May 25, 2015 - Cloudy with a Chance of Star Birth

Cloudy with a Chance of Star Birth  This stunning object, known as NGC 6559, is a complex of dust and gas located about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Some of the gas in the clouds of NGC 6559, mainly hydrogen, has collapsed under its own gravity, getting denser and hotter, until thermonuclear fusion begins and stars are born. The bright young stars energize some of the surrounding gas, causing it to glow as red emission nebulae. Some of the material in NGC 6559 is also solid particles of dust, which reflect the light of the new stars and shine as blue reflection nebulae. In some regions, the dust is so dense that it completely blocks the light behind it, as is the case for the dark isolated patches and sinuous lanes along the left-hand edge and bottom-center of the image.

Image credit: ESO / U. G. Jørgensen

Weekly Calendar

May 25 - 31, 2015

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Monday 25

Memorial Day

First Qtr Moon 1:19 PM ET

1961: JFK challenges nation to Moon landing before end of decade
1965: Saturn SA-8 launched
1966: Roll-out of first full-scale Saturn V
1973: Skylab 2 begins 28-day mission
2008: Phoenix lander lands on Mars

Tuesday 26

Moon at apogee

1951: Sally Ride born

Wednesday 27

2009: Soyuz TMA-15 launched carrying ISS Expedition 20/21 crew

Thursday 28

1959: First primates in space, Able and Baker (monkeys), complete suborbital flight
1964: SA-6 launched, second Saturn I Block 2
2013: Soyuz TMA-09M launched carrying ISS Expedition 36/37 crew
2014: Soyuz TMA-13M launched carrying ISS Expedition 40/41 crew

Friday 29

1919: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity tested during total solar eclipse

Saturday 30

Mercury in inferior conjunction (between Earth and Sun)
Venus 4° south of Pollux

1966: Surveyor 1 launched
1971: Mariner 9 probe launched

Sunday 31

Trinity Sunday

1975: European Space Agency formed
1990: Kristall module launched to Mir space station
2008: STS-124 Discovery launched