December 21, 2020 - All Eyes on M51
All Eyes on M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51, is a classic example of a spiral galaxy. Thirty million light-years away, it is also one of the brightest spirals in the night sky. This composite image shows the majesty of its structure in a dramatic new way through several of NASA’s orbiting observatories. X-ray data from the Chandra Observatory reveals point-like sources (purple) that are black holes and neutron stars in binary star systems, and the glow of hot gas that permeates the space between the stars. Optical data from the Hubble (green) and infrared emission from the Spitzer (red) Space Telescopes both highlight long lanes in the spiral arms consisting of stars and gas laced with dust. The GALEX telescope shows hot young stars that produce great amounts of ultraviolet energy (blue).
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wesleyan Univ./R.Kilgard et al; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith & Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Univ. of AZ/R. Kennicutt
Weekly Calendar
December 21 - 27, 2020
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 21
Solstice 5:02 AM ET
Jupiter 0.1° south of Saturn
First Qtr Moon 6:41 PM ET
1968: Apollo 8 launched
1984: Vega 2 launched
1988: Cosmonauts Titov and Manarov return after spending one year aboard Mir space station
2011: Soyuz TMA-03M launched carrying ISS Expedition 30/31 crew
2015: SpaceX Falcon 9 makes first powered vertical landing of orbital booster
Tuesday 22
Venus 6° north of Antares
Ursid meteor shower
1966: Luna 13 launched
1966: First glide test of the HL-10 lifting body
Wednesday 23
Mars 6° north of Moon
Ursid meteor shower
1672: Giovanni Cassini discovers Saturn’s moon Rhea
Thursday 24
Moon at apogee
Uranus 3° north of Moon
1968: Apollo 8 enters lunar orbit
1978: Venera 11 lands on Venus
1979: European Space Agency launches first Ariane rocket
Friday 25
Christmas Day
1642: Isaac Newton born
2003: Mars Express and Beagle 2 arrive at Mars
2004: Huygens probe separates from Cassini spacecraft
Saturday 26
Boxing Day (Canada, U.K., Australia)
First Day of Kwanzaa
1780: Mary Somerville born
Sunday 27
1571: Johannes Kepler born
1984: Meteorite ALH 84001 discovered