NASA (Posts tagged universe)

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A Tour of Cosmic Temperatures

We often think of space as “cold,” but its temperature can vary enormously depending on where you visit. If the difference between summer and winter on Earth feels extreme, imagine the range of temperatures between the coldest and hottest places in the universe — it’s trillions of degrees! So let’s take a tour of cosmic temperatures … from the coldest spots to the hottest temperatures yet achieved.

First, a little vocabulary: Astronomers use the Kelvin temperature scale, which is represented by the symbol K. Going up by 1 K is the same as going up 1°C, but the scale begins at 0 K, or -273°C, which is also called absolute zero. This is the temperature where the atoms in stuff stop moving. We’ll measure our temperatures in this tour in kelvins, but also convert them to make them more familiar!

We’ll start on the chilly end of the scale with our CAL (Cold Atom Lab) on the International Space Station, which can chill atoms to within one ten billionth of a degree above 0 K, just a fraction above absolute zero.

Cartoon of JAXA’s XRISM telescope gently rocking and back and forth on a dark blue background. The spacecraft has a roughly cylindrical body, which is depicted in light blue with various hardware shown as gray lines and shapes. Solar array "wings" extend on either side and a smaller, rounded cylindrical section pointing toward the right has small tubes extending from the end. Text above reads “XRISM’s Resolve sensor,” and text below says “0.05 K, -459.58°F (-273.10°C).”ALT

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger

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25 Years of Exploring the Universe with NASA’s Chandra Xray Observatory

Illustration of the Chandra telescope in orbit around Earth.ALT

Illustration of the Chandra telescope in orbit around Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC & J. Vaughan

On July 23, 1999, the space shuttle Columbia launched into orbit carrying NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. August 26 marked 25 years since Chandra released its first images.

These were the first of more than 25,000 observations Chandra has taken. This year, as NASA celebrates the 25th anniversary of this telescope and the incredible data it has provided, we’re taking a peek at some of its most memorable moments.

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This image shows a small spacecraft on a table enclosed on all sides except the one facing the camera. The sides of the enclosure are clear while the top has two dark gray panels with a light gray frame. The backside is also gray and reflects a strip of light from the room. The spacecraft’s body is a vertical golden rectangle. Shiny black solar panels extend to either side and are much wider than the spacecraft itself. There are a few wires connected to the table, which are visible underneath it. It’s watermarked, “Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts.”ALT

Tiny BurstCube’s Tremendous Travelogue

Meet BurstCube! This shoebox-sized satellite is designed to study the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, called gamma-ray bursts. It detects gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.

BurstCube may be small, but it had a huge journey to get to space.

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Artist’s concept showing the seven planets discovered orbiting a Sun-like star. The system, called Kepler-385, was identified using data from NASA’s Kepler mission. Credit: NASA/Daniel RutterALT

Hot New Planetary System Just Dropped.

We hope you like your planetary systems extra spicy. 🔥

A new system of seven sizzling planets has been discovered using data from our retired Kepler space telescope.

Named Kepler-385, it’s part of a new catalog of planet candidates and multi-planet systems discovered using Kepler.

The discovery helps illustrate that multi-planetary systems have more circular orbits around the host star than systems with only one or two planets.

Our Kepler mission is responsible for the discovery of the most known exoplanets to date. The space telescope’s observations ended in 2018, but its data continues to paint a more detailed picture of our galaxy today.

Here are a few more things to know about Kepler-385:

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