Spaceflight Now Home



Spaceflight Now +



Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.

'Salute to Titan'
This video by Lockheed Martin relives the storied history of the Titan rocket family over the past five decades. (4min 21sec file)
 Play video

Titan history
Footage from that various Titan rocket launches from the 1950s to today is compiled into this movie. (6min 52sec file)
 Play video

Soyuz's fiery re-entry
A camera aboard the space station captured this extraordinary video of the Soyuz TMA-5 capsule plunging back to Earth. The descent module with the crew is seen flying onward while the discarded docking and propulsion modules are ripped apart in the atmosphere. (2min 21sec file)
 Play video

Expedition 10 undocking
The Soyuz TMA-5 capsule undocks from the space station's Zarya module to ferry the Expedition 10 crew back to Earth. (5min 02sec file)
 Play video

Expedition 10 farewell
The Expedition 10 crew says farewell to the new space station crew and heads into the Soyuz capsule in advance of departure. (3min 50sec file)
 Play video

ISS command change
The Expedition 10 crew hands command of the International Space Station to the Expedition 11 crew in this ceremony staged in the Destiny module on April 22. (1min 49sec file)
 Play video

Griffin goes before press
Michael Griffin, NASA's new administrator, holds his first news conference from agency headquarters to discuss shuttle return to flight, exploration plans and Hubble servicing. (46min 44sec file)
 Play video

 Download audio:
   For iPod

NASA's new boss
During his first day on the job, Michael Griffin, NASA's new administrator, addresses agency employees and answers questions on a variety of topics on April 14. (28min 50sec file)
 Play video

Griffin in his own words
Nominated to become the new administrator of NASA, Michael Griffin gives an opening statement to a Senate committee about his thoughts on the agency. (6min 38sec file)
 Play video

Senators quiz Griffin
Senators ask a wide range of questions to NASA administrator nominee Michael Griffin concerning the future exploration, the space shuttle and space station programs, Hubble servicing options and aeronautics funding. (27min 06sec file)
 Play video

Soyuz docking
The Russian Soyuz TMA-6 capsule docks to the space station's Pirs module, delivering the Expedition 11 to the outpost for a half-year mission. (4min 15sec file)
 Play video

Launch of Expedition 11
The Russian Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft is launched to put the International Space Station's Expedition 11 crew in Earth orbit.
 Short | Full Length

Shuttle external tank
Highlights of pre-flight work involving the redesigned external fuel tank for the space shuttle return to flight mission is packaged into this movie with narration. (6min 32sec file)
 Play video

Become a subscriber
More video



The Whirlpool Galaxy and companion
SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE
Posted: April 25, 2005


Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Download larger image version here

 
The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust.

This sharpest-ever image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, taken in January 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, illustrates a spiral galaxy's grand design, from its curving spiral arms, where young stars reside, to its yellowish central core, a home of older stars. The galaxy is nicknamed the Whirlpool because of its swirling structure.

The Whirlpool's most striking feature is its two curving arms, a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies. Many spiral galaxies possess numerous, loosely shaped arms which make their spiral structure less pronounced. These arms serve an important purpose in spiral galaxies. They are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars. In the Whirlpool, the assembly line begins with the dark clouds of gas on the inner edge, then moves to bright pink star-forming regions, and ends with the brilliant blue star clusters along the outer edge.

Some astronomers believe that the Whirlpool's arms are so prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the Whirlpool's arms. At first glance, the compact galaxy appears to be tugging on the arm. Hubble's clear view, however, shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind the Whirlpool. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.

As NGC 5195 drifts by, its gravitational muscle pumps up waves within the Whirlpool's pancake-shaped disk. The waves are like ripples in a pond generated when a rock is thrown in the water. When the waves pass through orbiting gas clouds within the disk, they squeeze the gaseous material along each arm's inner edge. The dark dusty material looks like gathering storm clouds. These dense clouds collapse, creating a wake of star birth, as seen in the bright pink star-forming regions. The largest stars eventually sweep away the dusty cocoons with a torrent of radiation, hurricane-like stellar winds, and shock waves from supernova blasts. Bright blue star clusters emerge from the mayhem, illuminating the Whirlpool's arms like city streetlights.

The Whirlpool is one of astronomy's galactic darlings. Located 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), the Whirlpool's beautiful face-on view and closeness to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy's structure and star-forming processes.