The Andromeda galaxy is our Milky Way’s nearest neighbor in space. The majestic spiral of over 100 billion stars is comparable in size to our home galaxy. At a distance of 2.5 million light-years, it is so close to us the galaxy can be seen as a cigar-shaped smudge of light high in the autumn sky.

But if you could see the huge bubble of hot, diffuse plasma surrounding it, it would appear 100 times the angular diameter of the full Moon!

The gargantuan halo is estimated to contain half the mass of the stars in the Andromeda galaxy itself. It can be thought of as the “atmosphere” of a galaxy. Astronomers using Hubble identified the gas in Andromeda’s halo by measuring how it filtered the light of distant bright background objects called quasars. It is akin to seeing the glow of a flashlight shining through a fog.

This finding promises to tell astronomers more about the evolution and structure of one of the most common types of galaxies in the universe.

Please join +Tony Darnell Dr.+Carol Christian and +Scott Lewis as they discuss this latest finding from #Hubble with the astronomers who made the observations.

Read more here:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/15/

It’s +NASA Small Worlds Week! Learn about all kinds of cool things related to tiny, rocky, icy, dwarfy worlds:
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/discoveries/index.php
#NASASWW 

JHU APL Broadcasts every day:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Videos/Broadcasts.php

All things New Horizons:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

NASA Press Coverage of New Horizons:
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-updated-television-coverage-media-activities-for-pluto-flyby

#PlutoTime  
Webtool:
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-lets-you-experience-pluto-time-with-new-custom-tool

#PlutoPaloozza
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Participate/community/Corps-of-Discovery.php

#Space   #astronomy #Hubble25 #andromeda #galaxy #cosmology   #Pluto

Researchers using +NASA  +Hubble Space Telescope  have detected a stratosphere and temperature inversion in the atmosphere of a planet several times the mass of Jupiter, called WASP-33b.

Earth’s stratosphere sits above the troposphere, the turbulent, active-weather region that reaches from the ground to the altitude where nearly all clouds top out. In the troposphere, the temperature is warmer at the bottom — ground level — and cools down at higher altitudes. The stratosphere is just the opposite: There, the temperature rises at higher altitudes. This is called a temperature inversion, and it happens because ozone in the stratosphere absorbs some of the sun’s radiation, preventing it from reaching the surface and warming this layer of the atmosphere. Similar temperature inversions occur in the stratospheres of other planets in our solar system, such as Jupiter and Saturn.

But WASP-33b is so close to its star that its atmosphere is a scathing 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and its atmosphere is so hot the planet might actually have titanium oxide rain.

Please join +Tony Darnell Dr, +Carol Christian and +Scott Lewis as they discuss the atmosphere of this Jupiter-sized #exoplanet with the astronomers who made the observations.

Read more here:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/25/

#Space   #astronomy #Hubble25 #exoplanets #WASP -33b  #cosmology   #Pluto

Have you ever wondered how astronomers simulate the large-scale structure of the universe?  How do they answer questions like, ‘What will #JWST show us?’ or ‘What can we expect to learn from #WFIRST ?’

The Space Telescope Science Institute is hosting a mini-workshop this week featuring techniques for simulating the universe where they delve into these questions and many more.

This workshop will focus on the interface of models and survey design: how can we best inject and extract astrophysical insight into and from data simulations?

One of the main aims is to identify common ground between various ongoing data simulation efforts associated with diverse facilities on the ground and in space (e.g., ELTs, JWST, LSST, PanSTARRS, WFIRST, ALMA, Euclid etc.).

Please join +Tony Darnell Dr +Carol Christian and +Scott Lewis as they discuss simulating the universe with astronomers +Molly Peeples and Joshua Peek.  We look forward to hearing your comments and questions as well!

#Space   #astronomy #Hubble25   #cosmology

This week’s hangout features members of the New Horizons team, including Dr. Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator for +NASA New Horizons along with Project Scientist Dr. Hal Weaver and co-investigator Dr. John Spencer.

Join +Tony Darnell Dr +Carol Christian and +Scott Lewis as they discuss the latest results from the +NASA New Horizons mission along with a look at how the +Hubble Space Telescope has contributed to the possible next phase of the #PlutoFlyby mission!

JHU APL New Horizons Website:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

#Space   #astronomy   #SolarSystem   #Pluto   #PlutoFlyby   #Hubble   #NewHorizons

Backyard stargazers get a monthly guide to the northern hemisphere’s skywatching events with “Tonight’s Sky.” August brings the Perseid meteor shower and the eye-catching stellar features of the constellation Cygnus.

“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 HubbleSite.org.

Visit Tonight’s Sky on HubbleSite.
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/tonights_sky