominated in the center of this view by the brilliant Flame nebula (NGC 2024). The smaller, glowing cavity falling between the Flame nebula and the Horsehead is called NGC 2023. These regions are about 1,200 light-years away.

The two carved-out cavities of the Flame nebula and NGC 2023 were created by the destructive glare of recently formed massive stars within their confines. They can be seen tracing a spine of glowing dust that runs through the image.

The Flame nebula sits adjacent to the star Alnitak, the westernmost star in Orion's belt, seen here as the bright blue dot near the top of the nebula.

In this infrared image from Spitzer, blue represents light emitted at a wavelength of 3.6-microns, and cyan (blue-green) represents 4.5-microns, both of which come mainly from hot stars. Green represents 8-micron light and red represents 24-micron light. Relatively cooler objects, such as the dust of the nebulae, appear green and red. Some regions along the top and bottom of the image extending beyond Spitzer's observations were filled in using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, which covered similar wavelengths across the whole sky.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Note: For more information, see Horsehead of a Different Color.

Kepler K2 Mission

This artist concept shows NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. In May, the spacecraft began its new mission observing in the ecliptic plane, the orbital path of Earth around the sun, depicted by the grey-blue line marked by opaque cross-like shapes. Each shape represents the field-of-view of an observing campaign.

Using publicly available data collected by the spacecraft in February during the performance concept test to prove K2 would work, astronomers confirmed the first exoplanet detected by the K2 mission. The newly confirmed planet, HIP 116454b, is two-and-a-half times the diameter of Earth, and closely orbits a star smaller and cooler than our sun once every nine days, making the planet too hot for life as we know it. The star and planet are 180 light-years from Earth toward the constellation Pisces.

Illustration credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Note: For more information, see NASA's Kepler Reborn, Makes First Exoplanet Find of New Mission and Reborn Kepler Spacecraft Finds 'Super-Earth'.

Perihelion Cliff

From the location where it came to rest after bounces, the Philae lander of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission captured this view of a cliff on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The feature is called "Perihelion Cliff." The image is from the lander's CIVA camera.

Image credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

Note: For more information, see
* PIA19094: Comet Lander's View During First Bounce
* PIA19096: Philae Lander's Setting on Comet's Surface
* PIA19097: Philae Lander's Setting on Comet, with Cliff-Image Inset
* Rosetta Orbiter to Swoop Down On Comet in February
* Rosetta to Swoop Down on Comet in February

Messier 47

This spectacular image of the star cluster Messier 47 was taken using the Wide Field Imager camera, installed on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. This young open cluster is dominated by a sprinkling of brilliant blue stars but also contains a few contrasting red giant stars.

Image credit: ESO

Note: For more information, see The Hot Blue Stars of Messier 47.

NGC 2207 and IC 2163

NGC 2207: NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are two spiral galaxies in the process of merging.

X-ray data from Chandra have revealed that NGC 2207 and IC 2163, currently in the process of colliding with one another, have produced one of the most bountiful collections of super bright X-ray lights called "ultraluminous X-ray sources" (ULXs). The true nature of ULXs is still debated, but they are likely a peculiar type of X-ray binary. In this composite image, X-ray data from Chandra are pink, optical light data from Hubble are red, green, and blue (appearing as blue, white, orange and brown), and infrared data from Spitzer are in red.

Scale: Image is 5 arcmin across (about 180,000 light years).

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/S.Mineo et al, Optical: NASA/STScI, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Note: For more information, see NGC 2207 and IC 2163: Galactic Get-Together has Impressive Light Display, PIA18903: Galactic Gathering Gives Impressive Light Display, and Galactic Gathering Gives Sparkling Light Display.

Rosetta Comet Water Different From Earth Water

This composite is a mosaic comprising four individual NAVCAM images taken from 19 miles (31 kilometers) from the center of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 20, 2014. The image resolution is 10 feet (3 meters) per pixel.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has found the water vapor from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to be significantly different from that found on Earth. The discovery fuels the debate on the origin of our planet's oceans.

The measurements, by the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) instrument, were made in the month following the arrival of the spacecraft on August 6. It is one of the most anticipated early results of the mission, because the origin of Earth's water is still an open question.

Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from the epoch when the sun and its planets formed. Rosetta's lander obtained the first images taken from a comet's surface and will provide analysis of the comet's possible primordial composition. Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to witness at close proximity how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun's radiation. Observations will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in seeding Earth with water, and perhaps even life.

Image and top paragraph text credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; bottom three paragraph text credit: NASA/JPL

Note: For more information, see:
* First Measurements of Comet’s Water Ratio
* Rosetta Instrument Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans
* Rosetta Fuels Debate on Origin of Earth's Oceans
* Rosetta Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans

The Disintegration of Comet ISON

Some had hoped comet ISON would be the comet of the century, lighting Earth’s skies during the latter months of 2013. Instead, it was barely visible for ground-based observers, but the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) had a ring-side seat to watch its disintegration.

This image is a montage spanning three days from 28–30 November 2013. The comet enters the image at the lower right, passes round the Sun and exits the frame towards the upper right. The bright star to the lower left is the red supergiant star Antares.

Astronomers had been tracking the comet for more than a year as it edged closer to the Sun, and by late November it had passed into the field of view of SOHO’s LASCO C3 camera. It was to skim the Sun, just 1,165,000 km above the fiery surface.

This is approximately 50 times closer to the Sun than innermost planet Mercury, and the comet was officially termed a ‘sungrazer’. If it survived the encounter it was expected to become extremely bright and be a well-placed object, visible to the naked eye in Earth’s night sky.

Calculations based on its orbit show that ISON began its journey towards the Sun about 3 million years ago, dislodged from its distant orbit by a passing star. Now, its fate would be sealed within days.

On 27 November, the comet brightened dramatically by a factor of about ten. Yet just before it reached closest approach to the Sun, it began to fade. This was a strong indicator that the heart of the comet, the icy nucleus, had broken up. Many expected it would disperse completely but, at first, it looked as if they were wrong.

Comet ISON appeared to survive the close approach, emerging on the other side of the Sun. Some still hoped for a bright display in the night skies. But they were to be disappointed. Quickly, the comet began to disappear. A recent analysis of SOHO data showed that the nucleus had indeed disintegrated just before closest approach to the Sun. Nothing appreciable was left of it, just a lot of dust and vapor.

The disintegration of comet ISON provided scientists with an exceptional chance to see a comet inside and out. Another rare opportunity is being provided by comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft caught up with this comet early in August 2014 and deployed the lander Philae to the surface in November. The orbiter will accompany comet 67P/C-G along its orbit and through its closest approach to the Sun, which takes it between the orbits of Mars and Earth. While this comet is unlikely to suffer the same fate as comet ISON, it will provide an unsurpassed insight into the nature of comets.

Image credit: ESA/NASA