A Planetary Engulfment

NASA Newsletter

In this week's newsletter, discover observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that have provided a surprising twist in the narrative surrounding what is believed to be the first star observed in the act of swallowing a planet; find out where and when to watch the YouTube premiere event for NASA's new documentary, Planetary Defenders, which takes viewers inside the real-life efforts of scientists and engineers working to detect, track, and mitigate potential asteroid threats; and celebrate two major milestones of NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia.

THE UNIVERSE

Observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have provided a surprising twist in the narrative surrounding what is believed to be the first star observed in the act of swallowing a planet. The new findings suggest that the star actually did not swell to envelop a planet as previously hypothesized. Instead, Webb’s observations show the planet’s orbit shrank over time, slowly bringing the planet closer to its demise until it was engulfed in full.

“Because this is such a novel event, we didn’t quite know what to expect when we decided to point this telescope in its direction,” said Ryan Lau, astronomer at the National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. “With its high-resolution look in the infrared, we are learning valuable insights about the final fates of planetary systems, possibly including our own.”

AUTOPSY OF A PLANET

THE UNIVERSE

Stellar Sculptors

This new image of young star cluster NGC 346 is the first to combine Hubble Space Telescope observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory. Hubble’s exquisite sensitivity and resolution were instrumental in uncovering the secrets of NGC 346’s star formation. Using two sets of observations taken 11 years apart, researchers

traced the motions of NGC 346’s stars, revealing them to be spiraling in toward the center of the cluster.

STAR CLUSTER NGC 346

DOCUMENTARY

Planetary Defenders

What would humanity do if an asteroid were headed for Earth? NASA's new documentary, Planetary Defenders, takes viewers inside the real-life efforts of scientists and engineers working to detect, track, and mitigate potential asteroid threats. Join planetary defense experts for the documentary's debut live on YouTube Premieres on Wednesday, April 16, at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

PREMIERE DETAILS

SCIENCE

April is Citizen Science Month

Did you know that NASA Citizen Science project volunteers can help unlock some of the universe’s biggest mysteries? Through the agency's citizen science projects, volunteers work with NASA researchers to make meaningful scientific discoveries, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space.

LEARN MORE

TECHNOLOGY

Space-Based Tech for Home Health

Even before we’re aware of heart trouble or related health issues, our bodies give off warning signs in the form of vibrations. Technology to detect these signals has ranged from electrodes to patches to watches. Now, an innovative wall-mounted device is capable of monitoring vital signs using radio-frequency technology created by NASA.

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More NASA News

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday, April 8, bringing the number of residents to 10 for the next two weeks. The trio joins the Expedition 72 crew, including NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, and Don Pettit; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Ivan Vagner, and Alexey Ovchinin.

On Tuesday, April 8, Bangladesh became the 54th nation to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity by signing the Artemis Accords—a first-ever set of practical guidelines for nations to increase safety of operations and reduce risk and uncertainty in their civil exploration activities. That group of signatories has grown to more than 50 countries today.

NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary while also breaking ground on a new radio antenna. The pair of achievements are major milestones for the network, which communicates with spacecraft all over the solar system using giant dish antennas located at three complexes around the globe.

In the latest episode of Houston, We Have a Podcast , flight controllers from NASA’s mission control center at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, discuss how they create astronauts’ daily schedules, track where all equipment is stored, and manage electricity and internet on the International Space Station.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has developed an innovative method to track the rotational motion of Uranus’ auroras—spectacular light displays generated in the upper atmosphere by the influx of energetic particles near the planet’s magnetic poles. This technique revealed that Uranus completes a full rotation in 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 52 seconds—28 seconds longer than the estimate obtained by NASA’s Voyager 2 during its 1986 flyby.

Do You Know?

Today marks the 55th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Apollo 13 mission. While the mission began as planned, two days into the trip to the Moon, an oxygen tank onboard the spacecraft exploded, transforming it into a nail-biting rescue mission as NASA worked around the clock to bring the crew safely home. To conserve their very limited remaining power, the crew was instructed to power down systems, including the heater of the lunar module, which served as their “lifeboat” as they made their way back to Earth.

How cold did it get inside the lunar module?

Find out the answer in next week's edition of the NASA newsletter! 🤓

Last week, we asked how many years it had been since NASA astronauts last performed a spacewalk prior to STS-6. The answer? 9 years! Before the STS-6 spacewalk, it was February 3, 1974, when Skylab 4 astronauts last performed a spacewalk as part of the American space program. In preparation for the end of their record-breaking 84-day mission, astronauts Edward G. Gibson and Gerald P. Carr collected film canisters and experiments from the exterior of the Skylab space station for processing and analysis back on Earth.

Do you have a telescope? Would you like to see some of the same night sky objects from the ground that Hubble has seen from space? We invite you to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th anniversary by accepting our yearlong stargazing challenge! New challenge objects will be featured weekly.

This week’s object is Messier 82 (M82), also known as the Cigar Galaxy. M82 shines brightly at infrared wavelengths and is notable for its star formation activity, which is 10 times faster than inside our entire Milky Way galaxy! From a dark sky site, M82 is visible as a patch of light with binoculars, but you need a larger telescope to resolve the galaxy’s core.

JOIN THE CELEBRATION

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