Iridescence around The Sun: View from Colorado | Earth Science

Iridescence around The Sun: View from Colorado | Earth Science

Photographer Paul Robinson: "Strongly colored irridescent rings around the sun formed by cirrus clouds. 2pm MST"

Iridescence is a colorful optical phenomenon that can occur in the general proximity of the Sun. The colors resemble those seen in soap bubbles and oil on a water surface. The colors are usually pastel, but can be very vivid or mingled together, sometimes similar to mother-of-pearl. When appearing near the Sun, the effect can be difficult to spot as it is drowned in the Sun's glare. This may be overcome by shielding the sunlight with one's hand or hiding it behind a tree or building. Other aids are dark glasses, or observing the sky reflected in a convex mirror or in a pool of water.

Iridescence occurs when sunlight interacts with tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. These microscopic particles act as tiny prisms, refracting and scattering light in such a way that it separates into its component colors, creating a stunning display of hues.

Iridescent clouds are an optical effect that can appear in various thin cloud layers, such as altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular, and cirrus clouds. The phenomenon occurs when sunlight or moonlight interacts with small, uniform water droplets or ice crystals, scattering and diffracting the light to produce a spectrum of colors.

Colorado is a state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, and Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, and Oklahoma to the Southeast.

Image Credit: Paul Robinson
Location: Longmont, Colorado, USA
Date: Feb. 15, 2026

#NASA #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #CirrusClouds #IceCrystals #Sunlight #Iridescence #Photography #PaulRobinson #Photographer #CitizenScience #Longmont #Colorado #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Stars & Gas Clouds around Milky Way's Supermassive Central Black Hole | ESO

Stars & Gas Clouds around Milky Way's Supermassive Central Black Hole | ESO

A new view on the heart of our Milky Way galaxy is presented in this picture taken with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). It reveals the stars and gas surrounding an invisible giant—a supermassive black hole, located about 27,000 light-years away. This is a hugely dynamic environment with stars and gas clouds passing by the black hole at high speeds.

A team of astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany has detected a new gas cloud, named G2t, orbiting the supermassive black hole. Two gas clouds, G1 and G2, were already known, but their nature and origin were still being debated. In particular, it was unclear whether these clouds were hiding a star inside or consisted purely of gas. However, the discovery of a third gas cloud now helps answer these questions.

The observations were done with the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) instrument on ESO’s VLT. Thanks to this, astronomers were able to measure the 3D orbits of the clouds around the black hole. The clouds move within a very small region at the center of this wide-field image. It was revealed that G1, G2 and G2t are on almost identical orbits, only rotated a bit with respect to each other. This rules out the possibility that each cloud hides a star in their core, as the odds of stars having almost identical orbits are slim. The similarity of the orbits suggests that the three clouds probably share the same origin, most likely IRS16SW, a pair of massive stars expelling an enormous amount of gas. As IRS16SW moves around the black hole, each cloud of gas is ejected in similar orbits, explaining the close trajectories of the ‘G-triplet’.

This discovery shows that despite decades of monitoring our Milky Way center new unanswered curiosities arise. 

Image Description: This image has a black background with thousands of light sources visible. There are stars closer and farther away present, appearing as simple white dots on the night sky. At image center, closer stars are gathered. These centered stars are embedded in a pinkish haze of gas.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/D. Ribeiro for the MPE GC team
Release Date: March 9, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #MilkyWayGalaxy #Stars #GasClouds #G1 #G2 #G2t #GCIRS #16SW #IRS16SW #SagittariusConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #ERIS #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #MPE #Germany #Europe #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship V3 Testing: Cryoproofing Complete for Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship V3 Testing: Cryoproofing Complete for Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Update: "Ship 39 cryoproof operations complete, the first campaign with a next generation Starship V3. Across several days, engineers tested the vehicle’s redesigned propellant system and its structural strength, including squeeze tests to mimic the forces of future ship catches."

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Updates: "Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability."

As of October 13, 2025, the SpaceX Starship has been "launched 11 times with 6 successes and 5 failures." SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale. It aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.

"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: 52 seconds
Date: March 7, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #StarshipV3 #StarshipV3SN1 #StarshipFlight12 #ReusableSpacecraft #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-21 Crew Advances Experiments, Health Monitoring | China Space Station

Shenzhou-21 Crew Advances Experiments, Health Monitoring | China Space Station

China's Shenzhou-21 astronauts have steadily carried out in-orbit experiments, health monitoring, and maintenance tasks aboard the Tiangong Space Station over the past week, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The crew consists of mission commander Zhang Lu and astronauts Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang. They have spent over four months in orbit, and are all in good condition.

In the field of space medicine, the astronauts completed several studies including research on trust and cooperation mechanisms, human-machine trust in spaceflight, and intuitive physical behavior in microgravity.

The crew also used a space Raman spectrometer to analyze metabolic components in urine samples. The data collected will help researchers further refine indicator systems and evaluation criteria for related metabolic markers.

In addition, the astronauts used electroencephalography (EEG) equipment to gather data for experiments on metacognitive monitoring and group brain cognition-emotion analysis and regulation, supporting ongoing research by scientists on the ground.

In the area of microgravity physical science, the crew followed scheduled procedures to carry out maintenance and experiment operations. These included replacing a sampling cover in the combustion science experiment rack, performing vacuum pumping and exhaust removal, and changing experimental samples in the fluid physics experiment rack.

For station management, the crew conducted routine inspections of the space station platform and completed environmental monitoring tasks, such as dew point testing, temperature measurement, and wind speed monitoring to ensure a safe and habitable environment in orbit.

The astronauts also carried out several medical examinations, including intraocular pressure and fundus checks, body mass measurements, and cardiopulmonary fitness tests during exercise. They additionally used a traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic device to collect health data, allowing ground teams to closely monitor the crew's physical condition while in orbit.

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: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds
Release Date: March 9, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Shenzhou21Mission #神舟二十一号 #Shenzhou21 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #HealthMonitoring #ZhangLu #WuFei #ZhangHongzhang #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #MicrogravityExperiments #SpaceLaboratory #CNSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy NGC 1275 in Perseus | WIYN Telescope

Galaxy NGC 1275 in Perseus | WIYN Telescope

This image shows a deep Hydrogen-alpha image of the brightest X-ray source in the sky, NGC 1275, taken by the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

NGC 1275 is a type 1.5 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies account for about 10% of all galaxies and are among the most intensely studied objects in astronomy, as they are thought to be powered by the same phenomena that occur in quasars, although they are closer and less luminous than quasars. These galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers surrounded by accretion discs of in-falling material.

The filaments emanating from this galaxy are produced through largely unknown mechanisms, but they likely are the result of an interaction between the black hole in the center of the galaxy and the intracluster medium surrounding it. (The glowing background objects in this image are galaxies in that same galaxy cluster.)

At a distance of about 230 million light-years, this is the nearest example to Earth of such vast structures that are seen surrounding the most massive galaxies throughout the Universe.

NGC 1275 is a member of the large Perseus Cluster of galaxies. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on October 17, 1786.

Learn more about the WIYN Observatory:
https://www.wiyn.org/0.9m/index.html

Credit: C. Conselice/Caltech and WIYN/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Release Date: July 18, 2005

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC1275 #PerseusA #Caldwell24 #SeyfertGalaxy #PerseusCluster #PerseusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #WIYNTelescope #KPNO #KittPeakNationalObservatory #Arizona #NOIRLab #NOAO #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Celebrating International Women’s Day | China Space Station

Celebrating International Women’s Day | China Space Station

💐Happy International Women’s Day❤️! 

Liu Yang: China's first female astronaut in space on June 16, 2012

Wang Yaping: First Chinese woman to work at Tiangong Space Station on a long duration mission, the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk, and record holder for longest stay in space by a female Chinese astronaut with a cumulative 197 days in space

Wang Haoze: China’s first female space engineer to work aboard China's Tiangong Space Station on a long duration mission

International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 each year, commemorating women's fight for equality along with the women's rights movement. China's national space program is celebrating International Women’s Day by recognizing three female taikonauts (astronauts):

Image 1: Liu Yang—China's first female astronaut in space on June 16, 2012

Image 2: Wang Yaping—First Chinese woman to work at Tiangong Space Station on a long duration mission, the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk, and record holder for longest stay in space by a female Chinese astronaut with a cumulative 197 days in space

Image 3: Wang Haoze—China’s first female space engineer to work aboard China's Tiangong Space Station

Follow the current Shenzhou-21 Mission at the China Space Station: 

Launched into space on October 31 last year, the Shenzhou-21 crew is now over 128 days into its six-month space mission. All tasks including scientific experiments, equipment maintenance and health management are progressing smoothly, according to China's space agency—the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

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

Image Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Release Date: March 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #ChineseWomen #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026  #GenderEquality #Taikonauts #Astronauts #LiuYang #WangYaping #WangHaoze #Shenzhou21Mission #神舟二十一号 #Shenzhou21 #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CNSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

This wide-field view shows the sky around the location of the historical exploding star CK Vulpeculae (in the constellation Vulpecula) that European astronomers saw in 1670. The remains of the nova are only very faintly visible at the center of this picture.

The star was not a typical nova, but may have been a much rarer, violent breed of stellar collision. A nova is a sudden and dramatic increase in the brightness of a star. CK Vulpeculae was spectacular enough to be easily seen with the naked eye during its first outburst, but the traces it left were so faint that very careful analysis using submillimeter telescopes is required.

Distance to Earth: ~10,000 light years

Models suggest CK Vulpeculae may not be a classic nova; rather it may be classified as a luminous red nova that is the result of two main sequence stars colliding and merging. A 2018 study found it was most likely the result of an unusual collision of a white dwarf star and a brown dwarf star. However, a 2020 article ruled out this proposed mechanism and proposes that CK Vulpeculae is an intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT), another type of object in the luminosity gap between supernovae and novae.

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin
Release Date: July 30, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #CKVulpeculae #NovaVulpeculae1670 #StellarObjects #AstronomicalObjects #ILOT #VulpeculaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #ESO #Chile #Europe #DSS2 #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Journey to Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Appeared in Year 1670

Journey to Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Appeared in Year 1670

This video sequence takes the viewer deep into a rich part of the northern Milky Way in the constellation of Vulpecula (The Fox), close to the more famous constellation of Cygnus (The Swan) to the enigmatic CK Vulpeculae nebula. Using radio telescope data from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile, the Hawaiian Submillimeter Array (SMA) and visible light data from the Gemini North Observatory in Hawaii, the final picture shows the remains of the new star that was seen in the year 1670. This view was created from a combination of visible-light images from the Gemini telescope (blue), a submillimeter map showing the dust from the SMA (yellow) and finally a map of the molecular emission from APEX and the SMA (red).

Distance to Earth: ~10,000 light years

The star that European astronomers saw in 1670 was not a typical nova, but may have been a much rarer, violent breed of stellar collision. A nova is a sudden and dramatic increase in the brightness of a star. CK Vulpeculae was spectacular enough to be easily seen with the naked eye during its first outburst, but the traces it left were so faint that very careful analysis using submillimeter telescopes is required.

Models suggest CK Vulpeculae may not be a classic nova; rather it may be classified as a luminous red nova that is the result of two main sequence stars colliding and merging. A 2018 study found it was most likely the result of an unusual collision of a white dwarf star and a brown dwarf star. However, a 2020 article ruled out this proposed mechanism and proposes that CK Vulpeculae is an intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT), another type of object in the luminosity gap between supernovae and novae.

Learn about APEX & SMA:

https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/apex/

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/submillimeter-array-maunakea-hi

Credit: ESO/T. Kamiński

Release Date: March 23, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #CKVulpeculae #NovaVulpeculae1670 #StellarObjects #AstronomicalObjects #ILOT #VulpeculaConstellation #Universe #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiNorthTelescope #SMA #Maunakea #Hawaii #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #ESO #APEX #Chile #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae from Year 1670 | Radio & Visible Light Views

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae from Year 1670 | Radio & Visible Light Views

The enigmatic CK Vulpeculae nebula. Using radio telescope data from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile, the Hawaiian Submillimeter Array (SMA) and visible light data from the Gemini North Observatory in Hawaii, this picture shows the remains of the new star that was seen in the year 1670. This view was created from a combination of visible-light images from the Gemini telescope (blue), a submillimeter map showing the dust from the SMA (yellow) and finally a map of the molecular emission from APEX and the SMA (red).

Distance to Earth: ~10,000 light years

The star that European astronomers saw in 1670 was not a typical nova, but may have been a much rarer, violent breed of stellar collision. A nova is a sudden and dramatic increase in the brightness of a star. CK Vulpeculae was spectacular enough to be easily seen with the naked eye during its first outburst, but the traces it left were so faint that very careful analysis using submillimeter telescopes is required.

Distance to Earth: ~10,000 light years

Models suggest CK Vulpeculae may not be a classic nova; rather it may be classified as a luminous red nova that is the result of two main sequence stars colliding and merging. A 2018 study found it was most likely the result of an unusual collision of a white dwarf star and a brown dwarf star. However, a 2020 article ruled out this proposed mechanism and proposes that CK Vulpeculae is an intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT), another type of object in the luminosity gap between supernovae and novae.

Learn about APEX & SMA:

https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/apex/

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/submillimeter-array-maunakea-hi

Credit: ESO/T. Kamiński

Release Date: March 23, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #CKVulpeculae #NovaVulpeculae1670 #StellarObjects #AstronomicalObjects #ILOT #VulpeculaConstellation #Universe #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiNorthTelescope #SMA #Maunakea #Hawaii #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #ESO #APEX #Chile #STEM #Education

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Appeared in Year 1670 | Gemini North Telescope

Mysterious Object CK Vulpeculae: Appeared in Year 1670 | Gemini North Telescope

The enigmatic CK Vulpeculae nebula. This picture shows the remains of the new star that was seen in the year 1670. The star that European astronomers saw in 1670 was not a typical nova, but may have been a much rarer, violent breed of stellar collision. A nova is a sudden and dramatic increase in the brightness of a star. CK Vulpeculae was spectacular enough to be easily seen with the naked eye during its first outburst, but the traces it left were so faint that very careful analysis using submillimeter telescopes is required.

Distance to Earth: ~10,000 light years

Models suggest CK Vulpeculae may not be a classic nova; rather it may be classified as a luminous red nova that is the result of two main sequence stars colliding and merging. A 2018 study found it was most likely the result of an unusual collision of a white dwarf star and a brown dwarf star. However, a 2020 article ruled out this proposed mechanism and proposes that CK Vulpeculae is an intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT), another type of object in the luminosity gap between supernovae and novae.

Learn about the Gemini North Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/gemini-observatory/gemini-north/

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Jen Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin

Release Date: March 23, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #CKVulpeculae #NovaVulpeculae1670 #StellarObjects #AstronomicalObjects #ILOT #VulpeculaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiNorthTelescope #Maunakea #Hawaii #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Planet Earth Lightning Flashes | International Space Station

Planet Earth Lightning Flashes | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared this photo: "Lightning appears as bright blue flashes across the time history of our orbit seen in these exposures from the International Space Station. And visualize the intensity of the storm!"

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

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Duration: 6 seconds
Release Date: March 5, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Atmosphere #Meteorology #LightningStorms #Astronauts #DonPettit #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #Japan #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Soaring above The Pacific Ocean with Airglow | International Space Station

Soaring above The Pacific Ocean with Airglow | International Space Station

The International Space Station was soaring 263 miles above the Pacific Ocean near the island of Hawaii when this 30‑second long‑duration photograph was taken, revealing Earth’s atmospheric glow and star trails at approximately midnight local time.

You will notice layers of red, orange and yellow airglow in this image. 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. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation. 

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. (Auroras, on the other hand, are usually constrained to Earth’s poles.) Just a tenth as bright as all the stars in the night sky, airglow is far more subdued than auroras, too dim to observe easily except in orbit or on the ground with clear, dark skies and a sensitive camera.

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.

Credit: NASA/Chris Williams
Image Date: Feb. 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Atmosphere #Airglow #PacificOcean #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

"The Aurora Tree"

"The Aurora Tree"

Pictured is a visual coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow of a distant aurora. The beauty of the aurora—combined with how it seemed to mimic a tree right nearby—mesmerized the photographer to such a degree that he momentarily forgot to take pictures. When viewed at the right angle, it seemed that this tree had aurora for leaves. Fortunately, before the aurora morphed into a different overall shape, he came to his senses and captured the awe-inspiring momentary coincidence. 

Typically triggered by solar explosions, aurora are caused by high energy electrons impacting the Earth's atmosphere around 150 kilometers up. The unusual Earth-sky collaboration was witnessed during March 2017 in Iceland.

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

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

Image Description: A leafless tree is pictured below a starry sky. In the sky behind the tree is an aurora glowing mostly green, along with purple. The shape of the aurora seems to follow the branches of the tree.

Image Credit & Copyright: Alyn Wallace
Alyn's Website: 

https://www.instagram.com/alynwallace/
Image Date: March 2017
Release Date: March 8, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Sun #Stars #Photography #AlynWallace #Photographer #CitizenScience #Iceland #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

SpaceX Starship V3: Preparing for Flight 11—A Retrospective | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship V3: Preparing for Flight 11—A Retrospective | Starbase Texas

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Updates: "Starship V3 first flight in about 4 weeks. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability."

"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: March 7, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #StarshipV3 #StarshipV3SN1 #StarshipFlight11 #ReusableSpacecraft #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Long March-8A Rocket Moved to Launch Area in Hainan

China Long March-8A Rocket Moved to Launchpad in Hainan

A Long March 8A carrier rocket was transferred to the launch pad at Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in southern China on Saturday, March 7, 2026, for an upcoming mission. The Long March-8A carrier rocket, designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), represents a significant upgrade to the Long March-8 series. It successfully conducted its maiden flight on Feb. 11, 2025.

The rocket, 50.5 meters long with a takeoff weight of 371 tonnes, is capable of carrying up to seven tonnes to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km. It is designed specifically for high-density, rapid constellation deployment, serving as a core vehicle for China's satellite internet constellation construction.

So far, it has successfully completed seven missions. About 15 launch missions are scheduled for the Long March 8 series rockets this year, involving the Long March 8A and Long March 8 rockets.

As a new-generation medium-lift liquid-fueled carrier rocket, the Long March 8 series rockets have become the mainstay for China's low-to-medium orbit satellite launches since its maiden flight, thanks to its modular design, high cost-effectiveness, and rapid response capabilities.

Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co., Ltd., or HICAL, is a Chinese state-owned company that operates the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, China's first commercial spaceport. Established in 2022, HICAL is the first commercially incorporated company in China to independently own and manage a spaceport.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 48 seconds
Release Date: March 7, 2026

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Satellites #RocketLaunch #LongMarch8A #长征八号运载火箭 #LongMarch8ARocket #CALT #CommercialSpace #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HICAL #WCSLS #文昌商业航天发射场 #Spaceports #Hainan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Journey to Newborn Star HH 46/47 in Vela | New Technology Telescope

Journey to Newborn Star HH 46/47 in Vela | New Technology Telescope

This zoom sequence starts with a wide view of the southern Milky Way and then closes in on a rich region of dark clouds and young stars in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). One of these dark star-forming clouds features the Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47 where jets from a young star are colliding with the surrounding material. 

The final image of Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47 was captured by the European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Distance: 1,400 light years

Learn more about ESO's New Technology Telescope:
https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/ntt/

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Nick Risinger 

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 20, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #HH4647 #HerbigHaroObject #StellarJets #CircumstellarMaterial #VelaConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #NTTTelescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video