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New Gaia release reveals rare lenses, cluster cores and unforeseen science
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By Space Force
Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, Defense Logistics Agency Director and Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Space Force Chief Operations Officer signed an agreement to optimize logistics support Sept 18. at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
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By NASA
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Xiamen Univ./C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a galaxy cluster has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another. This result shows that crossing the streams may lead to the creation of new structure.
Researchers have discovered an enormous, comet-like tail of hot gas — spanning over 1.6 million light-years long — trailing behind a galaxy within the galaxy cluster called Zwicky 8338 (Z8338 for short). This tail, spawned as the galaxy had some of its gas stripped off by the hot gas it is hurtling through, has split into two streams.
This is the second pair of tails trailing behind a galaxy in this system. Previously, astronomers discovered a shorter pair of tails from a different galaxy near this latest one. This newer and longer set of tails was only seen because of a deeper observation with Chandra that revealed the fainter X-rays.
Researchers have discovered a second pair of tails trailing behind a galaxy in this cluster. Previously, astronomers discovered a shorter pair of tails from a different galaxy close to this latest one. This newer and longer set of tails was only seen because of a deeper observation with Chandra that revealed the fainter X-rays that have been shown in the optical data. These tails span for over a million light-years and help determine the evolution of the galaxy cluster.X-ray: NASA/CXC/Xiamen Univ./C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk Astronomers now have evidence that these streams trailing behind the speeding galaxies have crossed one another. Z8338 is a chaotic landscape of galaxies, superheated gas, and shock waves (akin to sonic booms created by supersonic jets) in one relatively small region of space. These galaxies are in motion because they were part of two galaxy clusters that collided with each other to create Z8338.
This new composite image shows this spectacle. X-rays from Chandra (represented in purple) outline the multimillion-degree gas that outweighs all of the galaxies in the cluster. The Chandra data also shows where this gas has been jettisoned behind the moving galaxies. Meanwhile an optical image from the Dark Energy Survey from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile shows the individual galaxies peppered throughout the same field of view.
The original gas tail discovered in Z8338 is about 800,000 light-years long and is seen as vertical in this image (see the labeled version). The researchers think the gas in this tail is being stripped away from a large galaxy as it travels through the galaxy cluster. The head of the tail is a cloud of relatively cool gas about 100,000 light-years away from the galaxy it was stripped from. This tail is also separated into two parts.
The team proposes that the detachment of the tail from the large galaxy may have been caused by the passage of the other, longer tail. Under this scenario, the tail detached from the galaxy because of the crossing of the streams.
The results give useful information about the detachment and destruction of clouds of cooler gas like those seen in the head of the detached tail. This work shows that the cloud can survive for at least 30 million years after it is detached. During that time, a new generation of stars and planets may form within it.
The Z8338 galaxy cluster and its jumble of galactic streams are located about 670 million light-years from Earth. A paper describing these results appeared in the Aug. 8, 2023, issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/525/1/1365/7239302.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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 two pairs of hot gas tails found inside a single galaxy cluster. The image is presented both labeled and unlabeled, with color-coded ovals encircling the hot gas tails.
In both the labeled and unlabeled versions of the image, mottled purple gas speckles a region of space dotted with distant flecks of red and white. Also present in this region of space are several glowing golden dots. These dots are individual galaxies that together form the cluster Zwicky 8338.
To our right of center is a glowing golden galaxy with a mottled V shaped cloud of purple above it. Yellow labels identify the two arms of the V as tails trailing behind the hurtling galaxy below.
To our left of center is another golden galaxy, this one surrounded by purple gas. Behind it, opening toward our right in the shape of a widening V lying on its side, are two more mottled purple clouds. Labeled in white, these newly-discovered gas tails are even larger than the previously discovered tails labeled in yellow. These tails, which overlap with the galaxy on our right, are over 1.6 million light-years long.
News Media Contact
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Rob Gutro has never been one to stay idle. From his start working at a paper factory as a teenager, Rob navigated his way to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the deputy news chief in the Office of Communications until he retires in October 2024.
Rob Gutro serves as deputy news chief at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro In this role, Rob manages all the media products, like news stories and videos, that come out of Goddard. He also edits content, creates detailed reports, and coordinates media requests, leaning on decades of experience in communications to help the Goddard newsroom run smoothly.
But his path to NASA was neither paved nor linear. It took a strong will and unflagging passion to overcome obstacles along the way and rise to his current role.
Weathering the Journey
Rob began working at a young age, first at a paper factory, then a bank, and then a law office. But none of these jobs were ever his end goal.
“I loved music as a teenager and always wanted to work on the radio,” Rob says. So he got a degree in radio and television from Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston. “I went straight into radio broadcasting and continued that part-time for 20 years.”
He started out hosting a weekend radio show, but didn’t intend for it to be a career for financial reasons. So he completed another degree, this time in English and business at Suffolk University in Boston.
“I knew that to do the type of broadcasting I wanted to do, I needed to learn how to write so I could explain things via stories and reporting,” Rob says. “And I was particularly fascinated by the weather, so I wanted to be able to communicate broadly about that.”
He then worked for the USDA as a writer and editor for a year before joining NOAA as a writer in the 1990s. The highlight of his NOAA career was a work detail he did for the National Hurricane Center during hurricane season in 1993. He enjoyed it so much he eventually decided to go back to school again, earning a degree in meteorology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. “I call it my third degree burn,” he jokes.
During the program, he refined his broadcasting skills and immersed himself in the science behind the weather and forecasting. He was focusing on what he loved, though it wasn’t an easy journey.
“When I went back to school for meteorology I was working two jobs and making minimum wage, living off of ramen noodles and tuna fish every day because that was all I could afford,” Rob says. “But I was determined!”
Upon graduation, he began working for a private weather company doing marketing and writing. Rob balanced multiple jobs, including a part-time radio gig, while continually applying to The Weather Channel. After eight years of applications, he was finally hired as a radio broadcast meteorologist! “I loved being on the air with The Weather Channel and doing radio broadcasts,” Rob says.
“I think the key to everything is persistence and patience,” Rob says. “My advice to everybody is no matter what your goal is, keep pursuing it because eventually it will happen!”
Navigating NASA
Rob’s desire to understand climate change and return to Maryland brought him to NASA. He became an Earth science writer at NASA Goddard in 2000. By 2005, he was the manager of the Earth science news team, and in 2009 he began working with the James Webb Space Telescope team and also obtained his current role of deputy news chief.
Rob and Lynn to the rescue! One of the highlights of Rob’s career at NASA was working with Lynn Jenner for more than 20 years. Together, the duo –– photographed here at a work party –– managed web pages about hurricanes and fires.Courtesy of Rob Gutro “My degrees have served me well at NASA because I work with the media, I write, and I have to understand science,” Rob says.
His favorite NASA project was the now-retired NASA hurricane page, which he wrote content for and kept updated every single day for the 15 years it was active. The media frequently used NASA imagery shared on the hurricane page, and people worldwide used the information to make decisions about their safety during hurricanes.
“I’ll never forget one experience, where a woman in the Philippines asked if she should evacuate her mother from a nursing home on the island of Visayas,” Rob says. “I said yes, because the island was going to be inundated by an eight-foot storm surge.” So she did, and two weeks later she emailed Rob again saying the entire nursing home was flooded to the roof — her mother would have likely drowned if she’d stayed.
On to the Next Chapter
As busy as his work life has been — Rob had three jobs at any given time until he was 40 years old — his off duty hours haven’t been idle either. In January 2025, he’s publishing his twelfth book, and has another six already mostly written.
“I’m retiring from NASA soon and will focus on my books, continuing the fundraising lectures for animal rescues that I’ve done for the last decade, and teaching paranormal courses in night school for two adult education programs,” Rob says. “And my husband and I have three dogs to keep us busy — they are the joy of my life!”
Rob’s three dogs, as pictured on a 2023 Christmas card. Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro Reflecting on his career, Rob singles out blogging as one of the most effective tools he’s used over the years.
“Whether you want to write a book or science articles, one of the easiest ways to begin is by starting a blog and writing about things you like,” he says. That’s one key to his productivity, as he says, “Whatever you write can always be repurposed, and if you’re constantly leaning into things you’re passionate about, you’ll eventually end up exactly where you’re meant to be.”
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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By NASA
5 Min Read Reinventing the Clock: NASA’s New Tech for Space Timekeeping
The Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock is a higher-precision atomic clock that is small enough to fit on a spacecraft. Credits: NASA/Matthew Kaufman Here on Earth, it might not matter if your wristwatch runs a few seconds slow. But crucial spacecraft functions need accuracy down to one billionth of a second or less. Navigating with GPS, for example, relies on precise timing signals from satellites to pinpoint locations. Three teams at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are at work to push timekeeping for space exploration to new levels of precision.
One team develops highly precise quantum clock synchronization techniques to aid essential spacecraft communication and navigation. Another Goddard team is working to employ the technique of clock synchronization in space-based platforms to enable telescopes to function as one enormous observatory. The third team is developing an atomic clock for spacecraft based on strontium, a metallic chemical element, to enable scientific observations not possible with current technology. The need for increasingly accurate timekeeping is why these teams at NASA Goddard, supported by the center’s Internal Research and Development program, hone clock precision and synchronization with innovative technologies like quantum and optical communications.
Syncing Up Across the Solar System
“Society requires clock synchronization for many crucial functions like power grid management, stock market openings, financial transactions, and much more,” said Alejandro Rodriguez Perez, a NASA Goddard researcher. “NASA uses clock synchronization to determine the position of spacecraft and set navigation parameters.”
If you line up two clocks and sync them together, you might expect that they will tick at the same rate forever. In reality, the more time passes, the more out of sync the clocks become, especially if those clocks are on spacecraft traveling at tens of thousands of miles per hour. Rodriguez Perez seeks to develop a new way of precisely synchronizing such clocks and keeping them synced using quantum technology.
Work on the quantum clock synchronization protocol takes place in this lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.NASA/Matthew Kaufman In quantum physics, two particles are entangled when they behave like a single object and occupy two states at once. For clocks, applying quantum protocols to entangled photons could allow for a precise and secure way to sync clocks across long distances.
The heart of the synchronization protocol is called spontaneous parametric down conversion, which is when one photon breaks apart and two new photons form. Two detectors will each analyze when the new photons appear, and the devices will apply mathematical functions to determine the offset in time between the two photons, thus synchronizing the clocks.
While clock synchronization is currently done using GPS, this protocol could make it possible to precisely synchronize clocks in places where GPS access is limited, like the Moon or deep space.
Syncing Clocks, Linking Telescopes to See More than Ever Before
When it comes to astronomy, the usual rule of thumb is the bigger the telescope, the better its imagery.
“If we could hypothetically have a telescope as big as Earth, we would have incredibly high-resolution images of space, but that’s obviously not practical,” said Guan Yang, an optical physicist at NASA Goddard. “What we can do, however, is have multiple telescopes in various locations and have each telescope record the signal with high time precision. Then we can stich their observations together and produce an ultra-high-res image.”
The idea of linking together the observations of a network of smaller telescopes to affect the power of a larger one is called very long baseline interferometry, or VLBI.
For VLBI to produce a whole greater than the sum of its parts, the telescopes need high-precision clocks. The telescopes record data alongside timestamps of when the data was recorded. High-powered computers assemble all the data together into one complete observation with greater detail than any one of the telescopes could achieve on its own. This technique is what allowed the Event Horizon Telescope’s network of observatories to produce the first image of a black hole at the center of our galaxy.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. Although the telescopes making up the EHT are not physically connected, they are able to synchronize their recorded data with atomic clocks.EHT Collaboration Yang’s team is developing a clock technology that could be useful for missions looking to take the technique from Earth into space which could unlock many more discoveries.
An Optical Atomic Clock Built for Space Travel
Spacecraft navigation systems currently rely on onboard atomic clocks to obtain the most accurate time possible. Holly Leopardi, a physicist at NASA Goddard, is researching optical atomic clocks, a more precise type of atomic clock.
While optical atomic clocks exist in laboratory settings, Leopardi and her team seek to develop a spacecraft-ready version that will provide more precision.
The team works on OASIC, which stands for Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock. While current spacecraft utilize microwave frequencies, OASIC uses optical frequencies.
The Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock is a higher-precision atomic clock that is small enough to fit on a spacecraft.NASA/Matthew Kaufman “Optical frequencies oscillate much faster than microwave frequencies, so we can have a much finer resolution of counts and more precise timekeeping,” Leopardi said.
The OASIC technology is about 100 times more precise than the previous state-of-the-art in spacecraft atomic clocks. The enhanced accuracy could enable new types of science that were not previously possible.
“When you use these ultra-high precision clocks, you can start looking at the fundamental physics changes that occur in space,” Leopardi said, “and that can help us better understand the mechanisms of our universe.”
The timekeeping technologies unlocked by these teams, could enable new discoveries in our solar system and beyond.
More on cutting-edge technology development at NASA Goddard By Matthew Kaufman, with additional contributions from Avery Truman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Sep 18, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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