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By European Space Agency
The activities to assemble the European Space Agency’s Plato mission are progressing well now that 24 of the spacecraft’s 26 cameras have been installed. Once in space, Plato will use its many eyes to survey a very large area of the sky and hunt for terrestrial planets. The spacecraft’s supporting element is also coming together in parallel.
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By NASA
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster Messier 72 (M72).ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini, G. Piotto, M. Libralato As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, the European Space Agency (ESA) shared new images that revisited stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques.
ESA/Hubble released new images of NGC 346, the Sombrero Galaxy, and the Eagle Nebula earlier in the month. Now they are revisiting the star cluster Messier 72 (M72).
M72 is a collection of stars, formally known as a globular cluster, located in the constellation Aquarius roughly 50,000 light-years from Earth. The intense gravitational attraction between the closely packed stars gives globular clusters their regular, spherical shape. There are roughly 150 known globular clusters associated with the Milky Way galaxy.
The striking variety in the color of the stars in this image of M72, particularly compared to the original image, results from the addition of ultraviolet observations to the previous visible-light data. The colors indicate groups of different types of stars. Here, blue stars are those that were originally more massive and have reached hotter temperatures after burning through much of their hydrogen fuel; the bright red objects are lower-mass stars that have become red giants. Studying these different groups help astronomers understand how globular clusters, and the galaxies they were born in, initially formed.
Pierre Méchain, a French astronomer and colleague of Charles Messier, discovered M72 in 1780. It was the first of five star clusters that Méchain would discover while assisting Messier. They recorded the cluster as the 72nd entry in Messier’s famous collection of astronomical objects. It is also one of the most remote clusters in the catalog.
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By European Space Agency
The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, has been successfully installed on the International Space Station, marking the start of a new chapter in space-based precision science.
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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 Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Visits Glittering Cluster, Capturing Its Ultraviolet Light
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster Messier 72 (M72). ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini, G. Piotto, M. Libralato As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, the European Space Agency (ESA) shared new images that revisited stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques.
ESA/Hubble released new images of NGC 346, the Sombrero Galaxy, and the Eagle Nebula earlier in the month. Now they are revisiting the star cluster Messier 72 (M72).
M72 is a collection of stars, formally known as a globular cluster, located in the constellation Aquarius roughly 50,000 light-years from Earth. The intense gravitational attraction between the closely packed stars gives globular clusters their regular, spherical shape. There are roughly 150 known globular clusters associated with the Milky Way galaxy.
The striking variety in the color of the stars in this image of M72, particularly compared to the original image, results from the addition of ultraviolet observations to the previous visible-light data. The colors indicate groups of different types of stars. Here, blue stars are those that were originally more massive and have reached hotter temperatures after burning through much of their hydrogen fuel; the bright red objects are lower-mass stars that have become red giants. Studying these different groups help astronomers understand how globular clusters, and the galaxies they were born in, initially formed.
Pierre Méchain, a French astronomer and colleague of Charles Messier, discovered M72 in 1780. It was the first of five star clusters that Méchain would discover while assisting Messier. They recorded the cluster as the 72nd entry in Messier’s famous collection of astronomical objects. It is also one of the most remote clusters in the catalog.
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 Apr 25, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Globular Clusters Goddard Space Flight Center Star Clusters 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’s Star Clusters
Hubble’s 35th Anniversary
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
Sols 4486-4487: Ankle-Breaking Kind of Terrain!
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) on March 18, 2025 — sol 4484, or Martian day 4,484 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 11:54:13 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick
Earth planning date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
This terrain is a tricky drive, with rocks angled chaotically all around. One of our geologists remarked that they wouldn’t like to even walk over this without solid boots coming way up over the ankles — this is definitely the kind of terrain to result in twisted and broken ankles! So it wasn’t too unexpected that the drive we had planned on Monday cut short after 18 meters (about 59 feet). Fortunately, we ended up both at a workspace with abundant bedrock and in an orientation that allowed us to pass SRAP (our “Slip Risk Assessment Process”).
The rover planners were quickly able to find a spot to brush, so we have a coordinated target on “Palm Grove,” one of the laminated rocks in the lower half of the accompanying image. APXS and MAHLI will look at this target on the first sol of the plan, and then ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam will look at it on the second sol. Although the bulk of the bedrock is relatively nodule free, ChemCam will look at the nodular target “Refugio” to compare to the more dominant, nodule-poor bedrock.
On Monday, our workspace included some very interesting layers in the bedrock that might represent preserved sand ripples, but sadly, as Conor reported on Monday, we didn’t pass SRAP, which precluded any contact science. However, today we ended up near rocks that had similar layer geometry, and will acquire a MAHLI “Dog’s Eye” or mosaic image of these rocks at “Duna Vista” and two Mastcam 5×3 mosaics (“Bayside Trail” and “Oso Flaco”) on other examples.
Mastcam is taking several other images here. A 14×3 mosaic will capture the “nearfield” or area close to the rover, and a set of four further images focus on four distinct trough features, to help us better understand ongoing modification of the surface. Further afield, the “Quartz Hill” and “Pino Alto” mosaics look at areas of fragmented bedrock which may be similar to the “Humber Park” outcrop we analyzed this past weekend. Even further from the rover, ChemCam will acquire RMI (Remote Micro Imager) images of the “Boxworks” and an almost circular depression (“Torote Bowl”) whose origin is not clear.
The environmental theme group (ENV) planned a Mastcam tau (to look at dust in the atmosphere) and a Navcam dust-devil survey (to look for dust devils!) for the first sol of the plan. On the second sol, we fill out the movies with Navcam movies looking toward the south of the crater (suprahorizon, cloud shadow, and zenith movies) and a Mastcam sky survey.
In between the movies on the second sol, our drive is planned to take us another 34 meters (about 112 feet)… but we will have to see how far our intrepid rover will make it on this tricky terrain. Slow and steady will win this race!
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Last Updated Mar 21, 2025 Related Terms
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