China CAS Space Lijian-1 Rocket Launches 9 Satellites

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Rocket Launches 9 Satellites

China successfully launched nine satellites,  including the Qinling-1, Qinling-2, and PEGA-SUS1, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China at 12:03 (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 20, 2026.

The satellites were carried by a Lijian-1 Y18 carrier rocket and have entered their planned orbits.

The Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1), developed by Chinese commercial space company CAS Space, is a solid-fuel carrier rocket featuring rapid-response capabilities.

The launch mission was a complete success. This launch was the 16th launch for Kinetica-1, and the 17th for CAS Space through its Kinetica family of launch vehicles. This was also the 68th launch from China in 2026.

This Kinetica-1 flight brought the start of another orbital computing constellation into space, and a communication-computing spacecraft demonstrator, alongside seven satellites designed to look back at Earth.

The Chaozhisuan-1 satellite is to be the first of a constellation to be deployed under the same name, of potentially thousands of spacecraft under an alliance established in March 2026 with notable members being Zhipu AI, SenseTime, Beijing Wenge Technology Co. Ltd. and Tsinghua University.

Peng Cheng Laboratory and the Southern University of Science and Technology, both based in Shenzhen, had their GalaxySpace-made 150-kilogram PEGA-SUS1 multi-purpose demonstrator satellite placed into orbit. From space, the satellite will verify its ability to serve as a 5G non-terrestrial network base station, demonstrate a 100 gigabits per second optical laser communication link, and prove artificial intelligence-enabled data processing provided by onboard compute. If it can prove all three, involved companies hope that it will open the way for further integration of space-based communications and computing.

Developed by entities under the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), the Pujiang-4 carbon dioxide and methane emission monitoring satellite was deployed. This satellite will keep watch of known, and highlight abnormal, emission sources found within a 30-kilometer-wide observation area. Monitoring is mainly planned to be conducted on sources within China, to help meet climate goals, but global sources can be observed, also.

A niche trio of satellites launched among the rest is Diting-1A, 1B, and 1C designed to monitor electromagnetic frequencies and their emitting locations for a variety of customers. The trio is operated by Tianjin Xingkan Jiuzhou Technology, while being produced by Changguang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd.

Lastly, there is ‘Yunxiao Pathfinder Satellite' reported to be tasked with remote sensing. The satellite belongs to the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Video Credit: CAS Space

Text Credit: CCTV, Jack C.
Duration: 51 seconds
Date: Sept. 20, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y18 #SolidFuelRockets #SatelliteLaunches #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #CommunicationsSatellites #SpaceBasedComputing #CommercialSpace #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis III Rocket Booster Stacking | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis III Rocket Booster Stacking | Kennedy Space Center

Technicians can be seen here integrating the booster segments for NASA’s Artemis III Space Launch System (SLS) rocket atop the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SLS rocket’s twin boosters, each made up of five segments manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, will provide more than 75 percent of the rocket’s total thrust at launch. The Artemis III Mission will launch crew in the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon.

Planned to launch in 2027, the Artemis III Mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit. 

On future missions, including Artemis IV in 2028, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities NASA needs to return—this time to stay.

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston//Frank Michaux
Image Dates: Sept. 11 & 17, 2026 

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIIIMission #LunarLanders #HLS #NASASLS #BoosterSegments #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #RandyBresnik #FrankRubio #AndreDouglas #LucaParmitano #Italy #Italia #Europe #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis 'Dancing' over a Marsh in Canada's Northwest Territories

Aurora Borealis 'Dancing' over a Marsh in Canada's Northwest Territories

Photographer John David McKinnon: "Waves of Auroral curtains danced over the peaceful waters of the Foxholes Marsh in Canada's Northwest Territories."

Known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

The Northwest Territories of Canada is bordered by the territories of Nunavut to the east and Yukon to the west, and by the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the south; it also touches Manitoba to the southeast at a quadripoint that includes Nunavut and Saskatchewan. The land area of the Northwest Territories is roughly equal to that of France, Portugal, and Spain combined, although its overall area is even larger because of its vast lakes.

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the second-largest country by total area with the longest coastline of any country. Its border with the United States is the longest international land border.

Image Credit: John David McKinnon
Location: Foxholes Marsh, Northwest Territories, Canada
Date: Sept. 20, 2026 

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Aurorae #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticFields #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Photography #JohnDavidMcKinnon #Photographer #CitizenScience #FoxholesMarsh #NorthwestTerritories #Canada #NorthAmerica #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-23 Crew Conducts Science, Health Checks | China Space Station

Shenzhou-23 Crew Conducts Science, Health Checks | China Space Station

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on September 20, 2026, released its weekly update on the Shenzhou-23 mission, reporting that the crew has continued scientific research, platform maintenance and health monitoring aboard the Tiangong Space Station.

Nearly four months into their mission, the three astronauts—Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying—have been steadily advancing their space science and experiment tasks. Over the past week, they carried out routine maintenance of the space station platform and maintained their daily living and health.

Specifically, the crew conducted research on the spatial interaction between viruses and immune metabolism, accumulating key data for long-term in-orbit health protection. They also completed the replacement of the second batch of in-orbit test samples for the debris migration imaging experiment and experiment samples in the on-orbit maintenance and assembly operation cabinet.

In terms of platform care, the crew took microbial samples from the water dispenser outlet and carried out routine microbial prevention and control work inside the station, reinforcing health safeguards for long-term stays. They also completed personal noise exposure dose measurements and conducted regular cleaning, inspection and maintenance of the cabin environment.

For health management, the astronauts completed mass measurements, bone density tests and ultrasound examinations of multiple body parts, including the neck, abdomen, heart, blood vessels and lower limb veins, to continuously monitor changes in their physical condition. While maintaining good exercise habits, they used equipment such as the bone loss countermeasure device to actively counter the physiological effects of weightlessness.

Shenzhou-23 Crew
Zhu Yangzhu 朱杨柱, Commander & Flight Engineer (second spaceflight)
Zhang Zhiyuan 张志远, Pilot (first spaceflight)

Lai Ka-ying/Li Jiaying 黎家盈, Payload Specialist (first spaceflight) [Hong Kong SAR]

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 20, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Shenzhou23Mission #神舟二十三号 #Shenzhou23 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ZhuYangzhu #ZhangZhiyuan #LiJiaying #LaiKaying #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #MicrogravityExperiments #SpaceLaboratory #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Zodiacal Night in India

A Zodiacal Night in India

Also known as the false dawn, a luminous band of zodiacal light is captured in this dark night skyscape. The serene view was recorded just before the beginning of astronomical twilight during September's star party at the remote Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, Ladakh, India, planet Earth. 

At about 4,500 meters altitude, the dark sky reserve presents a haven for hardy stargazing and astrophotography enthusiasts. While meteors streak through the night, bright planet Jupiter appears immersed in the faint zodiacal glow near the eastern horizon. Follow the zodiacal band toward the zenith to find open star cluster M44 and a yellowish tinged planet Mars near the center of the frame. In fact, serendipitous detections of interplanetary dust by NASA's Juno spacecraft suggest Mars itself is the source of dust that back scatters sunlight and creates zodiacal light in planet Earth's night.

What's that strangely diffused white light? 
Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals into the Sun.

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Learn more about the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Ladakh, India:
https://www.iiap.res.in/centers/iao/hdsr/

Image Credit & Copyright: Neelam and Ajay Talwar (TWAN)

Ajay's website: http://ajaytalwar.com

Release Date: Sept. 19,  2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Jupiter #Mars #Earth #ZodiacalLight #CosmicDust #Meteors #Comets #SolarSystem #DarkSkies #LightPollution #Astrophotographers #AjayTalwar #CitizenScience #Astrophotography #HanleDarkSkyReserve #Ladakh #India #BhāratGaṇarājya #STEM #Education

Flight Deck Aurora at 37,000 feet: View over Northern Canada

Flight Deck Aurora at 37,000 feet: View over Northern Canada

Photographer Matt Melnyk: "After nearly six months without seeing the aurora on my overseas flights to Europe due to the long daylight hours of the northern summer, it was great to finally see the Northern Lights again! This display was photographed at 37,000 feet over Hudson Bay while flying from Calgary, Canada, to London, UK. From above much of the lower atmosphere, the aurora was incredibly vivid with bright green curtains and pillars accompanied by beautiful red and magenta color higher in the display. It was a spectacular welcome back to dark skies on the transatlantic route. I'm super excited to see what the Equinox will bring on these flights!" 

Known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the second-largest country by total area with the longest coastline of any country. Its border with the United States is the longest international land border.

Image Credit: Matt Melnyk
Locations: Northern Manitoba, Hudson Bay and Baffin Island

Image Details: Canon R6 mark 2, with Canon RF 14mm F1.4 lens. shot at ISO 25,600, F1.4 and 0.8 sec exposure

Matt's website: https://www.melnykphotos.com
Date: Sept. 14, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Aurorae #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticFields #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Photography #MattMelnyk #Photographer #CitizenScience #Manitoba #HudsonsBay #BaffinIsland #Canada #NorthAmerica #STEM #Education

'True Color' Full-disk Earth View | China Fengyun-4B Weather Satellite

'True Color' Full-disk Earth View | China Fengyun-4B Weather Satellite

A Fengyun-4B (FY-4B) satellite true-color image of Earth captured at 13:00 Beijing Time, September 16, 2026. FY-4 is the second generation of China's geostationary meteorological satellite series. FY-4B, the second of its series, was launched on June 3rd, 2021. FY-4B is based on the SAST5000 platform with three-axis stabilization and 1553B and Spacewire dual-buses system. It has a designed life of 7 years and a launch weight of 5400kg, The main payloads onboard FY-4B are: Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager, Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder, Geostationary High-speed Imager and Space Environment Package.

Learn more about Fengyun-4B from China's National Center for Space Weather:
https://www.nsmc.org.cn/nsmc/en/satellite/FY4B.html

So far, China has launched 23 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with ten currently in orbit. According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the network provides data services to 133 countries and regions and serves as a key engine for MAZU, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered meteorological system China launched this year to provide early warnings for all users. 

Fengyun-4C was launched on December 27, 2025 to boost the country's ability to monitor extreme weather events and high-impact climate systems with greater precision, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). As the latest member of China's second-generation Fengyun 4 series, the new satellite will replace the aging Fengyun 4A and will operate in a network with the Fengyun 4B satellite. In addition to Earth science, the Fengyun 4C carries advanced instruments for monitoring space weather and is capable of providing early warning data for space weather disturbances, such as solar proton events.

A geostationary (GEO) satellite orbits Earth at about 35,786 km above the equator, appearing stationary relative to the ground, enabling continuous observation and communication over a fixed region. It is positioned in a circular orbit directly above the Earth's equator at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km (22,236 miles), where it completes one orbit in exactly 24 hours, matching Earth's rotation. From the ground, it appears motionless, allowing antennas to remain fixed without tracking the satellite. 

Image Credit: China's National Center for Space Weather/China Meteorological Administration (CMA)

Acknowledgement: Seger Yu
Image Date: Sept. 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #SpaceWeather #Planets #Satellites #Earth #Atmospheres #Weather #Meteorology #WeatherSatellites #China #中国 #Fengyun #风云卫星 #Fengyun4BSatellite #FY4BSatellite #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #Environment #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #GSFC #STEM #Education

Earth Night Colors with Galactic Views | International Space Station

Earth Night Colors with Galactic Views | International Space Station

Expedition 75 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Anil Menon: "Colors at night are beautiful when looking at Earth at night.  Here you can see blues from the squid boats, the bright lights of cities, storms, and the Milky Way, stars, and galaxies rising in the sky. This was shot from the Dragon forward window with 3 second exposures and stitched together into a timelapse. That's what it looks like through the window; just, a little slower."

Follow Expedition 75:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir
Duration: 9 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Stars #Planets #Earth #SouthernHemisphere #Airglow #MilkyWayGalaxy #SMC #LMC #Astronauts #AnilMenon #AstronautVideography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Microgravity Music Moves | International Space Station

Microgravity Music Moves | International Space Station

Expedition 75 commander, flight engineer, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Volume up and get your groove on. A bit of weekend dancing on the International Space Station to start your week off right. A friend of mine was shocked when she realized that it was possible to dance in microgravity. Seems we can’t keep this from the world for any longer! The power of music transcends Earth and space."

Follow Expedition 75:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir
Duration: 58 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #EarthPeople #AstronautDancing #LivingInMicrogravity #MicrogravityExperiments #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #AstronautVideography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Panorama at “Chocolatal” Sand Ridge | NASA’s Curiosity Rover

Planet Mars Panorama at “Chocolatal” Sand Ridge | NASA’s Curiosity Rover

While parked at a sand ridge nicknamed “Chocolatal,” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas at two times of day. The first was taken on Aug. 30, 2026, at 9:56 a.m. local Mars time; the second was taken on Sep. 2, 2026, at 5:39 p.m. local Mars time. Those dates correspond to the 5,000th and 5,003rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.

After being sent back to Earth, the two images were merged together. Color was added for an artistic interpretation of the scene, with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one. The resulting “postcard” is similar to past examples created with rover images, such as one taken in November 2021.

The rover’s deck can be seen in the foreground, including its can-shaped UHF antenna, used for sending data to orbiting spacecraft, and its finned Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), a nuclear power source, at its rear. The rover’s tracks can be seen trailing off in the distance. 

Curiosity is in the lower foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that sits within Gale Crater. This image looks down toward the crater floor, with the crater rim barely perceptible on the horizon.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

Image Description: NASA’s Curiosity rover traverses the rocky, desert landscape of Mars beneath a soft sky. The scene is captured in striking blue and yellow hues.

Celebrating 14+ Years on Mars (2012-2026)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

To learn more about Curiosity, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Dates: Aug. 30, 2026 & Sept. 2, 2026
Release Date: Sept. 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #MarsExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Northern Lights over Finland

Northern Lights over Finland

Astrophotographer Karsten Berger: "The aurora showed a multitude of colors from green to red, purple and even blue. I was fortunate to find a location by a lake. It was unreal to see the aurora from above and below. It felt as if I was literally submerged in it."

Known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Karsten Berger
Location: Inari, Finland
Date: Sept. 14-15, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #Astrophotography #KarstenBerger #Astrophotographer #Inari #Finland #Suomi #STEM #Education

Planet Labels: "Not as easy as you think" | European Southern Observatory

Planet Labels: "Not as easy as you think" | European Southern Observatory

Labeling planetary objects is not straightforward. Beyond the well-known case of Pluto. It was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, exoplanets––planets orbiting other stars––complicate this even more. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a working definition of what an exoplanet is, depending on the properties of both the planet itself and the object it orbits. Like any definition, it may need to be adjusted as we keep discovering strange planetary systems, like the ones in this video.

0:00 - Pluto

2:54 - Brown dwarfs

4:30 - The TOI-201 system

5:53 - The CD-35 2722 system

Credits: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: L. Calçada, B. Ferreira
Hosted by: S. Randall
Written by: S. Randall, M. Lopes, E. Elkington
Editing: M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada
Videography: A. Tsaousis
Animations & footage:
ESO, M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada, NMSU/Darren Phillip, NOVA PBS Official,
Greg Scheiderer, ESA/Hubble, Andreas Cellarius, I. Saviane, IAU,
Martin Heck, IAU/Robert Hurt (SSC), L. H. Nielsen,
NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI, Photos[dot]com/Getty Images, Solar System Scope,
JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/Steve Albers, I. Crossfield/N. Risinger
Filming Locations: ESO Supernova
Produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory
Duration: 7 minutes
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #SolarSystem #Planets #Pluto #DwarfPlanets #IAU #BrownDwarfs #Exoplanets #EuropeanSouthernObservatory #Universe #Cosmos #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Journey to Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo—Spinning out of Sync | Hubble

Journey to Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo—Spinning out of Sync | Hubble

This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to a NASA/European Space Agency image of galaxy NGC 4698. It lies about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It is one of over one thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.

As a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, NGC 4698 has spiral arms that curl around within a thin disc of stars, gas and dust. These arms are marked by opaque clumps of brown dust and dotted with small collections of bright blue stars. Unlike many other spiral galaxies, like this one recently photographed by Hubble, NGC 4698’s delicate spiral arms are only prominent in the outer reaches of the disc; spiral arms often wind down to the very center of a galaxy, but NGC 4698’s spiral arms appear to shy away from its glowing center. The arms instead hover in a ring-like structure around the perimeter of the galaxy.

NGC 4698’s center is dominated by a galactic bulge. The diffuse off-white glow of the galaxy’s bulge comes from stars smaller, older, and cooler than the massive blue stars that dot the galaxy’s outer disc. These tightly packed stars orbit a supermassive black hole containing millions of times the Sun’s mass. Scientists have found signs that this black hole is actively growing, drawing gas inward with its gravitational pull.

With a flat, starry disc and diffusely glowing center, NGC 4698 looks a lot like a typical spiral galaxy — but this galaxy is far from normal. NGC 4698 is one of only a few known spiral galaxies with a bulge that extends out from the disc at a right angle. The elongation is faintly visible in this Hubble image. It shows the ghostly glow of the starry bulge peeking above and below the dusty disc. Furthermore, the stars and gas nearest the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disc.

What could cause a galaxy to be so out of sync? 
Astronomers have found that the culprit likely lies outside the galaxy. If NGC 4698 funneled in gas from an outside source, the newly collected gas could have formed a disc of gas and stars in the galaxy’s center, at an angle relative to the rest of the disc. Observations suggest that this galaxy once experienced a minor galactic merger, as evidenced by a short ‘tail’ of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy.

The data used to create this image come from an observing program (#18103; PI: Thilker) focusing on galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. This program zooms in on the details of these relatively nearby galaxies, such as individual star clusters and nebulae. At the same time, researchers will use these data to take stock of the larger picture, learning how a galaxy’s journey through a cluster affects the galaxy’s evolution and ability to form new stars.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy viewed at an angle, with a bright central bulge and winding spiral arms. The arms form a ring around the galaxy, without appearing to reach its center. Prominent red-brown dust lanes weave through the arms. These are also dotted with bright blue and reddish regions of star formation. The galaxy is set against a dark background scattered with stars and faint distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, DSS2, D. Thilker, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble), D. de Martin, S. Hopkins, A. Block, N. Risinger, E. Slawik, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC4698 #VirgoConstellation #VirgoCluster #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #NASAGoddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo—Spinning out of Sync | Hubble

Close-up: Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo—Spinning out of Sync | Hubble

Although the spiral galaxy in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble image seems serene, it hides a chaotic secret. This galaxy is NGC 4698, and it lies about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It is one of over one thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.

As a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, NGC 4698 has spiral arms that curl around within a thin disc of stars, gas and dust. These arms are marked by opaque clumps of brown dust and dotted with small collections of bright blue stars. Unlike many other spiral galaxies, like this one recently photographed by Hubble, NGC 4698’s delicate spiral arms are only prominent in the outer reaches of the disc; spiral arms often wind down to the very center of a galaxy, but NGC 4698’s spiral arms appear to shy away from its glowing center. The arms instead hover in a ring-like structure around the perimeter of the galaxy.

NGC 4698’s center is dominated by a galactic bulge. The diffuse off-white glow of the galaxy’s bulge comes from stars smaller, older, and cooler than the massive blue stars that dot the galaxy’s outer disc. These tightly packed stars orbit a supermassive black hole containing millions of times the Sun’s mass. Scientists have found signs that this black hole is actively growing, drawing gas inward with its gravitational pull.

With a flat, starry disc and diffusely glowing center, NGC 4698 looks a lot like a typical spiral galaxy — but this galaxy is far from normal. NGC 4698 is one of only a few known spiral galaxies with a bulge that extends out from the disc at a right angle. The elongation is faintly visible in this Hubble image. It shows the ghostly glow of the starry bulge peeking above and below the dusty disc. Furthermore, the stars and gas nearest the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disc.

What could cause a galaxy to be so out of sync? 
Astronomers have found that the culprit likely lies outside the galaxy. If NGC 4698 funneled in gas from an outside source, the newly collected gas could have formed a disc of gas and stars in the galaxy’s center, at an angle relative to the rest of the disc. Observations suggest that this galaxy once experienced a minor galactic merger, as evidenced by a short ‘tail’ of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy.

The data used to create this image come from an observing program (#18103; PI: Thilker) focusing on galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. This program zooms in on the details of these relatively nearby galaxies, such as individual star clusters and nebulae. At the same time, researchers will use these data to take stock of the larger picture, learning how a galaxy’s journey through a cluster affects the galaxy’s evolution and ability to form new stars.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy viewed at an angle, with a bright central bulge and winding spiral arms. The arms form a ring around the galaxy, without appearing to reach its center. Prominent red-brown dust lanes weave through the arms. These are also dotted with bright blue and reddish regions of star formation. The galaxy is set against a dark background scattered with stars and faint distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, the MAUVE-HST Team
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

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Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo: Spinning out of Sync | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxy NGC 4698 in Virgo: Spinning out of Sync | Hubble Space Telescope

Although the spiral galaxy in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble image seems serene, it hides a chaotic secret. This galaxy is NGC 4698, and it lies about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It is one of over one thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.

As a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, NGC 4698 has spiral arms that curl around within a thin disc of stars, gas and dust. These arms are marked by opaque clumps of brown dust and dotted with small collections of bright blue stars. Unlike many other spiral galaxies, like this one recently photographed by Hubble, NGC 4698’s delicate spiral arms are only prominent in the outer reaches of the disc; spiral arms often wind down to the very center of a galaxy, but NGC 4698’s spiral arms appear to shy away from its glowing center. The arms instead hover in a ring-like structure around the perimeter of the galaxy.

NGC 4698’s center is dominated by a galactic bulge. The diffuse off-white glow of the galaxy’s bulge comes from stars smaller, older, and cooler than the massive blue stars that dot the galaxy’s outer disc. These tightly packed stars orbit a supermassive black hole containing millions of times the Sun’s mass. Scientists have found signs that this black hole is actively growing, drawing gas inward with its gravitational pull.

With a flat, starry disc and diffusely glowing center, NGC 4698 looks a lot like a typical spiral galaxy — but this galaxy is far from normal. NGC 4698 is one of only a few known spiral galaxies with a bulge that extends out from the disc at a right angle. The elongation is faintly visible in this Hubble image. It shows the ghostly glow of the starry bulge peeking above and below the dusty disc. Furthermore, the stars and gas nearest the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disc.

What could cause a galaxy to be so out of sync? 
Astronomers have found that the culprit likely lies outside the galaxy. If NGC 4698 funneled in gas from an outside source, the newly collected gas could have formed a disc of gas and stars in the galaxy’s center, at an angle relative to the rest of the disc. Observations suggest that this galaxy once experienced a minor galactic merger, as evidenced by a short ‘tail’ of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy.

The data used to create this image come from an observing program (#18103; PI: Thilker) focusing on galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. This program zooms in on the details of these relatively nearby galaxies, such as individual star clusters and nebulae. At the same time, researchers will use these data to take stock of the larger picture, learning how a galaxy’s journey through a cluster affects the galaxy’s evolution and ability to form new stars.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy viewed at an angle, with a bright central bulge and winding spiral arms. The arms form a ring around the galaxy, without appearing to reach its center. Prominent red-brown dust lanes weave through the arms. These are also dotted with bright blue and reddish regions of star formation. The galaxy is set against a dark background scattered with stars and faint distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, the MAUVE-HST Team
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

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China ExPace Kuaizhou-11 Solid Fueled Commercial Rocket Satellite Launch

China ExPace Kuaizhou-11 Solid Fueled Commercial Rocket Satellite Launch

🚀 ExPace’s Kuaizhou-11 solid fueled commercial rocket blasted off from Launch Area 95 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 10:40 am China Standard Time (02:40 am Universal Coordinated Time) on September 17, 2026, successfully sending the Tianyi-51 and Tianyi-52 satellites into their planned orbits.

SpaceTY's Tianyi-51 and Tianyi-52 are C-band interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites. They were deployed into a 55-degree orbit for daily revisiting of imaging sites. Another stated reason for choosing that orbital inclination was to eliminate blind spots in urban regions and to provide a third dimension to captured sets of images.

Both satellites are able to capture the Earth below at a resolution of 3 meters with an imaging swath of 25 kilometers, or at 2 meters with a swath of 40 kilometers. Images captured by the satellites are planned to be pre-processed onboard via installed dedicated compute and intelligent software, as is an ever-increasing pattern on Chinese satellites.

While being built by SpaceTY, the two satellites have secondary names as well, chosen by their respective clients. Tianyi-51 carries the name Caiyun-SAR-01 from the Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration and Development and Yunnan Geology and Mining Group Co. Ltd. Tianyi-52 is known as Xinglianti-Tianyuan-YG-01 by Xinglianti Wuxi Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd.

SpaceTY also spoke of the two satellites as being able to support efforts in nations participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

ExPace promotes Kuaizhou-11’s low costs to customers, high orbital accuracy, and high reliability, while being a quick-to-prepare solution. Tailored to the needs of the two Tianyi satellites, the launch vehicle used its 2.2-meter-diameter in-line fairing to protect them during ascent out of the atmosphere.

So far, 2026 has been Kuaizhou-11’s busiest year, with previous missions in March and June to achieve one launch per quarter. 

This launch was the 7th Kuaizhou-11 mission, and the 41st flight of the Kuaizhou series. This was also the 66th launch from China in 2026.

Image Credit: ExPace

Text Credit: Jack C.
Date: Sept. 16, 2026

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