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Cruising the Cosmic Web, V2 [Dome Version]

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This visualization of a computer simulation showcases the ‘cosmic web’, the large scale structure of the universe. Each bright knot is an entire galaxy, while the purple filaments show where material exists between the galaxies. To the human eye, only the galaxies would be visible, and this visualization allows us to see the strands of material connecting the galaxies and forming the cosmic web.

This visualization is based on a scientific simulation of the growth of structure in the universe. The matter, dark matter, and dark energy in a region of the universe are followed from very early times of the universe through to the present day using the equations of gravity, hydrodynamics, and cosmology. The normal matter has been clipped to show only the densest regions, which are the galaxies, and is shown in white. The dark matter is shown in purple. The size of the simulation is a cube with a side length of 134 megaparsecs (437 million light-years).

The camera choreography is a straight line path through the simulation. The camera accelerates from a standstill at the start, flies at a constant speed, and then decelerates to a stop at the end. The “cruising speed” of the camera is 250,000 parsecs per frame, or about 20 million light-years per second (at 24 frames per second). That’s more than 600 trillion times the speed of light. Buckle your seatbelts.

The simulation is periodic, and the camera flies through it several times. A skew angle is used to avoid showing the same structures on each fly through. The camera path (after accelerating to full speed) does repeat every 2000 frames. Hence, one can get an infinite loop by showing the frames 100 – 2099 over and over.

Visualization: Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute

Simulation: Martin White and Lars Hernquist, Harvard University

Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible Light – Dome Version

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This version of “Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible Light” has been rendered onto a hemispherical format (azimuthal equidistant projection) for use in planetarium domes. The black circular mask in the images denotes the edge of the hemispherical dome projection. The video is for preview purposes. Planetariums will want to download the frames and the audio files from HubbleSite: http://hubblesite.org/video/1155

This visualization explores the Orion Nebula as seen in visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. This movie is designed to be compared and contrasted against the companion movie using infrared-light observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

As the camera flies into the star-forming region, it reveals a glowing gaseous landscape that has been illuminated and carved by the high-energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The high-resolution visible observations show fine details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds.

Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Infrared Light – Dome Version

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This version of “Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Infrared Light” has been rendered onto a hemispherical format (azimuthal equidistant projection) for use in planetarium domes. The black circular mask in the images denotes the edge of the hemispherical dome projection. The video is for preview purposes. Planetariums will want to download the frames and the audio files from HubbleSite: http://hubblesite.org/video/1154

This visualization explores the Orion Nebula as seen in infrared-light observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope. This movie is designed to be compared and contrasted against the companion movie using visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope.

As the camera flies into the star-forming region, it reveals a glowing gaseous landscape that has been illuminated and carved by the high-energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The infrared observations generally show cool temperature gas at a deep layer that shows the full bowl shape of the nebula. In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths.

Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light – Dome Version

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This version of “Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light” has been rendered onto a hemispherical format (azimuthal equidistant projection) for use in planetarium domes. The black circular mask in the images denotes the edge of the hemispherical dome projection. The video is for preview purposes. Planetariums will want to download the frames and the audio files from the HubbleSite page: http://hubblesite.org/video/1153

This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light. The sequence begins with a wide-field view of the sky showing the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, then zooms down to the scale of the Orion Nebula. The visible light observation (from the Hubble Space Telescope) and the infrared light observation (from the Spitzer Space Telescope) are compared first in two-dimensional images, and then in three-dimensional models.

As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views. The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the central cluster. The infrared observations generally show cooler temperature gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including the wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped proplyds. In this manner, the movie illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.

Tonight’s Sky: July 2018

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This year, Mars reaches its long-awaited opposition on July 27—and is visible all night. Look for its south polar cap and dark features that shift as the planet rotates. You will also spot constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius, and the annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower.

“Tonight’s Sky” is produced by HubbleSite.org, online home of the Hubble Space Telescope. This is a recurring show, and you can find more episodes—and other astronomy videos—at http://hubblesite.org/videos/science

Kepler Supernova Remnant in Multiple Wavelengths [UltraHD]

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This animation shows the remnant of Kepler’s Supernova, shown first in infrared, then visible, then low energy X-ray, then high-energy X-ray emission and finally in combination.

In 1604, astronomer Johannes Kepler noted the appearance of a new bright object in the sky, visible to the naked eye for the next 18 months. Today we know that he was seeing the death of a star 20,000 light years from Earth. It was more than ten times the mass of our sun.

Now, more than four hundred years later, several of NASA’s Great Observatories combined to produce a multi-wavelength image of the expanding remnant. Although the initial blast was caused by the implosion of the star core that rebounded to violently eject material. The supernova today can be seen as it impacts surrounding material that was likely ejected in previous episodes of losing mass into space.

The multiple wavelengths show separated layers of emission that represent different portions of the impact. Infrared (Spitzer) traces the coolest material as it is heated by the ejecta. The optical emission (Hubble) traces hot (several thousand degree) gas that is excited by the collision. The lower energy X-ray (Chandra) represents much hotter gas – up to a few million degrees, Fahrenheit, similar to the hot corona of our sun. The highest energy X-ray emission can reach tens of millions of degrees. This emission is closest to the most powerful portions of the expanding blast wave. The observations reveal that Kepler’s supernova was a “Type Ia” – a supernova caused by the transfer of material between two smaller dwarf stars. The added material brings the total mass of one of the stars beyond the critical threshold for supernova collapse.

Video: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Images: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

M101 – Pinwheel Galaxy [UltraHD]

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This animation shows the Messier 101 (Pinwheel) Galaxy, with simulated rotation, in visible, then infrared, then X-ray, and finally all three combined.

M101 is a comparable in size to the Milky Way. The disk is 100 billion solar masses, and the central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses. M101 is rich is pinkish star forming regions, many of which are very large and bright. Unlike most spiral galaxies, M101spiral shape is notably asymmetrical. This is due to the tidal forces from interactions with its companion galaxies. These gravitational interactions compress interstellar hydrogen gas, which then triggers strong star formation activity in M101’s spiral arms.

Video Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI