Category: Ciencia

  • NASA Hubble Helps Detect ‘Wake’ of Betelgeuse’s Elusive Companion Star

    4 Min Read

    NASA Hubble Helps Detect ‘Wake’ of Betelgeuse’s Elusive Companion Star

    An illustration of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, its companion star, and a dusty wake. The disk of a red-orange star is in the center. It is surrounded by a diffuse orange cloud representing its extended atmosphere. Below it about one stellar diameter away is a yellow dot representing a smaller companion star. From the companion, a dark red cloud wraps around in a counterclockwise direction. It begins very narrow and expands as it gets further from the companion, finally disappearing at the outer edge of the diffuse orange cloud around 10 o’clock. The words “artist’s concept” are at lower right.
    This artist’s concept shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse and an orbiting companion star.
    Credits:
    Artwork: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)

    Using new observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, astronomers tracked the influence of a recently discovered companion star, Siwarha, on the gas around Betelgeuse. The research, from scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), reveals a trail of dense gas swirling through Betelgeuse’s vast, extended atmosphere, shedding light on why the giant star’s brightness and atmosphere have changed in strange and unusual ways.

    The results of the new study were presented Monday at a news conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix and are accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

    The team detected Siwarha’s wake by carefully tracking changes in the star’s light over nearly eight years. These changes show the effects of the previously unconfirmed companion as it plows through the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse. This discovery resolves one of the biggest mysteries about the giant star, helping scientists to explain how it behaves and evolves while opening new doors to understanding other massive stars nearing the end of their lives.

    Located roughly 650 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star so large that more than 400 million Suns could fit inside. Because of its enormous size and proximity, Betelgeuse is one of the few stars whose surface and surrounding atmosphere can be directly observed by astronomers, making it an important and accessible laboratory for studying how giant stars age, lose mass, and eventually explode as supernovae.

    An illustration of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, its companion star, and a dusty wake. The disk of a red-orange star is in the center. It is surrounded by a diffuse orange cloud representing its extended atmosphere. Below it about one stellar diameter away is a yellow dot representing a smaller companion star. From the companion, a dark red cloud wraps around in a counterclockwise direction. It begins very narrow and expands as it gets further from the companion, finally disappearing at the outer edge of the diffuse orange cloud around 10 ou2019clock. The words u201cartistu2019s conceptu201d are at lower right.
    This artist’s concept shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse and an orbiting companion star. The companion, which is orbiting clockwise from this point of view, generates a dense wake of gas that expands outward. It is so close to Betelgeuse that it is passing through the extended outer atmosphere of the supergiant. The companion star is not to scale; it would be a pinprick compared to Betelgeuse, which is hundreds of times larger. The companion’s distance from Betelgeuse is to scale relative to the diameter of Betelgeuse.
    Artwork: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)

    Using NASA’s Hubble and ground-based telescopes at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, the team was able to see a pattern of changes in Betelgeuse, which provided clear evidence of a long-suspected companion star and its impact on the red supergiant’s outer atmosphere. Those include changes in the star’s spectrum, or the specific colors of light given off by different elements, and the speed and direction of gases in the outer atmosphere due to a trail of denser material, or wake. This trail appears just after the companion crosses in front of Betelgeuse every six years, or about 2,100 days, confirming theoretical models.

    “It’s a bit like a boat moving through water. The companion star creates a ripple effect in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere that we can actually see in the data,” said Andrea Dupree, an astronomer at the CfA, and the lead study author. “For the first time, we’re seeing direct signs of this wake, or trail of gas, confirming that Betelgeuse really does have a hidden companion shaping its appearance and behavior.”

    For decades, astronomers have tracked changes in Betelgeuse’s brightness and surface features in hopes of figuring out why the star behaves the way it does. Curiosity intensified after the giant star appeared to “sneeze” and became unexpectedly faint in 2020. Two distinct periods of variation in the star were especially puzzling for scientists: a short 400-day cycle, recently attributed to pulsations within the star itself, and the long, 2,100-day secondary period.

    A graphic titled “Betelgeuse: Effect of Companion Star Wake” with a subtitle “Spectrum of Light Emitted by Iron (Fe II).” A graph plots brightness versus wavelength of light. The Y axis is labeled Brightness with an up arrow labeled brighter and a down arrow labeled dimmer. The X axis is labeled Wavelength of Light, angstroms with tick marks every 0.5 angstroms from 2723.5 at left to 2726.5 at right. 

The plot shows two wavy lines, an orange one on top and a blue one below it. The graph shows two distinct peaks. At left, or shorter wavelengths, the orange peak is much higher than the blue one. At right, or longer wavelengths, the two peaks are nearly the same height. A key shows that the orange line represents the companion star in front of Betelgeuse, while the blue line represents the companion star behind Betelgeuse.
    Scientists used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to look for evidence of a wake being generated by a companion star orbiting Betelgeuse. The team found a noticeable difference in light shown in the lefthand peak when the companion star was at different points in its orbit.
    Illustration: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)

    Until now, scientists have considered everything from large convection cells and clouds of dust to magnetic activity, and the possibility of a hidden companion star. Recent studies concluded that the long secondary period was best explained by the presence of a low-mass companion orbiting deep within Betelgeuse’s atmosphere, and another team of scientists reported a possible detection, but until now, astronomers lacked the evidence to prove what they believed was happening. Now, for the first time, they have firm evidence that a companion is disrupting the atmosphere of this supergiant star.

    “The idea that Betelgeuse had an undetected companion has been gaining in popularity for the past several years, but without direct evidence, it was an unproven theory,” said Dupree. “With this new direct evidence, Betelgeuse gives us a front-row seat to watch how a giant star changes over time. Finding the wake from its companion means we can now understand how stars like this evolve, shed material, and eventually explode as supernovae.”

    With Betelgeuse now eclipsing its companion from our point of view, astronomers are planning new observations for its next emergence in 2027. This breakthrough may also help explain similar mysteries in other giant and supergiant stars.

    The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.

    Details

    Last Updated
    Jan 05, 2026
    Editor
    Andrea Gianopoulos
    Contact
    Media

    Claire Andreoli
    NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
    Greenbelt, Maryland
    claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

    Amy Oliver
    Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
    Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Christine Pulliam
    Space Telescope Science Institute
    Baltimore, Maryland

  • NASA’s Hubble Examines Cloud-9, First of New Type of Object

    6 Min Read

    NASA’s Hubble Examines Cloud-9, First of New Type of Object

    A region of space mostly filled with background galaxies, with one prominent star at upper left. A large blob of purple haze occupies much of the field. Within the purple region, an unremarkable area is outlined with a dashed white circle.
    Magenta is radio data from the ground-based Very Large Array showing the presence of Cloud-9. The dashed circle marks the peak of radio emission, which is where researchers focused their search for stars. Hubble found no stars within Cloud-9. The few objects within its boundaries are background galaxies.
    Credits:
    NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay (University of Milano-Bicocca); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

    A team using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a new type of astronomical object — a starless, gas-rich, dark-matter cloud considered a “relic” or remnant of early galaxy formation. Nicknamed “Cloud-9,” this is the first confirmed detection of such an object in the universe — a finding that furthers the understanding of galaxy formation, the early universe, and the nature of dark matter itself.

    “This is a tale of a failed galaxy,” said the program’s principal investigator, Alejandro Benitez-Llambay of the Milano-Bicocca University in Milan, Italy. “In science, we usually learn more from the failures than from the successes. In this case, seeing no stars is what proves the theory right. It tells us that we have found in the local universe a primordial building block of a galaxy that hasn’t formed.”

    The results, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, were presented at a press conference Monday at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.

    “This cloud is a window into the dark universe,” said team member Andrew Fox of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/Space Telescope Science Institute (AURA/STScI) for the European Space Agency. “We know from theory that most of the mass in the universe is expected to be dark matter, but it’s difficult to detect this dark material because it doesn’t emit light. Cloud-9 gives us a rare look at a dark-matter-dominated cloud.”

    A region of space mostly filled with background galaxies, with one prominent star at upper left. A large blob of purple haze occupies much of the field. Within the purple region, an unremarkable area is outlined with a dashed white circle.
    This image shows the location of Cloud-9, which is 14 million light-years from Earth. The diffuse magenta is radio data from the ground-based Very Large Array (VLA) showing the presence of the cloud. The dashed circle marks the peak of radio emission, which is where researchers focused their search for stars. Follow-up observations by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys found no stars within the cloud. The few objects that appear within its boundaries are background galaxies. Before the Hubble observations, scientists could argue that Cloud-9 is a faint dwarf galaxy whose stars could not be seen with ground-based telescopes due to the lack of sensitivity. Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys shows that, in reality, the failed galaxy contains no stars.
    Science: NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay (University of Milano-Bicocca); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

    The object is called a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud, or “RELHIC.” The term “H I” refers to neutral hydrogen, and “RELHIC” describes a natal hydrogen cloud from the universe’s early days, a fossil leftover that has not formed stars. For years, scientists have looked for evidence of such a theoretical phantom object. It wasn’t until they turned Hubble toward the cloud, confirming that it is indeed starless, that they found support for the theory.

    “Before we used Hubble, you could argue that this is a faint dwarf galaxy that we could not see with ground-based telescopes. They just didn’t go deep enough in sensitivity to uncover stars,” said lead author Gagandeep Anand of STScI. “But with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, we’re able to nail down that there’s nothing there.”

    The discovery of this relic cloud was a surprise. “Among our galactic neighbors, there might be a few abandoned houses out there,” said STScI’s Rachael Beaton, who is also on the research team.

    Astronomers think RELHICs are dark matter clouds that couldn’t accumulate enough gas to form stars. They represent a window into the early stages of galaxy formation. Cloud-9 suggests the existence of many other small, dark matter-dominated structures in the universe — other failed galaxies. This discovery provides new insights into the dark components of the universe that are difficult to study through traditional observations, which focus on bright objects like stars and galaxies.

    Scientists have studied hydrogen clouds near the Milky Way for many years, but these clouds tend to be much bigger and more irregular than Cloud-9. Compared with other observed hydrogen clouds, Cloud-9 is smaller, more compact, and highly spherical, making it look very different from the others.

    The core of this object is composed of neutral hydrogen and is about 4,900 light-years in diameter. Researchers measured the hydrogen gas in Cloud-9 by the radio waves it emits, measuring it to be approximately one million times the mass of the Sun. Assuming that the gas pressure is balancing the dark matter cloud’s gravity, which appears to be the case, researchers calculated Cloud-9’s dark matter must be about five billion solar masses.

    Cloud-9 is an example of structures and mysteries that don’t involve stars. Just looking at stars doesn’t give the full picture. Studying the gas and dark matter helps provide a more complete understanding of what’s going on in these systems that would otherwise be unknown.

    Observationally, identifying these failed galaxies is challenging because nearby objects outshine them. Such systems are also vulnerable to environmental effects like ram-pressure stripping, which can remove gas as the cloud moves through intergalactic space. These factors further reduce their expected numbers.

    The starless relic was discovered three years ago as part of a radio survey by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou, China, a finding later confirmed by the Green Bank Telescope and the Very Large Array facilities in the United States. But only with Hubble could researchers definitively determine that the failed galaxy contains no stars.

    Cloud-9 was simply named sequentially, having been the ninth gas cloud identified on the outskirts of a nearby spiral galaxy, Messier 94 (M94). The cloud is close to M94 and appears to have a physical association with the galaxy. High-resolution radio data shows slight gas distortions, possibly indicating interaction between the cloud and galaxy.

    The cloud may eventually form a galaxy in the future, provided it grows more massive — although how that would occur is under speculation. If it were much bigger, say, more than 5 billion times the mass of our Sun, it would have collapsed, formed stars, and become a galaxy that would be no different than any other galaxy we see. If it were much smaller than that, the gas could have been dispersed and ionized and there wouldn’t be much left. But it’s in a sweet spot where it could remain as a RELHIC.

    The lack of stars in this object provides a unique window into the intrinsic properties of dark matter clouds. The rarity of such objects and the potential for future surveys is expected to enhance the discovery of more of these “failed galaxies” or “relics,” resulting in insights into the early universe and the physics of dark matter.  

    The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.

    Details

    Last Updated
    Jan 05, 2026
    Editor
    Andrea Gianopoulos
    Contact
    Media

    Claire Andreoli
    NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
    Greenbelt, Maryland
    claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

    Ann Jenkins, Christine Pulliam
    Space Telescope Science Institute
    Baltimore, Maryland

  • NASA to Cover US Spacewalks 94, 95 at International Space Station

    Astronaut Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station's main solar arrays
    NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk to upgrade the orbital outpost’s power generation system and relocate a communications antenna.
    Credit: NASA

    NASA astronauts will conduct two spacewalks Thursday, Jan. 8, and Thursday, Jan. 15, outside the International Space Station, and the agency will provide comprehensive coverage.

    The first spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EST on Jan. 8 and last about six hours and 30 minutes. NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

    During U.S. spacewalk 94, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman will exit the station’s Quest airlock to prepare the 2A power channel for future installation of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Once installed, the array will provide additional power for the orbital laboratory, including critical support of its safe and controlled deorbit.

    Fincke will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes, while Cardman will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This spacewalk will be Cardman’s first and Fincke’s 10th, tying him for the most spacewalks by a NASA astronaut.

    The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. on Jan. 15 and last about 6 hours and 30 minutes. NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 5:40 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.

    During U.S. spacewalk 95, two NASA astronauts will replace a high-definition camera on camera port 3, install a new navigational aid for visiting spacecraft, called a planar reflector, on the Harmony module’s forward port, and relocate an early ammonia servicer jumper — a flexible hose assembly that connects parts of a fluid system — along with other jumpers on the station’s S6 and S4 truss.

    NASA will announce which astronauts are scheduled for the second spacewalk after the Jan. 8 spacewalk.

    The spacewalks will be the 278th and 279th in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. Also, they are the first two International Space Station spacewalks of 2026, and the first by Expedition 74.

    Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:

    https://www.nasa.gov/station

    -end-

    Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
    Headquarters, Washington
    202-358-1100
    joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov 

    Sandra Jones
    Johnson Space Center, Houston
    281-483-5111
    sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

  • Scientific Balloon Begins Antarctic Ascent

    A white scientific balloon rises into the bright blue sky above snowy Antarctica. The sky and the balloon take up most of the image, with the ground only being a small white stripe at the bottom of the photo. The balloon has a long white "tail" with orange and black portions.
    NASA/Scott Battaion

    A scientific balloon starts its ascent into the air as it prepares to launch carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission. The mission lifted off from Antarctica at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time).

    The PUEO mission is designed to detect radio signals created when highly energetic particles called neutrinos from space hit the ice. The PUEO payload will collect data that give us insight into events like the creation of black holes and neutron star mergers. Alongside the PUEO mission are two other balloons carrying calibration equipment sending test signals to help scientists make sure the payload equipment is working correctly when it tries to detect real signals from space. 

    Track the balloons in realtime.

    Image credit: NASA/Scott Battaion

  • 5 Tips to Craft a Standout NASA Internship Application

    3 min read

    Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

    Four NASA interns pose in front of the NASA Pavilion at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, an annual airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
    Four NASA interns pose in front of the NASA Pavilion at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, an annual airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
    NASA

    A NASA internship provides a stellar opportunity to launch your future as part of America’s aerospace workforce. NASA interns take on meaningful work and contribute to exciting agency projects with the guidance of a supportive mentor. The agency’s internship program regularly ranks as the nation’s most prestigious and competition is steep: in fiscal year 2025, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement received about 250,000 internship applications for its roughly 1,800 internship opportunities.

    To give you the best shot at a NASA internship, we’ve compiled a list of tips mentors say can make an application stand out from the crowd. It is NASA’s mentors who create internship project descriptions, review applications, and take the lead in choosing candidates to work on their specific internship projects. Here’s what they had to say:

    1. Your personal statement is your chance to make a lasting impression.

    Mentors pay close attention to personal statements to identify the best candidate for their project and team. A powerful personal statement shares personal background, experience, and goals, and how they relate to the needs of the project.

    NASA mentors are looking for interns who will enjoy the work and fit in with the team culture. Beyond your academic background, grades, and interests, this is your chance to share your curiosity, enthusiasm, passion, or resilience. Show us who you are and what you can do!

    2. Show off your academic achievements.

    Mentors love to see what academic expertise and hands-on experience you can bring to the internship project. Your transcripts, grade point average, coursework, research, academic projects, awards, and accomplishments are valuable highlights in your application.

    3. Tell us about your extracurriculars, too!

    Who are you outside the classroom?

    Mentors like to see well-rounded candidates whose interests take them beyond their chosen academic and career path. Include any extracurricular activities you participate in, such as a club or team at school or an organization in your community. Whether you’re involved in a local rocketry club, a school athletic team, or a musical ensemble, these pursuits may demonstrate academic skills or soft skills such as collaboration. Shared hobbies can also be a great point of personal connection with a future mentor.

    4. Include as many of your skills as possible.

    Share the valuable skills that you can bring to an internship project. These could be technical skills, such as experience with specific tools or computer programming languages, and non-technical skills, which may include communications skills or leadership experience. Mentors search for skills that meet their project requirements and, match with the role, but also for unique skills that might be an added asset.

    5. Give yourself a chance.

    Don’t count yourself out before you get started! If you have a passion for spaceflight or aviation, it’s worth applying for a NASA internship – even if you’re not a math, science, engineering, or technology major. That’s because NASA achieves its exploration goals with the support of a nationwide team with a wide variety of skills: communicators, creatives, business specialists, legal experts, and so many more. Take a look at NASA’s internship opportunities and you’ll find projects in a wide range of fields.

    Yes, competition is fierce. But someone is going to land that internship – and that person could be you!

    Learn More

    Check eligibility requirements, see current deadlines, and launch your internship journey at https://intern.nasa.gov.

  • An Amphitheater of Rock at Cedar Breaks

    A Landsat image is centered on an orange, amphitheater-shaped escarpment cutting into darker green, forested terrain at Cedar Breaks National Monument in southwestern Utah. Light-colored and orange cliffs and ridges form a semicircular rim, with deeply eroded drainages radiating westward. A black lava flow with little vegetation is visible east of the escarpment. Trails from Brian Head, a nearby mountain and ski area, are visible to the north.
    June 18, 2025

    When people stand at the rim of the amphitheater in Utah’s Cedar Breaks National Monument and look down on an otherworldly landscape of multicolored rock spires, pinnacles, and other geologic oddities, they’re looking across tens of millions of years of Earth’s history. The same can be said when viewing the bowl-shaped escarpment from space.

    The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this view of the amphitheater’s semicircular rim and deeply eroded drainages on June 18, 2025. The erosive power of water from Ashdown Creek and several tributaries, along with relentless physical and chemical weathering, is evident in the many channels, cliffs, and canyons that radiate outward from the rim and define the escarpment and amphitheater.

    The feature’s striking rock formations are composed of sedimentary rock layers laid down roughly 50 to 25 million years ago within a basin that, at times, held a large body of water called Lake Claron. Many of the amphitheater’s limestone layers began as sediments that settled on its lakebed as carbonate-rich muds.

    Differences in rock type and color, evident in the layering seen in ground photographs and to a degree in Landsat images, reflect differences in environmental conditions during deposition. Lake Claron, for instance, was sometimes quite deep, but during dry periods it was shallow or nonexistent. In wet conditions, iron in muddy sediments was scarce or had too little exposure to oxygen to oxidize, or rust, leaving the resulting rock white or gray. During drier periods, iron in sediments had greater exposure to oxygen, forming minerals that turned layers red and orange. 

    After deposition, slow-moving tectonic forces lifted all these rock layers upward, ultimately putting them at the top of the Grand Staircase—an immense sedimentary sequence that stretches south from Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon, through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Zion Canyon, and finally into the Grand Canyon. Younger rock layers are found at the top of the sequence and older layers at the bottom.

    The rim at Cedar Breaks, the top of the staircase, sits about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level, roughly 7,000 feet above the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The high elevation influences everything from the weather to the plants and animals that live there. Winters are long, cold, and snowy, with nearby Brian Head seeing 30 feet (10 meters) of snowfall each year on average.

    While the cool temperatures and short growing season are an impediment to many types of vegetation, the slow-growing and notoriously long-lived bristlecone pines found along the escarpment’s rim use the harsh conditions to their advantage. Slow growth makes their wood unusually dense, which protects the trees from disease and insects. Likewise, their ability to survive in thin soils, on mostly barren limestone outcrops where little else can grow, protects them from wildfires. Some of the oldest bristlecones in the monument are more than 1,700 years old.

    Sitting atop the sedimentary layers, signs of a more volcanically active period also appear in the image. The dark basaltic lava flows visible to the east of the amphitheater formed between 5 million and 10,000 years ago, when several volcanoes on the Markagunt Plateau erupted regularly. Areas of soft, gray rock around the summit of Brian Head—now the site of a ski resort—formed when pyroclastic flows left deposits of tuff strewn across the landscape.

    NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

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  • 2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule

    2 min read

    2026 AAS Town Hall Schedule

    247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting

    SATURDAY, JANUARY 3

    8:30AM – 6:0PM   NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D Josh Pepper, Dawn Gelino, Karl Stapelfeldt, Nick Siegler, Jessie Christiansen

    SUNDAY, JANUARY 4

    8:30AM – 12:15PM   NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) 301D
    9:00AM – 2:00PM NASA’s Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG) Peter Kurczynski
    7:30PM – 9:30PM   NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group (PhysPAG) Francesca Civano
    NASA’s Joint Program Analysis Group Shawn Domagal-Goldman

    MONDAY, JANUARY 5

    12:45 PM – 1:45 PM   NASA Update West Building 301AB Shawn Domagal-Goldman
    2:00 PM- 3:30 PM   Beyond the Mid-Decadal: Community Inputs for Space Mission Concepts Toward Astro 2030 335B

    TUESDAY, JANUARY 6

      9:30AM – 10:30AM Active Galatic Nuclei SIG 131A
     10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory 224 B Robert Zellem
     10:00AM – 11:30AM A NICER Look at the Energetic Universe 225 B
    5:30PM – 6:30PM NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory Exhibit Hall B/C/D
    6:00PM – 8:00PM NASA-DARES Community Update 126 C

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7

      9:30AM – 10:00AM NASA Cosmic Pathfinders Program 127 A/B
     10:00AM – 11:30AM NASA Infrared Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C
     10:00AM – 11:30AM Introducing NASA’s Astrophysics Cross-Observatory Science Support (ACROSS) Facility 226 B Brian Humensky
    1:00PM – 2:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science 226 C
    2:00PM – 3:30PM Meeting of NASA’s Active Galactic Nuclei Science Interest Group (AGN SIG) TBD
    3:00PM – 4:30PM Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science Exhibit Hall B/C/D
    5:30PM – 6:00PM NASA Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Interest Group 231 A/B/C
  • 2026 AAS Hyperwall Schedule

    2 min read

    2026 AAS Hyperwall Schedule

    247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting

    Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #401 for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.

    SUNDAY, JANUARY 4

    6:45 – 7:00 PM Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Dominic Benford
    7:00 – 7:15 PM Storytelling with NASA: Eyes on Exoplanets Anjali Tripathi
    7:15 – 7:30 PM Roman Space Telescope Update Julie McEnery
    7:30 – 7:45 PM The Search for Life in the Universe with Habitable Worlds Observatory Giada Arney
    7:45 – 8:00 PM The James Webb Space Telescope Engineering History Lee Feinberg

    MONDAY, JANUARY 5

    9:00 – 9:15AM Galaxies Across Cosmic Time with JWST and Roman Aaron Yung
    9:15 – 9:30AM The Hubble Space Telescope: Next Era of Discovery Jennifer Wiseman
    9:30 – 9:45AM Cosmic Pathfinders Ron Gamble
    9:45- 10:00AM Preliminary Findings from the NASA Technosignatures Database Nick Siegler
    5:30 – 5:45PM Habitable Worlds Observatory
    From Gas to Galaxies to Life in the Universe
    Kevin France
    5:45 – 6:00PM Space Servicing: From Hubble to Habitable Worlds John Grunsfeld
    6:00 – 6:15PM Supernova Cosmology with Roman Rebekah Hounsell
    6:15- 6:30PM What Even is Bayesian Analysis, and Why Do I Care? Natasha Latouf

    TUESDAY, JANUARY 6

    9:00 – 9:15AM Revealing the Faintest Galaxies in the Nearby Universe with Roman Aaron Yung
    9:15 – 9:30AM Open Science Training for Researchers Jennifer Wiseman
    9:30 – 9:45AM Universe in 24 hours Ron Gamble
    9:45- 10:00AM Beyond ADS: SciX as the Next-Generation Platform for Earth and Space Science Research Nick Siegler
    5:30 – 5:45PM From Ground Tests to Science with the Wide Field Instrument Kevin France
    5:45 – 6:00PM Habitable Worlds Observatory and the Search for Life John Grunsfeld
    6:00 – 6:15PM Laser Interferometry Space Antenna : Measuring Low Frequency Gravitational Waves from the Universe Rebekah Hounsell
    6:15- 6:30PM Our Cosmic Roots, Kinship, and Destiny with the Habitable Worlds Observatory Natasha Latouf

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7

    9:00 – 9:15AM What Can Roman Do for You? Explore Its Four Community-Defined Surveys Karoline Gilbert
    9:15 – 9:30AM Galaxies Benne Holwerda
    9:30 – 9:45AM The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute: Making Exoplanet Science Easier Catherine Clark
    5:30 – 5:45PM Science from the Roman Space Telescope Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey Robby Wilson
    5:45 – 6:00PM The Pandora SmallSat: Exploring Exoplanet Atmospheres Thomas Barclay
    6:00 – 6:15PM How Did the Universe Become Habitable? Get Involved with NASA’s Cosmic Origins Group Sabrina Stierwalt

    THURSDAY, JANUARY 8

    9:00 – 9:15AM Science with Petabyte-Scale Data: Cloud Platforms Thomas Dutkiewicz
    9:15 – 9:30AM The Future of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Nicole Schanche
    9:30 – 9:45AM Is There an Atmosphere on the Habitable-Zone Planet TRAPPIST-1 e? Nestor Espinoza
  • Curiosity Sends Holiday Postcard from Mars

    The Curiosity rover is visible at the bottom right of this panorama image. The rover is at the top of a ridge referred to as a boxwork formation. The sky ahead of it is hazy; it's red on the left and blue on the right.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Team members working with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover created this “postcard” by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning periods that occurred on both the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.

    The panoramas were captured at 4:15 p.m. on Sol 4,722 and 8:20 a.m. on Sol 4,723 (both at local Mars time), then merged together. Color was later added for an artistic interpretation of the scene with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one. The resulting “postcard” is similar to ones the rover took in June 2023 and November 2021. Adding color to these kinds of merged images helps different details stand out in the landscape.

    Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

  • Microbiology

    2 min read

    Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

    Microbiology Laboratory
    Microbiology Laboratory at JSC NASA.

    Microorganisms and Spaceflight

    Spaceflight poses a risk of adverse health effects due to the interactions between microorganisms, their hosts, and their environment. The JSC Microbiology team addresses the benefits and risks related to microorganisms, including infectious disease, allergens, environmental and food contamination, and the impacts of changes in environmental and human microbial ecology aboard spacecraft. The team includes certified medical technologists, environmental microbiologists, mycologists, and biosafety professionals.

    The JSC Microbiology laboratory is a critical component of the Human Health and Performance Directorate and is responsible for addressing crew health and environmental issues related to microbial infection, allergens, and contamination. This responsibility is achieved by operational monitoring and investigative research using classical microbiological, advanced molecular, and immunohistochemical techniques. This research has resulted in a significant number of presentations and peer-reviewed publications contributing to the field of Microbiology with articles in journals such as Infection and Immunity, Journal of Infectious Disease and Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Nature Reviews Microbiology, and Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

    Fun Fact: Microorganisms display unexpected responses when grown in the spaceflight environment compared to otherwise identically grown microbes on Earth.

    NASA

    NASA

    microbiologist streaks microbial cultures
    Christian Castro is streaking bacteria to be characterized using a variety of culture media. Photo Date: May 29, 2018. Location: Building 21 – Microbiology Lab.
    NASA

    Keeping Crew-members Safe

    As a functional part of the Crew Health Care System and in support of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems engineers, the Microbiology Laboratory team defines requirements, coordinates and analyzes microbial sampling, and analysis of air, surface, and water samples. These environmental samples, including preflight and in-flight samples, re-analyzed to ensure that microorganisms do not adversely affect crew health or system performance.

    Microbiologists also serve as team members when anomalous events occur that might affect crew health or life support systems operations. Spaceflight food samples also are evaluated preflight to decrease the risk of infectious disease to the crew.

    DNA sequencing
    A crewmember identifies unknown environmental microbes aboard the ISS through DNA sequencing.
    NASA

    Technology and Hardware

    • ABI DNA sequencer
    • Illumina MiSeq desktop sequencer
    • Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION DNA / RNA sequencers
    • Agilent Bioanalyzer
    • VITEK 2 Microbial Identification
    • ​Space analogue bioreactors
    Surface Sampler Kit
    An example of in-flight Surface Sampler Kit results with growth of fungal cultures after 5 days
    NASA

    Points of Contact

    Sarah Wallace, PhD
    Hang Nguyen, PhD

    Details

    Last Updated

    Dec 30, 2025

    Editor
    Robert E. Lewis