LAUNCH PAD

YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE

- 

11 May 2021

A Martian rover’s view of ‘Santa Cruz’

NASA’s Perseverance rover snapped this profound photo using its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager while inside Jezero crater. Here we can see Santa Cruz, a large hill standing proud amid the rugged Martian landscape, located approximately 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) away from the rover.

Beyond Santa Cruz on the horizon is the faint dusty rim of Jezero crater. This image is presented as a preliminary calibrated version of a natural-colour composite, meaning the colours displayed are similar to how they would look to a person standing on Mars.

26 April 2021

Star-studded necklace

The exquisite and aptly named Necklace Nebula, officially PN G054.2-03.4, is located 15,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagitta (the Arrow). This celestial jewel was forged approximately 10,000 years ago by two doomed Sun-like stars locked in a very tight orbit.

One of the ageing stars proceeded to consume its smaller companion, creating what astronomers call a ‘common envelope’ – gas that contains a binary star system.

This process caused the expulsion of vast quantities of gas and dust, which now forms the ring that gives the Necklace Nebula its famous shape.