Spiral Galaxy NGC 3627

The spiral galaxy NGC 3627 is located about 30 million light years from Earth. This composite image includes X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope (red), and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope (yellow). The inset shows the central region, which contains a bright X-ray source that is likely powered by material falling onto a supermassive black hole.

A search using archival data from previous Chandra observations of a sample of 62 nearby galaxies has shown that 37 of the galaxies, including NGC 3627, contain X-ray sources in their centers. Most of these sources are likely powered by central supermassive black holes. The survey, which also used data from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey, found that seven of the 37 sources are new supermassive black hole candidates.

Confirming previous Chandra results, this study finds the fraction of galaxies found to be hosting supermassive black holes is much higher than found with optical searches. This shows the ability of X-ray observations to find black holes in galaxies where relatively low-level black hole activity has either been hidden by obscuring material or washed out by the bright optical light of the galaxy. 

New Mars Photo Christens Deep-Space Antenna

                                    


The Malargüe antenna is one of three deep-space tracking installations that make up ESA's Estrack system. Construction of the 600-ton antenna began in 2010 and was completed this year. The site's nearly 115-foot (35-meter) dish is designed to serve as both a ground station for satellites in Earth orbit and spacecraft exploring other destinations in the solar system. The two other installations of the Estrack system are located in New Norcia, Australia, and Cebreros, Spain.
"With the Malargüe station, ESA becomes only the second space agency in the world to provide all-sky coverage for deep-space missions," ESA's Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain said in a statement. The other space agency with the capability is the U.S.-based NASA, which operates its own Deep Space Network of ground stations.
ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting the Red Planet since December 2003. It is currently in the midst of an extended mission that runs through 2014.

NASA CAPTURES SOLSTICE SOLAR PORTRAIT

At 11:12 UT (6:12 a.m. EST), the world didn't end (as far as I can tell), but it was a significant time none-the-less. That was the exact minute of the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (or the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere) -- when the daylight hours are shortest and the sun reaches its most southern position in the sky at noon.

The ever-watchful NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the time of solstice from orbit. Although the SDO is always imaging the sun through a multitude of filters, this is a great excuse to showcase the fantastic beauty of our nearest star, while putting all the doomsday nonsense behind us.
The sun didn't unleash a killer solar flare or devastating coronal mass ejection, but it is undergoing a fascinating period in its solar cycle.

As can be seen from the SDO image above, the solar magnetic field is twisted and warped, channeling million-degree plasma high into the sun's atmosphere in the form of beautiful coronal loops. This is all because the sun is fast approaching "solar maximum" -- an exciting time when the sun's magnetic field is most stressed.

We can expect a lot more flares and CMEs from now and through 2013; although these events can damage satellites and threaten power supplies, they're not the flares described in doomsday myth.
So sit back, and enjoy some solar science and spectacular views of our star as it enters the most dramatic time of its cycle.