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The Marshall Star for February 14, 2024

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The Marshall Star for February 14, 2024

This artist's illustration shows a cross-section of the supermassive black hole and surrounding material in the center of our galaxy.

Marshall Chief Scientist Provides Valuable Insight into NASA Moonquake Study

By Jonathan Deal

The Moon holds clues to the evolution of Earth, the planets, and the Sun, and a new NASA-funded study is helping scientists better understand some of the mysteries beneath the surface of our nearest cosmic neighbor. The co-author of that study is chief scientist of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Renee Weber, who is also a member of NASA’s Artemis Science Team – a broad group of scientists from around the agency working to commence a new era of deep space science and exploration.

As a lunar seismologist and lunar geophysicist, Weber provides expertise to the Artemis Science Team, including knowledge of the types of seismic events that can occur on the Moon, to better understand its internal geology and surface environment.

Map of possible moonquakes at lunar south pole.
The epicenter of one of the strongest moonquakes recorded by the Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment was in the lunar south polar region. However, the exact location of the epicenter could not be accurately determined. A cloud of possible locations (magenta dots and light blue polygon) of the strong shallow moonquake using a relocation algorithm specifically adapted for very sparse seismic networks are distributed near the pole. Blue boxes show locations of proposed Artemis III landing regions. Lobate thrust fault scarps are shown by small red lines. The cloud of epicenter locations encompasses a number of lobate scarps and many of the Artemis III landing regions.
NASA/LROC/ASU/Smithsonian Institution

The latest study revealed that the Moon is still geologically active and presents evidence that tectonic faults, generated as the Moon’s interior gradually cools and shrinks, are found near some of the areas NASA identified as candidate landing regions for Artemis III – the first Artemis mission planned to have a crewed lunar landing.

“This study looked at tectonic faults and steep slopes in the lunar South polar region and found that some areas are susceptible to seismic shaking and regolith landslides,” Weber said. “Once the faults were mapped, we calculated the sizes of potential moonquakes that could be generated to create a map of seismic hazard in the vicinity of tectonic faults and steep slopes.”

The study discovered that relatively small, young thrust faults, called lobate scarps, are widely distributed in the lunar crust. The scarps form where contractional forces break the crust and push, or thrust, rock on one side of the fault up and over rock on the other side. The contraction is caused by cooling of the Moon’s still-hot interior and tidal forces exerted by Earth, resulting in global shrinking. The scarps were identified in images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera onboard NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter).

The formation of the faults is accompanied by seismic activity in the form of shallow-depth moonquakes. Such shallow moonquakes were recorded by the Apollo Passive Seismic Network, a series of seismometers deployed by the Apollo astronauts, and could potentially also be recorded by a new seismic instrument scheduled to launch next year aboard an upcoming CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flight. That instrument – the Farside Seismic Suite – will return the agency’s first seismic data from the far side of the Moon, helping scientists to understand the region’s tectonic activity. The data may also reveal how often the lunar far side is impacted by small meteorites and determine if the seismicity is different on the far side of the Moon from what was measured during Apollo on the lunar near side.

“To better understand the seismic hazard posed to future human activities on the Moon, we need new seismic data, not just at the South Pole, but globally,” Weber said. “Missions like the upcoming Farside Seismic Suite, as well as future potential missions like the Lunar Geophysical Network concept, will expand upon measurements made during Apollo and add to our knowledge of global seismicity.”

Official Portrait: Renee Weber
Renee Weber is chief scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA

As NASA develops long-term infrastructure on the lunar surface, Weber’s research will provide invaluable insight for the Artemis Science Team that will be refining mission architectures that preserve flexibility for science and operations at a variety of landing sites and will apply new scientific knowledge, such as continued research on seismic measurements, gathered along the way.

“Being able to go back to the Moon, gather more data, and pick up more samples will help us improve our understanding of the Moon and answer our fundamental questions – how did it form? How did it evolve? Where are the resources? More seismic measurements like the ones conducted during Apollo could help us better characterize seismicity in the lunar South Pole region,” Weber said.

The study does not impact the Artemis III landing region selection process, according to Weber, because estimating how often a specific region experiences a moonquake is difficult to do accurately, and like earthquakes, scientists can’t predict moonquakes. Additionally, for a shorter duration mission like Artemis III, the likelihood of experiencing hazards due to seismic shaking is much lower.

As NASA develops long-term infrastructure, the agency will identify potential regions for where different elements can be established closer to the dates of future Artemis missions. In this site selection process, some of the factors for consideration could be geographic characteristics such as proximity to tectonic features and terrain, making Weber’s research all the more valuable.

Deal is a public affairs officer with Marshall’s Office of Communications.

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Solar Sail Technology Passes Crucial Deployment Test

By Wayne Smith

In his youth, NASA technologist Les Johnson was riveted by the 1974 novel “The Mote in God’s Eye,” by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, in which an alien spacecraft propelled by solar sails visits humanity. Today, Johnson and a NASA team are preparing to test a similar technology.

NASA continues to unfurl plans for solar sail technology as a promising method of deep space transportation. The agency cleared a key technology milestone in January with the successful deployment of one of four identical solar sail quadrants. The deployment was showcased Jan. 30 at Redwire Corp.’s new facility in Longmont, Colorado. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center leads the solar sail team, comprised of prime contractor Redwire, which developed the deployment mechanisms and the nearly 100-foot-long booms, and subcontractor NeXolve, of Huntsville, which provided the sail membrane. In addition to leading the project, Marshall developed the algorithms needed to control and navigate with the sail when it flies in space.

solarsail.jpg?w=1240
NASA and industry partners used two 100-foot lightweight composite booms to unfurl the 4,300-square-foot sail quadrant for the first time Oct. 13, 2022, at Marshall Space Flight Center, making it the largest solar sail quadrant ever deployed at the time. On Jan. 30, 2024, NASA cleared a key technology milestone at Redwire’s new facility in Longmont, Colorado, with the successful deployment of one of four identical solar sail quadrants.
NASA

The sail is a propulsion system powered by sunlight reflecting from the sail, much like a sailboat reflects the wind. While just one quarter of the sail was unfurled in the deployment at Redwire, the complete sail will measure 17,780 square feet when fully deployed, with the thickness less than a human hair at 2 and a half microns. The sail is made of a polymer material coated with aluminum.

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate recently funded the solar sail technology to reach a new technology readiness level, or TRL 6, which means it’s ready for proposals to be flown on science missions.

“This was a major last step on the ground before it’s ready to be proposed for space missions,” Johnson, who has been involved with sail technology at Marshall for about 25 years, said. “What’s next is for scientists to propose the use of solar sails in their missions. We’ve met our goal and demonstrated that we’re ready to be flown.”

A solar sail traveling through deep space provides many potential benefits to missions using the technology because it doesn’t require any fuel, allowing very high propulsive performance with very little mass. This in-space propulsion system is well suited for low-mass missions in novel orbits.

“Once you get away from Earth’s gravity and into space, what is important is efficiency and enough thrust to travel from one position to another,” Johnson said.

Some of the missions of interest using solar sail technology include studying space weather and its effects on the Earth, or for advanced studies of the north and south poles of the Sun. The latter has been limited because the propulsion needed to get a spacecraft into a polar orbit around the Sun is very high and simply not feasible using most of the propulsion systems available today. Solar sail propulsion is also possible for enhancing future missions to Venus or Mercury, given their closeness to the Sun and the enhanced thrust a solar sail would achieve in the more intense sunlight there.

Moreover, it’s the ultimate green propulsion system, Johnson said – as long as the Sun is shining, the sail will have propulsion. Where the sunlight is less, he envisions a future where lasers could be used to accelerate the solar sails to high speeds, pushing them outside the solar system and beyond, perhaps even to another star. “In the future, we might place big lasers in space that shine their beams on the sails as they depart the solar system, accelerating them to higher and higher speeds, until eventually they are going fast enough to reach another star in a reasonable amount of time.”

Learn more about solar sails and other NASA advanced space technology.

Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.

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NASA Sets Coverage for SpaceX, Intuitive Machines First Moon Mission

As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, SpaceX is targeting no earlier than 12:05 a.m. CST on Feb. 15 for a Falcon 9 launch of Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander to the Moon’s surface. Liftoff will be from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.

The launch of the mission was postponed Feb. 13 due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load.

im-1-encapsulation-013124-dsc-3126-copy.
The Nova-C lunar lander is encapsulated within the fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for launch as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
SpaceX

Live launch coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. NASA TV launch coverage begins at 11:20 p.m. Coverage is subject to change based on real-time operational activities. Follow the Artemis blog for updates.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander is expected to land on the Moon on Feb. 22. Among the items on its lander, the IM-1 mission will carry NASA science and technology instruments focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies. 

Demonstrating autonomous navigation, the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. LN-1 was developed, built, and tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

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Telescopes Show the Milky Way’s Black Hole is Ready for a Kick

An artist’s illustration depicts the findings of a new study about the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy called Sagittarius A* (abbreviated as Sgr A*). As reported in a press release, this result found that Sgr A* is spinning so quickly that it is warping spacetime – that is, time and the three dimensions of space – so that it can look more like a football.

These results were made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, or VLA. A team of researchers applied a new method that uses X-ray and radio data to determine how quickly Sgr A* is spinning based on how material is flowing towards and away from the black hole. They found Sgr A* is spinning with an angular velocity that is about 60% of the maximum possible value, and with an angular momentum of about 90% of the maximum possible value.

This artist's illustration shows a cross-section of the supermassive black hole and surrounding material in the center of our galaxy.
This artist’s illustration depicts the findings of a new study about the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy called Sagittarius A* (abbreviated as Sgr A*). This result found that Sgr A* is spinning so quickly that it is warping spacetime – that is, time and the three dimensions of space – so that it can look more like a football.
NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

Black holes have two fundamental properties: their mass (how much they weigh) and their spin (how quickly they rotate). Determining either of these two values tells scientists a great deal about any black hole and how it behaves. In the past, astronomers made several other estimates of Sgr A*’s rotation speed using different techniques, with results ranging from Sgr A* not spinning at all to it spinning at almost the maximum rate.

The new study suggests that Sgr A* is, in fact, spinning very rapidly, which causes the spacetime around it to be squashed down. The illustration shows a cross-section of Sgr A* and material swirling around it in a disk. The black sphere in the center represents the so-called event horizon of the black hole, the point of no return from which nothing, not even light, can escape.

Looking at the spinning black hole from the side, as depicted in this illustration, the surrounding spacetime is shaped like a football. The faster the spin the flatter the football.

The yellow-orange material to either side represents gas swirling around Sgr A*. This material inevitably plunges towards the black hole and crosses the event horizon once it falls inside the football shape. The area inside the football shape but outside the event horizon is therefore depicted as a cavity. The blue blobs show jets firing away from the poles of the spinning black hole. Looking down on the black hole from the top, along the barrel of the jet, spacetime is a circular shape.

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be producing tiny particles, called neutrinos, that have virtually no mass and carry no electric charge. This Chandra image shows the region around the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, in low, medium, and high-energy X-rays (red, green, and blue respectively.) Scientists have found a connection to outbursts generated by the black hole and seen by Chandra and other X-ray telescopes with the detection of high-energy neutrinos in an observatory under the South Pole.
Chandra X-ray image of Sagittarius A* and the surrounding region.
NASA/CXC/Univ. of Wisconsin/Y.Bai, et al.

A black hole’s spin can act as an important source of energy. Spinning supermassive black holes produce collimated outflows such as jets when their spin energy is extracted, which requires that there is at least some matter in the vicinity of the black hole. Because of limited fuel around Sgr A*, this black hole has been relatively quiet in recent millennia with relatively weak jets. This work, however, shows that this could change if the amount of material in the vicinity of Sgr A* increases.

To determine the spin of Sgr A*, the authors used an empirically based technique referred to as the “outflow method” that details the relationship between the spin of the black hole and its mass, the properties of the matter near the black hole, and the outflow properties. The collimated outflow produces the radio waves, while the disk of gas surrounding the black hole is responsible for the X-ray emission. Using this method, the researchers combined data from Chandra and the VLA with an independent estimate of the black hole’s mass from other telescopes to constrain the black hole’s spin.

The paper describing these results led by Ruth Daly (Penn State University) is published in the January 2024 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and appears online. The other authors are Biny Sebastian (University of Manitoba, Canada), Megan Donahue (Michigan State University), Christopher O’Dea (University of Manitoba), Daryl Haggard (McGill University) and Anan Lu (McGill University).

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.

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NASA Expedition 71 Astronauts to Conduct Research Aboard Space Station

Studies of neurological organoids, plant growth, and shifts in body fluids are among the scientific investigations that NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson will help support aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 71. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission is targeting launch to the space station later this month.

A flag for Crew-8 will be raised Feb. 26 outside the HOSC (Huntsville Operation Support Center) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The HOSC is a multi-mission facility that provides engineering and mission operations support for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Space Launch System rocket, Artemis lunar science missions, and science conducted on the space station.

The image is covered by flower-like clusters of pale white and blue cells connected by reddish nerves.
Brain organoid cells from the previous investigation Cosmic Brain Organoids are made of cells from people with Parkinson’s Disease and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The sixth space station organoid investigation funded by the National Stem Cell Foundation, HBOND, includes for the first time Alzheimer’s iPSCs and testing of the effects of drugs in development to treat neuroinflammation.
New York Stem Cell Research Institute

The Payload Operations Integration Center within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

Here are details on some of the work scheduled during this upcoming expedition aboard the microgravity laboratory:

Modeling Neuroinflammation

HBOND (Human Brain Organoid Models for Neurodegenerative Disease & Drug Discovery) studies the mechanisms behind neuroinflammation, a common feature of neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers create organoids using patient-derived iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) from patients who have Parkinson’s disease and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The sixth space station organoid investigation funded by the National Stem Cell Foundation, HBOND includes for the first time Alzheimer’s iPSCs and testing of the effects of drugs in development to treat neuroinflammation. Results could help improve diagnostics, provide insights into the effects of aging, accelerate drug discovery, and identify therapeutic targets for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. The organoid models also could provide a way to anticipate how extended spaceflight affects the brain and support development of countermeasures.

Protecting Plants from Spaceflight Stressors

Plants can serve as a source of food and provide other life-support services on long-term missions to the Moon and Mars. The Study on Plant Responses Against the Stresses of Microgravity and High Ultraviolet Radiation in Space (Plant UV-B) examines how stress from microgravity, UV radiation, and the combination of the two affect plants at the molecular, cellular, and whole organism levels. Results could increase understanding of plant growth in space and support improvements in plant cultivation technologies for future missions.

iss042e239623.jpg?w=2048
This image shows the Plant Experiment Unit (PEU) hardware for the Plant UV-B investigation.
NASA

Reversing Fluid Shifts

Weightlessness causes fluids in the body to move toward the head, which can cause changes in eye structure and vision known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) along with other health problems. Mitigating Headward Fluid Shifts with Veno-constrictive Thigh Cuffs During Spaceflight (Thigh Cuff) examines whether thigh pressure cuffs could provide a simple way to counter this shift in body fluids and help protect astronauts from SANS and other issues on future missions to the Moon and Mars. Thigh cuffs also could help treat or prevent problems for patients on Earth who have conditions that cause fluid accumulation in the head, such as long-term bedrest and diseases.

Incredible Edible Algae

Arthrospira-C (Art-C), an investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) analyzes how the cyanobacterium Limnospira responds to spaceflight conditions and whether it produces the same quantity and quality of oxygen and biomass in space as on Earth. These microalgae, also known as Spirulina, could be used to remove carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts, which can become toxic in an enclosed spacecraft, and to produce oxygen and fresh food as part of life support systems on future missions. Correct predictions of oxygen and biomass yields are crucial for design of life support systems using bioprocesses. Spirulina also has been shown to have radioprotective properties and eating it could help protect space travelers from cosmic radiation, as well as conserve healthy tissue in patients undergoing radiation treatment on Earth.

Search this database of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned above.

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NASA Awards Inaugural Grants to Support Emerging Research Institutions

NASA has awarded $3.7 million to 11 teams to support new collaborations between the agency and United States institutions not historically part of the agency’s research enterprise. These are the first awards given through a new program from the agency’s SMD (Science Mission Directorate) to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the science and engineering communities, as well as NASA’s workforce.

“As the agency continues to build relationships with under-resourced institutions through initiatives like the bridge program, we are intentionally increasing equitable access to NASA for the best and brightest talents in our nation,” said Shahra Lambert, NASA senior advisor for engagement. “These partnerships will help NASA develop a diverse and capable workforce to further our understanding of the cosmos.”

NASA meatball logo

NASA’s SMD Bridge Program provides seed funding for research projects that will build strong foundations for long-lasting relationships with the agency. The projects offer hands-on training and mentorship for students, as well as new research opportunities for faculty, to help science and engineering students transition into graduate schools, employment by NASA, or science, technology, engineering, and math careers generally.

The teams are led by faculty at institutions that represent new collaborations for NASA. These include Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and primarily undergraduate institutions. The research projects connect these institutions to seven NASA centers, including the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and could benefit more than 100 students.

“We applaud this inaugural cohort of grant recipients for their innovative research projects, which will make important connections between students, faculty, and NASA,” said Michael New, Science Mission Directorate deputy associate administrator for research at NASA Headquarters. “These awards are a first and important step for the SMD Bridge Program in supporting long-term relationships toward creating a more diverse and robust STEM workforce.”

There is an additional opportunity to apply for seed funding through the SMD Bridge Program. Applications are open until March 29.

The following projects were selected as the first cohort to receive seed funding:

Additive Manufacturing of Electronics for NASA Applications

This project, a collaboration between Florida A&M University and Marshall and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will explore technology solutions through additive manufacturing approaches to manufacture strain and gas sensors.

Diversifying Student Pipelines in STEM: Environmental Pollution Reduction Inspired by Planetary Science

This project, a collaboration that brings California State University, Los Angeles, together with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, draws from the field of planetary science to address environmental pollution.

FireSage: SJSU-NASA ARC Bridge Seed Program

FireSage is a collaboration between San Jose State University’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center and the Earth Science Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center. It engages students in a computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning research project and training activities in wildfire science.

Hampton University STEM Experience with NASA Langley Research Center Doppler Aerosol Wind Lidar

This collaboration between Hampton University and NASA’s Langley Research Center offers a foundation in the advancement of planetary boundary layer studies with Lidar remote sensing.

Development of Antireflection Coatings for Future NASA Missions

This project is a collaboration between Delaware State University and Goddard, working with transparent, electrically conductive films to design and produce an environmentally durable anti-reflection coating for guidance, navigation, and control Lidar.

CUBES: Capacity Building Using CubeSats for Earth Science

This collaboration between Tuskegee University, the Laboratory for Atmospheric Science and Physics at University of Colorado, and Ames uses CubeSats to provide faculty and students with experience designing and executing science mission flight projects.

Space Materials and Microbiome Research: A Bridge to Future JSC Workforce

In this project, the University of Houston-Clear Lake collaborates with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The project’s Composite Materials track will develop a protective nanocomposite shield for spacecraft materials, while the Microbiome track will create a comprehensive library of draft bacterial genomes.

The HALOQUEST: Halobacterium Astrobiological Laboratory for Observing and Questioning Extraterrestrial Signatures and Traits Project

This collaboration between California State University, Northridge, and JPL will study Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 grown under simulated stressful environmental conditions, which could help understand possibilities for life on other planets.

Observations of Ice-Water and Isotopes Using Mid-Infrared Laser Heterodyne Radiometer LIDAR

In collaboration with Goddard, Delaware State University will develop Earth science, planetary exploration, and sensing technologies, including a lunar rover payload with instruments to simultaneously detect and correlate water isotopes with other trace gas species.

Application of Remote Sensing for Predicting Mosquito-Borne Disease Outbreaks

This project is a collaboration between Southern Nazarene University and JPL to identify areas at risk for mosquito-borne disease outbreaks using remote sensing data.

Building a Diverse, Sustainable, and Robust Undergraduate-to-Graduate STEM Network through Inter-Institutional, Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations in Complex Fluids/Soft Matter

This project is a collaboration between Colorado Mesa University and NASA’s Glenn Research Center to strengthen and grow a research, education, and training network centered around problems in complex fluids and soft matter, with initial emphasis on heat transfer and multiphase flows.

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Juno, Lucy Missions Highlighted on ‘This Week at NASA’

Two missions that are part of programs managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate are featured in “This Week @ NASA,” a weekly video program broadcast on NASA-TV and posted online.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently completed the second and largest planned main engine burn of its 12-year mission. These burns, combined with the mission’s second Earth gravity assist maneuver targeted for December 2024, will help Lucy transition from its current orbit around the Sun to a new orbit that will carry it beyond the orbit of Jupiter and into the realm of the never-before-explored Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. Marshall manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

On Feb. 3, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a second close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io. Like Juno’s previous flyby of Io in late December 2023, this second pass took Juno about 930 miles above Io’s surface. The twin flybys were designed to gain new insight into how the moon’s volcanic engine works and investigate whether a global magma ocean exists under the moon’s rocky, mountainous surface.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at Marshall for the Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.

View this and previous episodes at “This Week @NASA” on NASA’s YouTube page.

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      Bally and Crowe each led a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.
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      An image of the Milky Way captured by the MeerKAT (formerly the Karoo Array Telescope) radio telescope array puts the James Webb Space Telescope’s image of the Sagittarius C region in context. Like a super-long exposure photograph, MeerKAT shows the bubble-like remnants of supernovas that exploded over millennia, capturing the dynamic nature of the Milky Way’s chaotic core. At the center of the MeerKAT image the region surrounding the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole blazes bright. Huge vertical filamentary structures echo those captured on a smaller scale by Webb in Sagittarius C’s blue-green hydrogen cloud. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, Samuel Crowe (UVA), John Bally (CU), Ruben Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), Ian Heywood (Oxford) Image B: Milky Way Center (MeerKAT and Webb), Labeled
      The star-forming region Sagittarius C, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, is about 200 light-years from the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. The spectral index at the lower left shows how color was assigned to the radio data to create the image. On the negative end, there is non-thermal emission, stimulated by electrons spiraling around magnetic field lines. On the positive side, thermal emission is coming from hot, ionized plasma. For Webb, color is assigned by shifting the infrared spectrum to visible light colors. The shortest infrared wavelengths are bluer, and the longer wavelengths appear more red. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, Samuel Crowe (UVA), John Bally (CU), Ruben Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), Ian Heywood (Oxford) Using Infrared to Reveal Forming Stars
      In Sagittarius C’s brightest cluster, the researchers confirmed the tentative finding from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) that two massive stars are forming there. Along with infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission, as well as the Herschel Space Observatory, they used Webb to determine that each of the massive protostars is already more than 20 times the mass of the Sun. Webb also revealed the bright outflows powered by each protostar.
      Even more challenging is finding low-mass protostars, still shrouded in cocoons of cosmic dust. Researchers compared Webb’s data with ALMA’s past observations to identify five likely low-mass protostar candidates.
      The team also identified 88 features that appear to be shocked hydrogen gas, where material being blasted out in jets from young stars impacts the surrounding gas cloud. Analysis of these features led to the discovery of a new star-forming cloud, distinct from the main Sagittarius C cloud, hosting at least two protostars powering their own jets.
      “Outflows from forming stars in Sagittarius C have been hinted at in past observations, but this is the first time we’ve been able to confirm them in infrared light. It’s very exciting to see, because there is still a lot we don’t know about star formation, especially in the Central Molecular Zone, and it’s so important to how the universe works,” said Crowe.
      Magnetic Fields and Star Formation
      Webb’s 2023 image of Sagittarius C showed dozens of distinctive filaments in a region of hot hydrogen plasma surrounding the main star-forming cloud. New analysis by Bally and his team has led them to hypothesize that the filaments are shaped by magnetic fields, which have also been observed in the past by the ground-based observatories ALMA and MeerKAT (formerly the Karoo Array Telescope).
      “The motion of gas swirling in the extreme tidal forces of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, can stretch and amplify the surrounding magnetic fields. Those fields, in turn, are shaping the plasma in Sagittarius C,” said Bally.
      The researchers think that the magnetic forces in the galactic center may be strong enough to keep the plasma from spreading, instead confining it into the concentrated filaments seen in the Webb image. These strong magnetic fields may also resist the gravity that would typically cause dense clouds of gas and dust to collapse and forge stars, explaining Sagittarius C’s lower-than-expected star formation rate. 
      “This is an exciting area for future research, as the influence of strong magnetic fields, in the center of our galaxy or other galaxies, on stellar ecology has not been fully considered,” said Crowe.  
      The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
      Downloads
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      View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
      View/Download the science paper led by Bally from the The Astrophysical Journal.
      View/Download the science paper led by Crowe from the The Astrophysical Journal.
      Media Contacts
      Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Leah Ramsay – lramsay@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
      Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
      Related Information
      Read more: press releases about the center of the Milky Way
      NASA’s Universe of Learning: ViewSpace Interactive image tour of the center of the Milky Way
      Learn more about the Milky Way and Sagittarius Constellation
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      Last Updated Apr 02, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
      James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Astrophysics Galaxies Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Protostars Science & Research Stars The Milky Way The Universe View the full article
    • NASA
      Finding Clues in Ruins of Ancient Dead Star With NASA’s Chandra
      By NASA
      X-ray: NASA/CXC/Technion/N. Keshet et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss People often think about archaeology happening deep in jungles or inside ancient pyramids. However, a team of astronomers has shown that they can use stars and the remains they leave behind to conduct a special kind of archaeology in space.
      Mining data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the team of astronomers studied the relics that one star left behind after it exploded. This “supernova archaeology” uncovered important clues about a star that self-destructed – probably more than a million years ago.
      Today, the system called GRO J1655-40 contains a black hole with nearly seven times the mass of the Sun and a star with about half as much mass. However, this was not always the case.
      Originally GRO J1655-40 had two shining stars. The more massive of the two stars, however, burned through all of its nuclear fuel and then exploded in what astronomers call a supernova. The debris from the destroyed star then rained onto the companion star in orbit around it, as shown in the artist’s concept.
      This artist’s impression shows the effects of the collapse and supernova explosion of a massive star. A black hole (right) was formed in the collapse and debris from the supernova explosion is raining down onto a companion star (left), polluting its atmosphere.CXC/SAO/M. Weiss With its outer layers expelled, including some striking its neighbor, the rest of the exploded star collapsed onto itself and formed the black hole that exists today. The separation between the black hole and its companion would have shrunk over time because of energy being lost from the system, mainly through the production of gravitational waves. When the separation became small enough, the black hole, with its strong gravitational pull, began pulling matter from its companion, wrenching back some of the material its exploded parent star originally deposited.
      While most of this material sank into the black hole, a small amount of it fell into a disk that orbits around the black hole. Through the effects of powerful magnetic fields and friction in the disk, material is being sent out into interstellar space in the form of powerful winds.
      This is where the X-ray archaeological hunt enters the story. Astronomers used Chandra to observe the GRO J1655-40 system in 2005 when it was particularly bright in X-rays. Chandra detected signatures of individual elements found in the black hole’s winds by getting detailed spectra – giving X-ray brightness at different wavelengths – embedded in the X-ray light. Some of these elements are highlighted in the spectrum shown in the inset.
      The team of astronomers digging through the Chandra data were able to reconstruct key physical characteristics of the star that exploded from the clues imprinted in the X-ray light by comparing the spectra with computer models of stars that explode as supernovae. They discovered that, based on the amounts of 18 different elements in the wind, the long-gone star destroyed in the supernova was about 25 times the mass of the Sun, and was much richer in elements heavier than helium in comparison with the Sun.
      This analysis paves the way for more supernova archaeology studies using other outbursts of double star systems.
      A paper describing these results titled “Supernova Archaeology with X-Ray Binary Winds: The Case of GRO J1655−40” was published in The Astrophysical Journal in May 2024. The authors of this study are Noa Keshet (Technion — Israel Institute of Technology), Ehud Behar (Technion), and Timothy Kallman (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center).
      NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, 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 an artist’s rendering of a supernova explosion, inset with a spectrum graph.
      The artist’s illustration features a star and a black hole in a system called GRO J1655-40. Here, the black hole is represented by a black sphere to our upper right of center. The star is represented by a bright yellow sphere to our lower left of center. In this illustration, the artist captures the immensely powerful supernova as a black hole is created from the collapse of a massive star, with an intense burst of blurred beams radiating from the black sphere. The blurred beams of red, orange, and yellow light show debris from the supernova streaking across the entire image in rippling waves. These beams rain debris on the bright yellow star.
      When astronomers used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to observe the system in 2005, they detected signatures of individual elements embedded in the X-ray light. Some of those elements are highlighted in the spectrum graph shown in the inset, positioned at our upper lefthand corner.
      The graph’s vertical axis, on our left, indicates X-ray brightness from 0.0 up to 0.7 in intensity units. The horizontal axis, at the bottom of the graph, indicates Wavelength from 6 to 12 in units of Angstroms. On the graph, a tight zigzagging line begins near the top of the vertical axis, and slopes down toward the far end of the horizontal axis. The sharp dips show wavelengths where the light has been absorbed by different elements, decreasing the X-ray brightness. Some of the elements causing these dips have been labeled, including Silicon, Magnesium, Iron, Nickel, Neon, and Cobalt.
      News Media Contact
      Megan Watzke
      Chandra X-ray Center
      Cambridge, Mass.
      617-496-7998
      mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
      Lane Figueroa
      Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
      256-544-0034
      lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
      View the full article
    • NASA
      NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Team Wins 2024 Collier Trophy
      By NASA
      The innovative team of engineers and scientists from NASA, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and more than 40 other partner organizations across the country that created the Parker Solar Probe mission has been awarded the 2024 Robert J. Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA). This annual award recognizes the most exceptional achievement in aeronautics and astronautics in America with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles in the previous year.   
      “Congratulations to the entire Parker Solar Probe team for this well-earned recognition,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “This mission’s trailblazing research is rewriting the textbooks on solar science by going to a place no human-made object has ever been and advancing NASA’s efforts to better understand our solar system and the Sun’s influence, with lasting benefits for us all. As the first to touch the Sun and fastest human-made object ever built, Parker Solar Probe is a testament to human ingenuity and discovery.”
      An artist’s concept of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. NASA On Dec. 24, 2024, Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun, passing deep within the Sun’s corona, just 3.8 million miles above the Sun’s surface and at a top speed of close to 430,000 mph, ushering in a new era of scientific discovery and space exploration.
      “This award is a recognition of the unrelenting dedication and hard work of the Parker Solar Probe team. I am so proud of this team and honored to have been a part of it,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By studying the Sun closer than ever before, we continue to advance our understanding of not only our closest star, but also stars across our universe. Parker Solar Probe’s historic close approaches to the Sun are a testament to the incredible engineering that made this record-breaking journey possible.”
      Three novel aerospace technology advancements were critical to enabling this record performance: The first is the Thermal Protection System, or heat shield, that protects the spacecraft and is built to withstand brutal temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The Thermal Protection System allows Parker’s electronics and instruments to operate close to room temperature.
      Additional Parker innovations included first-of-their-kind actively cooled solar arrays that protect themselves from overexposure to intense solar energy while powering the spacecraft, and a fully autonomous spacecraft system that can manage its own flight behavior, orientation, and configuration for months at a time. Parker has relied upon all of these vital technologies every day since its launch almost seven years ago, in August 2018.
      “I am thrilled for the Parker Solar Probe team on receiving this well-deserved award,” said Joe Westlake, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “The new information about the Sun made available through this mission will improve our ability to prepare for space weather events across the solar system, as well as better understand the very star that makes life possible for us on Earth.”
      Parker’s close-up observations of solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and solar particle events, are critical to advancing our understanding of the science of our Sun and the phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to satellites, air travel, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics behind events which drive space weather will enable more reliable predictions and lower astronaut exposure to hazardous radiation during future deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
      “This amazing team brought to life an incredibly difficult space science mission that had been studied, and determined to be impossible, for more than 60 years. They did so by solving numerous long-standing technology challenges and dramatically advancing our nation’s spaceflight capabilities,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “The Collier Trophy is well-earned recognition for this phenomenal group of innovators from NASA, APL, and our industry and research partners from across the nation.”
      First awarded in 1911, the Robert J. Collier Trophy winner is selected by a group of aviation leaders chosen by the NAA. The Collier Trophy is housed in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
      “Traveling three times closer to the Sun and seven times faster than any spacecraft before, Parker’s technology innovations enabled humanity to reach inside the Sun’s atmosphere for the first time,” said Bobby Braun, head of APL’s Space Exploration Sector. “We are all immensely proud that the Parker Solar Probe team will join a long legacy of prestigious aerospace endeavors that redefined technology and changed history.”
      “The Parker Solar Probe team’s achievement in earning the 2024 Collier is a shining example of determination, genius, and teamwork,” said NAA President and CEO Amy Spowart. “It’s a distinct honor for the NAA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable team that turned the impossible into reality.”
      Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed, built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.
      By Geoff Brown
      Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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      Details
      Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Editor Sarah Frazier Contact Abbey Interrante abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
      Heliophysics Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Division Parker Solar Probe (PSP) The Sun Explore More
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    • NASA
      Hubble Sees a Spiral and a Star
      By NASA
      This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features a sparkling spiral galaxy paired with a prominent star, both in the constellation Virgo. While the galaxy and the star appear to be close to one another, even overlapping, they’re actually a great distance apart.ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. J. Smartt, C. Kilpatrick This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a sparkling spiral galaxy paired with a prominent star, both in the constellation Virgo. While the galaxy and the star appear to be close to one another, even overlapping, they’re actually a great distance apart. The star, marked with four long diffraction spikes, is in our own galaxy. It’s just 7,109 light-years away from Earth. The galaxy, named NGC 4900, lies about 45 million light-years from Earth.
      This image combines data from two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys, installed in 2002 and still in operation today, and the older Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was in use from 1993 to 2009. The data used here were taken more than 20 years apart for two different observing programs — a real testament to Hubble’s long scientific lifetime!
      Both programs aimed to understand the demise of massive stars. In one, researchers studied the sites of past supernovae, aiming to estimate the masses of the stars that exploded and investigate how supernovae interact with their surroundings. They selected NGC 4900 for the study because it hosted a supernova named SN 1999br.
      In the other program, researchers laid the groundwork for studying future supernovae by collecting images of more than 150 nearby galaxies. When researchers detect a supernova in one of these galaxies, they can refer to these images, examining the star at the location of the supernova. Identifying a supernova progenitor star in pre-explosion images gives valuable information about how, when, and why supernovae occur.
      Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. J. Smartt, C. Kilpatrick
      View the full article

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