Image of the Week

20 January 2021: At first glance, it looks as though storm clouds are gathering over the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope. Situated at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, the Blanco experiences few stormy nights at its location near the arid Chilean Atacama Desert. The dark cloud-like structures pictured here are in fact dusty areas of the Milky Way that absorb visible light. The bright glittering fringes are not lightning, but thousands of stars — just some of the billions within our galaxy.

13 January 2021: The skies over Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, are typically clear and calm, perfect for high quality astronomical observations. On 4 June 1972, however, the night sky was torn apart by a violent summer storm. Luck was not with any astronomers who had hoped to observe that night — but it was with Gary Ladd, an amateur photographer who decided to challenge his photography skills. Ladd was a technical assistant at Kitt Peak, but he happened to have that night off. When the storm rolled in, he walked up to the building that houses the 84-inch telescope (nowadays known as the KPNO 2.1-meter Telescope), and started taking photos. After narrowly escaping lightning strikes, he moved inside the building and took photos out of a window. He had no idea how to correctly approach shooting lightning, and as this was long before the invention of digital …

6 January 2021: The remarkably thin galaxy IC 2233 is featured in this image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. IC 2233’s needle-thin profile is due to both its structure and its orientation towards Earth. The galaxy’s orientation — known to astronomers as inclination — is almost exactly side-on, making this one of the flattest galaxies known. The exposure of this particular image is deep and the entire field littered with galaxies of various types of inclinations. As well as lying flat from our point of view, IC 2233 also lacks the prominent bulge that fattens the profile of spiral galaxies such as Andromeda and the Milky Way. The wafer-thin profile of this celestial needle has been fascinating observers for nearly 150 years — IC 2233 was first discovered in 1874 by the Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts, one of the pioneers …

30 December 2020: The mountains of northern Chile fade into the distance under a vibrant orange sky in this sunset photograph of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. More than 20 telescopes operate at CTIO — and many of them can be seen jutting from the mountain in the foreground of this image. The Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope and the SMARTS Telescopes dominate the mountain peak, with smaller telescopes spread along the ridge. Despite the tranquility of the sunset, the engineers and astronomers at the observatory are working hard, spending the hours before dusk preparing a packed schedule of scientific observations.

23 December 2020: In December 2020 Jupiter and Saturn appear closer in the sky to one another in the nighttime sky than they have for 800 years! Seen from Earth, Jupiter and Saturn seem to be on top of each other, but the two planets are actually 734 million kilometers (456 million miles) apart. An event such as this, when the two largest gas giant planets in our Solar System pass close to each other in the sky, is known as a great conjunction. The closest point in this conjunction coincidently fell on the Winter Solstice on 21 December, similar to the great conjunction of 7 BC — one of several possible explanations for the origin of the Star of Bethlehem. This photo was taken on 20 December at 07:12 pm HST with the Gemini North Cloudcam on Maunakea on the island of Hawai‘i. Gemini North is part of the international Gemini Observatory, …

17 December 2020: In a year like no other, we wish you the best this holiday season and a prosperous, peaceful 2021! This observation from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory shows the result of a truly spectacular galactic collision. The elliptical galaxy NGC 5291 — the hazy oval cloud at the center of this image — was struck by a careening rogue galaxy over 300 million years ago. The aftermath of this cataclysmic collision is a ring of galactic debris — visible as the tenuous luminous clouds spreading left and right from the golden oval of NGC 5291. This image also shows more gentle galactic interactions — NGC 5291 is interacting sedately with the unusually curved galaxy to the right of it, which is known as the Seashell. From all of us to all of you.

9 December 2020: The blazing bright ball slicing through the center of this image is an example of a type of celestial body known as a centaur — a Solar System object that can be like both a comet and an asteroid. These fast moving icy objects reside in unstable orbits in the space between Jupiter and Neptune. The centaur in this image is named P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS), or LD2 for short. LD2 was observed from Gemini North, the Hawai‘i-based half of the international Gemini Observatory, which is a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. LD2 is on the cusp of an important transition — it is the first centaur to be seen in the process of changing into a comet-like state. It is slowly being nudged closer and closer towards the inner Solar System, which is causing its tail to form, and it is on track to move within Jupiter’s orbit in 2063. Once …

2 December 2020: This drone footage shows an aerial view of Gemini South in the Andes of Northern Chile. Gemini South is the southern member of the pair of 8.1-meter telescopes which together comprise the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Though you might associate telescopes with darkness and starry nights, Gemini South spends its days basking in bright sunlight — hence the banks of solar panels surrounding the telescope. These panels provide roughly 28% of the power needed to run the telescope. It can be difficult to gauge the true size of observatories in aerial photographs like this. Try to spot the silver car hiding in the shadows behind Gemini South — it’s dwarfed by the telescope dome!

25 November 2020: This striking image, streaked with bright swathes of color, captures the beautiful reflection nebula NGC 2170. The diffuse clouds of interstellar dust in the nebula scatter and reflect light from nearby stars, creating this vividly colorful scene. Dust grains reflect blue light from hot stars embedded in the nebula. And warm hydrogen gas glows a deep red. Seen as dark tendrils, dust also absorbs the light from stars and gas behind it. This particular nebula lies in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn) — a faint constellation on the celestial equator. It was observed using the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

18 November 2020: Four telescopes are silhouetted against a violet sky, poised and ready to observe the Universe from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Belonging to the PROMPT project, this set of quick-response robotic telescopes — six in total — are designed to spring into action and observe short-lived astronomical phenomena. Each telescope is optimized to observe at a different wavelength range, and together they capture the aftermath of energetic events such as gamma ray bursts. The PROMPT telescopes are funded and operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and are made available to undergraduate and high school students conducting research in North Carolina, allowing the next generation of astronomers to gain experience working with a professional observatory.

10 November 2020: In this image it looks as though you could run up this white stair-like path and dive straight into a rippling pool of stars. In fact, the steep structure is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, based at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The swirling effect of the stars is the result of a clever astrophotography technique, where an extremely long exposure is used to take an image. In this case, however, multiple short exposures were captured and combined in post-processing. Over several hours, the rotation of the Earth produces an imaging effect called star trails which record the motion of the stars across the sky. The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope is no longer observing the Sun, but the interior of the facility is currently being renovated to become the Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach.

4 November 2020: In a fantastically planned shot of the Moon, this image of Gemini South was timed to capture an almost perfectly full Moon framing the telescope. The other two telescopes caught between the red rocks of Cerro Pachón and the blue skies are the SOAR Telescope on the left and the almost finished Vera C. Rubin Observatory on the right. If you inspect the photograph closely, the red cranes being used to construct Rubin Observatory can just be spotted against the white dome. When complete, the telescope will be used to conduct an unprecedented, decade-long survey of the sky at optical wavelengths called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Gemini South is the southern member of the pair of telescopes that make up the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

28 October 2020: The white dome of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope looks a little like a giant snowball, juxtaposed against the icy backdrop. SOAR is an optical telescope, meaning that it observes the skies in the wavelength range that the human eye is sensitive to (and a little beyond). The telescope, however, is equipped with a 4.1-meter mirror, so it can collect a lot more light than human eyes. SOAR is based in Chile at Cerro Pachón. It stands at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,900 feet) above sea level, which in this winter scene, explains the frosted mountain tops! SOAR is operated by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

21 October 2020: In the heart of the Crab Nebula (Messier 1) a neutron star is rotating 30 times every single second. This pirouetting star, known as the Crab Pulsar, consists purely of neutrons, and has an intense magnetic field which ejects jets of material from its poles at nearly the speed of light. The Crab Pulsar has a mass about one and a half times that of our Sun, yet all this mass is packed into a sphere only 28 km (17 miles) in diameter — roughly the size of Mars’s small moon Phobos. The wispy structures shown in this image are caused by material flowing equatorially outwards from the pulsar and careening into the surrounding nebula. These dynamic features, known as termination shocks, move and change shape as outflow from the puslar ebbs and flows. This changeability is showcased by this composite image, which is a compilation of three Gemini North …

14 October 2020: Not all telescopes are nocturnal. This stunning image may look like a piece of abstract art, but it in fact features the iconic McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, which is stationed at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Telescopes like the KPNO 2.1-meter telescope seen at the center of the arch operate at night, so that the blazing light of our Sun does not drown out the light from the rest of the sky. However, the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope took observations day and night before ending operations in 2017. During its years of operation, this telescope observed not only the Sun, but also planets and bright stars. The interior of the facility is currently being renovated to become the Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach.

7 October 2020: This aerial view of the summit area of Maunakea showcases one of the best sites in the world for ground-based astronomy. Against a backdrop of snow and dark volcanic rock, the domes of the Maunakea Observatories harbor some of the world’s most advanced astronomical equipment. These telescopes, including the 8.1-meter Gemini North (the open silver dome on the higher ridge), utilize the high elevation, dark skies, and good weather to observe the Universe in astounding clarity. Despite the occasional snowfall, the air at the summit of Maunakea is extremely dry, making the site perfect for infrared observations — as well as stunning photographs like this one! Gemini North is one of the pair of telescopes that make up the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. This photo was taken during an overflight of Maunakea on 28 March 2015 during a collaboration with the W.M. Keck Observatory to test …

30 September 2020: The Milky Way resembles a waterfall rushing down the colorful night sky above Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The green-tinged light on the horizon is airglow, originating from the naturally occurring gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Airglow is present at all latitudes but is incredibly dim at visible wavelengths, making it difficult to spot with the naked eye but vivid and bright with long exposure photography. While the horizon softly glows with light, the skies above the telescopes remain awash with stars.

23 September 2020: Last week, on the night of Thursday 17 September 2020 10:52 pm, a very bright meteor was reported by more than 25 eyewitnesses in and around Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. The phenomenon, also known as a fireball or bolide, was also spotted by one of the robotic cameras at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab: an all-sky camera operated by the University of Arizona’s Spacewatch who operates the Spacewatch 0.9-meter Telescope and the Spacewatch 1.8-meter Telescope (seen in the image as the white dome near the top of the image respectively on the left). The image shows the fireball, brighter than the full Moon, entering from the south (bottom) of the image and moving north. Its color is a clear blue. The aim of Spacewatch’s telescopes is very relevant: to observe Near-Earth Asteroids which have been found to pose an impact hazard to Earth. KPNO remains …

16 September 2020: The glowing light suffusing the night sky in this photograph is due to two fascinating effects — zodiacal light and airglow. The first effect, zodiacal light, is due to sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust in our Solar System, and causes the dim white vertical gleam dominating the left hand side of this image. Airglow, on the other hand, originates in Earth’s own atmosphere. It is visible as bands of colored light along the horizon to the right of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.

9 September 2020: The full Moon rises behind the heliostat of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The heliostat has a 2.03-meter (80-inch) mirror that reflects sunlight into the optical path of the telescope. The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope was the largest solar telescope in the world upon its completion in 1962, a title it held until the first light of the National Solar Observatory’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in December 2019. The interior of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope is currently being renovated to become the Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach.