A new NASA project lets Instagram users experience the wonders of space as seen by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other space telescopes. It’s an augmented reality (AR) filter called the “Instagram experience” that captures incredibly beautiful celestial bodies and places them right next to you on camera.
These include debris from stars that were destroyed in massive supernova explosions and dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust where stars are actively forming. The AR filter was added to Instagram to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chandra, NASA’s flagship X-ray space telescope, which launched on July 23, 1999.
To use the Instagram Chandra experience, search for the account “NASAChandraXray”. Select the effects options (the tab that looks like three four-pointed stars) and select the one you want. You can then either save the effect to your camera roll and apply it to your stories, or you can select the ‘Try it’ button for instant access.
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“We’re excited to bring data from space down to Earth in this way,” said Kimberly Arcand, a visualization and emerging technology scientist at the Chandra X-ray Center. “Enabling access to space data on their phones and through AR brings Chandra’s amazing discoveries literally at their fingertips.”
What celestial bodies can you bring to Earth?
The Instagram experience was generated using 3D models created from Chandra data and observations from other telescopes. A bit of mathematical modeling was also required to bring these cosmic muses into focus.
Such 3D modeling of objects, typically seen as 2D projections onto the celestial sphere above the Earth, has only become possible in recent years thanks to new instruments and techniques. This led to an explosion in the sophistication of data-driven 3D models of distant celestial bodies.
As the technology boomed, so did the options offered to the public through virtual, augmented and augmented reality. This program extends these experiences beyond the boundaries of the solar system. It applies this innovative concept to the depths of space.
We won’t spoil all the celestial bodies you can experience with this new NASA program. You’ll want to explore for yourself. However, we will offer you a few objects to start with.
Pulsar Vela is seen as a stunning pair of purple arcs with a faint streak running through their centers. If you grab this object and drag it from where it resides 1,000 light-years away, what you will see is actually a neutron star that was formed from the collapse of a massive star.
Although this neutron star is only about 20 kilometers across, it has about twice the mass of the Sun. This means that the matter it contains is so dense that a spoonful of it brought to Earth would weigh over 1 billion tons. That’s harder than Mount Everest.
Pulsar Vela spins so fast that it completes 11 revolutions per second. This means that it rotates faster than the helicopter blades. And when it does, it shoots jets from the poles at about 70% the speed of light. These rays create an almost light-year-long movement across space.
The birth of a neutron star like the heart of the Vela pulsar is accompanied by a massive cosmic explosion called a supernova, which tears the massive star apart as the star’s core collapses.
NASA’s new Instagram experience gives users a chance to explore one of the most spectacular examples of such stellar deaths.
The Tycho Supernova Remnant, also known as SN 1572 or B Cassiopeiae (B Cas), is the name given to supernova debris located between 8,000 and 10,000 light-years from Earth. This supernova was first observed in 1572 and is named after one of its discoverers, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It is believed to be a Type Ia supernova, which is slightly different from the explosions that represent the birth of a neutron star.
Type Ia supernovae occur when stellar remnants called white dwarfs pull material away from the companion star. This mass accumulates on the white dwarf until it sets off a nuclear explosion that completely destroys the rest of the star.
The Instagram experience also features the remains of another dead star. This is found in the form of the Helix Nebula, an expanding cloud of stellar material located about 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.
The Helix Nebula is an example of a planetary nebula (which, confusingly, has nothing to do with planets), an expanding shell of gas and dust that were once the outer layers of a dying star. At the heart of this material, marked as a purple blob in the Chandra image, is a raging stellar core.
The Cat’s Eye Nebula is also a planetary nebula, although it is further away at a distance of 3,262 light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco. This planetary nebula can be seen in exquisite detail, revealing twisted spirals of dust and gas and expanding shells of what was once stellar material.
However, it’s not all about the visuals with this NASA Instagram experience. The program also features cosmic data transformed into sound through a process called “sonification”. This was made possible under the Chandra Accessibility Program, which has been running for the past four years.
This isn’t the first time NASA has teamed up with Instagram to create a space experience. Users of the social media platform have previously been able to explore the inner workings of NASA’s mission control, travel into low Earth orbit with the International Space Station (ISS) and cruise through Mars with the Perseverance rover.
“These Chandra Instagram experiences are another way to share this space data with the public,” said Arcand. “We hope this will help reach new audiences, especially those who like to get their information through social media.”