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Hubble Finds Oxygen Atmosphere on Jupiter's Moon, Europa
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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.
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Learn more about why astronomers study light in detail
Explore the different wavelengths of light Hubble sees
Explore the Night Sky: Messier 96
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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
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By NASA
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida participate in the first joint integrated launch countdown simulation for Artemis I inside Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center on July 8, 2021. Seen at the top of the room is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson (right), launch director.Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky As four astronauts venture around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II test flight in 2026, many people will support the journey from here on Earth. Teams directing operations from the ground include the mission management team, launch control team, flight control team, and the landing and recovery team, each with additional support personnel who are experts in every individual system and subsystem. The teams have managed every aspect of the test flight and ensure NASA is prepared to send humans beyond our atmosphere and into a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
Mission management team
Reviews of mission status and risk assessments are conducted by the mission management team, a group of 15 core members and additional advisors. Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, will serve as the mission management team chair for the test flight.
Two days prior to launch, the mission management team will assemble to review mission risks and address any lingering preflight concerns. With more than 20 years of human spaceflight experience, Kshatriya will conduct polls at key decision points, providing direction for the relevant operations team. If circumstances during the flight go beyond established decision criteria or flight rules outlined ahead of the mission, the team will assess the situation based on the information available and decide how to respond.
Matt Ramsey, serving as the Artemis II mission manager, will oversee all elements of mission preparedness prior to the mission management team assembly two days before launch and serve as deputy mission management team chair throughout the mission. With more than two decades of experience at NASA, Ramsey managed the SLS (Space Launch System) Engineering Support Center for Artemis I.
Launch control team
The launch control team coordinates launch operations from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Charlie Blackwell-Thompson serves as the agency’s Artemis launch director, responsible for integrating and coordinating launch operations for the SLS, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems Programs, including developing and implementing plans for countdown, troubleshooting, and timing.
Two days before liftoff, when the countdown for launch begins, Blackwell-Thompson’s team will begin preparations for launch from their console positions in Firing Room 1 in Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. On the day of launch, Blackwell-Thompson and her team will manage countdown progress, propellent loading, and launch commit criteria. The criteria include standards for systems involved in launch, and the team will monitor the rocket until it lifts off from the launchpad.
Rick Henfling, flight director, monitors systems in the Flight Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA Flight control team
From solid rocket booster ignition until the crew is safety extracted from the Orion capsule following splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at the end of their mission, the flight control team oversees operations from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Multiple flight directors will take turns leading the team throughout the 10-day mission to support operations around the clock. Jeff Radigan, bringing more than 20 years of International Space Station experience to Artemis II, will serve as lead flight director for the mission. The work for this role begins well in advance of the mission with building mission timelines; developing flight rules and procedures; leading the flight control team through simulations that prepare them for the flight test; and then helping them carry out the plan.
On launch day, the ascent flight control team will be led by Judd Frieling, an Artemis I flight director who also supported more than 20 shuttle missions as a flight controller. Frieling is responsible for overseeing the crew’s ascent to space, including performance of SLS core stage engines, solid rocket boosters, and propulsion systems from the moment of launch until the separation of Orion from the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. As Orion is propelled toward the Moon, guidance of operations will pass to the next flight director.
At the opposite end of the mission, Rick Henfling will take the lead for Orion’s return to Earth and splashdown. Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 25,000 mph to about 20 mph for a parachute-assisted splashdown. Drawing from a background supporting space shuttle ascent, entry, and abort operations and 10 years as a space station flight director, Henfling and the team will monitor weather forecasts for landing, watch over Orion’s systems through the dynamic entry phase, and to ensure the spacecraft is safely shutdown before handing over operations to the recovery team.
At any point during the mission, a single voice will speak to the crew in space on behalf of all members of the flight control team: the capsule communicator, or CapCom. The CapCom ensures the crew in space receives clear and concise communication from the teams supporting them on the ground. NASA astronaut Stan Love will serve as the lead CapCom for Artemis II. Love flew aboard STS-122 mission and has acted as CapCom for more than a dozen space station expeditions. He is also part of the astronaut office’s Rapid Prototyping Lab, which played a key role in development of Orion’s displays and controls.
Landing, recovery team
Retrieval of the crew and Orion crew module will be in the hands of the landing and recovery team, led by Lili Villarreal. The team will depart San Diego on a Department of Defense ship, and head to the vicinity of the landing site several days before splashdown for final preparations alongside the U.S. Navy and DOD.
The recovery team is made up of personnel operating from the ship, land, and air to recover both astronauts and the capsule. Decision-making authority during the recovery phase of mission operations belongs to Villarreal, who served as deputy flow director for Artemis I and worked in the operations division for the space station.
The success of Artemis II will pave the way for the next phase of the agency’s campaign, landing on the lunar South Pole region on Artemis III. These teams, along with the four crew members and countless NASA engineers, scientists, and personnel, are driving humanity’s exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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By NASA
3 Min Read NASA Shares Final Contenders for Artemis II Moon Mascot Design Contest
NASA is down to 25 finalists for the Artemis II zero gravity indicator set to fly with the mission’s crew around the Moon and back next year.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will soon select one of the finalist designs to join them inside the Orion spacecraft as their Moon mascot.
“The Artemis II zero gravity indicator will be special for the crew,” said Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander. “In a spacecraft filled with complex hardware to keep the crew alive in deep space, the indicator is a friendly and useful way to highlight the human element that is so critical to our exploration of the universe. Our crew is excited about these designs from across the world and we are looking forward to bringing the winner along for the ride.”
A zero gravity indicator is a small plush item that typically rides with a crew to visually indicate when they are in space. For the first eight minutes after liftoff, the crew and their indicator nearby will still be pushed into their seats by gravity, and the force of the climb into space. When the main engines of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage cut off, gravity’s restraints are lifted, but the crew will still be strapped safely into their seats – their zero gravity indicator’s ability to float will provide proof that they’ve made it into space.
Artemis II will mark the first time that the public has had a hand in creating the crew’s mascot.
These designs – ideas spanning from Moon-related twists on Earthly creatures to creative visions of exploration and discovery – were selected from more than 2,600 submissions from over 50 countries, including from K-12 students. The finalists represent 10 countries including the United States, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Peru, Singapore, and Wales.
View the finalist designs:
Lucas Ye | Mountain View, California“Rise” Kenan Ziyan | Canyon, Texas“Zappy Zebra” Royal School, SKIES Space Club | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada“Luna the Space Polar Bear” Garden County Schools | Oshkosh, Nebraska“Team GarCo” Richellea Quinn Wijaya | Singapore“Parsec – The Bird That Flew to the Moon” Anzhelika Iudakova | Finland“Big Steps of Little Octopus” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Astra-Jelly” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Harper, Chloe, and Mateo’s ZGI” Alexa Pacholyk | Madison, Connecticut“Artemis” Leila Fleury | Rancho Palos Verdes, California“Beeatrice” Oakville Trafalgar School | Oakville, Ontario, Canada“Lepus the Moon Rabbit” Avon High School | Avon, Connecticut“Sal the Salmon” Daniela Colina | Lima, Peru“Corey the Explorer” Caroline Goyer-Desrosiers | St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada“Flying Squirrel Ready for Its Take Off to Space!” Giulia Bona | Berlin, Germany“Art & the Giant” Tabitha Ramsey | Frederick, Maryland“Lunar Crust-acean” Gabriela Hadas | Plano, Texas“Celestial Griffin” Savon Blanchard | Pearland, Texas“Soluna Flier” Ayako Moriyama | Kyoto, Japan“MORU: A Cloud Aglow with Moonlight and Hope” Johanna Beck | McPherson, Kansas“Creation Mythos” Guillaume Truong | Toulouse, France“Space Mola-mola (aka Moon Fish) Plushie” Arianna Robins | Rockledge, Florida“Terra the Titanosaurus” Sandy Moya | Madrid, Colombia“MISI: Guardian of the Journey” Bekah Crowmer | Mooresville, Indiana“Mona the Moon Moth” Courtney John | Llanelli, Wales“Past, Present, Future” In March, NASA announced it was seeking design ideas from global creators for a zero gravity indicator to fly aboard Artemis II, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign. Creators were asked to submit ideas representing the significance of Artemis, the mission, or exploration and discovery, and to meet specific size and materials requirements. Crowdsourcing company Freelancer facilitated the contest on NASA’s behalf though the NASA Tournament Lab, managed by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Once the crew has selected a final design, NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab will fabricate it for flight. The indicator will be tethered inside Orion before launch.
The approximately 10-day mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
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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 Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered AI and Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations 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 Observes Noteworthy Nearby Spiral Galaxy
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2835. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST team This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image offers a new view of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2835, which lies 35 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra (the Water Snake). The galaxy’s spiral arms are dotted with young blue stars sweeping around an oval-shaped center where older stars reside.
This image differs from previously released images from Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope because it incorporates new data from Hubble that captures a specific wavelength of red light called H-alpha. The regions that are bright in H-alpha emission are visible along NGC 2835’s spiral arms, where dozens of bright pink nebulae appear like flowers in bloom. Astronomers are interested in H-alpha light because it signals the presence of several different types of nebulae that arise during different stages of a star’s life. Newborn, massive stars create nebulae called H II regions that are particularly brilliant sources of H-alpha light, while dying stars can leave behind supernova remnants or planetary nebulae that can also be identified by their H-alpha emission.
By using Hubble’s sensitive instruments to survey 19 nearby galaxies, researchers aim to identify more than 50,000 nebulae. These observations will help to explain how stars affect their birth neighborhoods through intense starlight and winds.
Text Credit: ESA/Hubble
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Last Updated Aug 21, 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 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 Astronauts
Hubble e-Books
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
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By NASA
NASA The Moon’s light is refracted by Earth’s atmosphere in this April 13, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited into a sunset 264 miles above the border between Bolivia and Brazil in South America.
Understanding the Moon helps us understand other planets, how they have evolved and the processes which have shaped their surfaces. It also helps us understand the influence the Moon has had on Earth, the record of the ancient Sun, and it serves as a platform to study the rest of the universe. By using the Moon as our closest testing ground for robotics and instrument systems, we can further human exploration to not only the Moon, but the rest of the solar system.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Image credit: NASA
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