Make your own images of the amazing galaxy M87— host to a supermassive black hole — using data from NASA’s space telescopes or ground based telescopes. Try these challenges and your entry could be selected as a standout for recognition from NASA scientists!

Visit: NASA's Astrophoto Challenges

Biographies of Show Participants

PHIL LAMARR (Host)

A Los Angeles native, Phil is an alumnus of Yale University and The Groundlings Theater and perhaps is best known as one of the original cast members of MAD TV, as “Hermes” on FUTURAMA,  as "Marvin" in PULP FICTION, “Green Lantern” on JUSTICE LEAGUE and as the voice of SAMURAI JACK. For over 30 years Phil has thrilled audiences with his work on camera and behind the microphone on TV shows such as STATIC SHOCK, FAMILY GUY, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, the CW’s THE FLASH & SUPERGIRL, GET SHORTY, LUCIFER and VEEP; feature films like MADAGASCAR 2, INCREDIBLES 2, and THE LION KING (2019) and video games including FORTNITE, SHADOW OF MORDOR, and the INJUSTICE, METAL GEAR SOLID, and the MORTAL KOMBAT series.

RUTUPARNA DAS (Astronomer)

Rutuparna Das is an astrophysicist and science communicator who spends her time learning about the universe and sharing its wonders with everyone around her.  After going to undergrad at MIT, she completed her PhD at the University of Michigan, where she worked on weighing clusters of galaxies and figuring out what the cosmos is made of.  She’s now at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, spreading the joys of space through NASA’s Universe of Learning, and continuing her research into the composition of the universe.  When she’s not staring at the sky, she enjoys reading, crafting crazy desserts, taking an inordinate number of nature photos, and writing (sometimes silly) poetry about the cosmos.

EILEEN MEYER (Astronomer)

Eileen Meyer is originally from the very starry-night-sky state of Kansas. She received her B.S. degree in Astrophysics in 2005 and PhD in Physics in 2012, both from Rice University. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute for three years, working primarily with the Hubble Space Telescope before joining the faculty of UMBC in Baltimore, MD where she is now an as associate professor of physics. Her research team is particularly interested in understanding the physics of jets of extremely hot gas which originate near super-massive black holes.