Expedition Space: Space Launch, Events, News

A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in planet Earth's night sky toward the northern constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp image centered on the gorgeous island universe also captures spiky foreground Milky Way stars and more distant background galaxies within the same telescopic field of view. It shows off the bright nucleus of NGC 2841, along with its inclined galactic disk, and faint outer regions. Dust lanes, small star-forming regions, and young star clusters are embedded in the galaxy's patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit broader, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, making it even larger than our own Milky Way. X-ray images suggest that extreme outflows from giant stars and stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841. via NASA https://ift.tt/HDshMQ9

by Jeff Foust WASHINGTON — Bill Nelson is one step closer to being NASA’s next administrator after his former colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance his nomination. The committee, meeting in executive session April 28, favorably reported his nomination on a voice vote and without debate. The nomination was part of a session that included consideration of more than a dozen other unrelated bills and nominations. The committee’s approval was expected after Nelson breezed through a confirmation hearing one week earlier . At that hearing, members praised Nelson for his expertise on space issues. No members of the committee expressed any reservations about Nelson leading the space agency. “We were really excited that Bill Nelson was nominated for head of NASA,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who chaired the executive session, said in her opening remarks. “I think you all know Sen. Nelson and how much we respect him, and how excited he is. You could just feel it as ...

In the early hours of April 24 this bright Lyrid meteor flashed along the central Milky Way. For a moment, it cast a bright reflection across Lake Nian, Yunnan province, China. The annual Lyrid meteor shower, one of the oldest known, is active in late April, as our fair planet plows through dust left along the orbit of long-period comet Thatcher. The trail of the bright fireball points back toward the shower's radiant in the constellation Lyra high in the northern springtime sky and off the top of the frame. Just rising in that starry sky, light from a third quarter moon also cast a glow on the peaceful waters of the lake. via NASA https://ift.tt/i25BPoU