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Hubble Captures Starry Spectacle This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the barred spiral galaxy NGC 685.ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee, F. Belfiore

A galaxy ablaze with young stars is the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Named NGC 685, this galaxy is situated about 64 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus (the River). NGC 685 is a barred spiral because its feathery spiral arms sprout from the ends of a bar of stars at the galaxy’s center. The Milky Way is also a barred spiral, but our galaxy is a little less than twice the size of NGC 685.

Astronomers used Hubble to study NGC 685 for two observing programs, both focused on star formation. It’s no surprise that NGC 685 was part of these programs: numerous patches of young, blue stars highlight the galaxy’s spiral arms. Also visible are pink gas clouds, called H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) regions, that glow for a short time when particularly hot and massive stars are born. An especially eye-catching H II region peeks out at the bottom edge of the image. Despite the dozens of star-forming regions evident in this image, NGC 685 converts an amount of gas equivalent to less than half the mass of the Sun into stars each year.

The Hubble data collected for the two observing programs will allow astronomers to catalogue 50,000 H II regions and 100,000 star clusters in nearby galaxies. By combining Hubble’s sensitive visible and ultraviolet observations with infrared data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, researchers can peer into the depths of dusty stellar nurseries and illuminate the stars forming there.

Text Credit: ESA/Hubble

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Media Contact:

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

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Details Last Updated Jun 06, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms

• Hubble Space Telescope
• Astrophysics
• Astrophysics Division
• Galaxies
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Spiral Galaxies
• The Universe

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Credit: NASA

Editor’s note: This release was updated June 6, 2025, to correct the name of one of the awardees.

NASA continues to collaborate with global communities to solve complex challenges through crowdsourcing with a series of 25 new NASA Open Innovation Service (NOIS) contracts managed by the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The contract aims to empower NASA’s workforce by actively engaging the public to find creative solutions to difficult space exploration challenges through rapid experimentation with new methodologies, new technologies, and unique perspectives, ensuring NASA remains at the forefront of innovation while accomplishing its missions.

This is the third NOIS contract, managed by NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI), and used by NASA and other government agencies. The NOIS3 contract will provide solutions through multiple crowdsourcing tools and methodologies, which include public prize competitions, freelance tasking, technology searches, and other crowd-based methods.

The total value of the NOIS3 contract is $475 million over 10 years. There is a guaranteed $500 minimum obligation for each contract award. The base contract spans June 5, 2025, through May 31, 2027, and there are two options, the first for three years, and the second for five years. If all options are exercised, work could continue through May 31, 2035.

The awardees are:

• Blue Clarity, Vienna, Virginia
• Capital Consulting Corp., Fairfax, Virginia
• Challenge Works, London, United Kingdom
• CrowdPlat Inc., Pleasanton, California
• Design Interactive Inc., Orlando, Florida
• DrivenData Inc., Denver
• Ensemble Government Services, Hyattsville, Maryland
• Hyperion Technologies, Arlington, Virginia
• Floor23 Digital, Jackson, Wisconsin
• Freelancer International, Sydney, Australia
• HeroX, Wilmington, Delaware
• HYVE Innovate, Munchen, Germany
• Innoget, Rockville, Maryland
• Institute of Competition Sciences, San Francisco
• Loyal Source Government Services, Orlando, Florida
• Luminary Labs, New York City
• National Institute of Aerospace Associates, Hampton, Virginia
• Randstad Federal, Duluth, Georgia
• Rios Partners, Arlington, Virginia
• SecondMuse, Bernalillo, New Mexico
• TechConnect, Summerville, South Carolina
• Toffler Associates, Arlington, Virginia
• Tongal Inc., Los Angeles
• Topcoder, Indianapolis
• yet2.com Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts

NASA’s CoECI provides guidance on open innovation initiatives, helping define challenges and requirements and formulating and evaluating potential solutions. The center’s end-to-end service allows NASA and other federal agencies to rapidly experiment with new methods and solve critical problems through innovation and collaboration.

Learn more about the NASA Center of Excellence at:

https://www.nasa.gov/coeci

-end-

Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 06, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)
• Johnson Space Center
• Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program
• Space Technology Mission Directorate

Credit: NASA

Editor’s note: This release was updated June 6, 2025, to correct the name of one of the awardees.

NASA continues to collaborate with global communities to solve complex challenges through crowdsourcing with a series of 25 new NASA Open Innovation Service (NOIS) contracts managed by the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The contract aims to empower NASA’s workforce by actively engaging the public to find creative solutions to difficult space exploration challenges through rapid experimentation with new methodologies, new technologies, and unique perspectives, ensuring NASA remains at the forefront of innovation while accomplishing its missions.

This is the third NOIS contract, managed by NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI), and used by NASA and other government agencies. The NOIS3 contract will provide solutions through multiple crowdsourcing tools and methodologies, which include public prize competitions, freelance tasking, technology searches, and other crowd-based methods.

The total value of the NOIS3 contract is $475 million over 10 years. There is a guaranteed $500 minimum obligation for each contract award. The base contract spans June 5, 2025, through May 31, 2027, and there are two options, the first for three years, and the second for five years. If all options are exercised, work could continue through May 31, 2035.

The awardees are:

• Blue Clarity, Vienna, Virginia
• Capital Consulting Corp., Fairfax, Virginia
• Challenge Works, London, United Kingdom
• CrowdPlat Inc., Pleasanton, California
• Design Interactive Inc., Orlando, Florida
• DrivenData Inc., Denver
• Ensemble Government Services, Hyattsville, Maryland
• Hyperion Technologies, Arlington, Virginia
• Floor23 Digital, Jackson, Wisconsin
• Freelancer International, Sydney, Australia
• HeroX, Wilmington, Delaware
• HYVE Innovate, Munchen, Germany
• Innoget, Rockville, Maryland
• Institute of Competition Sciences, San Francisco
• Loyal Source Government Services, Orlando, Florida
• Luminary Labs, New York City
• National Institute of Aerospace Associates, Hampton, Virginia
• Randstad Federal, Duluth, Georgia
• Rios Partners, Arlington, Virginia
• SecondMuse, Bernalillo, New Mexico
• TechConnect, Summerville, South Carolina
• Toffler Associates, Arlington, Virginia
• Tongal Inc., Los Angeles
• Topcoder, Indianapolis
• yet2.com Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts

NASA’s CoECI provides guidance on open innovation initiatives, helping define challenges and requirements and formulating and evaluating potential solutions. The center’s end-to-end service allows NASA and other federal agencies to rapidly experiment with new methods and solve critical problems through innovation and collaboration.

Learn more about the NASA Center of Excellence at:

https://www.nasa.gov/coeci

-end-

Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 06, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)
• Johnson Space Center
• Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program
• Space Technology Mission Directorate

Japan's private Resilience lunar lander went dark just before it was scheduled to touch down on the moon today (June 5), raising doubts about the venture's success.

Taurine supplements have previously been found to extend the lifespan of monkeys and mice, but a new study in humans shows that the amino acid doesn’t decline with age

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