Rings and Things

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is situated in the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426, 320 million light-years from Earth. It’s a barred spiral galaxy known as MCG+07-07-072, seen here among a number of photobombing stars that are much closer to Earth than it is.

MCG+07-07-072 has quite an unusual shape for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms emerging from the ends of its barred core to draw a near-circle around its disk. It is classified as an SBc(r) galaxy: the c denotes that its two spiral arms are loosely wound, each only performing a half-turn around the galaxy, and the (r) is for the ring-like structure they create.

Rings in galaxies come in quite a few forms, from merely uncommon, to rare and scientifically important! Lenticular galaxies are a type that sit between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They feature a large disk, unlike an elliptical galaxy, but lack any spiral arms. Lenticular means lens-shaped, and these galaxies often feature ring-like shapes in their disks.

Meanwhile, the classification of “ring galaxy” is reserved for peculiar galaxies with a round ring of gas and star formation, much like spiral arms look, but completely disconnected from the galactic nucleus — or even without any visible nucleus! They’re thought to be formed in galactic collisions. Finally, there are the famous gravitational lenses, where the ring is in fact a distorted image of a distant, background galaxy, formed by the ‘lens’ galaxy bending light around it. Ring-shaped images, called Einstein rings, only form when the lensing and imaged galaxies are perfectly aligned.

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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Monika Luabeya

NASA-Funded Research Institute Selects New Class of Space Health Fellows

The NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) announced its selections for the institute’s 2024 postdoctoral fellowship, a space health program intended to launch the careers of a new generation of researchers tackling various challenges involved with human space exploration.

The program supports early-career scientists pursuing research with the potential to reduce the health risks associated with spaceflight. Selected fellows will participate in TRISH’s Academy of Bioastronautics, a mentorship community for space health professionals, and receive a two-year salary stipend. Fellows were selected based on the strengths of the various projects they proposed. Projects are expected to begin in September.

“Our TRISH program has always prioritized providing the next generation with the tools to further human health in space,” said Dr. Rihana Bokhari, acting TRISH chief scientific officer and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “As space becomes more accessible to more people, investing in these early-career scientists is necessary to develop solutions to mitigate the health risks that life in space may pose. We are eager to have this group join our postdoctoral fellowship program and enhance their research for spaceflight.”

The following fellows were selected:

Carolyn Chlebek, Ph.D.

MaineHealth

Mentor: Clifford Rosen, M.D.

Project: Bone Metabolism is Altered by Skeletal Unloading and Nutrient Limitation During Long-duration Spaceflight

Katharyn Flickinger, Ph.D.

University of Pittsburgh

Mentor: Clifton Callaway, M.D., Ph.D.

Project: Metabolic Measurement, Manipulation, and Countermeasure Strategies

Patrick Opdensteinen, M.Sc., Ph.D.

University of California, San Diego

Mentor: Nicole Steinmetz, Ph.D. Project: Streamlined Molecular Farming of Virus-Like Particle (VLP) Therapeutics in Space

The institute is supported by NASA’s Human Research Program to solve the challenges of human deep space exploration. Led by Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Space Medicine, the consortium leverages partnerships with Caltech in Pasadena, California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and missions to the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy as space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

-end-

Kelly Humphries / Laura Sorto

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov / laura.g.sorto@nasa.gov

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Nathan Cranford

Kansas Students to Hear from NASA Astronauts Aboard Station

Students from Topeka, Kansas, will have the opportunity Wednesday, Aug. 21, to have NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Tracy C. Dyson answer their prerecorded questions aboard the International Space Station.

The 20-minute space-to-Earth call with students from Mose J. Whitson Elementary, Most Pure Heart Catholic School, and Aviation Explorers Post 8, will stream live at 10:30 a.m. EDT Aug. 21, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through various platforms, including social media.

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 19, by contacting Aaron Gray at agray@tps501.org or 785-295-2900.

In preparation for the event, students from Whitson Elementary joined high school members of Aviation Explorers Post 8 for a local airport control tower tour and a pre-flight inspection demonstration. The Lawrence Amateur Astronomy Club, University of Kansas graduate students, and other astronomy enthusiasts provided presentations for the Whitson Starry Night Astronomy Title I family night. On the day of the event more than five schools from across the community will tune in.

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space Station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

-end-

Abbey Donaldson / Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov / gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones 
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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Abbey A. Donaldson

Hubble Rings in a New Galactic View

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is situated in the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426, 320 million light-years from Earth. It’s a barred spiral galaxy known as MCG+07-07-072, seen here among a number of photobombing stars that are much closer to Earth than it is.

MCG+07-07-072 has quite an unusual shape for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms emerging from the ends of its barred core to draw a near-circle around its disk. It is classified as an SBc(r) galaxy: the c denotes that its two spiral arms are loosely wound, each only performing a half-turn around the galaxy, and the (r) is for the ring-like structure they create.

Rings in galaxies come in quite a few forms, from merely uncommon, to rare and scientifically important! Lenticular galaxies are a type that sit between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They feature a large disk, unlike an elliptical galaxy, but lack any spiral arms. Lenticular means lens-shaped, and these galaxies often feature ring-like shapes in their disks.

Meanwhile, the classification of “ring galaxy” is reserved for peculiar galaxies with a round ring of gas and star formation, much like spiral arms look, but completely disconnected from the galactic nucleus — or even without any visible nucleus! They’re thought to be formed in galactic collisions. Finally, there are the famous gravitational lenses, where the ring is in fact a distorted image of a distant, background galaxy, formed by the ‘lens’ galaxy bending light around it. Ring-shaped images, called Einstein rings, only form when the lensing and imaged galaxies are perfectly aligned.

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Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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Southern California Student Wins NASA Scholarship

Sabrina Redifer, a 2024 graduate of Quartz Hill High School in Lancaster, California, won a NASA College Scholarship Award.

Redifer plans to major this fall in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned a 4.0 grade-point average – a weighted GPA of 5.29 – and ranked fourth academically out of a class of 794 students.

“My dream of becoming a physician stems from a love of science, innovation, and equality,” she said. “I want to develop new treatments through molecular and cellular research, and I want to make those treatments accessible to all people, regardless of their economic status or where they live.”

Redifer won the scholarship following an agency-wide application for NASA employee dependents planning to pursue a science, technology, engineering, or math degree. The scholarship is $2,000 per year for up to four years.

She is the daughter of Matthew Redifer, who is X-59 aircraft flight systems lead at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and Saynne Redifer, of Palmdale, California.

“I didn’t think I was going to win,” Sabrina Redifer said. “I was super excited when I did!”

Sabrina Redifer is a valedictorian, received a 2023 and a 2024 Advanced Placement Scholar Award with Distinction, and the Advanced Placement Capstone Diploma, a special two-year course conducted in tandem with Advanced Placement classes.

Redifer was president of Quartz Hill High School’s National Honor Society, the varsity girls golf team president, and co-president of the Asian Student Union. She qualified for California Interscholastic Federation golf tournaments multiple times and ranked top six in the Golden League all four years.

In her community, she volunteered for two years at the Antelope Valley Medical Center in the gift shop and emergency room and at the Quartz Hill Food Pantry, where she helped pack food

for distribution. In addition, she shadowed physicians this summer, following and observing as they met with patients.

For more about NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong

– End –

For more information, contact:

Jay Levine
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center
(661) 276-3459
jay.levine-1@nasa.gov

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