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The Marshall Star for December 13, 2023

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The Marshall Star for December 13, 2023

Marshall team members gather at the center’s holiday reception Dec. 7 in Activities Building 4316. From left are Cory Brown, Leigh Martin, Lisa Watkins, Shaun Baek, and Randy Silver.

Marshall Team Members Celebrate Holiday Season

By Jessica Barnett

Marshall team members gather at the center’s holiday reception Dec. 7 in Activities Building 4316. From left are Cory Brown, Leigh Martin, Lisa Watkins, Shaun Baek, and Randy Silver.
Marshall team members gather at the center’s holiday reception Dec. 7 in Activities Building 4316. From left are Cory Brown, Leigh Martin, Lisa Watkins, Shaun Baek, and Randy Silver.
NASA/Alex Russell

For hundreds of team members at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, “eat, drink, and be merry” was the afternoon theme for Dec. 7.

Marshall team members sign up for door prizes while Marshall Acting Center Director Joseph Pelfrey offers welcoming remarks at the center’s holiday reception.
Marshall team members sign up for door prizes while Marshall Acting Center Director Joseph Pelfrey offers welcoming remarks at the center’s holiday reception.
NASA/Alex Russell

The center hosted a holiday celebration in Activities Building 4316, complete with food, door prizes, and plenty of opportunity to wish one happy holidays. Acting Center Director Joseph Pelfrey welcomed team members to the festivities with a brief recap of 2023 and look forward to 2024.

Hundreds of Marshall team members enjoy the buffet-style food offerings at the center’s holiday reception.
Hundreds of Marshall team members enjoy the buffet-style food offerings at the center’s holiday reception.
NASA/Alex Russell

“I was thrilled to see such an excellent turnout at the holiday reception,” Pelfrey said after the reception. “This has been an exceptional year for us at Marshall, and it’s important we take time this season to celebrate our successes and recharge for 2024.”

The NASA worm logo flanked by two holiday trees was just one of the ways Activities Building 4316 was decked out for a merry holiday reception Dec. 7.
The NASA worm logo flanked by two holiday trees was just one of the ways Activities Building 4316 was decked out for a merry holiday reception Dec. 7.
NASA/Alex Russell

Barnett, a Media Fusion employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.

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IXPE Marks 2 Years of Groundbreaking X-ray Astronomy

By Rick Smith

On Dec. 9, astronomers and physicists commemorated two years of landmark X-ray science by NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission.

IXPE is the joint NASA-Italian Space Agency mission to study polarized X-ray light. Polarization is a characteristic of light that can help reveal information about where that light came from, such as the geometry and inner workings of the ultra-powerful energy sources from which it emanates.

A red and orange circle on a black starry background. A portion of the upper left is purple with lines on it.
This image of supernova remnant SN 1006 combines data from IXPE and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The red, green, and blue elements reflect low, medium, and high energy X-rays, respectively, as detected by Chandra. IXPE data is shown in purple in the upper left corner, with the addition of lines representing the outward movement of the remnant’s magnetic field.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO (Chandra); NASA/MSFC/Nanjing Univ./P. Zhou et al. (IXPE); IR: NASA/JPL/CalTech/Spitzer; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Schmidt

Launched Dec. 9, 2021, IXPE orbits Earth some 340 miles high, studying X-ray emissions from powerful cosmic phenomena thousands to billions of light-years from Earth, including quasars, blazars, remnants of supernova explosions, and high-energy particle streams spewing from the vicinity of black holes at nearly the speed of light.

“Adding X-ray polarization to our arsenal of radio, infrared, and optical polarization is a game changer,” said Alan Marscher, a Boston University astronomer who leads a research group that uses IXPE’s findings to analyze supermassive black holes.

Martin Weisskopf, the astrophysicist who led the development of IXPE at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and served as its principal investigator until his retirement from NASA in spring 2022, agreed.

“There can be no question that IXPE has shown that X-ray polarimetry is important and relevant to furthering our understanding of how these fascinating X-ray systems work,” Weisskopf said.

Scientists have long understood, for example, the fundamentals of blazars such as Markarian 501 and Markarian 421. A blazar is a massive black hole feeding off material swirling around it in a disk, creating powerful jets of high-speed cosmic particles which rush away in two directions perpendicular to the disk. But how are those particles accelerated to such high energies? IXPE data published in November 2022 in the journal Nature identified the culprit at Markarian 501 as a shock wave within the jet.

“This is a 40-year-old mystery that we’ve solved,” said Yannis Liodakis, a NASA Postdoctoral Program researcher at Marshall. “We finally had all of the pieces of the puzzle, and the picture they made was clear.”

IXPE also conducted unprecedented studies of three supernova remnants – Cassiopeia A, Tycho, and SN 1006 – helping scientists further their understanding of the origin and processes of the magnetic fields surrounding these phenomena.

IXPE is even shedding new light on fundamental mechanisms of our own galaxy. According to studies IXPE conducted in early 2022, Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, woke up about 200 years ago to devour gas and other cosmic detritus, triggering an intense, short-lived X-ray flare. By combining data from IXPE, Chandra, and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton mission, researchers determined the event occurred around the start of the 19th century.

An illustration of of a black hole that looks purple at the bottom and shows a stream of white and blue coming out of the hole.
This NASA illustration shows the structure of a black hole jet as inferred by recent IXPE observations of the blazar Markarian 421. The jet is powered by an accretion disk, shown at the bottom of the image, which orbits and falls into the black hole over time. Helical magnetic fields are threaded through the jet. IXPE observations have shown that the X-rays must be generated in a shock originating within material spiraling around the magnetic fields. The inset shows the shock front itself.
NASA/Pablo Garcia

“We know change can happen to active galaxies and supermassive black holes on a human timescale,” said IXPE project scientist Steve Ehlert at Marshall. “IXPE is helping us better understand the timescale on which the black hole at the center of our galaxy is changing. We’re eager to observe it further to determine which changes are typical and which are unique.”

IXPE also has supported observations of unanticipated cosmic events – such as the brightest pulse of intense radiation ever recorded, which swept through our solar system in October 2022. The pulse stemmed from a powerful gamma-ray burst likely to occur no more than once in 10,000 years, researchers said. Backing up data from NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope and other imagers, IXPE helped determine how the pulse was organized and confirmed that Earth imagers viewed the jet almost directly head-on.

Perhaps most exciting to space scientists is how IXPE data is upending conventional wisdom about various classes of high-energy sources.

“So many of the polarized X-ray results we’ve seen over the past two years were a big surprise, tossing theoretical models right out the window,” Ehlert said. “Seeing results we didn’t anticipate sparks new questions, new theories. It’s really exciting!”

That excitement continues to build among IXPE partners around the world. In June, the mission was formally extended for 20 months beyond its initial two-year flight – meaning IXPE will continue to observe high-energy X-ray emissions across the cosmos through at least September 2025.

The new year also will mark the start of the IXPE General Observer Program, which invites astrophysicists and other space scientists around the world to propose and take part in studies using the IXPE telescope. Beginning in February 2024, as much as 80% of IXPE’s time will be made available to the broader scientific community.

IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. Led at Marshall, IXPE’s spacecraft operations are jointly managed by Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, and the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

Smith, a Manufacturing Technical Solutions employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.

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This Holiday Season, Take Care of Yourself and Others

Dear Marshall family,

As 2023 comes to a close, my thoughts seem to be focused more than ever upon gratitude. As is true for many of you I’m sure, I am so incredibly thankful for my loved ones, for good health for me and my loved ones, and for the life that I enjoy.

The life that I enjoy encompasses a great deal. I have a comfortable home, with heat for the winter, air conditioning for the summer, hot and cold water all year long, good food to eat, reliable vehicles to drive, nice clothes and shoes to wear, access to entertainment, the ability to be a part of a community, and I could go on and on. The point is, I have a great deal to be thankful for, and being thankful helps me to be more aware of the fact that many in our community and our world are not so fortunate. I hope that you, too, will take some time to consider the people, circumstances, and things for which you are grateful, and also to consider looking for opportunities to help those in our community who are less fortunate.

Terry Sterry.
Dr. Terry Sterry.
NASA

With the holidays upon us, this can be a very demanding time of year, and that can add a good deal of stress to our lives. The stressors of the season will be different for each of us, but some common ones include attending more parties and other events, hosting parties, being around people whom we would prefer to avoid, spending too much on gifts, and trying to make everything turn out perfectly.

Please be deliberate in taking good care of yourselves during the holiday season. That, too, will look different for everyone, but some tips include giving ourselves permission to get enough sleep and rest, setting a budget and sticking to it, striving for enjoyment rather than perfection, limiting our indulgence in all the good food of the season, not drinking to excess, and giving ourselves permission to say ‘no’ to things that will cause us to be stretched too thin or pushed beyond our limits. 

While we typically think of the holidays as a time of joy and celebration, it can also be a time of intense sadness, grief, and feeling overwhelmed. Pay attention to those around you and if you see opportunities to offer support, please do. The holidays are very family focused, and this can be especially difficult for those who have discord within their family, for those with little or no remaining family, or those who have lost loved ones over this past year. If you find yourself struggling, please reach out to those you trust, be that family members, friends, spiritual leaders, or counselors (including the Marshall Employee Assistance Program), for support. Don’t suffer alone or in silence. It’s OK to ask for help. 

I’ll close with a couple of requests. First, please use your leave – take some time off to enjoy the holiday season, or just to go out and do something that you’ve been wanting to do. Second, if you have leave that you can’t use, please consider donating it to the leave bank. Donated leave makes a tremendous difference for those who have exhausted their own leave due to illness or accident, or to care for loved ones who are ill or recovering. Your generosity has the potential to help someone avoid the painful situation of having to take leave without pay.

Happy Holidays!  Be safe and well.

Dr. Terry Sterry
Licensed psychologist and Marshall Employee Assistance Program coordinator

For more information, team members can visit the Employee Assistance Program page on Inside Marshall.

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NASA Teams Prepare Moon Rocket-to-Spacecraft Connector for Assembly

The elements of the super-heavy lift SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis II mission are undergoing final preparations before shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for stacking and pre-launch activities in 2024.

Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center recently rotated the Orion stage adapter – a ring structure that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) – in preparation for the installation of its diaphragm. The installation Nov. 30 marks one of the final steps for the adapter before it is readied for shipment to Kennedy via NASA’s Super Guppy cargo aircraft.

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center flip the Artemis II Orion stage adapter for installation of its diaphragm Nov. 30.
Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center recently rotated the Orion stage adapter – a ring structure that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage – in preparation for the installation of its diaphragm. The installation Nov. 30 marks one of the final steps for the adapter before it is readied for shipment to Kennedy via NASA’s Super Guppy cargo aircraft.
NASA/Sam Lott

“The diaphragm is a composite, dome-shaped structure that isolates the volume above the ICPS from that below Orion,” said Brent Gaddes, lead for the Orion stage adapter, in the Spacecraft/Payload Integration & Evolution Office for the SLS Program at Marshall. “It serves as a barrier between the two, preventing the highly flammable hydrogen gas that could escape the rocket’s propellant tanks from building up beneath the Orion spacecraft and its crew before and during launch.”

At five feet tall and weighing in at 1,800 pounds, the adapter is the smallest major element of the SLS rocket that will produce more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to launch four Artemis astronauts inside Orion around the Moon. The adapter is fully manufactured by engineering teams at Marshall.

NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

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25 Years Ago: NASA, Partners Begin Space Station Assembly

On Dec. 6, NASA marked 25 years since the first two elements of the International Space Station were launched and joined in space. Today, the space station remains a global endeavor, with 273 people from 21 countries now having visited the microgravity laboratory and has hosted more than 3,700 research and educational investigations from people in 108 countries and areas.

On Nov. 20 and Dec. 4, 1998, Zarya and Unity, respectively, launched into orbit as the first two modules of the International Space Station. On Dec. 6, 1998, the space shuttle Endeavour STS-88 crew, NASA astronauts Bob Cabana, Rick Sturckow, Nancy Currie, Jerry Ross, and James Newman, along with Russian Space Agency (now Roscosmos) cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, captured the Zarya module with the space shuttle’s robotic arm and mated it to Unity.

Image of the Unity Node 1 module being lifted out of the cargo bay
The Unity Node 1 module being lifted out of the cargo bay. On Nov. 20 and Dec. 4, 1998, Zarya and Unity, respectively, launched into orbit as the first two modules of the International Space Station. On Dec. 6, 1998, the space shuttle Endeavour STS-88 crew captured the Zarya module with the space shuttle’s robotic arm and mated it to Unity.
NASA

Engineers thousands of miles apart designed and built the two modules and the elements first met in space. The STS-88 crew, commanded by Cabana, spent the next few days and three spacewalks making connections between the two modules before releasing the early station.

Since the joining of Zarya and Unity, the space station has grown with additions from international partners, resulting in the largest and most complex piece of technology constructed in space.

In November 2000, the space station received its first long-duration residents, Expedition 1, including NASA astronaut William Shepard, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko. Since that time, international teams have kept the space station permanently inhabited, performing routine operations and maintenance including dozens of spacewalks, and conducting world-class research in a wide array of scientific disciplines. From visiting spacecraft with cargo, crew, and private astronauts, to spacewalks for station upgrades, to science investigations and technology demonstrations, to commercial activities, to public outreach and STEM downlinks, the International Space Station is a busy orbital outpost and microgravity laboratory.

The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021, compared to Zarya and Unity at the same scale in the inset
The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021, compared to Zarya and Unity at the same scale in the inset

The seven-member Expedition 70 crew called down to Earth on Dec. 6 and discussed with NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana and International Space Station Program Manager Joel Montalbano the orbital outpost’s accomplishments since the assembly era began on Dec. 6, 1998. Cabana was the commander of Endeavour when both modules were robotically mated then outfitted during a series of spacewalks. Montalbano, NASA’s sixth station leader since the program’s inception, said, “We want to celebrate today all the people who designed, built, and operate the International Space Station.”

The Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

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Hubble Captures a Cluster in the Cloud

A striking Hubble Space Telescope image shows the densely packed globular cluster known as NGC 2210, which is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC lies about 157,000 light-years from Earth and is a so-called satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, meaning that the two galaxies are gravitationally bound. Globular clusters are very stable, tightly bound clusters of thousands or even millions of stars. Their stability means that they can last a long time, and therefore globular clusters are often studied to investigate potentially very old stellar populations.

A dense cluster of stars. It is brightest and most crowded in the center, where the stars are mostly a cool white color. Moving out towards the edges the stars become more spread out and reddish until a noticeable ‘edge’ to the cluster is reached. Beyond that edge there are still many stars, more disorganized and seen on a black background. Some stars appear to be in front of the cluster.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can resolve individual stars in the densely packed cores of globular clusters like NGC 2210.
ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini

In fact, 2017 research using some of the data that were also used to build the image revealed that a sample of LMC globular clusters were incredibly close in age to some of the oldest stellar clusters found in the Milky Way’s halo. They found that NGC 2210 specifically probably clocks in at around 11.6 billion years old. Even though this is only a couple of billion years younger than the universe itself, it made NGC 2210 by far the youngest globular cluster in their sample. All other LMC globular clusters studied in the same work were found to be even older, with four of them over 13 billion years old. This tells astronomers that the oldest globular clusters in the LMC formed contemporaneously with the oldest clusters in the Milky Way, even though the two galaxies formed independently.

As well as being a source of interesting research, this old-but-relatively-young cluster is also extremely beautiful, with its highly concentrated population of stars. The night sky would look very different from the perspective of an inhabitant of a planet orbiting one of the stars in a globular cluster’s center: the sky would appear to be stuffed full of stars, in a stellar environment that is thousands of times more crowded than our own.

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Webb Stuns with New High-Definition Look at Exploded Star

Like a shiny round ornament ready to be placed in the perfect spot on a holiday tree, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) gleams in a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. As part of the 2023 Holidays at the White House, First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden debuted the first-ever White House Advent Calendar. To showcase the “Magic, Wonder, and Joy” of the holiday season, Dr. Biden and NASA are celebrating with this new image from Webb.

While all is bright, this scene is no proverbial silent night. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) view of Cas A displays this stellar explosion at a resolution previously unreachable at these wavelengths. This high-resolution look unveils intricate details of the expanding shell of material slamming into the gas shed by the star before it exploded.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s new view of Cassiopeia A in near-infrared light is giving astronomers hints at the dynamical processes occurring within the supernova remnant. Tiny clumps represented in bright pink and orange make up the supernova’s inner shell, and are comprised of sulfur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the star itself. A large, striated blob at the bottom right corner of the image, nicknamed Baby Cas A, is one of the few light echoes visible NIRCam’s field of view. In this image, red, green, and blue were assigned to Webb’s NIRCam data at 4.4, 3.56, and 1.62 microns (F444W, F356W, and F162M, respectively).
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s new view of Cassiopeia A in near-infrared light is giving astronomers hints at the dynamical processes occurring within the supernova remnant. Tiny clumps represented in bright pink and orange make up the supernova’s inner shell, and are comprised of sulfur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the star itself. A large, striated blob at the bottom right corner of the image, nicknamed Baby Cas A, is one of the few light echoes visible NIRCam’s field of view. In this image, red, green, and blue were assigned to Webb’s NIRCam data at 4.4, 3.56, and 1.62 microns (F444W, F356W, and F162M, respectively).
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University of Gent)

Cas A is one of the most well-studied supernova remnants in all of the cosmos. Over the years, ground-based and space-based observatories, including NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and retired Spitzer Space Telescope have assembled a multiwavelength picture of the object’s remnant.

However, astronomers have now entered a new era in the study of Cas A. In April 2023, Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) started this chapter, revealing new and unexpected features within the inner shell of the supernova remnant. Many of those features are invisible in the new NIRCam image, and astronomers are investigating why.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

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Gorgeously Green: Geminids Peak Dec. 13-14

By Lauren Perkins

The Geminid meteor shower is active for much of December, but the peak occurs the night of the 13th into the morning of the 14th. Meteor rates in rural areas can be upwards of one per minute this year with minimal moonlight to interfere.

Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on Dec. 13. This 30 second-long exposure records their shimmering glow gently lighting the wintery coastal scene. A study in contrasts, it also captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from December’s excellent Geminid meteor shower. Streaking past familiar stars in the handle of the Big Dipper, the trail points back toward the constellation Gemini, off the top of the view.
Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on Dec. 13. This 30 second-long exposure records their shimmering glow gently lighting the wintery coastal scene. A study in contrasts, it also captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from December’s excellent Geminid meteor shower. Streaking past familiar stars in the handle of the Big Dipper, the trail points back toward the constellation Gemini, off the top of the view.
Bjørnar G. Hansen

Bill Cooke, lead for the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, shares why the Geminids particularly excite him: “Most meteors appear to be colorless or white, however the Geminids appear with a greenish hue. They’re pretty meteors!”

Depending on the meteor’s chemical composition, the meteor will emit different colors when burned in the Earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen, magnesium, and nickel usually produce green.

As with all meteor showers, all you need is a clear sky, darkness, a bit of patience, and perhaps warm outer wear and blankets for this one. You don’t need to look in any particular direction; meteors can generally be seen all over the sky.

Perkins, a Media Fusion employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.

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      Last Updated Sep 04, 2025 Related Terms
      James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) View the full article
    • NASA
      Circular Star Trails
      By NASA
      NASA/Nichole Ayers On July 26, 2025, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers took this long-exposure photograph – taken over 31 minutes from a window inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module – capturing the circular arcs of star trails.
      In its third decade of continuous human presence, the space station has a far-reaching impact as a microgravity lab hosting technology, demonstrations, and scientific investigations from a range of fields. The research done on the orbiting laboratory will inform long-duration missions like Artemis and future human expeditions to Mars.
      Image credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers
      View the full article
    • NASA
      Hubble Homes in on Galaxy’s Star Formation
      By NASA
      Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Universe Uncovered Hubble’s Partners in Science AI and Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Astronaut Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
      Hubble Homes in on Galaxy’s Star Formation
      This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the asymmetric spiral galaxy Messier 96. ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, D. Calzetti This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a galaxy whose asymmetric appearance may be the result of a galactic tug of war. Located 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, the spiral galaxy Messier 96 is the brightest of the galaxies in its group. The gravitational pull of its galactic neighbors may be responsible for Messier 96’s uneven distribution of gas and dust, asymmetric spiral arms, and off-center galactic core.
      This asymmetric appearance is on full display in the new Hubble image that incorporates data from observations made in ultraviolet, near infrared, and visible/optical light. Earlier Hubble images of Messier 96 were released in 2015 and 2018. Each successive image added new data, building up a beautiful and scientifically valuable view of the galaxy.
      The 2015 image combined two wavelengths of optical light with one near infrared wavelength. The optical light revealed the galaxy’s uneven form of dust and gas spread asymmetrically throughout its weak spiral arms and its off-center core, while the infrared light revealed the heat of stars forming in clouds shaded pink in the image.
      The 2018 image added two more optical wavelengths of light along with one wavelength of ultraviolet light that pinpointed areas where high-energy, young stars are forming.
      This latest version offers us a new perspective on Messier 96’s star formation. It includes the addition of light that reveals regions of ionized hydrogen (H-alpha) and nitrogen (NII). This data helps astronomers determine the environment within the galaxy and the conditions in which stars are forming. The ionized hydrogen traces ongoing star formation, revealing regions where hot, young stars are ionizing the gas. The ionized nitrogen helps astronomers determine the rate of star formation and the properties of gas between stars, while the combination of the two ionized gasses helps researchers determine if the galaxy is a starburst galaxy or one with an active galactic nucleus.
      The bubbles of pink gas in this image surround hot, young, massive stars, illuminating a ring of star formation in the galaxy’s outskirts. These young stars are still embedded within the clouds of gas from which they were born. Astronomers will use the new data in this image to study how stars are form within giant dusty gas clouds, how dust filters starlight, and how stars affect their environments.
      Explore More:

      Learn more about why astronomers study light in detail


      Explore the different wavelengths of light Hubble sees


      Explore the Night Sky: Messier 96

      Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact:
      Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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      Last Updated Aug 29, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
      Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Spiral Galaxies Stars The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
      Hubble Space Telescope


      Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.


      Hubble Science Highlights



      Hubble’s 35th Anniversary



      Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge


      View the full article
    • NASA
      NASA’s Chandra Reveals Star’s Inner Conflict Before Explosion
      By NASA
      This graphic features data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant that reveals that the star’s interior violently rearranged itself mere hours before it exploded. The main panel of this graphic is Chandra data that shows the location of different elements in the remains of the explosion: silicon (represented in red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green) and iron (purple). The blue color reveals the highest-energy X-ray emission detected by Chandra in Cas A and an expanding blast wave. The inset reveals regions with wide ranges of relative abundances of silicon and neon. This data, plus computer modeling, reveal new insight into how massive stars like Cas A end their lives.X-ray: NASA/CXC/Meiji Univ./T. Sato et al.; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk The inside of a star turned on itself before it spectacularly exploded, according to a new study from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Today, this shattered star, known as the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, is one of the best-known, well-studied objects in the sky.
      Over three hundred years ago, however, it was a giant star on the brink of self-destruction. The new Chandra study reveals that just hours before it exploded, the star’s interior violently rearranged itself. This last-minute shuffling of its stellar belly has profound implications for understanding how massive stars explode and how their remains behave afterwards.
      Cassiopeia A (Cas A for short) was one of the first objects the telescope looked at after its launch in 1999, and astronomers have repeatedly returned to observe it.
      “It seems like each time we closely look at Chandra data of Cas A, we learn something new and exciting,” said Toshiki Sato of Meiji University in Japan who led the study. “Now we’ve taken that invaluable X-ray data, combined it with powerful computer models, and found something extraordinary.”
      As massive stars age, increasingly heavy elements form in their interiors by nuclear reactions, creating onion-like layers of different elements. Their outer layer is mostly made of hydrogen, followed by layers of helium, carbon and progressively heavier elements – extending all the way down to the center of the star. 
      Once iron starts forming in the core of the star, the game changes. As soon as the iron core grows beyond a certain mass (about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun), it can no longer support its own weight and collapses. The outer part of the star falls onto the collapsing core, and rebounds as a core-collapse supernova.
      The new research with Chandra data reveals a change that happened deep within the star at the very last moments of its life. After more than a million years, Cas A underwent major changes in its final hours before exploding.
      “Our research shows that just before the star in Cas A collapsed, part of an inner layer with large amounts of silicon traveled outwards and broke into a neighboring layer with lots of neon,” said co-author Kai Matsunaga of Kyoto University in Japan. “This is a violent event where the barrier between these two layers disappears.”
      This upheaval not only caused material rich in silicon to travel outwards; it also forced material rich in neon to travel inwards. The team found clear traces of these outward silicon flows and inward neon flows in the remains of Cas A’s supernova remnant. Small regions rich in silicon but poor in neon are located near regions rich in neon and poor in silicon. 
      The survival of these regions not only provides critical evidence for the star’s upheaval, but also shows that complete mixing of the silicon and neon with other elements did not occur immediately before or after the explosion. This lack of mixing is predicted by detailed computer models of massive stars near the ends of their lives.
      There are several significant implications for this inner turmoil inside of the doomed star. First, it may directly explain the lopsided rather than symmetrical shape of the Cas A remnant in three dimensions. Second, a lopsided explosion and debris field may have given a powerful kick to the remaining core of the star, now a neutron star, explaining the high observed speed of this object.
      Finally, the strong turbulent flows created by the star’s internal changes may have promoted the development of the supernova blast wave, facilitating the star’s explosion.
      “Perhaps the most important effect of this change in the star’s structure is that it may have helped trigger the explosion itself,” said co-author Hiroyuki Uchida, also of Kyoto University. “Such final internal activity of a star may change its fate—whether it will shine as a supernova or not.”
      These results have been published in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal and are available online.
      To learn more about Chandra, visit:
      https://science.nasa.gov/chandra
      Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
      https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
      https://chandra.si.edu
      Visual Description
      This release features a composite image of Cassiopeia A, a donut-shaped supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth. Included in the image is an inset closeup, which highlights a region with relative abundances of silicon and neon.
      Over three hundred years ago, Cassiopeia A, or Cas A, was a star on the brink of self-destruction. In composition it resembled an onion with layers rich in different elements such as hydrogen, helium, carbon, silicon, sulfur, calcium, and neon, wrapped around an iron core. When that iron core grew beyond a certain mass, the star could no longer support its own weight. The outer layers fell into the collapsing core, then rebounded as a supernova. This explosion created the donut-like shape shown in the composite image. The shape is somewhat irregular, with the thinner quadrant of the donut to the upper left of the off-center hole.
      In the body of the donut, the remains of the star’s elements create a mottled cloud of colors, marbled with red and blue veins. Here, sulfur is represented by yellow, calcium by green, and iron by purple. The red veins are silicon, and the blue veins, which also line the outer edge of the donut-shape, are the highest energy X-rays detected by Chandra and show the explosion’s blast wave.
      The inset uses a different color code and highlights a colorful, mottled region at the thinner, upper left quadrant of Cas A. Here, rich pockets of silicon and neon are identified in the red and blue veins, respectively. New evidence from Chandra indicates that in the hours before the star’s collapse, part of a silicon-rich layer traveled outwards, and broke into a neighboring neon-rich layer. This violent breakdown of layers created strong turbulent flows and may have promoted the development of the supernova’s blast wave, facilitating the star’s explosion. Additionally, upheaval in the interior of the star may have produced a lopsided explosion, resulting in the irregular shape, with an off-center hole (and a thinner bite of donut!) at our upper left.
      News Media Contact
      Megan Watzke
      Chandra X-ray Center
      Cambridge, Mass.
      617-496-7998
      mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
      Corinne Beckinger
      Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
      256-544-0034
      corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated Aug 28, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
      Chandra X-Ray Observatory General Marshall Astrophysics Marshall Space Flight Center Supernova Remnants Supernovae The Universe Explore More
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    • USH
      NASA shuttle video shows UFO dodging “Star Wars” Weapons test
      By USH
      NASA’s 1991 Discovery shuttle video shows UFOs making impossible maneuvers, evading a possible Star Wars railgun test. Evidence of secret tech? 

      In September 1991, NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery transmitted live video that has since become one of the most debated UFO clips ever recorded. The footage, later analyzed by independent researchers, shows glowing objects in orbit performing maneuvers far beyond the limits of known physics. 
      One object appears over Earth’s horizon, drifts smoothly, then suddenly reacts to a flash of light by accelerating at impossible speeds, estimated at over 200,000 mph while withstanding forces of 14,000 g’s. NASA officially dismissed the anomalies as ice particles or debris, but side by side comparisons with actual orbital ice show key differences: the objects make sharp turns, sudden accelerations, and fade in brightness in ways consistent with being hundreds of miles away, not near the shuttle. 
      Image analysis expert Dr. Mark Carlotto confirmed that at least one object was located about 1,700 miles from the shuttle, placing it in Earth’s atmosphere. At that distance, the object would be too large and too fast to be dismissed as ice or space junk. 
      The flash and two streaks seen in the video resemble the Pentagon’s “Brilliant Pebbles” concept, a railgun based missile defense system tested in the early 1990s. Researchers suggest the shuttle cameras may have accidentally, or deliberately, captured a live Star Wars weapons test in orbit. 
      The UFO easily evaded the attack, leading some to conclude that it was powered by a form of hyperdimensional technology capable of altering gravity. 
      Notably, following this 1991 incident, all subsequent NASA shuttle external camera feeds were censored or delayed, raising speculation that someone inside the agency allowed the extraordinary footage to slip out.
        View the full article

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