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These NASA Hubble Space Telescope snapshots reveal dramatic activities within the core of the galaxy NGC 3079, where a lumpy bubble of hot gas is rising from a cauldron of glowing matter. The picture at left shows the bubble in the center of the galaxy's disk. The structure is more than 3,000 light-years wide and rises 3,500 light-years above the galaxy's disk. The smaller photo at right is a close-up view of the bubble. Astronomers suspect that the bubble is being blown by "winds" (high-speed streams of particles) released during a burst of star formation. Gaseous filaments at the top of the bubble are whirling around in a vortex and are being expelled into space. Eventually, this gas will rain down upon the galaxy's disk where it may collide with gas clouds, compress them, and form a new generation of stars. The two white dots just above the bubble are probably stars in the galaxy.

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      Image A: Pismis 24 (NIRCam Image)
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      Media Contacts
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      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Ann Jenkins – jenkins@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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    • By NASA
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    • 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.
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      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.
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      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
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      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
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      Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2: Collaboration Drives Innovation
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      Landsat, a joint program of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has been an invaluable tool for monitoring changes in Earth’s land surface for over 50 years. Researchers use instruments on Landsat satellites to monitor decades-long trends, including urbanization and agricultural expansion, as well as short-term dynamics, including water use and disaster recovery. However, scientists and land managers often encounter one critical limitation of this program: Landsat has a revisit time of eight days (with Landsat 8 and 9 operating), which is too long to capture events and disasters that occur on short timescales. Floods, for example, can quickly inundate a region, and cloud cover from storms can delay Landsat’s ability to get a clear observation on damage.
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      Animation 2: The visualization provides the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) for farm fields south of Columbus, NE. The red represents bare soil and green represents healthy, growing vegetation. The animation runs from January 1 to December 30, 2016. Animation credit: Michael Taylor [SSAI], Matthew Radcliff [USRA], and Jeffrey Masek [GSFC]. Caption adapted from Laura Rocchio [SSAI] HLS V2.0 in Action
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      DIST-ALERT was created through Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA), a project at NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). OPERA products respond to agency needs identified by the SNWG. In 2018, SNWG identified tracking surface disturbance as a key need. OPERA partnered with the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) lab at University of Maryland to develop the change detection algorithm.
      To track changes in vegetation, the DIST-ALERT system establishes a rolling baseline – meaning that for any given pixel, the vegetation cover is compared against vegetation cover from the same 31-day window in the previous three years. The primary algorithm detects any vegetation loss relative to the established baseline. A secondary algorithm flags any spectral anomaly (i.e., any change in reflectance) compared to that same baseline. This approach ensures that the algorithm catches non-vegetation change (e.g., new building or road projects in unvegetated areas). Used together, these algorithms can identify long-term changes in agricultural expansion, deforestation, and urbanization alongside short-term changes in crop harvest, drought, selective logging, and the impacts of disasters. On average, DIST-ALERT is made available on LP DAAC within six hours of when new HLS data is available. Currently, the dataset does not provide attribution to disturbances.
      Figure 1. In March 2025, wildfires burned through South Korea, resulting in heavy vegetation loss. [left] Output of the DIST-ALERT product on NASA Worldview from May 8, 2025, with vegetation loss in percent flagged with varying levels of confidence. Yellow and red represent areas with confirmed vegetation cover losses of right] Natural-color image captured by the Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) aboard Sentinel-2C on May 8, 2025. The large brown burn scar in the center of the image corresponds to vegetation loss detected by DIST-ALERT. It stands in contrast to the surrounding green vegetation. Figure credit: NASA Earthdata Disturbance alerts already exist in some ecosystems. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)] runs two projects that detect deforestation in the Amazon: Programa de Cálculo do Desflorestamento da Amazônia (PRODES) and Sistema de Detecção de Desmatamento em Tempo Real (DETER). The GLAD lab created its own forest loss alerts – GLAD-L and GLAD-S2 – using Landsat and Sentinel-2 data respectively. Global Forest Watch integrates GLAD-L and GLAD-S2 data with Radar for Detecting Deforestation (RADD) observations – derived from synthetic aperture radar data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 – into an integrated deforestation alert.
      The implementation of these alert systems, some of which have been around for decades, have been shown to impact deforestation rates in the tropics. For example, a 2021 study in Nature Climate Change found that deforestation alerts decreased the probability of deforestation in Central Africa by 18% relative to the average 2011–2016 levels.
      DIST-ALERT is distinct from other alert systems in a few ways. First, it has global coverage. Second, the rolling baseline allows for tracking changes in seasonality and disturbances to dynamic ecosystems. When HLS V2.0 data are input to DIST-ALERT, the system is also better at identifying disturbances in cloudy ecosystems than other individual alert systems – because it is more likely to obtain clear observations. This also enables it to identify the start and end of the disturbance more precisely.
      Pickens said that the DIST-ALERT team is already working with end-users who are implementing their data product. She has spoken to some who use the system to help logging companies prove that they are complying with regulations. The U.S. Census Bureau is also using DIST-ALERT to monitor fast-growing communities so that they can do targeted assessments in the interim between the larger decennial census.
      Alongside DIST-ALERT, OPERA has also been developing the Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx) product suite, which employs HLS to track surface water (e.g., lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and floods) around the globe – see Figure 2. These new products represent the new applications made possible by the HLS interagency and international collaboration.
      Figure 2. The map shows flood extent and estimates of flood depth in areas west of Porto Alegre, Brazil on May 6, 2024. The flood extent is from the Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) Dynamic Surface Water eXtent product, which uses Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 data. The flood depth estimate is from the Floodwater Depth Estimation Tool (FwD ET). The darkest blue areas represent floodwater at least 5 m (20 ft) deep. Much of the inundated floodplain is light blue, which equates to depths of between 0.1–1 m (4–40 in). Figure credit: Lauren Dauphin [NASA’s Earth Observatory], Dinuke Munasinghe [JPL], Sagy Cohen [University of Alabama], and Alexander Handwerger [JPL] Conclusion
      HLS is set to continue improving land monitoring efforts across the globe. Meanwhile, the HLS science team is working to improve the algorithms for a more seamless harmonization of Landsat 8 and 9 and Sentinel-2 data. They are also working to improve the cloud-masking algorithm, have recently released vegetation indices, and are working on developing a low-latency (six-hour) HLS surface reflectance product, all while incorporating user feedback.
      Looking ahead, the launch of future Sentinel and Landsat satellites will further the development of HLS. The additional data and unique capabilities will continue to meet researchers’ need for more frequent, high-quality satellite observations of Earth’s land surface.
      Madeleine Gregory
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Science Systems and Applications Inc.
      madeleine.s.gregory@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated Aug 25, 2025 Related Terms
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