Friends of NASA (FoN) is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is captured here in all its beauty by Cesar Briceño, Director of the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), a part of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Comets form from a nucleus of dust, water, and gas in the farthest-known regions of our Solar System. This close-up of the Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) cleanly shows the vaporized material of the nucleus creating the iconic cometary shape. In the lower left corner, the diffuse coma shines bright white as it obscures the nucleus. Emanating from the nucleus are the twin tails. The upper stream is the dust tail made of the heavier dust particles, illuminated by reflected sunlight. The lower stream is composed of gases, glowing as a result of ionization of the gas atoms. This tail is affected by the Sun’s magnetic field, and so is pointing in the direction of the solar wind.
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) may be one of the brightest comets to pass by Earth in 2025.
Comet C/2024 G3 was found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on April 5, 2024, in images obtained with a 0.5-m reflector telescope located in Río Hurtado, Chile. ATLAS is funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Office. ATLAS was developed and is operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.
Polar Stratospheric Clouds in Moonlight over Finland
Unusual weather in the stratosphere has set the stage for rare nighttime displays of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). Marianne Bergli took this picture on February 11, 2025, in Kilpisjervi, Finland: "The PSCs were even more colorful than auroras," says Bergli. "The full Moon lit them beautifully."
This kind of display is unusual for two reasons. First, Earth's stratosphere usually has no clouds at all. Only when the temperature drops to a staggeringly-low -85 C can widely-spaced water molecules assemble into icy PSCs. Second, on rare occasions PSCs appear, they are usually seen only during the day. This is when bright sunlight causes them to blossom in color. On Feb. 11th the full Moon did the job of the sun.
According to NASA's MERRA2 climate model, the polar stratosphere has been exceptionally cold this winter with temperatures dropping to 45-year lows. What's going on? Researchers are not certain, but the reason might be the stratospheric polar vortex. This winter's vortex has been strong, keeping cold air bottled up over the Arctic Circle.
If you live in the Arctic, keep an eye on this week's bright Moon. It may come with PSCs!
Finland, officially the Republic of 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. Kilpisjervi is located in Finland's northwestern "arm" near the northwesternmost point of the country.
Astrophotographer Greg Parker: "One night this past October, I had an unexpected clear night for observing so was able to capture the appropriately named Coathanger star cluster from the New Forest Observatory in Hampshire, U.K. The Coathanger is actually an asterism in the dim, little constellation of Vupecula. It's a happenstance alignment of stars and not a true open star cluster. The nearest stars in this tight grouping are over 4,000 light years distant."
Alternatively called Brocchi's Cluster, the Coathanger can be seen with the naked eye from very dark skies, but a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope affords a particularly inviting view.
Image Details: ASI 2600MC Pro OSC CMOS cameras on the MiniWASP array (Wide-field Astronomical Survey Platform); 200 mm lenses; 30 x 10-minute subs
Image Credit: Greg Parker Caption Credit: Greg Parker; Jim Foster Capture Location: New Forest Observatory, U.K. Coordinates: 50.819444, -1.59
Why Does the Moon Look Larger at the Earth's Horizon? We Asked a NASA Expert
Ever noticed how the Moon seems "HUGE" when it is near the horizon but smaller when it is overhead? Trick of the eye or something more? Scientists have debated this for 2,000+ years, and we still do not have a definitive answer!
Find out what we do know and learn more about the Moon illusion:
China Releases Names of Moon-Landing Spacesuit & Crewed Lunar Rover
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, unveiled the names of the Moon-landing spacesuit and crewed lunar rover for the country's crewed lunar exploration missions. The Moon-landing spacesuit is named "Wangyu", meaning "gazing into the cosmos", and it echoes the name of the country's extravehicular spacesuit, "Feitian." It means "flying into space", according to the CMSA.
"'Feitian' has realized the Chinese people's dream of flying into space, and 'Wangyu' means efforts to look into deep space and the universe and explore the unknown. China's crewed space program has embarked on a new journey of landing on the Moon and heading into deep space," said Zhang Wanxin, the director of the spacesuit engineering office at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
"Wangyu" also showcases China's adherence to the peaceful use of space and contribution to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The crewed lunar rover is called "Tansuo", meaning "to explore the unknown". The agency said that the name reflects the lunar rover's mission and practical value in aiding the Chinese people to uncover the mysteries of the Moon, and that it is highly consistent with China's yearning to explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build itself into a space power.
"'Tansuo' not only means that we are going to the Moon, exploring new areas and seeing unknown places in the universe, but also showcases our further exploration of science and technology. 'Long as the way is, I will keep on searching high and low.' I think this is an important opportunity for us to explore the vast universe and build China into a space power," said Zhang Chongfeng, deputy chief designer of the crewed spacecraft for China's Crewed Space Program.
After for the first time soliciting from the public for the new vehicles of future crewed lunar exploration missions in 2023, from September to October 2024, the CMSA successively launched a campaign to solicit names for the Moon-landing spacesuit and crewed lunar rover. It has attracted widespread attention and enthusiastic participation from the entire society.
A total of more than 9,000 submissions were received from organizations specializing in the fields of aerospace, science and technology, and cultural communication, as well as people from all walks of life.
"During the early stages of development, we have mastered key technologies such as the manufacture of lightweight and smaller-sized Moon-landing spacesuits, as well as comprehensive protection against complex environments. We have now fully entered the prototype development stage, and are currently conducting comprehensive performance and function assessments and verifications of the prototype products. In the future, we will turn the attention of the people across the country into our driving force for work, and fully promote the development of the Moon-landing suits," said Zhang Wanxin.
"The (crewed lunar rover) prototype we made has completed experiments in a simulated lunar surface test site and has also carried out a large amount of experimental work in a field test site. Currently, the crewed lunar rover has entered the prototype stage and is undergoing detailed design and subsequent engineering tests," said Zhang Chongfeng.
China has been steadily pressing ahead the development and construction of equipment for its crewed lunar landing mission progressing as planned. The key technical research and in-depth demonstration in the early stage have been completed, and the prototypes of the equipment are now in their initial development phases.
China aims to achieve crewed lunar landing by 2030 to carry out scientific exploration and technical experiments, make breakthroughs in and master critical technologies, such as crewed Earth-Moon round trips, short-term stays on the lunar surface, and human-robot collaborative exploration. The mission will encompass a range of tasks, including landing, roving, sampling, research and returning to Earth, with an aim to form an independent capability of crewed lunar exploration.
By utilizing pre-crewed flight tests and crewed lunar missions, China plans to conduct large-scale space science experiments targeting three key areas, including lunar science, lunar-based science, and resource exploration and utilization.
Production and ground tests of prototypes of the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the crewed spacecraft Mengzhou, the lunar lander Lanyue, the spacesuit to be worn by astronauts, and the lunar rover are underway as planned.
Ground facilities and equipment for the production and tests have been completed and are operational, and the construction of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site is proceeding as planned.
Is this the largest hummingbird ever? Although it may look like a popular fluttering nectarivore, what is pictured is actually a beautifully detailed and colorful aurora, complete with rays reminiscent of feathers. This aurora was so bright that it was visible to the unaided eye during blue hour—just after sunset when the sky appears a darkening blue. However, the aurora only looked like a hummingbird through a sensitive camera able to pick up faint glows. As reds typically occurring higher in the Earth's atmosphere than the greens, the real 3D shape of this aurora would likely appear unfamiliar. Auroras are created when an explosion on the Sun causes high energy particles to flow into the Earth's atmosphere and excite atoms and molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. The featured image was captured about two weeks ago above Lyngseidt, Norway.
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Central and South America.
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, but they typically originate with activity on the Sun. Occasionally, during explosions called coronal mass ejections, the Sun releases charged particles that speed across the solar system.
Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]
Solid Colored Aurora
Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.
Element Emission Colors
Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.
Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.
Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.
Shenzhou-18 Astronaut Shares Fun Surprises in Space | China Space Station
During their time in space between April 25 and November 4, 2024, the Shenzhou-18 crew was from time to time treated to unexpected gifts aboard China's Tiangong Space Station, adding fun and excitement to their six-month mission in orbit, according to astronaut Li Cong, one of the Shenzhou-18 trio.
The three astronauts from the Shenzhou-18 crewed mission—Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu—met the press and public on January 8, 2025, more than 60 days after returning to the Earth.
In a recent interview, Li Cong recalled the playful moments of space life, particularly the excitement of hunting for surprise packages and unboxing them with his fellow astronauts.
These gifts were carefully prepared by the support team of the Astronaut Center of China (ACC) to bring more surprises and fun moments to the astronauts' time in space.
"Before the spacecraft was loaded, the surprise boxes were hidden in various concealed corners of the cargo ship. We couldn't always find them when moving the supplies. But whenever it was the start of a new month, a major holiday, or someone's birthday, we would be told to search for surprises. It's like a treasure hunt. Once we found them, we would gather and open the boxes together," the astronaut said.
Li Cong also mentioned that the boxes contained a variety of items, including birthday gifts like longevity noodles, specially prepared for the astronaut celebrating his birthday.
After savoring the surprise treats, the astronauts would rate the food.
"At the start of each month, we would receive the most popular foods, those rated highly by the previous crew, like beef sauce. Whatever tastes good, we score it highly, and the next crew will get it as a surprise," he added.
Shenzhou-18's return capsule, carrying the three astronauts, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 4, 2024, after completing its six-month space station mission.
Prior to the end of the Shenzhou-18 mission, China launched into space the Shenzhou-19 mission on October 30, 2024 also for a six-month stay on the Tiangong Space Station.
Shenzhou-18 Crew: Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander) Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist) Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)
Three small lunar rovers were packed up at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the first leg of their multistage journey to the Moon. These suitcase-size rovers, along with a base station and camera system that will record their travels on the lunar surface, make up NASA’s Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration (CADRE) technology demonstration.
CADRE aims to prove that a group of robots can collaborate to gather data without receiving direct commands from mission controllers on Earth, paving the way for potential future multirobot missions.
Seen here are tests of the CADRE software in January 2024 and scenes of a rover getting flipped over, attached to an aluminum plate for transit, and sealed into a protective metal-frame enclosure that was later packed into a metal shipping container a year later, in January 2025.
The hardware was transported from JPL to Intuitive Machines’ Houston facility, where it will be integrated with the company’s Nova-C lander. Intuitive Machines’ third lunar mission (IM-3). It has a mission window extending into early 2026, will deliver CADRE and other NASA payloads to the Moon’s Reiner Gamma region.
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages CADRE for the Game Changing Development program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. IM-3 is a mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. It is managed by the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.
Through the CLPS initiative and Artemis campaign, NASA is leveraging American companies to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon, advancing our understanding of the Moon and planetary processes, while paving the way for future crewed missions.
Asteroid Bennu Holds the Building Blocks of Life | NASA/CSA/CNES
The origin of life is one of the deepest mysteries in science, but the clues to solving it have been buried by plate tectonics, the water cycle, and even life itself. For answers, scientists are looking beyond Earth to primitive asteroids like Bennu, the target of NASA’s daringOSIRIS-REx sample return mission conducted in cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and France (CNES). OSIRIS-REx gathered pristine material from Bennu in 2020 and delivered it to Earth in 2023. Now, rocks from Bennu are revealing a lost world from the dawn of the solar system with the right conditions to foster the building blocks of life.
OSIRIS-REx delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space and over twice the mission’s mass requirement. Several samples have already been distributed to members of the OSIRIS-REx sample analysis team. They have found evidence of organic molecules and minerals bearing phosphorous and water that together could indicate the building blocks essential for life may be found in these rocks.
Canada contributed technical and scientific expertise to the OSIRIS-REx mission. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) provided the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA), a LIDAR system able to scan the asteroid from up to 7 km away, and supports: --Scientists and engineers on OLA's development and operations team --Scientists from Canadian institutions that are part of the broader OSIRIS-REx science team
French space agency CNES did not provide instruments for this mission but is supporting the work of several co-investigators involved in the project.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science | UN Office for Outer Space Affairs
February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Today, we celebrate the important contributions of women to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines.
The world needs science, and science needs women. 👩🔬🧪 Yet, they remain under-represented and struggle to receive recognition for their achievements.
UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini explains: “When 50% of the world’s population are women, gender equality is not only the right thing to do, but it is also the smart thing to do.” The mission is far from over but UNOOSA has solutions…
Increasing female representation in space is not just about fairness, it is key to unlocking humanity’s full potential and ensuring that our presence in space reflects our society here on Earth.
UNOOSA’s Space4Women initiative empowers women across the global space sector and inspires the next generation of female space leaders. Our Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, provides actionable solutions. Together with our partners at the Kenya Space Agency, we are also developing a new toolkit to break down barriers to STEM education for women and girls in marginalized communities.
The Spider (IC 417) and The Fly (NGC 1931) Nebulae in Auriga
Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga). The spider-shaped gas cloud in the image center is actually an emission nebula labelled IC 417, while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the left is dubbed NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. About 10,000 light-years distant, these nebulas harbor young star clusters. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 (Fly) is about ten light-years across. The featured deep image, captured over twenty hours during late January in Berkshire, United Kingdom, also shows more diffuse and red-glowing interstellar gas and dust.
Image Description: A star field has a red diffuse glow on the right-hand side. Distinct nebulas appear in the center and on the lower left.
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the Leo P dwarf galaxy (stars at lower right represented in blue). Leo P is a star-forming galaxy located about 5 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. A team of scientists collected data from about 15,000 stars in Leo P to deduce its star formation history. They determined that it went through three phases: an initial burst of star formation, a “pause” that lasted several billion years, and then a new round of star formation that is still continuing.
The image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) combines infrared light at wavelengths of 0.9 microns (represented in blue), 1.5 microns (green), and 2.77 microns (red). The stars in Leo P appear blue in comparison to the background galaxies for several reasons. Young, massive stars that are common in star-forming galaxies are predominantly blue. Leo P also is extremely lacking in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and the resulting “metal-poor” stars tend to be bluer than Sun-like stars. A bubble-like structure at bottom center is a region of ionized hydrogen surrounding a hot, massive O-type star.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, K. McQuinn (STScI), J. DePasquale (STScI) Release Date: Jan. 16, 2025
NASA Artemis II Moon Mission: Launch to Splashdown Preview Animation
The Artemis II Mission, slated to launch early 2026, will fly four astronauts around the Moon. This mission will last for about 10 days and will be the first crewed test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Florida needed to support them.
Not only will this mission be the first time in over 50 years that human beings have seen the Moon close-up, Artemis II will also prepare us for future human landings on the Moon starting with the Artemis III mission and help prepare for future missions to Mars.
Shenzhou-18 Crew Shares Gripping Spacewalk Moments | China Space Station
From their time in space between April 25 to November 4, 2024, Shenzhou-18 crew members have shared gripping moments of confronting abyssal darkness during their spacewalks in an interview. While conducting an 8.5-hour extravehicular activity (EVA) on May 28, 2024, astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu successfully installed space debris protection devices, among other tasks.
Ye and Li Guangsu were assigned to the spacewalk and safely returned to the station's Wentian lab module after the venture. This EVA marked the 15th spacewalk by Chinese astronauts during the space station's application and development phase. It was the first spacewalk for Li Guangsu, who operated the station's robotic arms during the EVA.
"I still remember the fear I felt in the shadowed area. On the sunlit side, it was fine—I could see the space station and the Earth, which made me feel reassured. But once into the shadow zone, if I didn't turn on the light, all I could see below me was an abyss of blackness. Even though my safety tether was securely attached to the handrail on the space station, I didn't dare let go of my hand. I knew logically that even if I released my grip, I wouldn't drift away because my tether was still connected to the space station—but the overwhelming darkness made me reluctant to take my hand off the handrail," said Li Guangsu.
Although this was Ye's second spacewalk, following his first on the Shenzhou-13 mission, he admitted that the darkness still kept him on high alert every second.
"I felt as if I were about to be swallowed by the darkness. At one point, I accidentally moved my body, and for a moment, I lost my sense of connection with the robotic arm, I was startled. Why? Because beneath me was nothing but an endless black void. In that moment, a wave of nervousness hit me, and I felt my hair stand on end. What was happening? No matter how drowsy I had been, I was instantly wide awake, carefully adjusting my position to ensure I was still on the robotic arm. Only then did I feel at ease. 'Alright, everything is fine,' I told myself, and I continued with my task," said Ye.
Shenzhou-18 Crew: Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander) Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist) Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)
Revealing a Filament from The Cosmic Web | European Southern Observatory
This image shows countless stars and galaxies in the background. Two galaxies are shown at the forefront, each with a bright nucleus. This indicates the presence of a quasar. The galaxies appear like large nebulae without a concrete shape. The content of the galaxies extend beyond their immediate shape, forming a bridge that connects the two galaxies. This bridge is a cosmic filament.
From decades of astronomical observations, scientists know that most galaxies contain massive black holes at their centers. The gas and dust falling into these black holes liberates an enormous amount of energy as a result of friction, forming luminous galactic cores, called quasars, that expel jets of energetic matter.
Is there an invisible web of dark matter surrounding us? Its influence can be observed across the cosmos, but the web remains unseen . . . for the most part. This picture shows the clearest image yet of a filament from this cosmic web. The filament was imaged with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and is shown here in purple overlaid on a background image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. Made of gas clumped together by the influence of dark matter, the filament stretches out for 3 million light-years, connecting two distant galaxies in the early Universe.
Around 85% of all matter in the Universe is actually dark matter. Dark matter is invisible, but the gas around it is not. This gas glows extremely faintly though, making these structures very difficult to observe. However, after about 150 hours of observations, a team of astronomers led by Davide Tornotti, a PhD student at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, managed to take this sharp image of a cosmic filament. This was possible thanks to the exceptional sensitivity of the MUSE instrument at the VLT. It has become a workhorse instrument for imaging the cosmic web.
The light from this filament took 11 billion years to reach us, and it shows exactly what theory predicted. In the early Universe, filaments of dark matter could have created a large web that entangled gas through their gravitational pull. Once gas accumulated at the intersection between filaments, it would have provided the fuel necessary to form galaxies. As we observe more of these mysterious filaments, what else will we find trapped within this dark web?
Credit: ESO/D. Tornotti et al./Hubble: M. Revalski, P. Francis et al. Release Date: Jan. 29, 2025
NOAA Weather Satellites Track Atmospheric Rivers on U.S. West Coast
Since Jan. 31, 2025, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites have been closely monitoring a series of strong atmospheric rivers bringing heavy rain and mountain snow from central California to the Pacific Northwest, the Sierra, southern Cascades, and northern Rocky mountains.
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of concentrated water vapor that transport moisture from warm tropical oceans to higher latitudes. In these regions, heat from the sun causes large amounts of water to evaporate into the atmosphere. When this humid air meets the mountains along the West Coast, the winds blow uphill, and the air cools, condenses, and precipitates, forming a torrent of rain and wind.
These systems vary in size and strength, but on average, they carry as much water vapor as the Mississippi River discharges at its mouth—and can even transport up to 15 times that amount. When they make landfall, they unleash heavy rain or snow, accounting for roughly 30 to 50 percent of annual precipitation in the West Coast states.
NOAA and its partners utilize advanced satellite observations to study atmospheric rivers. Satellite data, combined with land-based observations, helps refine forecast models, improving predictions of atmospheric river intensity and duration to support water resource management and public safety.
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