Tracing The Source of a Cosmic Phenomenon on This Week @NASA – July 13, 2018 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

"Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope traces a high-energy neutrino back to a distant supermassive black hole, Cassini spacecraft captures the sound of plasma waves between Saturn and its moon Enceladus, and Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals young stars in the Eagle Nebula."

Key Insights

• ✋ The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a high-energy neutrino from outside our galaxy, providing insights into powerful cosmic events.
• 🫥 The Cassini spacecraft's observation of plasma waves between Saturn and Enceladus highlights their movement on magnetic field lines.
• 🙂 The composite image of the Eagle Nebula reveals the formation of hundreds of young stars, shedding light on the process of stellar birth.
• 👾 NASA announced the selection of new flight directors who will play crucial roles in human space missions.
• 🚀 An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station, demonstrating an expedited capability for future launches.
• 👾 The sound of plasma waves in space provides astronomers with a unique audio representation of cosmic phenomena.
• 📤 The combination of X-ray and optical data enhances our understanding of star formation in distant regions of the universe.

Transcript

Tracing the source of a cosmic phenomenon … The sound of plasma waves in space … And X-ray exploration of the Eagle Nebula … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! For the first time ever, our Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has found the source of a high-energy neutrino from outside our galaxy. High-energy neutrinos are hard-t... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: How did the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope trace a high-energy neutrino back to a black hole?

The telescope detected a blast of gamma-ray light from a distant supermassive black hole in the constellation Orion, which was traced back to the high-energy neutrino.

Q: What did the Cassini spacecraft observe regarding plasma waves?

The spacecraft observed that plasma waves travel on magnetic field lines connecting Saturn and Enceladus, recording the sound of the plasma waves and converting it into an audio file.

Q: What did the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope reveal about the Eagle Nebula?

The observatories combined data to identify hundreds of young stars, including protostars, in the star-forming region of the Eagle Nebula.

Q: What is the significance of the new flight directors announced by NASA?

The newly selected flight directors will oversee human missions involving the International Space Station, including flights on commercial crew spacecraft and missions to the Moon and beyond using the Orion spacecraft.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected a high-energy neutrino from outside our galaxy and traced it back to a supermassive black hole in the Orion constellation.

• The Cassini spacecraft recorded plasma waves traveling between Saturn and its moon Enceladus, revealing their movement on magnetic field lines.

• A composite image of the Eagle Nebula combines X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope, identifying hundreds of young stars in formation.