NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory doesn’t get much attention, but it’s like a hidden gem in space science. Surprisingly it’s been a game-changer in how we see the universe. Lately it taught scientists learn more about a star explosion they first spotted back in the 1800s
The big burst came from Eta Carinae, a pair of stars far, far away—about 7,500 light-years. The observatory watched this for 20 years and turned it into a video. This video shows how the explosion is still growing zooming out at speeds of up to 4.5 million miles per hour
Back in the 1800s, the Eta Carinae star system had a massive explosion called the “Great Eruption.” In this event Eta Carinae shot out a crazy amount of stuff – somewhere between 10 to 45 times the Sun’s mass. All this stuff came together to make two thick clouds of gas we call the Homunculus Nebula today.
Eta Carinae is made up of two super-sized stars. One of them is about 90 times heavier than our Sun and the other is around 30 times the Sun’s weight.
The Chandra data, along with information from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton, showed something new. It uncovered a quiet layer of X-rays outside the Homunculus Nebula that we didn’t know about before.
Michael Corcoran, the lead author of the study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center thinks this layer is the shockwave caused by the Great Eruption.
The Polaris Dawn mission is lifting off today. It is targeted for launch with four astronauts by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 1:08 pm IST with backup opportunities available at 2:53 pm and 4:39 pm.
According to SpaceX, the weather is currently 40 percent favourable for launch. If the mission is scrubbed today, launch opportunities are available at the same time on September 11.
The Polaris Dawn crew includes mission commander Jared Isaacman, retired US Navy pilot Scott Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
All four astronauts have been strapped inside the Dragon spacecraft resilience which will take them to the highest Earth orbit since the Apollo missions. The launch is being streamed live on SpaceX’s X profile and on YouTube by popular channels like Everyday Astronaut and NASA Spaceflight Now.
The crew will ascend to an altitude of 1,400 km during the mission which will last five days. Isaacman and Gillis will also script history by conducting the world’s first spacewalk in a commercial mission.
The Dragon spacecraft has been outfitted with a ‘Skywalker’ which is designed to help the crew perform a series of suit tests during their spacewalk. Notably, the spacewalk will take place at an altitude of 700 km on the third day of the mission. SpaceX has even designed special suits for the job.
They are also carrying a Starlink router to test the satellite-based laser communication system in space for the first time. Another objective is carrying out experiments to monitor changes in human physiology in microgravity and high-radiation environment.
SpaceX says it is the third mission this Dragon spacecraft is supporting. It has previously been used for NASA’s Crew-1 and the world’s first all-civilian mission to space Inspiration4. Isaacman’s first trip to space was with Inspiration4 which raised $200 million for St. Jude’s children’s hospital. He is financing the Polaris Program which includes two more missions after Polaris Dawn.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have confirmed an extraordinary discovery – two supermassive black holes locked in a close orbit within a distant galaxy. The galaxy, named MCG-03-34-064, is located about 800 million light years from Earth, and these black holes are the result of a collision between two galaxies.
The Hubble Telescope, using visible-light imaging, revealed three bright spots at the center of this galaxy. Two of these spots are supermassive black holes, detected due to the strong X-ray emissions captured by the Chandra Observatory.
🆕 The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a pair of supermassive black holes in close proximity! 🕳️🕳️ 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/FMGa13WRRz
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) September 9, 2024
These black holes shine brightly because they are actively consuming surrounding matter, converting it into energy, and releasing intense radiation across space. This makes them known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).
The distance between the two black holes, according to scientists, is about 300 light-years, which makes them the closest pair of AGNs observed using both visible light and X-rays. Their tight proximity suggests that they are in the early stages of merging, a process that will take millions of years but will eventually lead to a single, even larger black hole.
The third bright spot in the galaxy is a cloud of gas, while a striking blue streak near the black holes could be a jet of energy, likely emitted by one of the black holes as it consumes matter.
This discovery highlights the incredible power of combining Hubble’s sharp visible-light images with Chandra’s X-ray data, providing scientists with a unique view of black holes and galaxy mergers. Over time, the merging of these black holes will reshape the galaxy, offering astronomers valuable insight into the dynamic evolutionary process of the universe.
Astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission are currently in space and pictures from their vantage point are getting released. SpaceX has shared the first visuals of Earth captured by the camera onboard the Dragon spacecraft Resilience.
The video features the top view of Dragon with ‘Starwalker,’ a new hardware installed in the spacecraft for spacewalking purpose, overlooking our planet. These views, according to SpaceX, were captured when Dragon was in a 190 X 1,216 km (closest and farthest point from Earth) orbit shortly after launch.
Dragon then circled our planet eight times before achieving highest orbit (1400 km apogee) in more than five decades.
View of Earth and Dragon’s Skywalker shortly after the Polaris Dawn crew launched into an orbit of ~190 x 1,216 km pic.twitter.com/BFbLzduUZm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 10, 2024
Polaris Dawn and Dragon at 1,400 km above Earth – the farthest humans have traveled since the Apollo program over 50 years ago pic.twitter.com/rRDeD1dY1e
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 11, 2024
The mission lifted off at 2:53 pm IST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on September 10 on a Falcon 9 rocket and will last five days. It has a four-person crew including mission commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Poteet and mission specialists Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis (left to right) inside the Dragon spacecraft. Image: SpaceX
In an update shared today, SpaceX said that Dragon has achieved an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 1,400.7 km, making it the greatest distance any of its missions have achieved. It is also the farthest humans have been in space since the Apollo era over 50 years ago.
What did Polaris Dawn astronauts do on their first day?
The Polaris Program gave an update about the itinerary the four astronauts followed on their first day.
Once they were in orbit after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol wherein Dragon’s pressure was gradually lowered while increasing oxygen levels inside the cabin. This helped purge nitrogen from the astronauts’ bloodstreams and lower the risk of decompression sickness (DCS). It is an important drill before their spacewalk begins.
Polaris Dawn Flight Day 1 Update
The Polaris Dawn crew completed their first day on-orbit, also known as Flight Day 1. After a successful launch by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. ET, the… pic.twitter.com/pcmEF5k2S3
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 10, 2024
About two hours after liftoff, the crew had their first meal in space and carried out the first experiment involving Starlink for about 3.5 hours. They have carried with them 36 science experiments that will be conducted over the course of five days.
On the first day itself, the astronauts were also exposed to high doses of radiation when the Dragon passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In this region, Earth’s magnetic field is weaker and more high-energy particles can enter Earth.
The crew is currently preparing for the historic spacewalk, which would be the first ever in a commercial mission. Isaacman and Gillis will step out of Dragon for the spacewalk on September 12. Interestingly, all four astronauts will get exposed to the vacuum of space during the spacewalk because the Dragon spacecraft does not have an airlock and the entire capsule will be depressurised when it opens.
SpaceX has designed new spacesuits which the astronauts are wearing for the spacewalk. Data gathered about its performance will pave way for new spacesuit technology to support missions to the Moon and Mars.
