Symbiotic R Aquarii

Variable star R Aquarii is actually an interacting binary star system, two stars that seem to have a close symbiotic relationship. Centered in this space-based optical/x-ray composite image it lies about 710 light years away. The intriguing system consists of a cool red giant star and hot, dense white dwarf star in mutual orbit around their common center of mass. With binoculars you can watch as R Aquarii steadily changes its brightness over the course of a year or so. The binary system's visible light is dominated by the red giant, itself a Mira-type long period variable star. But material in the cool giant star's extended envelope is pulled by gravity onto the surface of the smaller, denser white dwarf, eventually triggering a thermonuclear explosion, blasting material into space. Astronomers have seen such outbursts over recent decades. Evidence for much older outbursts is seen in these spectacular structures spanning almost a light-year as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (in red and blue). Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (in purple) shows the X-ray glow from shock waves created as a jet from the white dwarf strikes surrounding material.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220205.html ( February 05, 2022)

​Dark Mode Activated!

Divers at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston are setting the stage for future moonwalk training by simulating lunar lighting conditions.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/dark-mode-activated
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ISS Daily Summary Report – 2/03/2021

 

Payloads: Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF-L): The Plant Experiment Unit (PEU) was detached from the CBEF-L Incubator Unit. CBEF-L is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) new subrack facility, which is an upgraded facility of the original CBEF currently aboard the ISS. CBEF-L provides new capabilities with additional new resources such as Full High-Definition video … ...

February 03, 2022 at 11:00AM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2022/02/03/iss-daily-summary-report-2-03-2021-2/

Moons at Twilight

Even though Jupiter was the only planet visible in the evening sky on February 2, it shared the twilight above the western horizon with the Solar System's brightest moons. In a single exposure made just after sunset, the Solar System's ruling gas giant is at the upper right in this telephoto field-of-view from Cancun, Mexico. The snapshot also captures our fair planet's own natural satellite in its young crescent phase. The Moon's disk looms large, its familiar face illuminated mostly by earthshine. But the four points of light lined-up with Jupiter are Jupiter's own large Galilean moons. Top to bottom are Ganymede, [Jupiter], Io, Europa, and Callisto. Ganymede, Io, and Callisto are physically larger than Earth's Moon while water world Europa is only slightly smaller.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220204.html ( February 04, 2022)

ISS Daily Summary Report – 2/02/2021

 

Payloads: Actiwatch Plus:  Four Actiwatch Plus devices were connected to the HRF Payload Drawer on HRF Rack 1 for charging and data download.  The Actiwatch is a waterproof, nonintrusive, sleep-wake activity monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember. The device contains a miniature uniaxial accelerometer that produces a signal as the subject moves. The … ...

February 02, 2022 at 11:00AM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2022/02/02/iss-daily-summary-report-2-02-2021-2/

R Aquarii: An Expanse of Light

This object is, in fact, a pair: a white dwarf star that steadily burns at a relatively cool temperature and a highly variable red giant.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/r-aquarii-an-expanse-of-light
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Embraced by Sunlight

Even though Venus (left) was the brightest planet in the sky it was less than 1/30th the apparent size of the Moon on January 29. But as both rose before the Sun they shared a crescent phase. For a moment their visible disks were each about 12 percent illuminated as they stood above the southeastern horizon. The similar sunlit crescents were captured in these two separate images. Made at different magnifications, each panel is a composite of stacked video frames taken with a small telescope. Venus goes through a range of phases like the Moon as the inner planet wanders from evening sky to morning sky and back again with a period of 584 days. Of course the Moon completes its own cycle of phases, a full lunation, in about 29.5 days.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220203.html ( February 03, 2022)

The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT

What's happening at the center of our galaxy? It's hard to tell with optical telescopes since visible light is blocked by intervening interstellar dust. In other bands of light, though, such as radio, the galactic center can be imaged and shows itself to be quite an interesting and active place. The featured picture shows the latest image of our Milky Way's center by the MeerKAT array of 64 radio dishes in South Africa. Spanning four times the angular size of the Moon (2 degrees), the image is impressively vast, deep, and detailed. Many known sources are shown in clear detail, including many with a prefix of Sgr, since the galactic center is in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. In our Galaxy's Center lies Sgr A, found here in the image center, which houses the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Other sources in the image are not as well understood, including the Arc, just to the left of Sgr A, and numerous filamentary threads. Goals for MeerKAT include searching for radio emission from neutral hydrogen emitted in a much younger universe and brief but distant radio flashes.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220202.html ( February 02, 2022)

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/31/2021

 

Payloads: Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR):  The CIR Manifold #4 Bottle was swapped out with a bottle containing 100% C2H4.  The CIR includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion investigations in microgravity. Concrete Hardening:  The Maintenance Work Area (MWA) was cleared in preparation of the Concrete … ...

January 31, 2022 at 11:00AM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2022/01/31/iss-daily-summary-report-1-31-2021/

Lightness of Being: Remembering Space Shuttle Columbia and Her Crew

​The bright Sun dissects the airglow above Earth's horizon in this view photographed with a digital still camera from during the STS-107 mission.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/lightness-of-being-remembering-space-shuttle-columbia-and-her-crew
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