Pic of the Week: Beauty and the Beast

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Image (Credit): Chinese photographers’ entry “Cosmic Neighbours: Beauty and the Beast.”(Yijing Zhu and Xinghan Yang)

This week’s image is from another finalist in the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The photo is labeled “Cosmic Neighbours: Beauty and the Beast” by photographers Yijing Zhu and Xinghan Yang. It was taken in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.

Here is a description of the photo from the photographers:

This image captures a dramatic cosmic pairing: the serene elegance of Bode’s Galaxy (M81, left) alongside the chaotic violence of the Cigar Galaxy (M82, right). Located about 12 million light years from Earth, these two neighbours are locked in a gravitational dance that has shaped their destinies profoundly. M81 retains its perfect grand design spiral form, a picture of galactic grace.  

In stark contrast, M82 is a starburst galaxy, reeling from a close encounter with its larger companion. This gravitational disturbance has triggered a furious burst of star formation at its core, which blasts into space spectacular red filaments of superheated hydrogen gas that are clearly visible in this deep exposure.

The Smithsonian Museum’s New Exhibits

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Image (Credit): The “Discovering Our Universe” gallery at the National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)

If you are looking for something to do this summer inside an air-conditioned building, you may want to visit the Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC to enjoy some of its new exhibits.

On July 1st, a new exhibit called “Discovering Our Universe” opened to the public. It covers the tools used to understand the universe, from early land-based telescopes to the great space telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope. As a result of these tools, the exhibit shares what we have already learned about what it out there as well as the plans to gather even greater amounts of data.

Other space-related exhibit openings include:

  • Living in the Space Age Hall: The display provides insight into space technologies and infrastructure that are largely invisible to the public but have a profound impact on our daily lives.
  • The Art of Air and Space: Interpretations of Flight: The display explores the relationship between art and the transformative power of the experience of flight through the display of the Museum’s permanent collection.

Of course, there is plenty more to see at the National Air and Space Museum as well as others along the National Mall. And it should be easier to get around now that the Fourth of July crowds have departed. And if you still have time, you may want to visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA where more aircraft and spacecraft are on display.

Space Quote: The Taikonauts Are Coming!

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Image (Credit): The crew of the latest mission to China’s Tiangong space station – the Shenzhou 23 mission. (CMSA/CCTV)

“Well, I would just say, first, it’s not arguably like there- we are very much in a space race right now, and the Chinese are moving at incredible speeds, and they are certainly capable of doing what the Soviets were not during the- the first space race. The Chinese will land their taikonauts on the moon. There’s no question. The question is, will the United States return before them, and will we do so in a different way this time, when we build a base, establish that enduring presence? I think the answer is yes.“

-Statement by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on CBS’s Face the Nation this past Sunday. The interview addresses other issues in addition to the Artemis mission to the Moon, including efforts to save the Swift space telescope as well as the status of Blue Origin’s efforts to recover from the recent explosion of its New Glenn rocket.

Space Stories: Starliner Beats SpaceX on Costs, NASA Administrator Ignores Regulators, and Blue Origin Rebuilding Beyond Impressive

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Here are some recent NASA-related stories of interest.

—Florida Sentinel: “Boeing Starliner Costly But Cheaper for NASA Than SpaceX Switch, Audit Says“

Boeing’ Starliner costs and delays remain the target of the latest audit from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, but remains a cheaper option for the agency than relying solely on SpaceX for its commercial crew needs. The audit releasedJune 30 dinged the beleaguered spacecraft’s tumultuous and still uncertain path toward certification and wars that the timetable for its use to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station is running short.

—Newser: “NASA Chief Defies FAA With ‘High-Risk’ Flight“

NASA chief Jared Isaacman took to the skies over Washington in a vintage fighter jet on July 4, even after federal regulators flagged the plan as too risky. The Federal Aviation Administration rejected a request on June 30 to let four 1970s-era Northrop F-5 Tiger II jets participate in the National Mall flyover for America’s 250th birthday, calling the aircraft “very high-risk” and citing concerns about flight controls, ejection scenarios, and past crashes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

—Benzinga: “NASA’s Jared Isaacman Says Blue Origin’s New Glenn Recovery Is ‘Beyond Impressive’“

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Blue Origin has devoted significant resources to cleaning up and rebuilding its launch pad after a late-May explosion of a New Glenn rocket, as the agency weighs how the setback could affect lunar missions tied to the Artemis program. “Blue Origin’s response to the situation is almost beyond impressive, and that’s not just a NASA assessment,” Isaacman told reporters Wednesday afternoon, according to Ars Technica. He said U.S. Space Force officials also have been deeply involved in Blue Origin’s planning since the May 28 test anomaly damaged New Glenn’s only operational launch pad.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

Finalists Announced in Astronomy Photographer Contest

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Image (Credit): New Zealand photographer Evan McKay’s entry “Te Hoho Rock Moonrise.” (Evan McKay – Aotearoa/New Zealand)

The finalists have been named in the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. One of those photographs is provided above. It competed in the Skyscapes category, which is one of nine competition categories. The photo was taken at Cathedral Cove, Waikato, North Island, Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Here are a few words about this image from photographer Evan McKay:

On this particular night I only had a small window to capture the sky before the Moon started to rise, so I decided to make the most of it. I got my mount polar-aligned during twilight and then started shooting the sky panorama from this location. The Moon began to rise soon after I finished the sky, so I then captured the foreground. The moonlight gave me the best of both worlds and did a fantastic job lighting up the foreground. To enhance the sky, I shot a separate panorama using a dual narrowband filter and blended it in to bring out the nebulae.

The judges will announce the winners of the competition on September 17, with an event to follow the next day.

You call see all of the finalist photos at this competition link.