NASA's scientific balloon returns more stunning images as it cruises around the world

NASA's super pressure balloon, which lifted off from Wānaka, New Zealand, on April 15, continues its journey around the world. The Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) flying on the balloon has returned more stunning research images.

The newly-released research images are of two majestic galaxies - the Southern Pinwheel spiral galaxy and the Sombrero galaxy.

The above image is of Sombrero galaxy, aka Messier 104, which is located 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, and with a mass equal to 800 billion suns, it is one of the most massive objects in the Virgo galaxy cluster. 

The Southern Pinwheel galaxy is located 15 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Hydra. Also known as the Messier 83, it is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky.

The Southern Pinwheel spiral galaxy / Image Credit: NASA/SuperBIT

These images are secondary science goals for the SuperBIT mission, which is to characterize the types of stars in other galaxies that are similar to ones in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

As our scientific balloon continues its journey around the southern mid-latitudes, the SuperBIT telecope has been continuing to collect imagery. Our latest preliminary research images are of the Southern Pinwheel spiral galaxy and the Sombrero galaxy. https://t.co/M0Fg7pItLJ pic.twitter.com/KbhWCJNIbN

— NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) May 2, 2023

Super pressure balloons are a low-cost method to carry scientific payloads, making them ideal for carrying large scientific instruments or telescopes to conduct scientific observations for extended periods.