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The "Rotten Egg" Nebula: A Planetary Nebula in the Making
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By USH
While observing the Orion Nebula with his 12-inch Dobsonian telescope, a sky-watcher noticed an unusual flashing object. As stars appeared to drift due to Earth's rotation, this particular object while flashing approximately every 20 seconds clearly travels through deep space.
The observer wonders whether it might be a rotating satellite or not. However, this isn’t the first sighting of cigar-shaped UFOs or other mysterious objects traveling through space near the Orion Nebula, so it is quite possible that it could be an interstellar craft.
Over the years, I have shared several articles, complete with images and videos, documenting similar UFO sightings around the Orion Nebula. You can explore these under the tag: Orion Nebula.
Interestingly, these sightings have all occurred between November and February, suggesting there may be a seasonal pattern to these observations.
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By NASA
NASA/JPL-Caltech This 2013 image taken by NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captures a nebula that looks like a witch screaming. Perhaps that imagined scream is a creation spell, for the Witch Hat nebula’s billowy clouds are a star nursery. We can see these clouds thanks to massive stars lighting them up; dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE’s detectors.
WISE launched to near-Earth orbit on Dec. 14, 2009, and surveyed the full sky in four infrared wavelength bands until the frozen hydrogen cooling the telescope was depleted in September 2010. The spacecraft was placed into hibernation in February 2011, having completed its primary astrophysics mission.
In late 2013, the spacecraft was resurrected – no incantation needed – when NASA’s Planetary Science Division gave it a new mission and a new name: NEOWISE. The spacecraft began helping NASA identify and describe near-Earth objects (NEOs). NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged into orbits that allow them to enter Earth’s neighborhood. NEOWISE was decommissioned Aug. 8, 2024, and placed into hibernation for the last time, ending its career as an active asteroid hunter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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By European Space Agency
ESA’s solar eclipse-making Proba-3 mission is about to leave Europe, to head to its launch site in India. The mission’s two spacecraft – which will manoeuvre precisely in Earth orbit so that one casts a shadow onto the other – have departed the facilities of Redwire Space in Kruibeke, Belgium. The pair will be flown to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, near Chennai, for the launch campaign to begin.
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By NASA
2 min read
ESA/NASA’s SOHO Spies Bright Comet Making Debut in Evening Sky
The tail of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS spanned the view of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on Oct. 10, 2024. ESA/NASA The ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has captured images of the second-brightest comet to ever pass through its field of view during the spacecraft’s nearly 29-year career.
The bright comet is C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which has been garnering a lot of attention from skywatchers recently, displaying a long, dusty tail in pre-dawn skies throughout late September and early October. (Comet McNaught, viewed in 2007, holds the record as the brightest comet SOHO has seen.)
Between Oct. 7 and 11, the comet blazed through the view of SOHO’s LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment) instrument, which uses a disk to block out the bright light of the Sun so it’s easier to see details and objects near the Sun. This image, taken by SOHO on Oct. 10, 2024, shows the comet and its bright tail streaming from the upper left to the right. Mercury appears as a bright dot on the left.
After crossing through SOHO’s field of view, the comet will begin putting on an evening show for skywatchers around the world just after sunset starting Saturday, Oct. 12. Each day throughout October, the comet will gradually rise higher and higher in the western sky as it moves farther away from the Sun. But as it does, it will become fainter and fainter. Eagle-eyed skywatchers may be able to spot it with the naked eye for a few days, but after that, observers will likely need binoculars or a telescope to see it as it grows fainter.
Even if you are unable to spot this comet yourself, you can help SOHO search for others. Scientists and members of the general public have discovered more than 5,000 comets in SOHO imagery, and you can help find even more by visiting the Sungrazer Project.
By Vanessa Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Oct 11, 2024 Related Terms
Comets Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Heliophysics Division Skywatching SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) The Sun The Sun & Solar Physics Explore More
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By NASA
Learn Home Culturally Inclusive Planetary… Biological & Physical… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read
Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement in Colorado
In August 2024, the NASA Science Activation program’s Planetary Resources and Content Heroes (ReaCH) project held a Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement workshop at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado for the planetary science community. These workshops are designed to enhance the ability of scientists to engage Black and Latinx youth and their families in planetary science. Workshops include discussions with local educators about evidence-based engagement strategies and experiences conducting hands-on planetary science activities, along with an opportunity to practice these approaches during an event with local partners.
Planetary scientists and engineers from Boulder, as well as scientists from Florida, Maryland, and Alaska participated. ReaCH partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, whose staff participated in the workshop to share their perspectives. Other educators local to the Denver area also participated, along with an educational specialist from NASA@ My Library (another Science Activation program). The workshop culminated in an event at the Shopneck Boys & Girls Club in Brighton, CO; workshop participants facilitated a variety of hands-on planetary activities for approximately 120 children. Workshop participants also shared information about college pathways into science professions with teenagers at the Club.
During feedback with evaluators, workshop participants shared, “I got to have hands-on experience working with an underserved population, which I haven’t done before in a workshop. I think this is the necessary next step for me. I am tired of just learning about things. I want to DO things. This gave me the ability to do it without setting up everything myself.”
Through careful revisions to these workshops and detailed evaluation, the Planetary ReaCH project is building a replicable model that will be used to support similar workshops for other science fields. Members of the planetary and astrobiology community are invited to apply to attend future ReaCH workshops.
Planetary ReaCH is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0003 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Workshop participants experimented with activities such as this model of impact cratering. Share
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Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
Biological & Physical Sciences Opportunities For Educators to Get Involved Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Planetary Science Science Activation Explore More
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