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Astronomers Discover Nearby Spiral Galaxy Hidden Behind the Milky Way
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By NASA
On Sept. 18, 2024, five Congressional Gold Medals were awarded to women who contributed to the space race, including the NASA mathematicians who helped land the first astronauts on the Moon under the agency’s Apollo Program.Credit: NASA NASA Administrator Bill Nelson released his remarks as prepared for Wednesday’s Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in Washington. The awards recognized the women who contributed to the space race, including the NASA mathematicians who helped land the first astronauts on the Moon under the agency’s Apollo Program.
“Good afternoon.
“The remarkable things that NASA achieves…and that America achieves…build on the pioneers who came before us.
“People like the women of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
“People like Mary Jackson. Dr. Christine Darden. Dorothy Vaughan. Katherine Johnson.
“Thanks to all the Members of Congress who made today possible. The late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who we miss, and who led the effort in 2019 alongside Senator Chris Coons to bring these medals to life. Thanks to the champions for the legislation, then-Senator Kamala Harris, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Shelley Moore Capito, and Congressman Frank Lucas.
“The women we honor today made it possible for Earthlings to lift beyond the bounds of Earth, and for generations of trailblazers to follow.
“We did not come this far only to come this far.
“We continue this legacy, as one member of the audience here with us does every single day – the remarkable Andrea Mosie.
“Andrea, who has worked at NASA for nearly 50 years, is the lead processor for the Apollo sample program. She oversees the Moon rocks and lunar samples NASA brought back from Apollo, 842 pounds of celestial science! These samples are national treasures. So is Andrea.
“The pioneers we honor today, these Hidden Figures – their courage and imagination brought us to the Moon. And their lessons, their legacy, will send us back to the Moon… and then…imagine – just imagine – when we leave our footprints on the red sands of Mars.
“Thanks to these people who are part of our NASA family, we will continue to sail on the cosmic sea to far off cosmic shores.”
For more information about NASA missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Meira Bernstein / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 18, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
Figure 1. An artist’s concept of the Van Allen belts with a cutaway section of the giant donuts of radiation that surround Earth. Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio A new instrument is using advanced detection techniques and leveraging an orbit with specific characteristics to increase our understanding of the Van Allen belts—regions surrounding Earth that contain energetic particles that can endanger both robotic and human space missions. Recently, the instrument provided a unique view of changes to this region that were brought on by an intense magnetic storm in May 2024.
The discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts by the U.S. Explorer 1 mission in 1958 marked a prominent milestone in space physics and demonstrated that Earth’s magnetosphere efficiently accelerates and traps energetic particles. The inner belt contains protons in the MeV (million electric volt) to GeV (109 electric volt) range, and even higher concentrations of energetic electrons of 100s of keV (1000 electric volt) to MeV are found in both the inner belt and the outer belt.
The energetic electrons in these belts—also referred to as “killer electrons”—can have detrimental effects on spacecraft subsystems and are harmful to astronauts performing extravehicular activities. Understanding the source, loss, and varying concentrations of these electrons has been a longstanding research objective. High-energy resolution and clean measurements of these energetic electrons in space are required to further our understanding of their properties and enable more reliable prediction of their intensity.
Overcoming the challenges of measuring relativistic electrons in the inner belt
Measuring energetic electrons cleanly and accurately has been a challenge, especially in the inner belt, where MeV to GeV energy protons also exist. NASA’s Van Allen Probes, which operated from 2012 to 2019 in low inclination, geo-transfer-like orbits, showed that instruments traversing the heart of the inner radiation belt are subject to penetration by the highly energetic protons located in that region. The Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) and the Magnetic Electron and Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instruments onboard the Van Allen Probes were heavily shielded but were still subject to inner-belt proton contamination.
To attempt to minimize these negative effects, a University of Colorado Boulder team led by Dr. Xinlin Li, designed the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope integrated little experiment (REPTile)—a simplified and miniaturized version of REPT—to fly onboard the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE). An effort supported by the National Science Foundation, the 3-Unit CSSWE CubeSat operated in a highly inclined low Earth orbit (LEO) from 2012 to 2014. In this highly inclined orbit, the spacecraft and the instruments it carried were only exposed to the inner-belt protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region where the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker, which greatly reduced the time that protons impacted the measurement of electrons.
REPTile’s success motivated a team, also led by Dr. Xinlin Li, to design REPTile-2—an advanced version of REPTile—to be hosted on the Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment (CIRBE) mission. Like CSSWE, CIRBE operates in a highly inclined low-Earth orbit to ensure the exposure to damaging inner-belt protons is minimized. The team based the REPTile-2 design on REPTile but incorporated two additional technologies—guard rings and Pulse Height Analysis—to enable clean, high-energy-resolution measurements of energetic electrons, especially in the inner belt.
Figure 2: PI observing two engineers testing the interface between the CIRBE bus and REPTile-2 on September 29, 2021. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder As shown on the left in Figure 3, the field of view (FOV) of REPTile-2 is 51o. Electrons and protons enter the FOV and are measured when they reach a stack of silicon detectors where they deposit their energies. However, very energetic protons (energy greater than 60 MeV) could penetrate through the instrument’s tungsten and aluminum shielding and masquerade as valid particles, thus contaminating the intended measurements. To mitigate this contamination, the team designed guard rings that surround each detector. These guard rings are electronically separated from the inner active area of each detector and are connected by a separate electric channel. When the guard rings are triggered (i.e., hit by particles coming outside of the FOV), the coincident measurements are considered invalid and are discarded. This anti-coincidence technique enables cleaner measurements of particles coming through the FOV.
Figure 3. Left (adapted from Figure 1 of Khoo et al., 2022): Illustration of REPTile-2 front end with key features labeled; Right: REPTile-2 front end integrated with electronic boards and structures, a computer-aided design (CAD) model, and a photo of integrated REPTile-2. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder To achieve high energy resolution, the team also applied full Pulse Height Analysis (PHA) on REPTile-2. In PHA, the magnitude of measured charge in the detector is directly proportional to the energy deposited from the incident electrons. Unlike REPTile, which employed a simpler energy threshold discrimination method yielding three channels for the electrons, REPTile-2 offers enhanced precision with 60 energy channels for electron energies ranging from 0.25 – 6 MeV. The REPT instrument onboard the Van Allen Probes also employed PHA but while REPT worked very well in the outer belt, yielding fine energy resolution, it did not function as well in the inner belt since the instrument was fully exposed to penetrating energetic protons because it did not have the guard rings implemented.
Figure 4: The CIRBE team after a successful “plugs-out” test of the CIRBE spacecraft on July 21, 2022. During this test the CIRBE spacecraft successfully received commands from ground stations and completed various performance tests, including data transmission back to ground stations at LASP. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder CIRBE and REPTile-2 Results
CIRBE’s launch, secured through the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), took place aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-7 mission on April 15, 2023. REPTile-2, activated on April 19, 2023, has been performing well, delivering valuable data about Earth’s radiation belt electrons. Many features of the energetic electrons in the Van Allen belts have been revealed for the first time, thanks to the high-resolution energy and time measurements REPTile-2 has provided.
Figure 5 shows a sample of CIRBE/REPTile-2 measurements from April 2024, and illustrates the intricate drift echoes or “zebra stripes” of energetic electrons, swirling around Earth in distinct bunches. These observations span a vast range across the inner and outer belts, encompassing a wide spectrum of energies and electron fluxes extending over six orders of magnitude. By leveraging advanced guard rings, Pulse Height Analysis (PHA), and a highly inclined LEO orbit, REPTile-2 is delivering unprecedented observations of radiation belt electrons.
Figure 5: Color-coded electron fluxes detrended between REPTile-2 measurements for a pass over the South Atlantic Anomaly region on April 24, 2023, and their average, i.e., the smoothed electron fluxes using a moving average window of ±19% in energy; Black curves plotted on top of the color-coded electron fluxes are contours of electron drift period in hr. The second horizontal-axis, L, represents the magnetic field line, which CIRBE crosses. The two radiation belts and a slot region in between are indicated by the red lines and arrow, respectively. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder In fact, the team recently announced that measurements from CIRBE/REPTile-2 have revealed a new temporary third radiation belt composed of electrons and sandwiched between the two permanent belts. This belt formed during the magnetic storm in May 2024, which was the largest in two decades. While such temporary belts have been seen after big storms previously, the data from CIRBE/REPTile-2 are providing a new viewpoint with higher energy resolution data than before. Scientists are currently studying the data to better understand the belt and how long it might stick around — which could be many months.
PROJECT LEAD
Dr. Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS
Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research & Technology (H-FORT) program, National Science Foundation
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Hubble Space Telescope Home Hubble Examines a Spiral Star… Missions Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Examines a Spiral Star Factory
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 5668. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo named NGC 5668. It is relatively near to us at 90 million light-years from Earth and quite accessible for astronomers to study with both space- and ground-based telescopes. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a remarkable galaxy. It is around 90,000 light-years across, similar in size and mass to our own Milky Way galaxy, and its nearly face-on orientation shows open spiral arms made of cloudy, irregular patches.
One noticeable difference between the Milky Way galaxy and NGC 5668 is that this galaxy is forming new stars 60% more quickly. Astronomers have identified two main drivers of star formation in NGC 5668. Firstly, this high-quality Hubble view reveals a bar at the galaxy’s center, though it might look more like a slight oval shape than a real bar. The bar appears to have affected the galaxy’s star formation rate, as central bars do in many spiral galaxies. Secondly, astronomers tracked high-velocity clouds of hydrogen gas moving vertically between the disk of the galaxy and the spherical, faint halo which surrounds it. These movements may be the result of strong stellar winds from hot, massive stars, that would contribute gas to new star-forming regions.
The enhanced star formation rate in NGC 5668 comes with a corresponding abundance of supernova explosions. Astronomers have spotted three in the galaxy, in 1952, 1954, and 2004. In this image, Hubble examined the surroundings of the Type II SN 2004G, seeking to study the kinds of stars that end their lives as this kind of supernova.
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claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 12, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
5 Min Read NASA’s Webb Peers into the Extreme Outer Galaxy
This image shows a portion of the star-forming region, known as Digel Cloud 2S (full image below). Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Ressler (JPL) Astronomers have directed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists call this region the Extreme Outer Galaxy due to its location more than 58,000 light-years away from the Galactic Center. (For comparison, Earth is approximately 26,000 light-years from the center.)
A team of scientists used Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to image select regions within two molecular clouds known as Digel Clouds 1 and 2. With its high degree of sensitivity and sharp resolution, the Webb data resolved these areas, which are hosts to star clusters undergoing bursts of star formation, in unprecedented detail. Details of this data include components of the clusters such as very young (Class 0) protostars, outflows and jets, and distinctive nebular structures.
These Webb observations, which came from telescope time allocated to Mike Ressler of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, are enabling scientists to study star formation in the outer Milky Way in the same depth of detail as observations of star formation in our own solar neighborhood.
“In the past, we knew about these star forming regions but were not able to delve into their properties,” said Natsuko Izumi of Gifu University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, lead author of the study. “The Webb data builds upon what we have incrementally gathered over the years from prior observations with different telescopes and observatories. We can get very powerful and impressive images of these clouds with Webb. In the case of Digel Cloud 2, I did not expect to see such active star formation and spectacular jets.”
Image A: Extreme Outer Galaxy (NIRCam and MIRI)
Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine select star-forming areas in the Extreme Outer Galaxy in near- and mid-infrared light. Within this star-forming region, known as Digel Cloud 2S, the telescope observed young, newly formed stars and their extended jets of material. This Webb image also shows a dense sea of background galaxies and red nebulous structures within the region. In this image, colors were assigned to different filters from Webb’s MIRI and NIRCam: red (F1280W, F770W, F444W), green (F356W, F200W), and blue (F150W; F115W). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Ressler (JPL) Stars in the Making
Although the Digel Clouds are within our galaxy, they are relatively poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This composition makes them similar to dwarf galaxies and our own Milky Way in its early history. Therefore, the team took the opportunity to use Webb to capture the activity occurring in four clusters of young stars within Digel Clouds 1 and 2: 1A, 1B, 2N, and 2S.
For Cloud 2S, Webb captured the main cluster containing young, newly formed stars. This dense area is quite active as several stars are emitting extended jets of material along their poles. Additionally, while scientists previously suspected a sub-cluster might be present within the cloud, Webb’s imaging capabilities confirmed its existence for the first time.
“We know from studying other nearby star-forming regions that as stars form during their early life phase, they start emitting jets of material at their poles,” said Ressler, second author of the study and principal investigator of the observing program. “What was fascinating and astounding to me from the Webb data is that there are multiple jets shooting out in all different directions from this cluster of stars. It’s a little bit like a firecracker, where you see things shooting this way and that.”
The Saga of Stars
The Webb imagery skims the surface of the Extreme Outer Galaxy and the Digel Clouds, and is just a starting point for the team. They intend to revisit this outpost in the Milky Way to find answers to a variety of current mysteries, including the relative abundance of stars of various masses within Extreme Outer Galaxy star clusters. This measurement can help astronomers understand how a particular environment can influence different types of stars during their formation.
“I’m interested in continuing to study how star formation is occurring in these regions. By combining data from different observatories and telescopes, we can examine each stage in the evolution process,” said Izumi. “We also plan to investigate circumstellar disks within the Extreme Outer Galaxy. We still don’t know why their lifetimes are shorter than in star-forming regions much closer to us. And of course, I’d like to understand the kinematics of the jets we detected in Cloud 2S.”
Though the story of star formation is complex and some chapters are still shrouded in mystery, Webb is gathering clues and helping astronomers unravel this intricate tale.
These findings have been published in the Astronomical Journal.
The observations were taken as part of Guaranteed Time Observation program 1237.
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).
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Media Contacts
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov, Rob Gutro – rob.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu, Abigail Major – amajor@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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