Spiral Galaxy NGC 7814 in Pegasus | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy NGC 7814 in Pegasus | Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble has allowed astronomers to view galaxies of all shapes and sizes from nearly every angle. When a galaxy is seen edge-on, the mesmerizing perspective reveals a dazzling slice of the universe. NGC 7814, also known as the “Little Sombrero,” is one such galaxy.

Set against a speckled backdrop of more remote galaxies, NGC 7814 features a bright central bulge, a thin disk full of dust, and a glowing halo of gas and stars that sprawls out into space.

The Little Sombrero was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1784. The dusty spiral gets its nickname from the Sombrero galaxy (M104) that resembles a broad-rimmed Mexican hat and was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain just a few years earlier in 1781. Also viewed from its edge, the Sombrero galaxy is located just 28 million light-years away and looks larger than the Little Sombrero. In reality, they are nearly the same size. The Sombrero appears bigger because it is closer. With a magnitude of 10.5, the Little Sombrero is tougher to spot because it is farther away, at a distance of 40 million light-years from Earth.

Also known as Caldwell 43, the roughly 80,000-light-year-wide galaxy is billions of years old. Observers equipped with a telescope at least 7 inches in diameter will have the best luck spotting the galaxy. It resides in the constellation Pegasus. The dim, elongated galaxy is bright enough to be seen in moderately light-polluted skies. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn months provide the best opportunity to view NGC 7814. In the Southern Hemisphere, look for it in the springtime.

This image of NGC 7814 is a combination of visible and infrared observations captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2006. The observations were taken to assist astronomers in studying the galaxy’s stellar populations, and to help shed light on the evolution of this galaxy and others like it.

Galaxies can take many shapes and be oriented any way relative to us in the sky. This can make it hard to figure out their actual morphology, as a galaxy's appearance can vary based on one's viewpoint. A special case is when we are lucky enough to observe a spiral galaxy directly from its edge, like in this picture.

NGC 7814 has a bright central bulge and a bright halo of glowing gas extending outwards into space. The dusty spiral arms appear as dark streaks. they consist of dusty material that absorbs and blocks light from the galactic center behind it. The field of view of this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image would be very impressive even without NGC 7814 in front; nearly all the objects seen in this image are galaxies as well.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Josh Barrington
Release Date: Feb. 2, 2015

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC7814 #Caldwell43 #LittleSombrero #SpiralGalaxies #PegasusConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ACS #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: Spacewalk Preparations | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: Spacewalk Preparations | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Join me in the International Space Station's airlock! We’re T-2 days until our next Expedition 74 spacewalk. NASA Astronaut Chris Williams and I will venture outside on Tuesday to repair one of the joints on the Canadarm2, our robotic arm outside the ISS. Wish us luck . . ."

Williams and Meir will spend about six hours and 40 minutes in the vacuum of space replacing a malfunctioning wrist joint on the Canadarm2 that has been in operation since it was installed on April 26, 2001. This will be the duo’s second spacewalk together. The spacewalk is scheduled for June 30, 2026, with the astronauts set to turn their spacesuits to battery power at 8:35 a.m. signifying the beginning of their spacewalk.

Follow Expedition 74:

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

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/JSC/Jessica Meir

Duration: 1 minute, 42 seconds

Date: June 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #Spacewalks #EVA #AstronautVideography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-23 celebrates month in orbit with cooked pumpkin | China Space Station

Shenzhou-23 celebrates month in orbit with cooked pumpkin | China Space Station

China's Shenzhou-23 crew has marked one month in orbit aboard the China Space Station. Astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Li Jiaying have continued a range of scientific experiments while adapting to daily life in space. Over the past week, the crew conducted ultrasound checks, brainwave-based experiments, robotic interaction tests and microgravity physics tasks. They also used a traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic device to collect health data for long-term in-orbit monitoring. In a lighter moment, the astronauts heated pumpkin pieces in a space oven, adding a touch of everyday life to their space station routine.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's crewed spaceflight program and the seventh crewed flight mission since the Tiangong Space Station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

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: 31 seconds
Release Date: June 7, 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

Inner Ring of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1097 in Fornax: Infrared view | ESO's VLT

Inner Ring of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1097 in Fornax: Infrared view | ESO's VLT

The Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS), the Very Large Telescope’s newest infrared eye on the sky, captured this image of the inner ring of the galaxy NGC 1097. This galaxy is located 45 million light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Fornax. ERIS has captured the gaseous and dusty ring that lies at the very center of the galaxy. The bright spots in the ring are stellar nurseries, shown in unprecedented detail. The center of this galaxy is active with a supermassive black hole that feeds off its surroundings. 

This image has been taken through four filters by ERIS’s state-of-the-art infrared imager, the Near Infrared Camera System or NIX. The filters have been represented here by blue, green, red and magenta, where the last one highlights the compact regions in the ring. To put NIX’s resolution in perspective, this image shows, in detail, a portion of the sky less than 0.03% the size of the full Moon.

Image Description: The image consists of a ring of bright pink and blue dusty material. The ring has bright spots, showing where stars are forming. There are darker patches in the ring, where the dust is too dense for light to pass through. In the middle of the ring, there is a bright pink-yellow glow, with a very bright center. There is a gap between this glow in the middle and the ring, where the background dark Universe peers through.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/ERIS team

Release Date: Nov. 23, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC1097 #Caldwell67 #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #AGNs #SeyfertGalaxies #NGC1097A #NGC1097B #InteractingGalaxies #FornaxConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #ERIS #InfraredAstronomy #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Atmospheric Optics, Halos, Sundogs & Arcs near Mount Baker | Earth Science

Atmospheric Optics, Halos, Sundogs & Arcs near Mount Baker | Earth Science

Photographer Jeremy Vohwinkle: "While on a hike near Mt. Baker, WA, the sky looked almost alien with the most intense halos and arcs around the sun I've seen before."

Solar halos are generally created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin, high cirrus clouds. Circular halos like this one are visible much more often than rainbows. Sundogs are one of the most common types of ice halo. They occur when light rays enter the side of an ice crystal and leave through another side inclined about 60 degrees to the first. Sundogs are most easily seen when the Sun is low in the sky; the halos occurring on either side of it at about 22 degrees. Sundogs are visible all over the world and at any time of year, regardless of the temperature at the surface.

Mount Baker, also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a 10,781-foot (3,286 m) active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens.

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the national capital. Both are named after George Washington, a U.S. Founding Father and the first U.S. president. Washington state borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, and Idaho to the east; it shares an international border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.

Image Credit: Jeremy Vohwinkle
Location: North Cascades, Washington, USA
Date: June 25, 2026

#NASA #Science #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #EarthScience #Atmospheres #SolarHalos #Sunlight #CirrusClouds #AtmosphericOptics #Sundogs #MountBaker #NorthCascades #Washington #UnitedStates #Photography #Astrophotography #STEM #Education

Seyfert Galaxy NGC 1097: A Galactic Embrace | ESO's Very Large Telescope

Seyfert Galaxy NGC 1097: A Galactic Embrace | ESO's Very Large Telescope

Two galaxies, about 50 million light-years away, are locked in a galactic embrace—literally. The Seyfert galaxy NGC 1097, in the constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), is seen in this image taken with the Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). A comparatively tiny elliptical companion galaxy, NGC 1097A, is also visible in the top left. There is evidence that NGC 1097 and NGC 1097A have been interacting in the recent past.

Although NGC 1097 seems to be wrapping its companion in its spiral arms, this is no gentle motherly giant. The larger galaxy also has four faint jets—too extended and faint to be seen in this image—that emerge from its center, forming an X-shaped pattern. These are the longest visible-wavelength jets of any known galaxy. The jets are thought to be the remnants of a dwarf galaxy that was disrupted and cannibalized by the much larger NGC 1097 up to a few billion years ago.

These unusual jets are not the galaxy’s only intriguing feature. As previously mentioned, NGC 1097 is a Seyfert galaxy, meaning that it contains a supermassive black hole in its center. However, the core of NGC 1097 is relatively faint, suggesting that the central black hole is not currently swallowing large quantities of gas and stars. Instead, the most striking feature of the galaxy’s center is the ring of bright knots surrounding the nucleus. These knots are thought to be large bubbles of glowing hydrogen gas about 750–2500 light-years across, ionized by the intense ultraviolet light of young stars, and they indicate that the ring is a site of vigorous star formation.

With this distinctive central star-forming ring, and the addition of numerous bluish clusters of hot, young stars dotted through its spiral arms, NGC 1097 makes a stunning visual object.

The data were originally taken in 2004 with the VIMOS instrument on the VLT, and additional color information from an image taken by amateur astronomer Robert Gendler has been superimposed. The VLT data were taken through three visible-light filters: R (at a wavelength of 652 nanometers, and shown here in red), V (a wavelength of 540 nanometers, shown in green), and B (456 nanometers, shown in blue). The image covers a region of approximately 7.7 x 6.6 arcminutes on the sky.

Credit: ESO/R. Gendler
Release Date: July 11, 2011

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC1097 #Caldwell67 #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #AGNs #SeyfertGalaxies #NGC1097A #NGC1097B #InteractingGalaxies #FornaxConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #VIMOS #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1097 in Fornax | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1097 in Fornax | Hubble Space Telescope

This face-on galaxy, lying 45 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), is particularly attractive for astronomers. NGC 1097 is a Seyfert galaxy. Lurking at the very center of the galaxy, a supermassive black hole 100 million times the mass of our Sun is gradually sucking in the matter around it. The area immediately around the black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in.

The distinctive ring around the black hole is bursting with new star formation due to an inflow of material toward the central bar of the galaxy. These star-forming regions are glowing brightly thanks to emission from clouds of ionized hydrogen. The ring is around 5,000 light-years across, although the spiral arms of the galaxy extend tens of thousands of light-years beyond it.

NGC 1097 is also interesting for supernova hunters. The galaxy experienced three supernovae (the violent deaths of high-mass stars) in the 11-year span between 1992 and 2003. This is definitely a galaxy worth checking on a regular basis.

However, what it is fascinating about NGC 1097 is that it is not wandering alone through space. It has two small galaxy companions that dance “the dance of stars and the dance of space” like the gracious dancer of the famous poem The Dancer by Khalil Gibran.

The satellite galaxies are NGC 1097A, an elliptical galaxy orbiting 42,000 light-years from the center of NGC 1097 and a small dwarf galaxy named NGC 1097B. Both galaxies are located out beyond the frames of this image and they cannot be seen. Astronomers have indications that NGC 1097 and NGC 1097A have interacted in the past.

This picture was taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys using visual and infrared filters.

Image Description: This is a NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. In this image, the larger-scale structure of the galaxy is barely visible. Its comparatively dim spiral arms, surrounding its heart in a loose embrace, reach out beyond the edges of this frame.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: E. Sturdivant
Release Date: Dec. 24, 2012

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC1097 #Caldwell67 #SpiralGalaxies #BlackHoles #AGNs #SeyfertGalaxies #NGC1097A #NGC1097B #InteractingGalaxies #FornaxConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China's Space Solar Power Project: A Dynamic Power Transmission Breakthrough

China's Space Solar Power Project: A Dynamic Power Transmission Breakthrough

Researchers leading China's project to create a space solar power station have successfully completed the ground verification for wireless transmissions to several moving targets at once.

The Zhuri project, which means "sun chasing" in Mandarin, will be a photovoltaic panel located in outer space, where there are no day-to-night cycles, or atmospheric interferences.

Zhuri will collect energy from the Sun and send to ground-based or space-based equipment like drones, satellites or spacecraft.

The most recent achievement includes shifting from one-to-one fixed transmissions to a one-to-many dynamic transmissions for multiple fast-moving targets.

Outdoor tests showed the system could deliver 1,180 watts of output power at a distance of 100 meters, with DC-to-DC transmission efficiency rising to over 20 percent and beam collection efficiency hitting 88 percent.

The Sun Chasing project was first launched in 2022 and is being led by researchers and scientists from Xidian University in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 41 seconds
Release Date: June 27, 2026

#NASA #Space #SpaceSolarPower #Satellites #SolarPower #Photovoltaics #SolarEnergy #PowerGeneration #WirelessPowerTransmission #Earth #China #中国 #ZhuriProject #XidianUniversity #西安电子科技大学 #Shaanxi #陕西 #SpaceTechnology #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Earth Views: Shenzhou Astronauts on Spacewalk | China Space Station

Planet Earth Views: Shenzhou Astronauts on Spacewalk | China Space Station

While the Shenzhou-21 crew conducted their second extravehicular activity (EVA) at China's Tiangong space station on March 16, 2026, at 19:35 Beijing Time, these Earth views were captured by an external camera. Crew members Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang completed the EVA in collaboration with the space station's robotic arm and ground support teams. The spacewalk lasted approximately 7 hours. The trio completed the installation of a space debris protection device for the space station along with other tasks.

Shenzhou-21 Crew
Zhang Lu (张陆) - Commander & Pilot - 2nd spaceflight
Wu Fei (武飞)  Flight Engineer - 1st spaceflight
Zhang Hong Zhang (张洪章) - Payload Specialist - 1st spaceflight

Video Credit: China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)
Duration: 1 minute, 27 seconds

Capture Date: March 16, 2026
Release Date: March 22, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou21Mission #神舟二十一号 #Shenzhou21 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ZhangLu #WuFei #ZhangHongzhang #EVA #Spacewalks #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityExperiments #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earth Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

Earth Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

Expedition 71/72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Real-time sunset from orbit. They only last about 8 seconds from start to finish, but seeing 16 per day makes up for it! Timelapses through the transition can be challenging as the exposure overwhelms the camera's dynamic range."

NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on April 19, 2025, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station. Pettit spent 220 days in space, earning him a total of 590 days in space over the course of his four spaceflights. He orbited the Earth 3,520 times, traveling 93.3 million miles in low-Earth orbit.

Follow Expedition 74:

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

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/D. Pettit

Duration: 17 seconds
Release Date: June 27, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #OrbitalSunsets #Astronauts #DonPettit #AstronautVideography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis III Rocket RS-25 Engine Arrival | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis III Rocket RS-25 Engine Arrival | Kennedy Space Center

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida offloaded the second of four RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engines built by L3 Harris Technologies for the agency's Artemis III mission on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). 

The SLS rocket will use four RS-25 engines in the core stage to propel the Orion spacecraft into orbit providing over two million pounds of thrust at liftoff. NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery and economic benefits, to establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis III Mission is coming together, piece by piece . . .

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
Date: June 23, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIIIMission #LunarLanders #HLS #NASASLS #RS25RocketEngines #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #Italy #Italia #Europe #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #VAB #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Planet Earth Clouds | International Space Station

Planet Earth Clouds | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Even viewing clouds from the International Space Station is enchanting, an endless variety of shapes, textures, and sizes .  .  . usually quite serene, but sometimes ominous, like these thunderclouds over the Pacific Northwest this week."

Follow Expedition 74:

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

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC/Jessica Meir

Date: June 26, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #PacificOcean #PacificNorthwest #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #AstronautPhotography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Newly-released NASA Artemis II Crew Photos with Planet Earth

Newly-released NASA Artemis II Crew Photos with Planet Earth

NASA astronaut Christina Koch pictured inside the Orion spacecraft with the crescent Earth pictured through the window behind her. This picture was captured after the Artemis II crew completed their lunar flyby and were on their way back to Earth. 

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman smiles aboard the Orion spacecraft with a crescent Earth visible through the window behind him on the eighth day of the Artemis II mission.

NASA astronaut Victor Glover pictured inside the Orion spacecraft with the crescent Earth pictured through the window behind him. This picture was captured after the Artemis II crew completed their lunar flyby and were on their way back to Earth. 

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen pictured inside the Orion spacecraft with the crescent Earth pictured through the window behind him. This picture was captured after the Artemis II crew completed their lunar flyby and were on their way back to Earth.

During the Artemis II crew’s journey back home to Earth, NASA’s Orion spacecraft appears alongside a sliver of Earth, both illuminated against the blackness of space. Pictured from one of the cameras mounted on Orion’s solar array wings, this image shows the orbital maneuvering system engine, five of eight auxiliary thrusters, and a pod of four reaction control system thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module.

View of Earth out of the Orion spacecraft’s side hatch window taken by a member of the Artemis II crew at the end of Flight Day 5, the night before lunar flyby.

Earth captured from the Artemis II crew showing white swirling clouds above the blue Pacific Ocean, with reflected sunlight visible in the upper right and the lower left obscured in darkness behind the terminator. This image was captured a few hours before the crew returned to Earth.

This black and white image of Earth was captured by the optical navigation sensor on the exterior of the Orion spacecraft on the first day of the Artemis II mission, as the four astronauts inside were traveling farther than any humans have ventured in more than 50 years.

NASA's Artemis II Mission took Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a nearly 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth.

The Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down on Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean following its journey around the Moon.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis Program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

The crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Credit: NASA
Image Dates: April 3-10, 2026

Release Date: June 26, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #CSA #Canada #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

The Extremely Large Telescope's Fourth Mirror Levitates | ESO

The Extremely Large Telescope's Fourth Mirror Levitates | ESO

With its 39-meter (128-foot) primary mirror, the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile will deliver incredibly sharp images of the Universe. However, this requires correcting the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence. Enter the M4, the fourth mirror in the ELT's optical path. This extremely thin levitating mirror will deform up to 1,000 times per second, counteracting turbulence in real time and yielding crisp images of astronomical objects.

The dome of this soon-to-be telescope, planned to be fully completed in 2027, protects the telescope and its sensitive components from the extreme desert environment, and from the Sun during daytime. At night, its two massive sliding doors will open to allow the telescope to observe the night sky, while still protecting it from the wind.

Inside the dome, the construction of the main structure of what will be the world's largest optical and near-infrared telescope is very advanced. With the first light planned for the end of the decade, the ELT and its groundbreaking 39-meter main mirror will tackle major challenges in astronomy and, ultimately, help us understand our place in the Universe.

Learn more about the ELT: https://elt.eso.org

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, extending along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

Credit: ESO
Directing & Editing: Angelos Tsaousis
Written by: Bárbara Ferreira
Footage and photos: ESO, A. Tsaousis, L. Calçada, M.Wallner, V. Gonzalez, ACe Consortium, AdOptica.
Acknowledgements: AdOptica (Microgate, ADS International)
Duration: 1 minute
Date: June 26, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #AstronomicalObservatories #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Construction #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Aircraft Flies at Mach 1.4 & 55,000 Feet for First Time

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Aircraft Flies at Mach 1.4 & 55,000 Feet for First Time

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft reached its target speed and altitude for future community overflights for the first time on Friday, June 5, 2026. The milestone marked the first time the aircraft flew at Mach 1.4 and 55,000 feet, the same conditions it will fly when NASA gathers community response data to its quiet sonic thump.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.”

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

Learn more about NASA's Quesst mission: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/

Keep up with the latest about X-59: 
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Duration: 1 minute, 30 seconds
Release Date: June 25, 2026

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Sonicbooms #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Single Engine Static Fire Test | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Single Engine Static Fire Test | Starbase Texas

A "full duration" single-engine static fire test of Starship ahead of the 13th flight test.

The 12th flight test of SpaceX's Starship lifted off May 22, 2026, from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. Learn about the flight test results and watch a replay of the launch webcast here: 
https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12

This was the first flight of the "next generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine." 

Read more about the key upgrades designed to enhance performance and unlock Starship's full capabilities here: https://www.spacex.com/updates/starship-v3

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.

Learn more about Starship:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Duration: 18 seconds
Date: June 26, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #StaticFireEngineTest #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video