Am I A Planet

Pastel clouds and ocean from the ISS ©

Another incredible nebula shot! 1800 Megapixel

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka

Credits: Sergi VerdugoMartínez

Huge 500,000-mile-wide hole opens in Sun

A vast 500,000-mile-wide coronal hole has opened in the Sun's atmosphere. The area measures over 62 times the diameter of Earth and is now shooting high-speed solar wind toward Earth. When such solar activity is directed at Earth, the resulting geomagnetic storms can potentially disrupt satellite operations, power grids, navigation systems, and radio communications. There may also be spectacular displays of aurora caused as the Earth's magnetosphere is disturbed by the solar wind. According to spaceweather.com, this wind is estimated to hit Earth by Friday (Jan. 31), resulting in G1 geomagnetic storm conditions.

While G1 storms are considered the mildest category, they can still have noticeable effects, particularly in terms of aurora visibility at higher latitudes.

M64: BLACK-EYE GALAXY

The Lonely Neutron Star in Supernova E0102 72.3

Credits: NASA, CXC, ESO, F. Vogt et al., ESO, VLT, MUSE, NASA, STScI

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) © Don Pettit

Syd Mead, space station concept art, c. 1970s.

Even in space, connections are important. This image of NGC 2566 is part of an observing program dedicated to understanding the connections between stars, gas and dust in nearby star-forming galaxies. Read more:

www.esawebb.org

Close look at a local galaxy

Close look at a local galaxy