January 2022

Perspective view of Jovis Tholus

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An image captured by ESA’s Mars Express space probe’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HSRC) shows the Jovis Tholus shield volcano on Mars and the surrounding area with its geological features. The Tharsis region where Jovis Tholus is located includes some large volcanoes, first of all, Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system. Jovis Tholus’s interconnected calderas indicate a long period of volcanic activity and the more recent ones, each of which has a slightly lower floor, end up meeting even more recent lava flows. At 1,500 meters high and 58 kilometers in diameter, Jovis Tholus is much smaller than Olympus Mons yet provides a lot of information about the geology of the Tharsis region and its volcanic activity.

The Andromeda galaxy (M31) with the cluster B023-G078

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the discovery of a rare intermediate-mass black hole in the Andromeda galaxy at the center of what could be a stripped nucleus, what remains of a galaxy swallowed by Andromeda. A team of researchers observed the star cluster cataloged as B023-G078 at the Gemini Observatory and with the Hubble Space Telescope to calculate the mass distribution within it, a crucial step to understand its nature as a stripped nucleus and identify the intermediate-mass black hole. This could be a way to discover this rare type of black hole, which some models claim merges with others to form supermassive black holes following galaxy mergers.

The Eta Carinae system

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A new image portrays Eta Carinae bringing together observations in various bands of the electromagnetic spectrum from infrareds to X-rays thanks to the Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer space telescopes. Each frequency offers some specific data on this pair of stars especially famous for the so-called Great Eruption that made it particularly bright for many years with a peak in 1843. The data put together also allowed to create 3D models of the Homunculus Nebula and gas and dust clouds surrounding the pair. This is useful research for astronomers to understand the evolution of Eta Carinae and also from an educational point of view within NASA’s Universe of Learning program.

The Dragon cargo spacecraft departing the International Space Station to end its CRS-24 mission (Image NASA)

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Yesterday, in the American afternoon, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-24 (Cargo Resupply Service 24) mission for NASA splashing down smoothly in the Gulf of Mexico, near Panama City. The Dragon left the International Space Station last Sunday. For SpaceX, this was the 4th mission of the 2nd contract with NASA to transport supplies to the Station with the new version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft, which splashes down near the East coast of the USA instead of the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after the splashdown, SpaceX’s “Go Searcher” recovery ship went to retrieve the Dragon to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA within a few hours. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on December 22, 2021.

The dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports a study on the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10 that offers evidence that the supermassive black hole at its center stimulated star formation. Zachary Schutte and Amy Reines relied on observations conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope to find a kind of hot gas bridge that connects the black hole to a region of intense star formation and to connect the black hole’s outflow to that star nursery. These conclusions are useful to understand the influence of supermassive black holes on their host galaxies and their origin.