What's Up? The Space Place

 HEY, SPACE PLACERS! Earthshine Moon 1/20/26 - NOT A DEEPFAKE! iPhone 17 Pro Greg Redfern Read this sobering article about deepfakes. Astronomical deepfakes have been around for years but it is far worse now. When you see an astropic on the 'net, be sure to ask yourself if it could really be imaged the way it is portrayed. A lot of astropics are of impossible alignments or images. If suspicious, check it out with other reliable sources. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! The Pink is a barely imaged last gasp Aurora iPhone 17 Pro Greg Redfern Yesterday had much excitement for Aurora chasers as a G4 (SEVERE) Geomagnetic Storm was enroute to our planet with expectations for Aurora. Well, the storm hit way early and during the daylight hours before sunset for the US East Coast. Aurora were visible in areas that had darkness elsewhere. Aurora were imaged in Central Virginia right after it got dark but the show was over essentially.  This article explains what transpired. The breaks of Naval Air....... Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! Yesterday's eruption on the Sun Spaceweather.com UPDATE G4 (SEVERE) GEOMAGNETIC STORM IS HERE.  START TO LOOK FOR THE AURORA AS SOON AS IT GETS DARK. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g4-severe-geomagnetic-storm-levels-reached-19-jan-2026 Today is Martin Luther King Day https://wtop.com/dc/2026/01/ways-to-honor-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-across-dc-on-monday/ and I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. During my twelve-hour drive returning from Florida to see the rollout of Artemis II https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2026/01/artemis-ii-is-on-the-move/ a strong solar flare erupted on the Sun https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/x-class-flare-activity-observed-18-january-2026 that gives us the possibility of seeing our first Aurora sightings of 2026. The DMVlast saw the Aurora in November 2025 https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/11/northern-lights-sightings-possible-next-few-nights-in-dc-region/ . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weath...

Hey, Space Placers! I hope you had the chance to tune in to WTOP today for our live team coverage of the Artemis II rollout https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2026/01/the-world-will-have-a-look-rollout-of-nasas-artemis-ii-stack-gets-underway/ . If you did, you joined thousands of NASA employees, family members, contractors, press corps and likely millions more worldwide to see for the first time the Artemis II moon rocket in all her massive glory.  Today was a major milestone for America’s, and humanity’s, return to the moon after almost 54 years since Apollo 17. Seeing this awe inspiring event unfold from “First Motion” out of the Vertical Assembly Building at precisely the predicted time of 7 a.m. electrified the thousands present. As the elven-million pound Artemis II “Stack”, riding on the back of the massive six-million pound Crawler-Transporter #2, made its way to Launch Pad 39B at 1 mile-per-hour, one could not help but ponder the day when NASA “Lights That Candle” to ...

HEY, SPACE PLACERS! Artemis II Crew NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida A press conference was held today to update the status of the upcoming Artemis II moon mission https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2026/01/moon-here-we-come-nasa-inches-closer-to-lunar-return-with-artemis-ii-mission/ . All systems are GO  https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/16/artemis-ii-moon-rocket-ready-for-big-move/ .     From the Artemis II launch team there was an air of excitement about tomorrow’s rollout of the Artemis II stack. This excitement was aptly stated by John Honeycutt, Artemis II mission management team chair: “These are days we live for. SLS and Orion are ready to go to the pad. This mission feels a lot different from Artemis I as Artemis II is the next step to landing on the moon.” Honeycutt, who is the final word in determining whether Artemis II is a “GO/NO GO” for launch based on the myriad of inputs provided to him, added, “We have one job - safe return and we will fly whe...