Pic of the Week: Another View of the Milky Way

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Milky Way galaxy in radio waves as seen from the Southern Hemisphere. (Silvia Mantovanini and the GLEAM-X Team)

The image above was released late last year. It shows the Milky Way galaxy in radio-color captured by astronomers from the International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). All of this was part of the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) and GLEAM-X (GLEAM eXtended) surveys conducted over 28 nights in 2013 and 2014 as well as 113 nights from 2018 to 2020.

In describing the image, Silvia Mantovanini, one of the astronomers analyzing the survey data, noted:

You can clearly identify remnants of exploded stars, represented by large red circles. The smaller blue regions indicate stellar nurseries where new stars are actively forming.

In this video, you can hear more from astronomers Silvia Mantovanini and Natasha Hurley-Walker who co-wrote a paper on this work titled GaLactic and extragalactic all-sky Murchison Widefield Array survey eXtended (GLEAM-X) III: Galactic plane.

Pic of the Week: Close-Up View of the Helix Nebula

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Part of the Helix Nebula as captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))

This week’s image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) shows an up-close view of the Helix Nebula, which is about 650 light years away. Taken by the JWST’s Near-Infrared Camera, we see the colors of the gases moving away from the exploding star.

NASA notes:

Here, blistering winds of fast-moving hot gas from the dying star are crashing into slower moving colder shells of dust and gas that were shed earlier in its life, sculpting the nebula’s remarkable structure…A blazing white dwarf, the leftover core of the dying star, lies right at the heart of the nebula…Its intense radiation lights up the surrounding gas, creating a rainbow of features: hot ionized gas closest to the white dwarf, cooler molecular hydrogen farther out, and protective pockets where more complex molecules can begin to form within dust clouds. This interaction is vital, as it’s the raw material from which new planets may one day form in other star systems.

Below is a wider view of the nebula from which the image above is taken.

Image (Credit): The full view of the Helix Nebula, taken by the ground-based Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy as well as the JWST’s more focused view. (ESO, VISTA, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Emerson (ESO); Acknowledgment: CASU)

Pic of the Week: Preparing for the Artemis II Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA’s SLS and Orion spacecraft moving from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. (NASA)

This week’s image shows NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft making its way from the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B via the crawler-transporter. All of this is in preparation for the Artemis II mission, which will take four astronauts around the Moon. The flight could launch as early as February 6th.

NASA has reported that the Artemis II mission will include various items to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, including:

  • a 1-inch by-1-inch swatch of muslin fabric from the original Wright Flyer the Wright Brothers used to make the first powered flight in 1903;
  • a 13-by-8-inch American flag, which flew with the first shuttle mission, STS-1, the final shuttle mission, STS-135, and NASA’s first crewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX Demo-2;
  • a flag that was set to fly on NASA’s Apollo 18 mission is included in the flight kit and will make its premiere flight with Orion;
  • a 4-by-5-inch negative of a photo from the Ranger 7 mission, the first U.S. mission to successfully make contact with the lunar surface;
  • soil samples collected from the base of established Artemis I Moon Trees planted at NASA’s 10 centers;
  • an SD card including the millions of names of those who participated in the “Send Your Name to Space” campaign, bringing the public along on this journey; and
  • items from several NASA partners.

Pic of the Week: The Safe Return of Crew-11

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA astronaut Mike Fincke as he exits the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft on January 15, 2025. (NASA)

This week’s image shows return of Crew-11 from the International Space Station (ISS). They landed safely on the morning of January 15th. As shown above, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke was the first member of the mission to exit the capsule. You can watch the entire video here.

Earlier this week, Mr. Fincke posted a few comments about the team’s early departure from the ISS:

What stands out most to me is how clearly NASA cares about its people. Flight surgeons, engineers, managers, and support teams came together quickly and professionally to chart the best path forward. The ground teams—across mission control centers and partner organizations around the world—have been extraordinary. We’re proud of the joint work we’ve done and the camaraderie we’ve shared, including some great songs and more than a few dad jokes.

Pic of the Week: Liftoff of the New Glenn Rocket

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as it launched from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on November 13, 2025. (Blue Origin)

This week’s image comes from Scientific American magazine’s best space photos of 2025. It shows Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lifting off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on November 13, 2025. It was carrying NASA’s twin Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) spacecraft, which are destined for Mars. The two identical spacecraft will investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.