Mastodawn

Hrefna (DHC)7h ago

Once more for those in the back:

The fact that LLMs can "solve" most common interview questions is damning of our interview processes, but not a sign that it can take our jobs.

Ed Wiebe 5h ago

There’s a surprising amount of June bug traffic in our home.

The #cats have a #catio.

The catio has #JuneBugs.

The cats (well, one of them) bring them in.

The bugs hiss loudly, and buzz around.

I take them out.

It’s busy lately.

#TranslatedFromTheRepublican

Nicole Parsons 11h ago

@Strandjunker

"Republicans decry conflicts of interest & self-dealing, but only in others, never themselves.

The GOP is the political party of shaking down colleges, extortion of law firms, punishment for blue states, and economic warfare on the globe."

#punk #punks #punkrock #theclash #punklegends #history #punkrockhistory #otd

Punkrock History 5h ago

44 years ago today

The Clash arrived at JFK Airport, New York City, July 26, 1981.

This marked the beginning of their 15-night residency at Bond's International Casino.

Photo by Allan Tannenbaum

Saethelred the Unsteady 8h ago

Your credit score went up 17 points! Your credit score went down 12 points! Mercury is in retrograde! You drew the Page of Coins! Your credit score went up 6 points! Our trick knee is acting up! Down 9 points!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux#Images
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1m9eot0/til_that_after_seeing_the_prehistoric_cave/

Edmonds_Scanner 6h ago

What would your secret lair look like?

	gothic mansion on the moors
	crumbling tower in the woods
	hidden library within a library
	haunted riverboat casino

Poll ends at Jul 29 at 2:51am.

Jimijamflimflam 6h ago

Today I learned 9h ago

TIL that after seeing the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, France, Picasso said, "We have learned nothing in twelve thousand years".

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250625.html

grobi Jul 9

2025 June 25

"Rubin's First Look"
A Sagittarius Skyscape
* Image Credit & License: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
https://rubinobservatory.org/

Explanation:
This interstellar skyscape spans over 4 degrees across crowded starfields toward the constellation Sagittarius and the central Milky Way. A First Look image captured at the new NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the bright nebulae and star clusters featured include famous stops on telescopic tours of the cosmos: Messier 8 and Messier 20. An expansive star-forming region over a hundred light-years across, Messier 8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. About 4,000 light-years away the Lagoon Nebula harbors a remarkable cluster of young, massive stars. Their intense radiation and stellar winds energize and agitate this cosmic lagoon's turbulent depths. Messier 20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Divided into three parts by dark interstellar dust lanes, the Trifid Nebula's glowing hydrogen gas creates its dominant red color. But contrasting blue hues in the colorful Trifid are due to dust reflected starlight. The Rubin Observatory visited the Trifid-Lagoon field to acquire all the image data during parts of four nights (May 1-4). At full resolution, Rubin's magnificent Sagittarius skyscape is 84,000 pixels wide and 51,500 pixels tall.

https://defcon.social/@grobi/114742138088169984

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250310.html

grobi Jul 9

2025 March 10

NGC 1499: The California Nebula
* Image Credit & Copyright: Toni Fabiani Mendez
https://www.instagram.com/toni_fabiani/

Explanation:
Could Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. On the featured image, the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Nebula

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241125.html

2024 November 25

The Horsehead Nebula
* Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Lin (Chilescope)
https://app.astrobin.com/u/MadNug#gallery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHILESCOPE

Explanation:
One of the most identifiable nebulas in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The featured image was taken from the Chilescope Observatory in the mountains of Chile.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250710.html

2025 July 10

Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
* Image Credit & Copyright: Cristiano Gualco
https://app.astrobin.com/u/CristianoGualco#gallery

Explanation:
Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About 1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, LDN 1251 is also less appetizingly known as "The Rotten Fish Nebula." The dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum, astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk in the scene, almost buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring telescopic frame spans almost three full moons on the sky. That corresponds to over 25 light-years at the estimated distance of LDN 1251.
https://app.astrobin.com/u/CristianoGualco?i=qyrq8r#gallery
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962ApJS....7....1L/abstract
https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.02934
https://arxiv.org/abs/0809.4761
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale_distance.html
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/awakening-newborn-stars/

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241217.html

"The next few posts are a real 'matter of the heart'"

2024 December 17

Near to the Heart Nebula
* Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Horne & Drew Evans
https://www.instagram.com/jeffreyhorne
https://www.instagram.com/drewjevans

Explanation:
What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula on the upper left, catalogued as IC 1805, looks somewhat like a human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element, hydrogen, but this long-exposure image was also blended with light emitted by sulfur (yellow) and oxygen (blue). In the center of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their atom-exciting energetic light and winds. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of Cassiopeia. This wide field image shows much more, though, including the Fishhead Nebula just below the Heart, a supernova remnant on the lower left, and three planetary nebulas on the image right. Taken over 57 nights, this image is so deep, though, that it clearly shows fainter long and complex filaments.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DC1wDJZvRO8/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031022.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040917.html

Location:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(constellation)

Main Element:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180214.html

2018 February 14

In the Heart of the Heart Nebula
* Credit & Copyright: Alan Erickson

Explanation:
What's that inside the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. It's shape perhaps fitting of the Valentine's Day, this heart glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. In the heart of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds. The open cluster of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of the mythological Queen of Aethiopia (Cassiopeia).

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131227.html

2013 December 27

Melotte 15 in the Heart
* Image Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Walker
https://www.darkskywalker.com/

Explanation:
Cosmic clouds seem to form fantastic shapes in the central regions of emission nebula IC 1805. Of course, the clouds are sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula's newborn star cluster, Melotte 15. About 1.5 million years young, the cluster stars are near the center of this colorful skyscape, along with dark dust clouds in silhouette. Dominated by emission from atomic hydrogen, the telescopic view spans about 30 light-years. But wider field images reveal that IC 1805's simpler, overall outline suggests its popular name - The Heart Nebula. IC 1805 is located along the northern Milky Way, about 7,500 light years distant toward the constellation Cassiopeia.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240501.html

2024 May 1

IC 1795: The Fishhead Nebula
* Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari & Mauro Narduzzi
https://www.flickr.com/people/110872523@N07/
https://app.astrobin.com/u/ToolMayNARD#gallery

Explanation:
To some, this nebula looks like the head of a fish. However, this colorful cosmic portrait really features glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds in IC 1795, a star forming region in the northern constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula's colors were created by adopting the Hubble color palette for mapping narrowband emissions from oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur atoms to blue, green and red colors, and further blending the data with images of the region recorded through broadband filters. Not far on the sky from the famous Double Star Cluster in Perseus, IC 1795 is itself located next to IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, as part of a complex of star forming regions that lie at the edge of a large molecular cloud. Located just over 6,000 light-years away, the larger star forming complex sprawls along the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way Galaxy. At that distance, IC 1795 would span about 70 light-years across.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

The tiny open cluster at the center of the Heart Nebula (IC1805) is known as Melotte 15. But it’s not really the cluster we’re interested in, it’s the amazing, twisty bit of nebulosity there that steals the show. This image is the combination of data from two scopes: the Vixen R200SS Newtonian and the TS-Optics Photoline 130 refractor. Both have nearly the same focal length (922 and 908mm, respectively) with their correctors included. I shot the same target 48 hours apart in order to do a head-to-head comparison, but the results were so good for both scopes that I combined them into a single image.

Text credit
Charles Bracken
https://app.astrobin.com/i/flz30w

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241022.html

2024 October 22

M16: Pillars of Star Creation
* Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Processing: Diego Pisano
https://www.instagram.com/_diegopisano_/
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://www.esa.int/
https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/
https://www.stsci.edu/

Explanation:
These dark pillars may look destructive, but they are creating stars. This pillar-capturing picture of the Eagle Nebula combines visible light exposures taken with the Hubble Space Telescope with infrared images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope to highlight evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally to form stars. At each pillar's end, the intense radiation of bright young stars causes low density material to boil away, leaving stellar nurseries of dense EGGs exposed. The Eagle Nebula, associated with the open star cluster M16, lies about 7000 light years away.

High Resolution:
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/M16_HubbleWebbPisano_6500.jpg

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/new-hubble-webb-pillars-of-creation-visualization/

Using data from NASA's Hubble and Webb space telescopes, astronomers and artists modeled the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16 or M16) in three dimensions, creating a movie that allows viewers to fly past and among the pillars.

The new visualization helps viewers experience how two of the world's most powerful space telescopes work together to provide a more complex and holistic portrait of the pillars. Hubble sees objects that glow in visible light, at thousands of degrees. Webb's infrared vision, which is sensitive to cooler objects with temperatures of just hundreds of degrees, pierces through obscuring dust to see stars embedded in the pillars.

A bonus product from this visualization is a new 3D printable model of the Pillars of Creation. The base model of the four pillars used in the visualization has been adapted to the STL file format, so that viewers can download the model file and print it out on 3D printers. Examining the structure of the pillars in this tactile and interactive way adds new perspectives and insights to the overall experience.

Printable 3D Model:
https://universe-of-learning.org/contents/products/pillars-of-creation-3d-model

Credit:
* Producers: Greg Bacon and Frank Summers (STScI), NASA's Universe of Learning;
* Visualization: Greg Bacon, Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Leah Hustak, Danielle Kirshenblat, Christian Nieves, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, and Frank Summers (STScI), Robert L. Hurt (Caltech, IPAC); Science
* Advisor: Anna McLeod (Durham University);
* Music: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA #education

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240918.html

2024 September 18
A starfield is shown with a long blue-glowing nebula taking up much of the frame. The nebula appears, to some, similar to a fish or a mermaid.

The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant
* Image Credit & Copyright: Neil Corke; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)
https://app.astrobin.com/u/NeilCorke#gallery
https://ww1.oswego.edu/physics/profile/natalia-lewandowska
https://ww1.oswego.edu/physics/

Explanation:
New stars are born from the remnants of dead stars. The gaseous remnant of the gravitational collapse and subsequent death of a very massive star in our Milky Way created the G296.5+10.0 supernova remnant, of which the featured Mermaid Nebula is part. Also known as the Betta Fish Nebula, the Mermaid Nebula makes up part of an unusual subclass of supernova remnants that are two-sided and nearly circular. Originally discovered in X-rays, the filamentary nebula is a frequently studied source also in radio and gamma-ray light. The blue color visible here originates from doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), while the deep red is emitted by hydrogen gas. The nebula's mermaid-like shape has proven to be useful for measurements of the interstellar magnetic field.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004AJ....128.1694G/abstract
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971106.html

grobi Jul 13

2025 July 13

Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
* Image Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://www.esa.int/https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Sahai/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Explanation:
Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? Clues might include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star featured here at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A competing hypothesis holds that the central star's own spin and magnetic field are channeling the gas. Since the central star appears to be so similar to our own Sun, astronomers hope that increased understanding of the history of this giant space ant can provide useful insight into the likely future of our own Sun and Earth.
https://esahubble.org/news/heic0101/
https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/the-ant-nebula-menzel-3-fiery-lobes-protrude-from-dying-sun-like-star/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mz_3

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250713.html

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230321.html

grobi Jul 14

2023 March 21

Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus
* Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander
https://www.instagram.com/vikaschanderastrophotography/

Explanation:
Can dust be beautiful? Yes, and it can also be useful. The Taurus molecular cloud has several bright stars, but it is the dark dust that really draws attention. The pervasive dust has waves and ripples and makes picturesque dust bunnies, but perhaps more importantly, it marks regions where interstellar gas is dense enough to gravitationally contract to form stars. In the image center is a light cloud lit by neighboring stars that is home not only to a famous nebula, but to a very young and massive famous star. Both the star, T Tauri, and the nebula, Hind's Variable Nebula, are seen to vary dramatically in brightness -- but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of this intriguing region. T Tauri and similar stars are now generally recognized to be Sun-like stars that are less than a few million years old and so still in the early stages of formation. The featured image spans about four degrees not far from the Pleiades star cluster, while the featured dust field lies about 400 light-years away.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_General_Catalogue

grobi Jul 16

2025 July 16

The Rosette Nebula from DECam
* Image Credit: CTIO, NOIRLab, DOE, NSF, AURA
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/
https://noirlab.edu/
https://www.energy.gov/
https://www.nsf.gov/
https://www.aura-astronomy.org/
* Processing: T. A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage), D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) & M. Zamani
http://aftar.uaa.alaska.edu/
https://mahdizamani.com/about
https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/
https://www.nsf.gov/
https://noirlab.edu/public/

Explanation:
Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula, as captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the NSF's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula's center, insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. Ultraviolet light from the hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow. The Rosette Nebula spans about 100 light-years across, lies about 5000 light-years away, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosette_Nebula
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2424a/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000111.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993ApJ...414..664K/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000A%26A...358..553H/abstract
https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/familiar-quotations/1210-william-shakespeare-1564-1616-john-bartlett/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html

Location:
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/monoceros.html

https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellations/en/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250716.html

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #education

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240810.html

grobi Jul 17

2024 August 10

The Light, Dark, and Dusty Trifid
* Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Edelmaier and Gabriele Gegenbauer
https://www.astropicture.at/

Explanation:
Messier 20, popularly known as the Trifid Nebula, lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. The reddish emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. The cosmic cloud complex is over 40 light-years across and would cover the area of a full moon on planet Earth's sky. But the Trifid Nebula is too faint to be seen by the unaided eye. Over 75 hours of image data captured under dark night skies was used to create this stunning telescopic view.

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #education

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250721.html

grobi 5d ago

2025 July 21

In a starfield a nebula appears that has three main bright regions surrounding a dark central nebula.

Cat's Paw Nebula from Webb Space Telescope
* Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://www.esa.int/
https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/
https://www.stsci.edu/

Explanation:
Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible toward the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). At 5,700 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula within a larger molecular cloud. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula and cataloged as NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years. Pictured here is a recently released image of the Cat's Paw taken in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope. This newly detailed view into the nebula helps provide insight for how turbulent molecular clouds turn gas into stars.
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2025/129/01JY2AEHHAE4057AGG56YHW1CQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6334

https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/E/Emission+Nebula
https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/archive/1998_canuto_01/

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #education

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-scratches-beyond-surface-of-cats-paw-for-3rd-anniversary/

grobi 5d ago

NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
NASA Webb Mission Team

It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). Focusing Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on a single “toe bean” within this active star-forming region revealed a subset of mini toe beans, which appear to contain young stars shaping the surrounding gas and dust.

Webb’s look at this particular area of the Cat’s Paw Nebula just scratches the surface of the telescope’s three years of groundbreaking science.

“Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design – revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As it repeatedly breaks its own records, Webb is also uncovering unknowns for new generations of flagship missions to tackle. Whether it’s following up on the mysteries of dark matter with NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, or narrowing our search for life to Earth-like planets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory, the questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it’s giving us.”

[...]

The progression from a large molecular cloud to massive stars entails multiple steps, some of which are still not well understood by astronomers.

Video:
Zoom to the Cat's Paw Nebula

Credits:
* Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STSCI)
* Narration: Danielle Kirshenblat (STSCI)

* Acknowledgement: Akira Fujii, VISTA and DSS

NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI

#space #nebula #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #physics #nature #NASA #ESA #education