The sun is always changing and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is always watching. Launched on February 11, 2010, SDO keeps a 24-hour eye on the entire disk of the sun, with a prime view of the graceful dance of solar material coursing through the sun’s atmosphere, the corona.
SDO captures images of the sun in 10 different wavelengths, each of which helps highlight a different temperature of solar material. Different temperatures can, in turn, show specific structures on the sun such as solar flares, which are gigantic explosions of light and x-rays, or coronal loops, which are stream of solar material travelling up and down looping magnetic field lines.
Scientists study these images to better understand the complex electromagnetic system causing the constant movement on the sun, which can ultimately have an effect closer to Earth, too.
Flares and another type of solar explosion called coronal mass ejections can sometimes disrupt technology in space. Moreover, studying our closest star is one way of learning about other stars in the galaxy. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. built, operates, and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
A mysterious object unlike anything that astronomers have seen before has been discovered in our “galactic backyard”.
In research published Wednesday, scientists described the strange, spinning mass, which is said to release an enormous burst of energy every 20 minutes.
That radiation, which crosses the line of sight of telescopes on Earth for 60 seconds at a time, is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.
It was detected by a team at the Australia-based International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, who were mapping radio waves in the Universe.
An artist’s impression of what the object might look like if it’s a magnetar, an incredibly magnetic neutron star
They believe that the cosmic flasher could be a super-dense star or a white dwarf – collapsed cores of stars – with a powerful magnetic field.
“This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations,” said Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker, an astronomer from Curtin University in Australia who led the team.
“That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there’s nothing known in the sky that does that.
The sun emitted a “significant solar flare” on Oct. 28 and because of it, the Earth is under a G3 (strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch until Oct. 31, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The solar flare was categorized as an X1.0-class flare, according to NASA.
“X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. Flares that are classified X10 or stronger are considered unusually intense,” NASA said in a Thursday news release.
The solar flare took place at about 11:35 a.m. ET on Thursday after it was observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, according to NASA.
Any impacts the solar flare may have on Earth’s technology are minimal, but the G3 storm has the potential to push the aurora further out, giving people who live in Iowa, Oregon and Pennsylvania a chance to see it over the weekend, the NOAA said.
The aurora borealis and aurora australis — also known as the northern lights and southern lights — are the eerily beautiful green and purple lights seen in the sky at the north and south poles of the Earth. The lights occur when space weather, such as solar flares, interferes with the planet’s magnetic field, according to NASA.
“When we see the glowing aurora, we are watching a billion individual collisions, lighting up the magnetic field lines of Earth,” NASA said.
The sun emitted a “significant solar flare” on Oct. 28 and because of it, the Earth is under a G3 (strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch until Oct. 31, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The solar flare was categorized as an X1.0-class flare, according to NASA.
“X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. Flares that are classified X10 or stronger are considered unusually intense,” NASA said in a Thursday news release.
The solar flare took place at about 11:35 a.m. ET on Thursday after it was observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, according to NASA.
Any impacts the solar flare may have on Earth’s technology are minimal, but the G3 storm has the potential to push the aurora further out, giving people who live in Iowa, Oregon and Pennsylvania a chance to see it over the weekend, the NOAA said.
The aurora borealis and aurora australis — also known as the northern lights and southern lights — are the eerily beautiful green and purple lights seen in the sky at the north and south poles of the Earth. The lights occur when space weather, such as solar flares, interferes with the planet’s magnetic field, according to NASA.
“When we see the glowing aurora, we are watching a billion individual collisions, lighting up the magnetic field lines of Earth,” NASA said.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured many images that look so incredible you almost can’t believe they’re real. The image below definitely falls into that category, especially because at first glance it’s almost impossible to tell what it is. A delicate orange ribbon drifting through space? That doesn’t really exist… does it? Apparently it does, only it’s not a ribbon, it’s the incredibly powerful blast wave from a dying star.
A blast wave from a supernova in the Cygnus constellation
As NASA explains in a new blog post, what we’re seeing here is really just a fraction of the overall picture. This tiny sliver of the blast wave sits some 2,400 light-years from Earth. That’s a safe enough distance that we’re not in danger, but close enough that Hubble can show us the beautiful, destructive force from afar.
Supernovas occur when stars of certain sizes die. They exhaust their fuel and collapse in on themselves, leading to a massive explosion. The star that created the supernova that produced this particular blast wave was a real monster. NASA estimates that it was around 20 times as massive as our own Sun. The explosion itself occurred somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, according to NASA scientists.
“Since then, the remnant has expanded 60 light-years from its center,” NASA explains. “The shockwave marks the outer edge of the supernova remnant and continues to expand at around 220 miles per second. The interaction of the ejected material and the low-density interstellar material swept up by the shockwave forms the distinctive veil-like structure seen in this image.”
The star that went boom is part of the Cygnus constellation. The massive collection of stars takes up 36 times as much room in the night sky as the Moon. That’s big, but it’s not nearly as large as the largest constellations like Hydra and Ursa Major. Nevertheless, you’d have to squint pretty hard to see this blast wave from your back yard. Just kidding, please don’t try to see this. You definitely won’t be able to.
It’s pretty wild to think that the Hubble Space Telescope has been orbiting Earth for over 30 years already, yet continues to return stunning images like the one you see above. Imaging technology has come a long way since the spacecraft was first launched — a few upgrades and some maintenance along the way have kept it tip-top shape — but you have to wonder what incredible things we’ll be able to see once NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope finally takes to the skies… whenever that may be.
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, September 3 at 8:46 a.m. EDT, 12:46 UTC, for launch of its twelfth Starlink mission, which will launch 60 Starlink satellites to orbit. Falcon 9 will lift off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A backup opportunity is available on Friday, September 4 at 8:24 a.m. EDT, 12:24 UTC.
Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported launch of the GPS III Space Vehicle 03 mission in June 2020. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX is targeting Sunday, August 30 at 7:18 p.m. EDT, or 23:18 UTC, for Falcon 9’s launch of the SAOCOM 1B mission, which will carry the SAOCOM 1B spacecraft to orbit in addition to two rideshare payloads, Tyvak-0172 and PlanetiQ’s GNOMES-1. The mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. A backup launch opportunity is available on Monday, August 31 at 7:19 p.m. EDT, or 23:19 UTC. This mission marks SpaceX’s first launch to a polar orbit from the East Coast, and the first polar launch from Florida in decades.
Falcon 9’s first stage previously launched Dragon to the International Space Station for SpaceX’s 19th and 20th commercial resupply missions, and it also supported launch of SpaceX’s ninth Starlink mission. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9 on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SAOCOM 1B will deploy approximately 14 minutes after launch, GNOMES-1 and Tyvak-0172 will deploy approximately 61 and 62 minutes after liftoff.
