Latest news with #SpacePhotooftheWeek
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space photo of the week: Hubble zooms in on the glittering galaxy next door
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. What it is: The Small Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy Where it is: 200,000 light-years away, in the constellations Tucana and Hydrus When it was shared: March 21, 2025 Why it's so special: The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of our galaxy's closest neighbors and is visible to the naked eye, yet most humans will never see it. The dwarf galaxy, which contains just several hundred million stars, compared with the Milky Way's 100 billion stars, can be seen only from the Southern Hemisphere as a cloudy patch in the night sky. Related: 'Bull's-eye!' Hubble telescope spots record-shattering 9-ring galaxy — and the cosmic 'dart' that smashed through its center The SMC is close to the bigger Large Magellanic Cloud and is best seen from November to January — unless you're the Hubble Space Telescope, which recently zoomed in on the SMC to reveal its intricate structure. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 used its four filters and the observatory's 8-foot (2.4 meters) mirror to capture various wavelengths of light to create this colorful view of clouds of gas and dust illuminated by the light of young stars in the SMC. The image shows the center of NGC 346, an open star cluster where new stars are born. Previous studies found about 2,500 infant stars in NGC 346 that have formed from gravitationally collapsing gas clouds. However, they have yet to become full-fledged stars. MORE SPACE PHOTOS —James Webb telescope reveals 'cosmic tornado' in best detail ever — and finds part of it is not what it seems —James Webb telescope captures auroras on Neptune for first time ever —NASA reveals a sunset on the moon in high definition for the 1st time As a star factory, the SMC fascinates astronomers because it lacks the heavier elements found in large galaxies like the Milky Way. These heavy elements are the byproducts of multiple generations of stars — something the SMC has lacked due to its small size. Dwarf galaxies like the SMC are thought of as primitive building blocks of larger galaxies. In that way, the SMC is a unique and very close example of what was happening in the early universe. For more sublime space images, check out our Space Photo of the Week archives.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space photo of the week: Dry ice 'geysers' erupt on Mars as spring hits the Red Planet
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. What it is: Geysers of gas and dust on Mars Where it is: The south polar region of Mars When it was shared: Jan. 29, 2025 Why it's so special: These odd, fan-like features on the surface of Mars are geysers of gas and dust near the planet's south pole that are visible only in springtime on the Red Planet. This image was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in 2018 and was reshared by NASA recently. During winter on Mars, carbon dioxide ice accumulates near the surface. According to NASA, carbon dioxide ice is transparent, and sunlight that gets through it is absorbed at the base of the icy layer. As the sun rises higher into the sky and spring begins, carbon dioxide ice begins to warm and turn to vapor. That vapor then escapes through weaknesses in the ice and erupts in the form of geysers. These eruptions sometimes leave dusty, jagged streaks, nicknamed "spiders on Mars." Related: Hundreds of black 'spiders' spotted in mysterious 'Inca City' on Mars in new satellite photos Mars has four seasons similar to those on Earth. That's because Mars' orbit spins on an axis tilted by 25.2 degrees (similar to Earth's 23.5 degrees), meaning different parts of Mars get differing amounts of sunlight as the planet orbits the sun. However, because Mars takes 687 Earth days to orbit the sun, the seasons last around twice as long as they do on our planet. There's something else about Mars' orbit that makes the seasons different. Because the planet's orbit of the sun is slightly elliptical, there's a significant difference between Mars' closest and farthest point to the sun. SEE MORE SPACE PHOTOS —James Webb and Hubble telescopes unite to solve 'impossible' planet mystery —Space photo of the week: Galaxies teeter toward collision in the sparkling depths of Virgo —Space photo of the week: Look into Titan's 'eye,' 20 years after the Huygens spacecraft's historic landing on Saturn's largest moon According to the European Space Agency, Mars is closest to the sun during summer in its southern hemisphere, making that season shorter and hotter than summer in the North. Conversely, winter in the southern hemisphere occurs when Mars travels at its slowest and farthest from the sun, making it longer and colder than winter in the North. This stunning image comes from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the MRO, which launched on Aug. 12, 2005, and began orbiting Mars on March 12, 2006. For more sublime space images, check out our Space Photo of the Week archives.
