Topic: Constellation Virgo

NASA’s Kepler space telescope (K2) discovers Planet being ripped apart by White Dwarf Star

October 23, 2015 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Scientists using NASA’s repurposed Kepler space telescope, known as the K2 mission, have uncovered strong evidence of a tiny, rocky object being torn apart as it spirals around a white dwarf star. This discovery validates a long-held theory that white dwarfs are capable of cannibalizing possible remnant planets that have survived within its solar system.

“We are for the first time witnessing a miniature “planet” ripped apart by intense gravity, being vaporized by starlight and raining rocky material onto its star,” said Andrew Vanderburg, graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lead author of the paper published in Nature.

In this artist’s conception, a tiny rocky object vaporizes as it orbits a white dwarf star. Astronomers have detected the first planetary object transiting a white dwarf using data from the K2 mission. Slowly the object will disintegrate, leaving a dusting of metals on the surface of the star. (CfA/Mark A. Garlick)

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NASA says Earth and Mars moving closer together, converging for an “Opposition of Mars” in April

April 3, 2014 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – By the time you finish reading this story, you’ll be about 1,000 km closer to the planet Mars.

Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter. As March gives way to April, the distance between the two planets is shrinking by about 300 km every minute. When the convergence ends in mid-April, the gulf between Earth and Mars will have narrowed to only 92 million km–a small number on the vast scale of the solar system.

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft to take picture of Earth from Saturn through it’s Rings

July 19, 2013 |

Washington, D.C. – On July 19th, a photograph of the earth will be taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft through the rings of Saturn–and NASA wants you to jump into the shot. Consider it the first interplanetary photobomb.

“Cassini has photographed Earth before, but this will be the first time Earthlings know in advance their picture will be taken from a billion miles away,” says Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.  “We hope that people around the world will go outside to wave at Saturn while the photo-shoot is underway.”

North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19th, 2013. This view is a close-up simulation. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA says Saturn to make it’s closest approach to Earth April 28th

April 26, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – The Solar System is a beautiful place filled with wonders that NASA space probes are only beginning to discover. There’s a tendency, though, for people to become indifferent; every year Hubble, Cassini, MESSENGER and other spacecraft beam back gigabytes of jaw-dropping images. After a while, you don’t have any more “gasps” left in you.

Well, maybe just one more. Inhale deeply, because at the end of April, Saturn will put on a breathtaking display.

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope sees giant elliptical galaxy and smaller spiral galaxy traveling together

September 9, 2012 |

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD -Two very different galaxies drift through space together in this image taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The peculiar galaxy pair is called Arp 116.

Arp 116 is composed of a giant elliptical galaxy known as Messier 60, and a much smaller spiral galaxy, NGC 4647.

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spots Supernova in a spiral galaxy within the constellation Virgo

September 2, 2012 |

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 5806, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo (the Virgin). It lies around 80 million light years from Earth. Also visible in this image is a supernova explosion called SN 2004dg.

The exposures that are combined into this image were carried out in early 2005 in order to help pinpoint the location of the supernova, which exploded in 2004. The afterglow from this outburst of light, caused by a giant star exploding at the end of its life, can be seen as a faint yellowish dot near the bottom of the galaxy.

This image is produced from three exposures in visible and infrared light, observed by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. (Credit: ESA/NASA)

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