Notices by Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)

ESA's long-running Mars Express orbiter captured an exceptional view of clouds & atmospheric haze on Mars. A lot of weather happening in that thin air.

(Processing by Andrea Luck.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrealuck/55274343929/ #space #science #astronomy

Some magical new images of Mars have just come in from our interplanetary robots.

The Psyche probe, en route to a metal asteroid, got this startling view of crescent Mars during its flyby. (Processing by Kevin Gill.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/55271374755/ #space #science #nature

We live at an extraordinary moment in science history: We're the first generation able to see a meaningful map of the entire visible universe.

This view across billions of light years is based on JWST data, as part of the COSMOS-Web survey.

https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/05/11/astronomers-produce-most-detailed-map-cosmic-web #space #science #nature

It is ON! Japan & Europe are collaborating on Ramses, a mission to asteroid Apophis as it makes a rare, unusually close pass by the Earth in April 2029.

The Ramses spacecraft will study Apophis & see how it changes under the pull of Earth's gravity.

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Planetary_Defence/Ramses_ESA_s_mission_to_asteroid_Apophis #space #science #nature #tech

For your weekend enjoyment, here's a beautiful, expansive new view of the Sombrero Galaxy, courtesy of the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco Telescope in Chile.

The galaxy's dark "brim" is a ring of dust and cold gas encircling a vast ball of stars.

https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2612/ #space #science #nature

Zoom in, and the Sombrero Galaxy looks like a starry hat.

Switch to infrared vision (via JWST) and you can make most of the stars disappear, revealing the galaxy's unusually smooth, dusty ring -- less a hat than an enormous space Aerobie.

https://esawebb.org/news/weic2427/ #space #science #astronomy

This story is amazing.

Giant octopuses of the Cretaceous were up to 19 meters (60 feet) long.

They were the apex ocean predators of their day, eating up plesiosaurs and mosasaurs.

And they were apparently quite intelligent.

Sorry we missed you!

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6285 #science #nature #history

One is Pluto's moon Charon.
One is Earth's moon, the Moon (aka Luna)

A little shift in perspective, and even the most familiar objects in space look surprising and new.

#space #science #artemis #nature

What an amazing view of Earth from Artemis II.

The Sun is behind the Earth, illuminating a thin crescent. This low-light shot, taken by Reid Wiseman using a Nikon D5, shows auroras over the poles, city lights, and the glow of the atmosphere.

And yes, there are stars!

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hello-world/ #space #science #nature #technology

Even before beginning formal science operations, the remarkable Rubin Observatory has already discovered 12,700 new asteroids.

It found 11,000 asteroids in just 6 weeks during an "optimization" shakedown.

https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2608/ #space #science #technology

But wait! Here's another perspective on Saturn. This JWST image shows how auroras on the planet heat the atmosphere, which drives winds, which generate electrical currents, which help create more auroras...

It's an endless dynamic cycle that we've just discovered.

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/why-saturn-appears-to-change-its-spin/ #science #astronomy #technology

A tale of two Saturns. The one from Hubble shows visible light, the one from JWST shows infrared.

They're taken 3 months apart, so they also show Saturn's shifting angle relative to Earth. A welcome double dose of beauty.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-hubble-share-most-comprehensive-view-of-saturn-to-date/ #space #science #nature

A new 225-meter (740-foot) crater appeared on the Moon while nobody was looking. NASA's lunar orbiter imaged the dramatic aftermath.

Such large impacts are once-in-a-century events. This one happened in the spring of 2024.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/moon-new-crater-nasa-orbiter #space #science #nature #nasa

A major advance is using the MeerKAT radio telescope to map emission from hydrogen clouds in otherwise-invisible galaxies.

By combining different types of vision, astronomers are now bringing hidden parts of the universe into view.

Full paper at link.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09339 #astronomy #space #nature #tech

One of the largest structures in the known cosmos is hidden behind gas & dust in our galaxy.

A new study pierces the gloom & reveals the true extent of the Vela Supercluster: over 300 million light years wide, more than 100,000x as massive as the Milky Way.

https://www.sarao.ac.za/news/vela-the-true-scale-of-a-hidden-giant-structure-revealed/ #space #science #nature #technology

Esther Kisk Goddard documented & organized her husband's work, filed key patents, and continued to promote spaceflight long after his death in 1945.

https://www.clarku.edu/news/2026/03/12/esther-goddards-fierce-devotion-to-her-husband-kept-his-memory-alive-and-built-a-legend/ #space #science #history

Robert Goddard on his rocket's first flight:

“It looked almost magical as it rose, without any appreciably greater noise or flame, as if it said, ‘I’ve been here long enough; I think I’ll be going somewhere else, if you don’t mind.'"

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/from-cabbages-to-craters-nasa-marks-one-century-of-modern-rocketry/ #history #science #tech

100 years ago today, Robert Goddard launched his first liquid-fueled rocket (nicknamed "Nell") from a snowy field outside Worcester, Massachusetts, and changed the history of exploration.

The remains of the original rocket are mostly lost, but its legacy is everywhere.

https://www.collectspace.com/news/news-031626a-robert-goddard-liquid-fuel-rocket-centennial-where-nell.html #space #science #technology

During thunderstorms, electric discharges in the air cause trees to glow with an ultraviolet aura. You can't see it with your eyes, but researchers have finally managed to measure it & recreate it in the lab.

https://news.agu.org/press-release/thunderstorms-conjure-ghostly-coronae-in-treetops-observed-outdoors-for-the-first-time/ #science #nature

First a hydrogen leak. Now a separate *helium* leak is causing a delay in NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the Moon.

The giant rocket is rolling off the launch pad, with the flight delayed to April 1 at the earliest.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/02/21/nasas-artemis-2-rocket-hit-by-new-problem-expected-to-bump-moonshot-into-early-april/ #space #science #tech