3…2…1…
LAUNCH!
🚀
Today at @NASAWallops Flight Facility in Virginia,
we launched more than 8,200 pounds of science,
supplies and hardware to crew members living and working aboard the International Space Station.⁣
⁣
At 9:59 a.m.
EDT,
@NorthropGrumman's #Antares rocket,
with #Cygnus spacecraft onboard,
lifted off our home planet as the @ISS was traveling over the south Atlantic southwest of Cape Town,
South Africa,
at an altitude of 257 statute miles.
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Along for the ride are research investigations,
hardware for future spacewalks and a vest intended to protect astronauts from harmful radiation in space and other cargo that is scheduled to arrive at our orbiting laboratory on Monday,
Nov.
4.
⁣⁣
Images Credit:
(NASA/Bill Ingalls)⁣
⁣ #NASA #RocketLaunch #OutOfThisWorld #WallopsIsland #SpaceStation⁣ #LaunchPhotography

Luckily for sky watchers,
there's a lot to see in the night skies this month,
including a transit of Mercury and a chance to observe the regular dimming and brightening of the "Demon star,"
Algol.

Watch this video to discover when and where to look up!
🔭🌟🌑

It takes more than a candle to light this cosmic pumpkin.
🎃

In this infrared image from our @NASA_Spitzer Space Telescope,
a massive star in the center of a cloud of dust and gas creates what researchers have nicknamed the "Jack-o-lantern Nebula."
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Powerful outflows of radiation and particles from a massive star —
known as an O-type star and about 15 to 20 times heavier than the Sun —
has likely swept the surrounding dust and gas outward,
creating deep gouges in the cloud.

The red wavelength is more pronounced in this high-contrast image,
highlighting contours in the dust as well as the densest regions of the nebula,
which appear brightest.
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Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech⁣
⁣ #halloween #spitzerspacetelescope #cosmic #pumpkin #jackolantern #nebula⁣