Universe Today - January 4, 2002

The newest photograph released from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the strangely glowing dark clouds of star-forming region IC 2944. These globules were first discovered by astronomer A.D. Thackeray in 1950, but little is known about their origin and nature. It's theorized that the clouds are dense clumps of dust and gas that were exposed when new stars in the nebula cleared away all the less dense material.

Solar astronomers were blown away yesterday when the Sun released one of the most complex coronal mass ejections (CME) ever seen since the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was launched over six years ago. The eruption twisted and turned out a tremendous distance, hurtling billions of tonnes of charged particles at 3.5 million kilometres per hour. The CME wasn't directed at the Earth, so there shouldn't be any additional geomagnetic activity around the planet.

New NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe spent his first day in the office on Wednesday, picking up where former administrator Daniel Goldin left off; he was officially sworn in by the US government on December 31, but didn't start work until January 2nd. As his first task, O'Keefe sent a message to NASA employees reflecting on the tragic events of 2001 and his resolve to help the agency overcome its many challenges. Before NASA, O'Keefe was the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he served since March 2001.