Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Hopkins Astronomer Holland Ford Receives NASA Award for Hubble Contributions
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Explore HubbleHubble Home OverviewAbout Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & BenefitsHubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts ScienceHubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky ObservatoryHubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb TeamHubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts NewsHubble News Social Media Media Resources MultimediaMultimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More35th Anniversary Online Activities 3 Min Read Hubble Spots Stellar Sculptors in Nearby Galaxy
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, ESA is sharing a new image series revisiting stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques.
This new image showcases the dazzling young star cluster NGC 346. Although both the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble have released images of NGC 346 previously, this image includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that lies 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are sculpted by the luminous stars in the cluster.
Hubble’s exquisite sensitivity and resolution were instrumental in uncovering the secrets of NGC 346’s star formation. Using two sets of observations taken 11 years apart, researchers traced the motions of NGC 346’s stars, revealing them to be spiraling in toward the center of the cluster. This spiraling motion arises from a stream of gas from outside of the cluster that fuels star formation in the center of the turbulent cloud.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble within the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace, dispersing the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot, young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of this nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Explore Hubble NGC 346 Images and Science
Download the image above
NASA’s Hubble Finds Spiraling Stars, Providing Window into Early Universe
Young Stars Sculpt Gas with Powerful Outflows in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble’s Black and White View
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble Captures Unique Ultraviolet View of a Spectacular Star Cluster
Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Bethany Downer
ESA/Hubble Chief Science Communications Officer
bethany.downer@esahubble.org
Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Nebulae Stars The Universe Related Links
ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations Release on ESA’s website Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Exploring the Birth of Stars
Hubble’s 35th Anniversary
Hubble News
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
Image: This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 210 000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early Universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthplace of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
[Image description: A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in colour. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.]
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 Min Read NASA Langley’s Legacy of Landing
The first image of the Moon taken by the cameras on the Lunar Orbiter in 1966. Credits: NASA Landing safely on the surface of another planetary body, like the Moon or Mars, is one of the most important milestones of any given space mission. From the very beginning, NASA’s Langley Research Center has been at the heart of the entry, descent and landing (EDL) research that enables our exploration. Today, NASA Langley’s legacy of landing continues at the forefront of present day lunar missions and as NASA prepares for future travel to more distant worlds.
Project Mercury: 1958
Project Mercury was the United States’ first human-in-space program, led by NASA’s Space Task Group located at NASA Langley. There were five major programs of study and experimentation.
An airdrop study that helped us understand the characteristics of the Mercury capsule as it returned to Earth. A group of study focused on the escape systems, ultimately becoming known as the launch abort system. Exhaustive wind-tunnel studies of the blunt-nosed capsule design and its aerodynamic stability at various altitudes and speeds and angles of reentry, all with a focus on making the capsule safe and stable. A study on the problem of landing impact, resulting in the development of absorption systems that minimized the shock of impact to the capsule’s pilot. Studies into the use of drogue parachutes and their characteristics at high altitudes and speeds, ensuring that they would be able to stabilize and slow the capsule’s descent for a safe landing. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs.
Apollo Program: 1962
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy committed to putting Americans on the surface of the Moon and shortly after that historic declaration, NASA’s Apollo program was born. In the years that followed, the original team of NASA astronauts completed their basic training at NASA Langley’s Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF). When Apollo 11 successfully landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969, NASA Langley had played a pivotal role in the monumental success.
Lunar Orbiter: 1966
The Lunar Orbiter missions launched with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface and identifying potential landing sites ahead of the Apollo landings. From 1966 to 1967, the five successful Lunar Orbiter missions, led and managed by Langley Research Center, resulted in 99% of the moon photographed and a suitable site selected for the upcoming human landings.
Viking: 1976
After the success of Apollo, NASA set its sights further across the solar system to Mars. Two Viking missions aimed to successfully place landers on the Red Planet and capture high resolution images of the Martian surfaces, assisting in the search for life. Langley Research Center was chosen to lead this inaugural Mars mission and went on to play key roles in the missions to Mars that followed.
HIAD: 2009 – Present
Successful landings on Mars led to more ambitious dreams of landing larger payloads, including those that could support future human exploration. In order to land those payloads safely, a new style of heat shield would be needed. Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology was positioned as an answer to the payload problem, enabling missions to use inflatable heat shields to slow down and protect a payload as it enters a planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
IRVE – 2009-2012
Two successful Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiments (IRVE) proved the capability of inflatable heat shield technology and opened the door for larger iterations.
LOFTID – 2022
The Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) followed in the footsteps of its predecessor IRVE with a larger aeroshell that could be deployed to a scale much larger than the shroud. The 2022 successful test of this technology further proved the capability of HIAD technology.
MEDLI 1 and 2: 2012 & 2020
As a part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, NASA Langley’s Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) was designed to gather data from the MSL entry vehicle’s heatshield during its entry and descent to the surface of Mars. MEDLI2 expanded on that groundbreaking data during the Mars 2020 mission which safely landed the Perseverance rover after successfully entering the planet’s arid atmosphere, and enabling improvements on the design for future entry systems.
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars when it launched in 2011. Leading up the mission, Langley engineers performed millions of simulations of the entry, descent and landing phase — or the so-called “Seven Minutes of Terror” — that determines success or failure. Curiosity continues to look for signs that Mars once was – or still is – a habitable place for life as we know it.
CLPS: 2023 – Present
The Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative takes the Artemis mission further by working with commercial partners to advance the technology needed to return humans to the Moon and enable humanity to explore Mars.
NDL
Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) technology, developed at Langley Research Center, uses lasers to assist spacecraft in identifying safe locations to land. In 2024, NDL flew on the Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed Nova-C lander, with its laser instruments designed to measure velocity and altitude to within a few feet. While NASA planetary landers have traditionally relied on radar and used radio waves, NDL technology has proven more accurate and less heavy, both major benefits for cost and space savings as we continue to pursue planetary missions.
SCALPSS
Like Lunar Orbiter and the Viking missions before it, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) set out to better understand the surface of another celestial body. These cameras affixed to the bottom of a lunar lander focus on the interaction between the lander’s rocket plumes and the lunar surface. The SCALPSS 1.1 instrument captured first-of-its-kind imagery as the engine plumes of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander reached the Moon’s surface. These images will serve as key pieces of data as trips to the Moon increase in the coming years.
About the Author
Angelique Herring
Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorAngelique HerringContactJoseph Scott Atkinsonjoseph.s.atkinson@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms
General Langley Research Center Explore More
4 min read NASA Cameras on Blue Ghost Capture First-of-its-Kind Moon Landing Footage
Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read Six NASA Instruments Will Fly to Moon on Intuitive Machines Lander
Article 1 year ago 4 min read Impact Story: Navigation Doppler Lidar
Article 2 years ago 7 min read Langley’s Contributions to Artemis
Article 3 years ago 1 min read 2024 Annual Report Highlights Langley’s Wonder at Work
Article 2 months ago 12 min read 60 Years Ago: NASA Approves the Lunar Orbiter Program
Article 2 years ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By Space Force
Natalia Serna, daughter of Space Launch Delta 30’s senior enlisted leader Chief Master Sgt. Jay Harris and Maria Tapia, wins U.S. Space Force's Military Child of the Year.
View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch tour the Arc Jet Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center, learning more about the testing equipment’s capabilities to analyze thermal protection systems from George Raiche, thermophysics facilities branch chief at Ames.NASA/Donald Richey As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, research, testing, and development at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has played a critical role.
Recently, Ames welcomed Artemis II astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Orion leaders Debbie Korth, deputy program manager, and Luis Saucedo, deputy crew and service module manager, to tour Ames facilities that support the Orion Program and celebrate the achievements of employees.
The group started their visit at the Arc Jet Complex, where researchers use extremely hot, high-speed gases to simulate the intense heat of atmospheric reentry before visiting the Sensors & Thermal Protection Systems Advanced Research Laboratories. The team works to develop sensors and flight instrumentation that measure heat shield response throughout a mission.
These systems were used to develop and test Orion’s thermal protection system to ensure the safety of astronauts during future missions. After the successful return of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft, Ames research was essential when analyzing unexpected charring loss on the heat shield.
Debbie Korth, Orion deputy program manager, presents awards to the Ames workforce at the Orion Circle of Excellence Awards Ceremony, while astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover look on.NASA/Donald Richey The visit culminated in an award ceremony to honor employees with outstanding performance and a legacy of service to the Orion Program. Thirty-two employees were honored for their individual or team contributions.
“The Ames workforce has played an important role in developing, testing, and validating the Orion spacecraft’s thermal protection system as well as supporting its software and guidance, navigation, and control,” said Eugene Tu, NASA Ames center director. “I’m pleased to see their contributions recognized and celebrated by program leadership and two of the astronauts whose safety and success were in mind when ensuring these systems are safe, reliable, and the highest quality possible.”
Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 02, 2025 Related Terms
Ames Research Center Artemis Christina H. Koch Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate General Orion Program Victor J. Glover Explore More
2 min read What Are the Dangers of Going to Space? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 55
Article 1 hour ago 2 min read NASA Receives 10 Nominations for the 29th Annual Webby Awards
Article 1 day ago 4 min read NASA Trains for Orion Water Recovery Ahead of Artemis II Launch
Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Ames Research Center
Orion Spacecraft
Arc Jet Complex
Thermal Protection Materials Branch
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.