Not all galaxies are lonely.
Some have galaxy squads.
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NGC 1706,
captured in this image by @NASAHubble,
belongs to something known as a galaxy group,
which is just as the name suggests —
a group of up to 50 galaxies which are gravitationally bound and relatively close to each other.
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Our home galaxy,
the Milky Way,
has its own squad —
known as the Local Group,
which also contains the Andromeda galaxy,
the Large and Small Magellanic clouds and the Triangulum galaxy.
Click the link in the bio for more info ⬆️⁣
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Image credit:
ESA/Hubble &
NASA,
A.
Bellini et al.⁣ #galaxy #squadgoals #hubble #cosmos #universe

Waving goodbye to a spacecraft.
👋

Astronaut Christina Koch used the robotic arm on the International Space Station (@ISS)
to release Japan's "Kounotori"
HTV cargo ship on Nov.
1,
after it spent 34 days attached to the station's Harmony module.
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Launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Sept.
24,
Kounotori,
meaning “white stork”
in Japanese,
delivered about five tons of supplies and science experiments as well as new lithium-ion batteries to the station.
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"Gone but not forgotten!,"
wrote Koch.
"Watching the HTV cargo ship depart Space Station⁣
today and remembering the complex dance of the robotic arm that marked the beginning of its stay."
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Image Credit:
NASA⁣
⁣ #spaceship #spacestation #sunrise #jaxa #goodbye

Cue a jaw-drop😮⁣
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Behold,
our beautiful planet Earth in all its natural splendor,
captured from 250 miles above by the International Space Station (@ISS)
commander Luca Parmitano.
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As you read this,
six humans are orbiting planet Earth at 17,500 mph in a football-field sized microgravity laboratory.
During their time on the space station,
they conduct important science and research that not only benefits life here on Earth,
but will eventually help us send humans deeper into the solar system than ever before.⁣
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Credit:
@EuropeanSpaceAgency /
Luca Parmitano⁣