The Milky Way Galaxy with Zodiacal Light & Aurora | International Space Station

The Milky Way Galaxy with Zodiacal Light & Aurora | International Space Station

Zodiacal light right after orbital sunset and The Milky Way galaxy.  

The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow. Green and yellow airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. Unlike episodic and fleeting auroras, airglow shines constantly throughout Earth’s atmosphere, and the result is a tenuous bubble of light that closely encases our entire planet.

The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow during orbital sunset.

The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow.

Stars and Earth aurora

These images were captured by Expedition 73 flight engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui aboard the International Space Station. 

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.

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.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Kimiya Yui
Release Dates: Oct. 13 & 16, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #MilkyWayGalaxy #SolarSystem #Earth #ZodiacalLight #Aurora #AstronautPhotography #Astronauts #KimiyaYui #油井亀美也 #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): New View from Georgia, USA

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): New View from Georgia, USA

Astrophotographer Greg: "Even with the Moon in sight this comet is proving to be a wonderful gift to image! Taken around 6:30am EST."

Comet Lemmon is brightening and moving into morning northern skies. Besides Comet SWAN25B and Comet ATLAS, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is now the third comet currently visible with binoculars and on long camera exposures. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year and is still headed into the inner Solar System. The comet will round the Sun on November 8, but first it will pass its nearest to the Earth—at about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21. 

Although the brightnesses of comets are notoriously hard to predict, optimistic estimates have Comet Lemmon then becoming visible to the unaided eye. The comet should be best seen in predawn skies until mid-October, when it also becomes visible in evening skies.

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It borders Tennessee to the northwest, North Carolina and South Carolina to the northeast, Atlantic Ocean to the east, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west.

Image Credit: Greg 
Capture Location: Georgia, United States
Photographer's website: https://Ournightsky.us
Image Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #Greg #OurNighSkyUS #Astrophotographers #Georgia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Moon's Aristarchus Crater: Central Peak | NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The Moon's Aristarchus Crater: Central Peak | NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Central peak of Aristarchus Crater on Moon's near side

Aristarchus Crater on Moon's near side (wide view)

Deeper than the Earth's Grand Canyon, Aristarchus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northwest part of the Moon's near side. It is considered the brightest of the large formations on the lunar surface with an albedo nearly double that of most lunar features. The feature is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, and displays unusually bright features when viewed through a large telescope. It is also readily identified when most of the lunar surface is illuminated by earthshine.

The dark rim of Aristarchus crater (23.7°N, 312.5°E) dramatically highlights its bright interior and central peak. There are more than 2700 meters of relief from the rim to the crater floor, and the central peak is 3,000 meters wide (left-to-right) and 400 meters tall. Image acquired from an altitude of 96 kilometers looking east-to-west, 12 kilometers wide in the center, 

Albedo (brightness) differences on the Moon are predominantly due to varying abundances of iron and titanium, and space weathering processes. Other physical properties of the rock also have important effects on albedo, such as whether it is crystalline or glass. Glass forms when molten rock cools so rapidly (quenches) that it does not have time to crystallize into minerals. Such rapid cooling is common in explosive volcanic eruptions and impact events. Around and in Aristarchus crater, both of these processes are important.

Adjacent to Aristarchus crater is the Aristarchus plateau, one of the largest volcanic centers on the Moon. Here we find one of the largest rilles, a massive pyroclastic deposit, and the source of extensive flood basalts. These volcanic materials are considered relatively young (for the Moon)—1.5 to 2.5 billion years. The pyroclastic deposit formed when magma was explosively ejected from the vent and broke into small droplets quenched as glass in the cold vacuum of space as they fell back to the surface. Due to their high glass content, the pyroclastic deposits are distinctly low in albedo (relatively dark), providing a dark background for the bright Aristarchus crater. Within the crater, a portion of these pyroclastic deposits may be visible as the darkest areas on the far wall, and glassy impact melt is moderately lower in reflectance than the bright, rocky materials exposed on areas of the crater floor and walls. 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/LROC/School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
Image ID: NAC M1259171271LR
Text Credit: Mark Robinson
Release Date: Dec. 1, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #Geology #Geoscience #Aristarchus #AristarchusCrater #LunarNearSide #LRO #LunarOrbiter #LunarSpacecraft #LROC #SpaceRobotics #SpaceTechnology #GSFC #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education

Eta Carinae: 2D Images to 3D Models of Massive Star Eruption | STScI

Eta Carinae: 2D Images to 3D Models of Massive Star Eruption | STScI

This visualization showcases the multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Carinae, one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy.

Two of NASA’s Great Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have observed Eta Carinae using visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light, as well as in the Hydrogen Alpha emission line. These 2D portraits have been modeled by astronomers and artists to create a 3D visualization that brings the telescope images to life.

The sequence presents the layered model one wavelength region at a time, and builds up the complex nested structure. The viewer gets a full 360-degree view and can assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations.

Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Visualization: J. Olmsted, D. Player, L. Hustak, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, F. Summers (STScI), NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)
Images: J. Morse (BoldlyGo Inst), N. Smith (U Arizona), NASA, ESA, STScI, CXC
Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #AGCarinae #Carina #Constellations #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #HST #GSFC #STScI #NASAChandra #CXC #SpaceTelescopes #XrayAstronomy #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualizations #2D #3D #HD #Video

Close-up: SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster Liftoff | 11th Flight Test

Close-up: SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster Liftoff | 11th Flight Test

Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 

Watch the full flight here:

https://t.co/YmvmGZTV8o

"This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy."

"The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space."

"Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down."

"Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission 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: 14 seconds
Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster: Liftoff & Landing | 11th Flight Test

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster: Liftoff & Landing | 11th Flight Test

Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 

Watch the full flight here:

https://t.co/YmvmGZTV8o

"This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy."

"The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space."

"Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down."

"Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission 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)
Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Georgia, USA

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Georgia, USA

Astrophotographer Greg: "Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is turning out to be a beautiful sight! This as around 6am EST."

Comet Lemmon is brightening and moving into morning northern skies. Besides Comet SWAN25B and Comet ATLAS, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is now the third comet currently visible with binoculars and on long camera exposures. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year and is still headed into the inner Solar System. The comet will round the Sun on November 8, but first it will pass its nearest to the Earth—at about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21. 

Although the brightnesses of comets are notoriously hard to predict, optimistic estimates have Comet Lemmon then becoming visible to the unaided eye. The comet should be best seen in predawn skies until mid-October, when it also becomes visible in evening skies.

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It borders Tennessee to the northwest, North Carolina and South Carolina to the northeast, Atlantic Ocean to the east, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west.

Image Credit: Greg 
Capture Location: Georgia, United States
Photographer's website: https://Ournightsky.us
Image Date: Oct. 15, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #Greg #OurNighSkyUS #Astrophotographers #Georgia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Sand dunes are found in many places on Mars. At most of these places the dunes are slowly moving, blown by the wind, just like on Earth. However, in this location in south Melas Chasma they appear to have turned to stone.

The large dunes are slowly being eroded and disappearing, replaced by smaller structures of scalloped sand. This enhanced color image is less than 1 km.

This HiRISE camera image was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) at an altitude of 262 kilometers (163 miles).

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). It was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Washington.

For more information on MRO, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Capture Date: Dec. 1, 2019
Release Date: May 19, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #Geoscience #Landscape #Terrain #MelasChasma #SandDunes #MRO #MarsOrbiter #MarsSpacecraft #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

How Do Gravity Assists for Spacecraft Work? | European Space Agency

How Do Gravity Assists for Spacecraft Work? | European Space Agency

 

Is there life on Terran V? Join the adventure to this fictional planet and find out what it takes to reach the farthest frontiers of deep space.

This video uses a fictional spacecraft and star system to illustrate a gravity assist maneuver—also known as a planetary flyby or swingby. The gravity assist is one of the most important techniques in deep-space navigation. By carefully passing close to a planet, a spacecraft can exchange orbital momentum with the much larger body. From the spacecraft’s perspective, this results in a change in trajectory and a significant boost (or reduction) in speed relative to the star at the center of the system, without needing to use much fuel.

While the Terran system may be fictional, the physics behind gravity assists is very real. European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft, such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), BepiColombo, Rosetta, Solar Orbiter and Hera carry out gravity assists during their journeys at planets within our Solar System.

Teams at the European Space Agency's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, carefully plan and execute these maneuvers to enable ESA missions to reach distant destinations that would otherwise require far more fuel than the spacecraft or its launcher could realistically carry.

By using the gravity of the planets as a slingshot, we can explore space farther, faster and attempt to answer some of the greatest scientific questions of our time.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #DeepSpace #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Earth Orbital Night Views from Kibo | International Space Station

Earth Orbital Night Views from Kibo | International Space Station

Expedition 73 flight engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui: "Today, there's a special view that I wanted everyone to see, so I pushed through my work early to make time and took this photo. Isn't this one of the top five stunning views among all the photos taken from the 'Kibo' window? Self-praise here. lol."

The Japanese Experiment Module—Kibo—is Japan’s contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Kibō (meaning 'Hope' in Japanese) is a Japanese science module developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is the largest single ISS module, and is attached to the Harmony module.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Kimiya Yui
Release Date: Oct. 14, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #Kibo #きぼう #AstronautPhotography #Astronauts #KimiyaYui #油井亀美也 #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star | STScI

Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star | STScI

Eta Carinae, or Eta Car, is famous for a brilliant and unusual outburst, called the "Great Eruption", observed in the 1840s. This visualization presents the story of that event and examines the resulting multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Car today.

Massive stars are known to have major outbursts. Eta Car, one of the most massive stars known, expelled about 10% of its mass in the Great Eruption, creating a small nebula, called the Homunculus Nebula, around it. Images taken in different wavelengths of light reveal different structures, each providing more information about the outbursts of Eta Car.

For this visualization, astronomers and artists have used NASA observations to model both the close-up and wide views of this massive and eruptive star. The Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory have observed the nested layers of gas and dust around Eta Car using visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light, as well as in the Hydrogen Alpha emission line. The Spitzer Space Telescope provides a larger view of the Carina Nebula, along with Eta Car’s dominant position within this star-forming region.

This visualization is presented by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning. Viewers gain appreciation for how the observations from two centuries ago connect to the resulting structures seen today. Full 360-degree 3D views help to assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations. Eta Car serves as a notable example of the outbursts in the dying stages of massive stars.

Credits: J. Olmsted, D. Player, L. Hustak, A. Pagan, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, F. Summers (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), NASA, ESA

Images: A. Fujii, J. Morse (BoldlyGo Inst), N. Smith (U Arizona), Hubble SM4 ERO Team, NASA, ESA, STScI, JPL-Caltech, CXC, ESO, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Release Date: Oct. 14, 2025
Duration: 4 minutes, 35 seconds

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #AGCarinae #Carina #Constellations #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualizations #3D #HD #Video

Dust & Gas in The Milky Way Galaxy's Center (infrared) | NASA Spitzer & WISE

Dust & Gas in The Milky Way Galaxy's Center (infrared) | NASA Spitzer & WISE

Image Processor Judy Schmidt: "Centered on the invisible black hole called Sagittarius A*, infrared light from the Spitzer and WISE missions provides us a glimpse into what otherwise appears visually as a dark band in the constellation of Sagittarius. As you can see, it's a busy place bustling with star formation evidenced by glowing nebulas."

Scientists know how our galaxy likely looks by combining observations of the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies. However, dust clouds make it hard to work out the details on the opposite side of our galaxy. Imagine trying to map a neighborhood while looking through the windows of a house surrounded by a dense fog. 

NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help scientists better understand our Milky Way galaxy’s less sparkly components—gas and dust strewn between stars, known as the interstellar medium.

Learn more about The Milky Way:

https://www.nasa.gov/universe/galaxies/milky-way/

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope:

https://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

NASA's WISE/NEOWISE Mission

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neowise/

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope 

https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Image Credit: NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)/NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)/JPL-Caltech
Image Processing: Judy Schmidt
Release Date: Nov. 23, 2016

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #SpitzerSpaceTelescope #NASASpitzer #SST #NASAWISE #NGRST #SpaceTelescopes #InfraredAstronomy #MilkyWayGalaxy #Nebulae #Gas #Dust #InterstellarMedium #BlackHoles #SagittariusA #Sagittarius #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon: New View from Austria

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon: New View from Austria

Astrophotographer Michael Jaeger: "Comet Lemmon has appeared in the evening sky and continues to put on a show here, too. With tail lengths >10°, it will be very attractive to photograph. Its ion tail continues to develop, even though it is now traveling in a region where the solar wind causes little disturbance. It displays many tail rays that change rapidly. That's why it's important to keep an eye on it right now."

Image Credit: Michael Jaeger

Image Details: Image taken at 17.45 UT with 11" RASA and QHY 600 LRGB only 8/1/1/1 mi
Capture Location: Astronomical Centre Martinsberg (AZM), Austria

Image Date: Oct. 13, 2025 

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #MichaelJaeger #Astrophotographers #Martinsberg #Austria #Europe #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Splashdown in Indian Ocean | 11th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Splashdown in Indian Ocean | 11th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 

Watch the full flight here:

https://t.co/YmvmGZTV8o

"This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy."

"Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather extensive data on the performance of its heatshield as it was intentionally stressed to test the limits of the vehicle’s capabilities. In the final minutes of flight, Starship performed a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean, successfully executing a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown."

"Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission 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: 1 minute, 4 seconds

Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Liftoff: SpaceX Starship 11th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

Liftoff: SpaceX Starship 11th Flight Test | Starbase Texas

Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 

Watch the full flight here:

https://t.co/YmvmGZTV8o

This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy.

The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down.

After completing a full-duration ascent burn, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. During flight, Starship successfully deployed eight Starlink simulators and executed the third in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating a critical capability for future deorbit burns.

Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather extensive data on the performance of its heatshield as it was intentionally stressed to test the limits of the vehicle’s capabilities. In the final minutes of flight, Starship performed a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean, successfully executing a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown.

Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission 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)

Image Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Liftoff: China Shiyan-31 Optical Imaging Test Satellite | Long March 2D Rocket

Liftoff: China Shiyan-31 Optical Imaging Test Satellite | Long March 2D Rocket

Shiyan-31 Mission Patch: A spherical framework of rings representing celestial longitude and latitude with markings resembling ancient Chinese astronomical or zodiac markers. It also features five stars (stars often used to represent satellites).

 

A Long March-2D carrier rocket successfully launched the Shiyan-31 test satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. This satellite will be mainly used to verify new optical imaging technologies, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). This launch marked the 599th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. 

The Shiyan-31 satellite was developed by CASC’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). The Long March 2D launch exceptionally used a wider 4.0-meter-diameter fairing. The rocket can deliver 1,300 kilograms of payload to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) was founded in 1958. It was the first of China's four spaceports. The launch center has been the focus of many of China's historic space ventures, including the country's first satellite Dong Fang Hong I in 1970 and their first crewed space mission, Shenzhou V, on October 15, 2003.

Image Credit: CASC/Vony7

Text Credits: Xinhua/SpaceNews[dot]com
Release Date: Oct. 14, 2025

#NASA #CNSA #Space #Science #SpaceTechnologies #Planets #Earth #China #中国 #Satellites #Shiyan31 #OpticalTechnologies #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #LongMarchRockets #LongMarch2D #JSLC #CASC #SAST #STEM #Education