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    • By NASA
      Caption: Illustration of the four PUNCH spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
      NASA will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to share information about the agency’s upcoming PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which is targeted to launch no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 27.

      The agency’s PUNCH mission is a constellation of four small satellites. When they arrive in low Earth orbit, the satellites will make global, 3D observations of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, and help NASA learn how the mass and energy there become solar wind. By imaging the Sun’s corona and the solar wind together, scientists hope to better understand the entire inner heliosphere – Sun, solar wind, and Earth – as a single connected system.
      Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/live
      Participants include:
      Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA program scientist, NASA Headquarters Nicholeen Viall, PUNCH mission scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Craig DeForest, PUNCH principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute To participate in the media teleconference, media must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. on Feb. 4 to: Abbey Interrante at: abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. 
      The PUNCH mission will share a ride to space with NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. 
      The Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, leads the PUNCH mission. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 
      To learn more about PUNCH, please visit:  
      https://nasa.gov/punch
      -end-
      Karen Fox
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.fox@nasa.gov
      Sarah Frazier
      Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      202-853-7191
      sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      Perseus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivares et al.; Optical/IR: DSS; H-alpha: CFHT/SITELLE; Centaurus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivaresi et al.; Optical/IR: NASA/ESA/STScI; H-alpha: ESO/VLT/MUSE; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk Astronomers have taken a crucial step in showing that the most massive black holes in the universe can create their own meals. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) provide new evidence that outbursts from black holes can help cool down gas to feed themselves.
      This study was based on observations of seven clusters of galaxies. The centers of galaxy clusters contain the universe’s most massive galaxies, which harbor huge black holes with masses ranging from millions to tens of billions of times that of the Sun. Jets from these black holes are driven by the black holes feasting on gas.
      These images show two of the galaxy clusters in the study, the Perseus Cluster and the Centaurus Cluster. Chandra data represented in blue reveals X-rays from filaments of hot gas, and data from the VLT, an optical telescope in Chile, shows cooler filaments in red.
      The results support a model where outbursts from the black holes trigger hot gas to cool and form narrow filaments of warm gas. Turbulence in the gas also plays an important role in this triggering process.
      According to this model, some of the warm gas in these filaments should then flow into the centers of the galaxies to feed the black holes, causing an outburst. The outburst causes more gas to cool and feed the black holes, leading to further outbursts.
      This model predicts there will be a relationship between the brightness of filaments of hot and warm gas in the centers of galaxy clusters. More specifically, in regions where the hot gas is brighter, the warm gas should also be brighter. The team of astronomers has, for the first time, discovered such a relationship, giving critical support for the model.
      This result also provides new understanding of these gas-filled filaments, which are important not just for feeding black holes but also for causing new stars to form. This advance was made possible by an innovative technique that isolates the hot filaments in the Chandra X-ray data from other structures, including large cavities in the hot gas created by the black hole’s jets.
      The newly found relationship for these filaments shows remarkable similarity to the one found in the tails of jellyfish galaxies, which have had gas stripped away from them as they travel through surrounding gas, forming long tails. This similarity reveals an unexpected cosmic connection between the two objects and implies a similar process is occurring in these objects.
      This work was led by Valeria Olivares from the University of Santiago de Chile, and was published Monday in Nature Astronomy. The study brought together international experts in optical and X-ray observations and simulations from the United States, Chile, Australia, Canada, and Italy. The work relied on the capabilities of the MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) instrument on the VLT, which generates 3D views of the universe.
      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 composite images shown side-by-side of two different galaxy clusters, each with a central black hole surrounded by patches and filaments of gas. The galaxy clusters, known as Perseus and Centaurus, are two of seven galaxy clusters observed as part of an international study led by the University of Santiago de Chile.
      In each image, a patch of purple with neon pink veins floats in the blackness of space, surrounded by flecks of light. At the center of each patch is a glowing, bright white dot. The bright white dots are black holes. The purple patches represent hot X-ray gas, and the neon pink veins represent filaments of warm gas. According to the model published in the study, jets from the black holes impact the hot X-ray gas. This gas cools into warm filaments, with some warm gas flowing back into the black hole. The return flow of warm gas causes jets to again cool the hot gas, triggering the cycle once again.
      While the images of the two galaxy clusters are broadly similar, there are significant visual differences. In the image of the Perseus Cluster on the left, the surrounding flecks of light are larger and brighter, making the individual galaxies they represent easier to discern. Here, the purple gas has a blue tint, and the hot pink filaments appear solid, as if rendered with quivering strokes of a paintbrush. In the image of the Centaurus Cluster on the right, the purple gas appears softer, with a more diffuse quality. The filaments are rendered in more detail, with feathery edges, and gradation in color ranging from pale pink to neon red.
      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
    • By NASA
      5 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      Typically, asteroids — like the one depicted in this artist’s concept — originate from the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but a small population of near-Earth objects may also come from the Moon’s surface after being ejected into space by an impact.NASA/JPL-Caltech The near-Earth object was likely ejected into space after an impact thousands of years ago. Now it could contribute new insights to asteroid and lunar science.
      The small near-Earth object 2024 PT5 captured the world’s attention last year after a NASA-funded telescope discovered it lingering close to, but never orbiting, our planet for several months. The asteroid, which is about 33 feet (10 meters) wide, does not pose a hazard to Earth, but its orbit around the Sun closely matches that of our planet, hinting that it may have originated nearby.
      As described in a study published Jan. 14 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers have collected further evidence of 2024 PT5 being of local origin: It appears to be composed of rock broken off from the Moon’s surface and ejected into space after a large impact.
      “We had a general idea that this asteroid may have come from the Moon, but the smoking gun was when we found out that it was rich in silicate minerals — not the kind that are seen on asteroids but those that have been found in lunar rock samples,” said Teddy Kareta, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, who led the research. “It looks like it hasn’t been in space for very long, maybe just a few thousand years or so, as there’s a lack of space weathering that would have caused its spectrum to redden.”
      The asteroid was first detected on Aug. 7, 2024, by the NASA-funded Sutherland, South Africa, telescope of the University of Hawai’i’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Kareta’s team then used observations from the Lowell Discovery Telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai’i to show that the spectrum of reflected sunlight from the small object’s surface didn’t match that of any known asteroid type; instead, the reflected light more closely matched rock from the Moon.
      Not (Old) Rocket Science
      A second clue came from observing how the object moves. Along with asteroids, Space Age debris, such as old rockets from historic launches, can also be found in Earth-like orbits.
      The difference in their orbits has to do with how each type responds to solar radiation pressure, which comes from the momentum of photons — quantum particles of light from the Sun — exerting a tiny force when they hit a solid object in space. This momentum exchange from many photons over time can push an object around ever so slightly, speeding it up or slowing it down. While a human-made object, like a hollow rocket booster, will move like an empty tin can in the wind, a natural object, such as an asteroid, will be much less affected.
      Researchers studying asteroid 2024 PT5 have plotted its looping motion on two graphs. To a trained eye, they show that the object never gets captured by Earth’s gravity but, instead, lingers nearby before continuing its orbit around the Sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech To rule out 2024 PT5 being space junk, scientists at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, analyzed its motion. Their precise calculations of the object’s motion under the force of gravity ultimately enabled them to search for additional motion caused by solar radiation pressure. In this case, the effects were found to be too small for the object to be artificial, proving 2024 PT5 is most likely of natural origin.
      “Space debris and space rocks move slightly differently in space,” said Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz, a study coauthor and NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL working with the CNEOS team. “Human-made debris is usually relatively light and gets pushed around by the pressure of sunlight. That 2024 PT5 doesn’t move this way indicates it is much denser than space debris.”
      Asteroid Lunar Studies
      The discovery of 2024 PT5 doubles the number of known asteroids thought to originate from the Moon. Asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa was found in 2016 with an Earth-like orbit around the Sun, indicating that it may also have been ejected from the lunar surface after a large impact. As telescopes become more sensitive to smaller asteroids, more potential Moon boulders will be discovered, creating an exciting opportunity not only for scientists studying a rare population of asteroids, but also for scientists studying the Moon.
      If a lunar asteroid can be directly linked to a specific impact crater on the Moon, studying it could lend insights into cratering processes on the pockmarked lunar surface. Also, material from deep below the lunar surface — in the form of asteroids passing close to Earth — may be accessible to future scientists to study.
      “This is a story about the Moon as told by asteroid scientists,” said Kareta. “It’s a rare situation where we’ve gone out to study an asteroid but then strayed into new territory in terms of the questions we can ask of 2024 PT5.”
      The ATLAS, IRTF, and CNEOS projects are funded by NASA’s planetary defense program, which is managed by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 
      For more information about asteroids and comets, visit:
      https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/topics/asteroids/
      NASA Asteroid Experts Create Hypothetical Impact Scenario for Exercise NASA Researchers Discover More Dark Comets Lesson Plan: How to Explore an Asteroid News Media Contacts
      Ian J. O’Neill
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      818-354-2649
      ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
      Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
      NASA Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
      Kevin Schindler
      Lowell Observatory Public Information Officer
      928-607-1387
      kevin@lowell.edu
      2025-007
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      Last Updated Jan 22, 2025 Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      Freelancer NASA’s Sustainable Business Model Challenge is looking for entrepreneurs, startups, and researchers to leverage the agency’s publicly available Earth system science data to develop commercial solutions for climate challenges.
      This opportunity, with a submission deadline of June 13, bridges the gap between vast climate data and actionable solutions by inviting solvers to transform data into sustainable business models that support climate resilience and decision-making.
      “Creative, outcome-driven entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our country’s economy, and we’re excited to see the sustainable climate solutions they’re able to come up with when working closely with NASA’s vast resources and data,” said Jason L. Kessler, program executive for the NASA Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, which is sponsoring the challenge.
      Through the Sustainable Business Model Challenge, NASA aims to foster a new set of sustainable enterprises capable of turning climate insights into tangible market-ready services, ultimately contributing to a more resilient future for vulnerable communities, businesses, and ecosystems. NASA is committed to broadening participation in its solicitations and fostering technology advancements.
      By engaging new entrepreneurs, the challenge serves as a pathway to NASA’s SBIR/STTR program, helping scale solutions to advance the global response to climate change and encourage a more sustainable future. From its vantage point in space, NASA holds a wealth of data that can inform new approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation.
      Participants will submit a 10-page business concept paper that includes details on how they will incorporate NASA climate or Earth system data to deliver a product or service. Up to ten winning teams will receive $10,000 each, along with admission to a 10-week capability development training designed to strengthen any future proposals for potential NASA funding.
      NASA’s SBIR/STTR program, managed by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, is part of America’s Seed Fund, the nation’s largest source of early-stage funding for innovative technologies. Through this program, entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses with less than 500 employees can receive funding and non-monetary support to build, mature, and commercialize their technologies, advancing NASA missions and advancing the nations aerospace economy.
      Ensemble is hosting the challenge on behalf of NASA. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, manages the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
      The deadline to participate in NASA’s Sustainable Business Model Challenge is June 13, 2025.
      For more information about the challenge, visit: https://nasabusinesschallenge.org/ 
      View the full article
    • By European Space Agency
      With ESA’s EarthCARE satellite and four measuring instruments all working extremely well and fully commissioned, the mission’s ‘first level’ data stream is now freely available.
      By combining data from all four instruments, scientists ultimately aim to address a critical Earth science question: how do clouds and aerosols affect the heating and cooling of our atmosphere?
      View the full article
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