What's Up? The Space Place

Hey, Space Placers! iPhone Pic of Aurora Greg Redfern As I said in my blog yesterday, we have an Aurora viewing possibility tonight. But September's skies offer a lot to see. Check it out. Here's to clear skies and bright Aurora! Sky Guy in VA 

 Hey, Space Placers! iPhone Pic of Aurora Greg Redfern Just three months ago the Sun had an eruption that gave us the possibility of seeing Aurora in our skies  https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/06/how-to-maybe-catch-a-glimpse-of-the-aurora-this-week/ .  Once again we have viewing prospects tonight as the Sun had a recent eruption with our planet directly in the crosshairs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/   issued the following Geomagnetic Storm Watch  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g2-moderate-g3-strong-geomagnetic-storm-watch-0102-sep-2025 today: Geomagnetic Storm  WATCH: Geomagnetic Storm Category G3 Predicted Highest Storm Level Predicted by Day: Aug 31:  None (Below G1)   Sep 01:  G2 (Moderate)   Sep 02:  G3 (Strong) As stated in the Watch: Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitu...

 Hey, Space Placers! The newborn planet WISPIT 2b is eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits its host star. This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disc with multiple rings. ESO / R. F. van Capelleveen et al via Sky&Telescope.org This amazing image shows a planet forming around its parent star. It is a harbinger of exoplanets to come from ground and space based telescopes. Full story here. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! The new Orion Mission Evaluation Room inside the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Rad Sinyak In another indication that NASA is getting closer to sending astronauts back to the Moon,  the agency unveiled a new facility dedicated to Artemis II. Yesterday I blogged about the 1st completely successful test flight of Starship 10, a major step forward to the landing of astronauts on the Moon. The Artemis II crew is gearing up for their lunar orbit mission slated for April 2026.  The Artemis 2 crew (from left to right) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; Christina Koch, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; and Reid Wiseman, commander, in their Orion Crew Survival System Suits during an Orion crew module training on July 31, 2025 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak) LIGHT THAT CANDLE! Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! SpaceX Starship 10 completes full test flight - a first. After successive failures this flight test was successful and spectacular. Hopefully this will help get NASA's Artemis III crewed lunar landing mission which is slated to use Starship for the mission back on track. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! The full version of DKIST's image of narrow coronal loop strands. The image is about 4 Earth-diameters on each side. (Image credit: NSF/NSO/AURA) I have imaged the Sun in white & Hydrogen Alpha light for decades, and it was always a challenge to do so. This just released image by the National Solar Observatory (NSO)  is simply amazing as to detail, clarity and the technology of the telescope that took it - the Daniel F. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). "DKIST, operated by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Solar Observatory, has now imaged hundreds of coronal loop strands that are just 29.95 miles (48.2 kilometers) wide on average, and some could be as thin as 13 miles (21 kilometers). These are right on the limit of the DKIST's resolution, which is itself more than 2.5 times sharper than the next best solar telescope." Get all of the details here , INCLUDING THE PROPOSED TRUMP BUDGET CUT FROM $30 MILLION TO $13 MILLION WHICH ...