Close-up: The Seagull Nebula | IC 2177 in Monoceros | Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Close-up: The Seagull Nebula | IC 2177 in Monoceros | Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Two years ago this month, National Science Foundation (NSF)–U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s engineering test camera, named the LSST Commissioning Camera (ComCam) on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, began capturing images of the sky to prepare for the revolutionary Legacy Survey of Space and Time. This image featuring the head of the Seagull Nebula was one of many ComCam images that led to the success of Rubin First Look and helped to document the observatory’s excellent performance.

The Rubin Observatory is packed with new technology. The Simonyi Survey Telescope’s drive system, rigid design, and compact shape give it incredible speed, forming the streaks of light showcased in this image. Thanks to these features, the telescope can be ready for its next image in only five seconds—faster than any other telescope of its size. The LSST Camera, constructed by DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is the world’s largest digital camera. The camera is roughly the size of a small car and weighs almost 6600 lbs (3000 kg). Its size and design allow it to view vast areas of the sky, capturing 45 times the area of the full Moon in the sky with each exposure. Together, the innovative technologies in the Simonyi Survey Telescope and the LSST Camera is expected to make many discoveries.

Learn more about the new Vera Rubin Observatory:

https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/vera-c-rubin-observatory

The LSST Camera (LSSTCam)

https://lsstcam.lsst.io/

An Introduction to Vera Rubin:

https://rubinobservatory.org/about/vera-rubin

Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 35 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 22, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #Gum2 #MonocerosConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #LSSTCam #LSSTComCam #SimonyiSurveyTelescope #RubinObservatory #VeraRubin #CerroPachón #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Seagull Nebula: IC 2177 in Monoceros | Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The Seagull Nebula: IC 2177 in Monoceros | Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Two years ago this month, National Science Foundation (NSF)–U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s engineering test camera, named the LSST Commissioning Camera (ComCam) on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, began capturing images of the sky to prepare for the revolutionary Legacy Survey of Space and Time. This image featuring the head of the Seagull Nebula was one of many ComCam images that led to the success of Rubin First Look and helped to document the observatory’s excellent performance.

The Rubin Observatory is packed with new technology. The Simonyi Survey Telescope’s drive system, rigid design, and compact shape give it incredible speed, forming the streaks of light showcased in this image. Thanks to these features, the telescope can be ready for its next image in only five seconds—faster than any other telescope of its size. The LSST Camera, constructed by DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is the world’s largest digital camera. The camera is roughly the size of a small car and weighs almost 6600 lbs (3000 kg). Its size and design allow it to view vast areas of the sky, capturing 45 times the area of the full Moon in the sky with each exposure. Together, the innovative technologies in the Simonyi Survey Telescope and the LSST Camera is expected to make many discoveries.

Learn more about the new Vera Rubin Observatory:

https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/vera-c-rubin-observatory

The LSST Camera (LSSTCam)

https://lsstcam.lsst.io/

An Introduction to Vera Rubin:

https://rubinobservatory.org/about/vera-rubin

Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Release Date: Oct. 22, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #Gum2 #MonocerosConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #LSSTCam #LSSTComCam #SimonyiSurveyTelescope #RubinObservatory #VeraRubin #CerroPachón #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #DOE #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Iridescent Clouds over Chile | Earth Science

Iridescent Clouds over Chile | Earth Science

Iridescent clouds, as seen from Gemini South Telescope in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab.

Cloud iridescence or irisation is a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in a cloud and appears in the general proximity of the Sun or Moon. The colors resemble those seen in soap bubbles and oil on a water surface. This fairly common phenomenon is most often observed in altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular, and cirrus clouds. They can appear as bands parallel to the edge of the clouds. Studying the colors in iridescent clouds tells scientists something about particle size within the clouds and how they may grow over time. 

Ice-crystal clouds can exhibit brilliant spots or borders of colors, usually red and green, observed up to about 30° from the sun.

This irisation results from an optical diffraction phenomenon, usually of several orders. The cloud particles that cause this phenomena are very small (a few micrometers), and locally all are of nearly the same size; they result from local near adiabatic lifting and condensation. In general, the physical process where a vapor becomes a liquid or solid; the opposite of evaporation, although on the molecular scale, both processes are always occurring. in moist air often in a lenticular (wave) cloud, in pileus above a developing cumulus, or occasionally in irregular patches of uniform color in a region of shallow convection. (Note: In this case, they are often called a mother-of-pearl cloud).

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

Gemini South Telescope in Chile:
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/gemini-observatory/gemini-south/

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/C. Corco
Date: Oct. 22, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planets #Earth #Chile #Atmospheres #Meteorology #Weather #Clouds #IridescentClouds #CloudIridescence #Irisation #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiSouthTelescope #GeminiObservatory #CerroPachón #Chile #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Scientists Set World Record for Coldest Temperature | China Space Station

Scientists Set World Record for Coldest Temperature | China Space Station

Chinese scientists have set a new record for the coldest temperature ever achieved by humans, cooling a cloud of rubidium atoms to 9.7 picokelvin, and keeping it stable for observation for seven seconds.

The result, announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization on Friday, November 6, 2026, marks a major step toward absolute zero, the lowest temperature theoretically possible, creating the coldest artificial substance known to date. The work was published on Friday in the journal Science:

https://www.science.org/content/article/china-space-experiment-creates-coldest-temperature-ever

The experiment was carried out in the ultra-cold atom physics rack aboard China's space station. The project began feasibility studies in 2011, and its experiment system was launched with the Mengtian module in 2022. It was organized by the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), while completed by Beijing University and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) of the CAS.

They cooled a rubidium atom cloud to an equivalent temperature of 9.7 picokelvin, 14 orders of magnitude below the roughly 300 kelvin room temperature on Earth, and kept it stable for observation for seven seconds.

The result broke the previous record of 38 picokelvin, set by a German team in 2021.

"We have mastered the whole technology chain for deep cooling of ultracold atoms, allowing atoms to reach the picokelvin level. This shows that our engineering capability in deep atomic cooling is up to the world advanced level," said Chen Weibiao, Party secretary of SIOM.

On Earth, gravity pulls atoms downward, making it hard to cool them sufficiently. In the microgravity environment of China's space station, atoms could float freely and reach far lower temperatures without strong external confinement. The Chinese research team remotely controlled the space station's equipment from the ground to make the breakthrough, said the CAS center.

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

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

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 43 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 7, 2026

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

A Look Back: When The Sun Unleashed Six X-class Flares in November | NASA SDO

A Look Back: When The Sun Unleashed Six X-class Flares in November | NASA SDO

A blended composite image highlighting all six X-class flares from November 2025. The main image shows 131 Angstrom light, a subset of extreme ultraviolet light. The inset images show a variety of 131 and blends of 131, 171, and 304 Angstrom light. 

A blended composite image highlighting all six X-class flares from November 2025. The image shows 131 Angstrom light, a subset of extreme ultraviolet light.

A blended composite image of all six X-class flares from November 2025. The image shows 131 Angstrom light, a subset of extreme ultraviolet light.

A year ago, the largest solar radiation storm in twenty years struck planet Earth. Literally hit. Particles from an X5-class solar flare on Nov. 11, 2025, penetrated our atmosphere and struck the ground. During November 2025, there were six X-class solar flares. The strongest geomagnetic storm that year. All but one of these flares—the X1.1 flare on Nov. 4, erupted from the same active region on the Sun: AR14274. These composite images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, helps us visualize how AR14274 moved across the Sun during that time. This composite image was created by overlaying SDO’s images from each flare onto each other.

Solar flares, intense flashes of light, do not themselves cause geomagnetic storms—but they are often associated with coronal mass ejections, giant eruptions of solar particles, that do. The three back-to-back flares erupted on Nov. 9, 10, and 11, 2025, were accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that triggered the intense geomagnetic storm of Nov. 11-13. This led to aurora sightings as far south as Florida in the United States.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov/, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts.

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Learn more about space weather: http://go.nasa.gov/4bLKwte

Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Scott Wiessinger
Release Date: Nov. 19, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SpaceWeather #Sun #Stars #Sun #SolarCycle25 #SolarFlares #CMEs #SolarStorms #SolarStorms2025 #Sunspots #ActiveSolarRegions #AR14274 #MagneticFields #SolarRadiation #Earth #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #SDO #NASAGoddard #GSFC #NOAA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Twin Spacecraft Achieve Trans-Mars Injection | NASA's ESCAPADE Mission

Twin Spacecraft Achieve Trans-Mars Injection | NASA's ESCAPADE Mission

Blue and Gold are on their way to Mars! 

The twin spacecraft, designed and built by Rocket Lab for ‪NASA‬ and ‪UC Berkeley‬'s ESCAPADE Mission, completed powered Earth gravity assists to each perfectly execute a trans-Mars Injection. Both spacecraft fired their main engine for 9.5 minutes, hurtling past Earth at more than 10 kilometers per second to enter an interplanetary cruise phase. Blue and Gold are due to arrive at the Red Planet in September 2027 to study the Martian atmosphere. 

A trans-Mars injection (TMI) is a heliocentric orbit where a propulsive maneuver is used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory, also known as Mars transfer orbit that will place it as far as Mars orbit.

Every two years, low-energy transfer windows open up. This allows movement between the two planets with the lowest possible energy requirements. Transfer injections can place spacecraft into either a Hohmann transfer orbit or bi-elliptic transfer orbit.

Learn more about this ESCAPADE Mission milestone: https://rocketlabcorp.com/updates/twin-satellites-built-by-rocket-lab-for-nasas-escapade-mission-complete-successful-trans-mars-injection-burns-setting-course-for-the-red-planet/

ESCAPADE is led by the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. It is responsible for mission management, systems engineering, science leadership, navigation, operations, the electron and ion electrostatic analyzers, plus science data processing and archiving.

Key mission partners are Rocket Lab USA (spacecraft), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (magnetometers), Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Langmuir probes), Advanced Space LLC (mission design), and Blue Origin (launch).

Learn more about the two identical spacecraft designed, built, integrated, and tested by Rocket Lab for the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory and NASA's Mars Mission:
https://escapade.ssl.berkeley.edu

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

Want to make interplanetary history with us? 
Our Space Systems team is hiring: https://rocketlabcorp.com/careers/

Video Credit: Rocket Lab
Duration: 2 minutes, 46 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 10, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #SpaceWeather #Planets #Mars #TransMarsInjection #TMI #Magnetosphere #MartianAtmosphere #ESCAPADEMission #ESCAPADESpacecraft #RocketLab #PeterBeck #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #GSFC #SSL #UCBerkeley #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

How Gravitational Waves Can Reveal New Worlds | NASA Goddard

How Gravitational Waves Can Reveal New Worlds | NASA Goddard

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) observatory, now in development, will detect gravitational waves, the tiny ripples in space-time caused by orbiting masses. New studies explore how LISA could reveal a new and unique population of exoplanets—worlds beyond our solar system—throughout our galaxy.

The most common source for LISA is expected to be double white dwarf systems that are binaries composed of white dwarfs in tight orbits. If an exoplanet also orbits within one of these systems, its presence becomes imprinted on the gravitational wave signal in a way we will be able to uncover.

The LISA detection method is similar to one called radial velocity that uses light and is already employed to find exoplanets around nearby stars. As a planet orbits, its gravity tugs on its host star, imparting a small reflex motion, or wobble, onto it. This wobble causes the star’s spectrum to oscillate with spectral lines shifting from redder wavelengths as the star moves away from us to bluer ones as the star moves toward us. The shift is due to a phenomenon called the Doppler effect.

Something similar occurs with gravitational waves. By themselves, double white dwarfs will emit gravitational waves at a nearly continuous frequency. Add a sufficiently massive planet to the system, and its presence causes the binary to experience reflex motion, adding a Doppler modulation to the gravitational signal. For LISA, this modulation will appear as sidebands, secondary signals at both higher and lower frequencies than the primary one.

Scientists liken the situation to modern radio communication, where part of the energy of a main radio carrier frequency goes into forming sidebands at adjacent upper and lower frequencies that carry messages (like voices or music). For gravitational waves, the sidebands carry messages about the presence of a planet.

Using this technique for a test case system at a distance of 500 light-years, researchers have found that LISA could detect a sub-Jupiter exoplanet under ideal circumstances.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Animator: Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (eMITS)
Science Writer: Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park)
Editor: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Duration: 1 minute, 14 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 10, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #WhiteDwarfStars #Exoplanets #GravitationalWaves #LaserInterferometry #ComputerSimulations #Heliophysics #Astrophysics #Universe #Cosmos #LISA #SpaceTelescopes #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualizations #Animation #HD #Video

How Far Away is the Voyager 1 Spacecraft? One Light-Day, Explained | NASA/JPL

How Far Away is the Voyager 1 Spacecraft? One Light-Day, Explained | NASA/JPL

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is approaching a historic milestone. On November 18, 2026, the spacecraft will reach a distance of one light-day from Earth.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, transformed our understanding of the solar system through their exploration of the outer planets. In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made spacecraft to enter interstellar space.

Now more than 16 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 continues its journey into the unknown. At this extraordinary distance, a command sent from Earth takes 24 hours to reach the spacecraft, and another 24 hours for a response to return.

Carrying the Golden Record, a message from humanity, NASA’s farthest explorer continues pushing the boundaries of space exploration nearly five decades after launch.

For more information on the milestone, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/voyager-1-what-is-a-light-day/

Learn more about NASA’s Voyager mission: https://nasa.gov/voyager

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 1 minute, 23 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 9, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Voyager1Spacecraft #Voyager1 #Planets #Jupiter #Saturn #SolarSystem #InterstellarSpace #LightDay #MilkyWayGalaxy #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #History #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sunglint Beams off Brazil's Rio Grande | International Space Station

Sunglint Beams off Brazil's Rio Grande | International Space Station

The sun's glint beams off the Rio Grande, a key tributary of the Paraná River system and a major source of hydroelectric power, in southeastern Brazil. The area is one of Brazil's most productive farming and energy-producing regions, supporting cattle ranching and the cultivation of coffee, sugarcane, and other crops.

The gleam is caused by sunglint, an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that one views it. The result is a mirror-like specular reflection of sunlight off the water and back at the astronaut and their camera.

Rio Grande (Portuguese for "great river") is a river in south-central Brazil. It rises in the Mantiqueira Mountains in the state of Minas Gerais and descends inland, west-northwestward. Its lower course marks a portion of the Minas Gerais-São Paulo border.

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. Covering roughly half of South America's land area, it borders all other countries and territories on the continent except Ecuador and Chile.

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

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: CSA/Joshua Kutryk

Release Date: Nov. 9, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Sunglint #Brazil #Brasil #RioGrande #Astronauts #JoshuaKutryk #AstronautPhotography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #CSA #Canada #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Planet Earth from 36,000 kilometers away | Meteosat-14 | EUMETSAT

Planet Earth from 36,000 kilometers away | Meteosat-14 | EUMETSAT

🌍First look at Earth from Meteosat-14!

Meteosat-14 (MTG-I2) has captured its first image from 36,000 km above Earth—just over 2 months after launch.

Taken on October 20, 2026, at 10:45 UTC, the full-disc image shows clouds over Northern Europe & North Atlantic, contrasting with clear skies over the Sahara.

MTG-I2, also known as Meteosat-14, is a European geostationary satellite, part of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system of weather satellites developed by EUMETSAT in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). It is the second of four imaging satellites of MTG, completing its first trio together with MTG-I1 and MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A. It will provide high resolution imagery over Europe every 2.5 minutes from a position at 9.5 degrees East—in line with Germany and Sardinia. It was launched in August 2026 on an Ariane 62 (A62) rocket from Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

Jointly developed by EUMETSAT and ESA, MTG-I2 will deliver faster data over Europe in real time once operational.

Learn more about Meteosat-14 (MTG-I2): https://www.eumetsat.int/meteosat-third-generation-imager-2-mtg-i2

Image Credit: EUMETSAT

Release Date: Nov. 10, 2026

#NASA #EUMETSAT #ESA #Space #Science #Satellites #WeatherSatellites #Meteosat14 #MTGI2 #Planets #Earth #Atmospheres #Weather #Meteorology #Africa #Europe #STEM #Education

U.S. Spacewalk 101: Menon & Kutryk Install Solar Array | International Space Station

U.S. Spacewalk 101: Menon & Kutryk Install Solar Array | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Anil Menon carries a roll-out solar array while attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm as he moves toward the International Space Station's starboard truss structure during a six-hour, 59-minute spacewalk.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Anil Menon carries a roll-out solar array while attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm as he moves toward the International Space Station's starboard truss structure during a six-hour, 59-minute spacewalk.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Anil Menon is pictured with his spacesuit's helmet visor down during a spacewalk

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Joshua Kutryk is pictured with his spacesuit's helmet visor down and lights on during a spacewalk

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Joshua Kutryk points his camera toward his spacesuit helmet visor and takes an out-of-this-world "space selfie

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Joshua Kutryk is pictured with his spacesuit's helmet visor down during a spacewalk

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Joshua Kutryk is pictured with his spacesuit's helmet visor down and lights on during a spacewalk

Expedition 75 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Anil Menon: "A common axiom in spaceflight is to treat every launch, spacewalk, and opportunity like it may be your last. I arrived at the International Space Station expecting to do zero space walks and hoping for one. I've been fortunate to work with the teams across far more than expected. Yesterday, was a peak moment full of unexpected challenges, real-time solution, and mission success. I feel blessed and thankful for this opportunity to make space a better place for us all. Thanks to the entire team for making it safe, making it fun, and getting it done! It will be the highlight of my career to work with you!"

During the six-hour, 59-minute spacewalk on November 5, 2026, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed and deployed the eighth and final International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) on the 3B channel of the space station, completing the power augmentation upgrades. Work to augment the station’s power generation began in February 2021. Since then, astronauts have completed 18 spacewalks to prepare power channel equipment and install the eight arrays. Together, the roll-out arrays increase the station’s power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.

U.S. spacewalk 101 was Menon’s fifth and Kutryk’s second. It also was the 286th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

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.

Credits: NASA/JSC/A. Menon, CSA/J. Kutryk

Date: Nov. 5, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Spacewalks #USSpacewalk101 #EVA #Astronauts #AnilMenon #JoshuaKutryk #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #CSA #Canada #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

A 'Little' Auroral Storm over Sweden

A 'Little' Auroral Storm over Sweden

Astrophotographer P-M Hedén: "A nice display of Aurora in my hometown. Lovely colors."

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/

Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east.

Image Credit: P-M Hedén
P-M's website: https://www.clearskies.se
Location: Vallentuna, Sweden
Date: Nov. 7, 2026 

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #Stars #Moon #Moonrise #Astrophotography #PMHedén #Astrophotographer #Vallentuna #Sweden #Sverige #STEM #Education

Taurid Fireball over Arizona

Taurid Fireball over Arizona

Astrophotographer Eliot Herman: "It is Taurid season when fireballs often occur. This fireball was at 11:49 pm in Tucson captured over the Catalina mountains. It left a faint 30 sec smoke trail."

Fireballs are brighter-than-average meteors. They are so bright that they can even be seen in the daytime. A steadily growing number of fireballs have been recorded by the American Meteor Society each year. In fact, there are several thousand fireballs a day, but most go unnoticed since the majority occur over the ocean and half occur during daytime.

Every year from September-November, the Earth passes through a broad stream of debris left by Comet Encke. The dust associated with the comet hits the Earth’s atmosphere at 65,000 mph and burns up, creating the Taurid meteor shower. Most years the shower is weak, and only a few Taurid meteors can be seen each night. Other years, the Taurids can put on a show.

This shower appears to radiate from the near Taurus, but will be visible across the entire night sky.

Taurid meteors can be seen any time the constellation Taurus is above the horizon during the months of September, October, and November. The best time to look for Taurids is after midnight, when Taurus is high in the sky, and when the sky is dark and clear, with no moonlight to mask the fainter meteors. Given the behavior of past Taurid swarms, increased fireball activity may be seen during the last week of October and the first two weeks of November.

If you want to try to spot meteors, remember to bundle up, as it is getting late in the year. Go to a dark spot, get comfortable, bring extra blankets to stay warm, and let your eyes adjust to the dark sky. A cozy lounge chair makes for a great seat, as does simply lying on your back on a blanket, eyes scanning the whole sky.  

Arizona is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

Image Credit: Eliot Herman

Eliot's website: https://meteorphotos.com
Location: Tucson, Arizona, United States

Image Details: Nikon Z7II Nikon 20 mm F1.8

Eliot's website: https://flic.kr/p/2sHieLo
Image Date: Nov. 7, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #Comets #CometEncke #Asteroids #Meteors #TauridMeteors #Taurids #TaurusConstellation #Astrophotography #EliotHerman #Astrophotographers #Tucson #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Blue Supergiant Star Rigel and The Witch Head Nebula

Blue Supergiant Star Rigel and The Witch Head Nebula

Does the blue nebula look like the head of a witch? 

The nebula (right from image center) is known popularly as the Witch Head Nebula because, it is said, the nebula's shape resembles a Halloween-style caricature of a witch's head. Exactly how, though, can be a topic of imaginative speculation. What is clear is that IC 2118 is about 50 light-years across and made of gas and dust that points to—because it has been partly eroded by—the nearby star Rigel. One of the brighter stars in the constellation Orion, Rigel lies just below the center of the image. Rigel is a blue supergiant star. The blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and is produced by Rigel's intense blue starlight and from dust grains scattering blue light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in planet Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen.

Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski

Piotr's website: https://app.astrobin.com/u/PiotrC
Authors & Editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Technological University (MTU)
Date: Nov. 9, 2026

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China Long March 12 Rocket Moved to Launch Pad in Hainan

China Long March 12 Rocket Moved to Launch Pad in Hainan

This shows a China Long March-12 carrier rocket being moved to the launch pad at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site on the southern island province of Hainan on November 5, 2026, before its launch Monday, November 9, 2026, at 4:24am China Standard Time. The rocket successfully sent a batch of nine Internet satellites to their designated orbits. The payloads were the 29th group of GuoWang low-orbit Internet satellites.

GuoWang satellites weigh about 695 kilograms each and utilize electric propulsion systems to maneuver in orbit, powered by two solar panels.

The GuoWang constellation is operated by China Satellite Network Group, a state-owned enterprise backed by the Chinese government. China Satellite Network Group plans to provide worldwide Internet connectivity services through the constellation. At present, domestic usage trials and agreements are taking place ahead of a general rollout starting in China.

This mission was the 10th launch of a Long March 12 vehicle, the 12th launch of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology-supported Long March 12 series, the 282nd Long March vehicle from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 676th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 80th launch from China in 2026.

Video Credit: CCTV
Article Credit: Jack C.

Duration: 39 seconds
Date: Nov. 5, 2026

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Source of Star's Mysterious Outbursts Found | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Source of Star's Mysterious Outbursts Found | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered what is triggering repeated outbursts from a giant, unstable star located in the constellation Coma Berenices. The new study has unearthed a previously hidden companion object that keeps pulling material away from the massive star every 113 days as they orbit one another.

The volatile star, known as AT 2016blu, is in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559 that is located about 30 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers estimate the mass of this star is at least 33 times that of the Sun.

This star's partner is either a stellar-mass black hole, or the dense collapsed core of a massive star called a neutron star. This is the first x-ray detection of one of this class of erupting stars. It is also the first one of these objects found with a black hole or neutron star companion.

Astronomers have been watching this star get really bright and then dim again in optical light on a regular basis for over 15 years. However, until they were able to get Chandra data at the right time, they were unable to figure out what was making this happen.

Chandra data from March 2026 revealed that AT 2016blu was at least 100 times brighter in x-rays than in Chandra data from 2001 to 2002, before the outbursts began. The best explanation for this is that material from the star is falling onto a neutron star or black hole during the closest approach in their oval-shaped orbit around one another. When they come close together, material ejected by the star gets captured by the black hole or neutron star. The material orbits at very high speeds close to the speed of light, getting so hot that it shines brightly in x-rays.

AT 2016blu is bright enough to be considered an ultraluminous x-ray source, or ULX, which is a special class of bright x-ray objects. The discovery of this system may also help studies of stars that change in brightness before they undergo supernova explosions. Astronomers suspect that much of this behavior may be caused by systems containing a massive star orbiting a compact object or another massive star.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 2 minutes, 40 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 9, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarAT2016blu #BlackHoles #NeutronStars #ULXs #Galaxies #NGC4559 #ComaBerenicesConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #NASAChandra #XrayAstronomy #CXC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video