Don't whitewash American history on the Fourth of July
Article excerpt
Frederick Douglass's 1852 Fourth of July speech highlighted the hypocrisy of celebrating independence while slavery still existed, and today Black Americans still face economic and social discrimination, but despite setbacks, progress towards racial justice and equality continues.
NASA is ringing in the country’s 250th anniversary with a collection of Fourth of July themed images and videos highlighting cosmic wonders far beyond the United States. Researchers recently visualized a set of images across a spectrum of red, white, and blue hues compiled by the Chandra X-ray Observatory as well as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). To compliment the sights, NASA also produced new sonifications, a method to transform astronomical information into often ethereal soundscapes.
About 11,000 light-years away from Earth, the supernova Cassiopeia A’s X-rays (seen above) are rendered in blue and purple, while infrared wavelengths are shown in red and white using data from JWST. The X-ray overlays capture the destroyed star’s expansive blast wave of elements including calcium, iron, and oxygen. Meanwhile, the infrared components illustrate the explosion’s growing shell filled with cosmic dust.
NCG 3603, which contains a massive cluster of stars on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
The gigantic star cluster inside the nebula NGC 3603 (about 20,000 light-years away) shines in a second image.
The spiral galaxy is seen face on, with concentric pale violet cloud rings flecked with scores of stars in white, pale blue, soft red, and golden yellow. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
The third showcases the Messier 94 spiral galaxy. The luminous formation about 16 million light-years away visible around the galaxy is called a starburst ring, home to new stars. The new sonification subjects include Messier 94, with various pitched tones mapped to a glass marimba representing objects like neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes.
For the nebula NGC 3603, piano notes serve as stand ins for objects depending on their brightness.
To see and hear all of the seasonally appropriate offerings, click here.
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