November 19, 2018 - Orion’s Hidden Secrets

Orion’s Hidden Secrets  This image from the VISTA infrared survey telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile is part of the largest infrared high-resolution mosaic of Orion ever created. It covers the Orion A molecular cloud, the nearest known massive star factory, lying about 1,350 light-years from Earth, and reveals many young stars and other objects normally buried deep inside the dusty clouds. The new image from the VISION survey (VIenna Survey In Orion) is a montage of images taken in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. The VISION survey has resulted in a catalogue containing almost 800,000 individually identified stars, young stellar objects, and distant galaxies, representing better depth and coverage than any other survey of this region.

Image credit: ESO/VISION survey

Weekly Calendar

November 19 - 25, 2018

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Monday 19

1969: Apollo 12 makes second lunar landing
1996: STS-80 Columbia launched
1997: STS-87 Columbia launched
2005: Hayabusa spacecraft makes first liftoff from an asteroid

Tuesday 20

Uranus 5° north of Moon

1889: Edwin Hubble born
1998: Zarya module launched, first element of International Space Station
2002: First Delta IV launched
2004: Swift spacecraft launched

Wednesday 21

Thursday 22

Thanksgiving Day

1989: STS-33 Discovery launched 

Friday 23

Full Moon 12:39 AM ET

1977: Meteosat 1 launched
1983: 149-day Salyut 7 mission ends
2002: STS-113 Endeavour launched
2014: Soyuz TMA-15M launched carrying ISS Expedition 42/43 crew
2015: New Shepard makes first powered vertical landing of rocket booster from space

Saturday 24

1947: First Aerobee rocket launch
1991: STS-44 Atlantis launched

Sunday 25

Neptune appears stationary

1970: First powered flight of M2-F3 lifting body