nasa

I came across a rather heart-tugging space-weather conclusion: under a strong solar wind, the Earth’s geomagnetic response “hitting the ceiling” is very likely an illusion caused by measurement errors.

In a Nature paper (2026-07-15), NASA Goddard’s Sivadas team states that extreme solar-wind readings at an upstream distance of about 1.5 million kilometers are more likely to be overestimated. After correcting with data from MMS, THEMIS, and other missions closer to Earth, indicators such as the polar cap index still generally rise linearly with the driving strength; statistically, they did not find evidence of an upper limit. Extrapolating to around 25 mV/m, the shock’s strength would be about twice as large as the old “saturated” readings. Physics Today on September 1 also restated this result using the same framework.

#空间天气 #NASA

On the day of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the astronauts didn’t just pick up rocks—they also “caught” a handful of solar wind.

Today (2026-09-12), NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) re-shared this Moon-surface photo taken on 1969-07-20: Neil Armstrong photographed the lunar module Eagle after landing. Meanwhile, Eagle’s pilot, Buzz Aldrin, is unfolding a long foil sheet—the Solar Wind Composition Experiment. The foil is oriented toward the Sun to capture outward-moving particles in the solar wind, effectively sampling solar material directly. Together with about 22 kilograms of lunar rocks and regolith, the collected foil was later brought back to Earth laboratories for analysis.

Image source: Apollo 11 / NASA (scan: Kipp Teague); APOD 2026-09-12
#NASA #Apollo11

Dukono volcano on the north end of Indonesia’s Halmahera Island is almost constantly sending up gray ash—this time, satellites have captured the ash plume column clearly.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-05-27): Landsat 9’s OLI captured an eruption plume rich in volcanic ash on 2026-05-13. Dukono has been erupting nearly continuously since 1933, often accompanied by regular tremors in the recent period, and it frequently ejects volcanic bombs. Indonesian volcano monitoring agencies report that from 2026-05-09 to 05-16 there were on average about 52 eruptive events per day, with ash plume heights of roughly 400–4300 meters. Authorities set the alert level at Level 2 on a 4-tier scale and remind the public to stay at least about 4 kilometers away from the volcano’s crater.

Independent verification: The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program (GVP) states in the same wording that Dukono has been erupting nearly continuously since 1933, and it reiterates Indonesia’s CVGHM/PVMBG Level 2 alert along with ongoing explosive activity. NASA EO also cites the Global Volcanism Program: in May 2026, there were 9 active volcanoes in Indonesia at the time—more than any other country worldwide during the same period.

Figure: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin; Landsat 9 (USGS); image date 2026-05-13
Data current through: NASA EO release 2026-05-27; GVP / CVGHM aligned monitoring window
#NASA #Earth observation

Barnes Ice Cap in the center of Baffin Island. In summer 2026, the snow cover retreats unusually early: by mid-July it is basically bare, and meltwater channels carve the ice surface into a river network.

Rechecked against observations in a pair of publications by NASA Earth Observatory (2026-08-03) and glacier scientist Mauri Pelto: Landsat 9 captured this ice cap—about 5,700 square kilometers—on 2026-07-12. It is a remnant of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, with a maximum thickness of about 730 meters. Pelto says this was the earliest time he has seen it become exposed to this extent on satellite imagery; snow-free conditions were also observed in 2019, 2020, and 2024, but none as early. Bare ice is darker than snow, absorbs heat more quickly, and meltwater is easier to flow directly along channels left behind for many years rather than seep back into the snow layer to refreeze.

Over roughly the past twenty years, it has thinned by about 1 meter per year on average; over the past ~40 years, the margins have retreated by about 4 meters per year on average, and parts of the south have collectively retreated more than 400 meters.

Figure 1: Panorama of the ice cap (the light brown band on the south side shows newly exposed bedrock)
Figure 2: Meltwater channels running directly to the ice margin
Figure 3: Blue-green melt ponds on the ice surface
Source: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin, Landsat 9 OLI (USGS)
Data as of: NASA EO 2026-08-03; imagery date: 2026-07-12; Pelto blog: 2026-07-18
#NASA #ice cap

The northernmost active volcano in Kamchatka, Shiveluch (Shivelyuch), has hot volcanic debris scorching black tracks into the snowfields.

According to NASA Earth Observatory on 2026-05-06: the OLI on Landsat 9 captured Shiveluch on 2026-04-23—one of the largest and highest-elevation volcanoes on the peninsula. Inside the horseshoe-shaped breached caldera lies a dark, many-lobed, viscous lava dome, which has been continuously extruding over the past few months. Outside the breached caldera, in the radial avalanche gullies and lahar pathways, warm deposits left by block-and-ash flows have melted the late-spring snow into dark bands. On the same day, KVERT reported an “explosive-extrusive eruption” accompanied by strong gas-steam activity. The thick deposits left by the major eruption in April 2023 and by dome collapse may still be slowly releasing heat.

Independent verification: A 2026-05-06 repost by Phys.org on the same topic confirms that the Landsat 9 image from 2026-04-23 shows the growth of the caldera-lava dome and that warm deposits melt the snow to form dark channels—consistent with NASA EO.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin; Landsat data from USGS
Data as of: imagery captured 2026-04-23; NASA EO / Phys.org published 2026-05-06
#NASA #Earth observation

Looking down from a space station, Monterrey appears as a light-colored patch, with ringlike ridges of the Eastern Madre mountain range “clasping” the edges.

Per NASA Earth Observatory (2026-09-11, today’s image): Astronauts on the International Space Station during Expedition 75 captured ISS075-E-70481 on 2026-08-26 using a Nikon Z9 with a 400 mm focal length. The upper half of the image shows the light-toned built-up areas of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León; the lower half shows parallel, curved limestone ridge lines. The article states that the metropolitan area—based on the 2020 census—has about 5.3 million people, making it Mexico’s second-largest metropolitan area. The Sierra Madre Oriental on the southern edge was formed by folding of late Mesozoic sedimentary rocks from roughly 80 to 50 million years ago; after the weaker rock layers were eroded away, distinct ridge lines remained. Most of the time, the Santa Catarina River running through the city is nearly dry, but it does collect runoff from summer downpours, serving as an important natural corridor for the urban area. Between the ridge lines is the state-level nature reserve Sierra Las Mitras, established in 2000; the article says the ridges rise about 1,500 meters above the city. Another landmark is the saddle-shaped Cerro de la Silla.

Independent recheck: The NASA/JSC astronaut photo archive with the same number, ISS075-E-70481, lists the capture time as 2026-08-26 15:44:08 GMT, with a 400 mm lens and Nikon Z9—matching the EO specification. A review of the International Parks entry confirms Sierra de las Mitras as a nature reserve in Nuevo León (declared 2000-11-24), with a highest peak of about 2,060 meters, immediately adjacent to the city on the western side of Monterrey.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory; astronaut photo ISS075-E-70481 / ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility
Data as of: image dated 2026-08-26; NASA EO released 2026-09-11
#NASA #Earth observation

As summer approaches in the Bering Sea, the floating ice has already broken into fine strands, circling near St. Lawrence Island and Nunivak Island.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-06-22): MODIS on the Terra satellite captured a natural-color image on 2026-06-03. Wind carries the ice fragments into tight, swirling eddies; in the Yukon River Delta area, brown water mixed with silt and organic matter is sent into the sea. St. Lawrence Island lies roughly 240 kilometers due south of the Bering Strait—one of the few remaining segments of the land bridge from the ice age that still remains exposed above water.

Independent review: The final forecast in the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (2026-06-26) states that, about 15–30 miles offshore from the north to the northeast side of St. Lawrence Island, there is still broken ice and ice floes, and the remaining ice is expected to melt away in about a week.

Photo: NASA Earth Observatory / Michala Garrison, MODIS EOSDIS (official original image, not AI)
Data through: Imaging 2026-06-03; NASA EO 2026-06-22; AOOS SIWO 2026-06-26
#NASA #Earth observation

On the way to the Moon, Artemis II captures this “Moonlit Earth”: the entire night hemisphere is actually illuminated by the full moon’s reflected light.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-06-04): after the crew completes the translunar injection (TLI) in Orion, they photographed the full disk of Earth through a window. At first glance it looks like it’s lit by the Sun, but it’s actually moonlight—sunlight is reflected off the Moon’s surface and then shines on Earth. From Orion’s viewpoint, Earth blocks the Sun; only a thin crescent of solar corona light remains at the lower-right edge. Near the north and south poles, green auroras can be seen, along with zodiacal light also in the lower right, as well as a bright point, Venus. Bands of city lights on the surface make the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Brazil region visible. To capture fine details in low light, the camera ISO was set to 51,200 (typically around 100–200 during the day).

Independent cross-check: NASA’s “Hello, World” caption matches the same references as the image archive entry art002e000192—taken on 2026-04-02, after Orion completed TLI, photographed through a window by the Artemis II crew. It likewise states that moonlight provides the illumination, mentions the dual auroras and zodiacal light, and notes that this is among the first Earth images transmitted from the mission.

Image: NASA / Artemis II crew (Orion); Earth Observatory map by Lauren Dauphin
Data as of: photographed 2026-04-02; NASA EO published 2026-06-04; Hello, World / image archive 2026-04-03
#NASA #Artemis

Central Oregon is covered by smoke plumes: After a dry thunderstorm, satellites captured dozens of wildfires smoking at the same time.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-07-28): A dry thunderstorm system shifted east over the Kaskas Mountains area on 2026-07-15. Thousands of lightning strikes fell across Oregon and Washington; the next day, a NASA satellite detected large numbers of wildfires in central Oregon. By the afternoon of July 26, Aqua satellite MODIS imagery showed smoke plumes from dozens of fires being pushed to the northeast, with the total area burned on the order of hundreds of square miles. East Oregon issued air quality alerts. Among the more active fires that day were Hay Creek Complex, Brewer, Big Grass, Akawa Butte, Powder River, and others. Under the NIFC definition, several fire areas had containment rates below 5%. The state mobilized resources under the Emergency Conflagration Act.

Cited in the article: As of July 27, more than 1 million acres had burned in Oregon; nationwide during the same period, more than 4 million acres had burned (the 2016–2025 ten-year average is about 3.4 million acres).

Independent review: Central Oregon Fire Information’s after-action reports for July 18–28 confirm that lightning from the July 15 storm brought more than 2,000 lightning strikes, followed by major fires such as Hay Creek Complex and evacuations. The Times-Journal also reported that lightning ignited fires on July 15–16 and triggered a statewide Conflagration.

Figure: NASA Earth Observatory / Michala Garrison, MODIS Aqua; data from EOSDIS LANCE / GIBS Worldview
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-07-28; image capture 2026-07-26; Central Oregon Fire Information 2026-07-28
#NASA #earth observation

Canadian wildfire smoke plumes surge southeast: satellites captured the smoke from Ontario all the way to the U.S. East Coast.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-07-16): On 2026-07-14 in the afternoon, the NOAA-21 satellite’s VIIRS captured smoke plumes from the Ontario wildfires spreading southeast, covering southern Quebec and then reaching into the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre: as of that time, there were nearly 850 active wildfires nationwide, including more than 180 in Ontario; in northwestern Ontario, multiple fires expanded noticeably on July 13–14. The article says the height of the smoke determines local impacts—smoke aloft has limited effects on local air quality, while smoke close to the ground worsens it. Under the AirNow criteria, Toronto briefly reached unhealthy levels. For the year through July 14, about 1.9 million hectares had burned—still lower than the totals during the same period in the extreme fire years of 2023 and 2025.

Independent review: Planet Detroit, citing EPA AirNow, reported that a southwestern monitoring point in Detroit recorded a short-term AQI of 650 (the highest since monitoring began in 1999), and confirmed that the main smoke source was from the Ontario side north of Minnesota. The same visualization described by NASA Scientific Visualization Studio also recapped long-distance transport of Canadian smoke plumes from July 14–20, and included Detroit and other cities experiencing harmful air quality for multiple consecutive days in the same event chain. In the caption for NASA EO’s subsequent “North American week of smoke” graphic, it also states that Detroit maintained harmful air quality levels for several consecutive days.

Figure: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin; VIIRS data from JPSS / EOSDIS LANCE / GIBS Worldview
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-07-16; image acquisition 2026-07-14; Planet Detroit / AirNow verification 2026-07-16
#NASA #Earth observation

Hubble has caught a new kind of object: a “failed galaxy” candidate, Cloud-9, with almost no stars.

According to the NASA/ESA press release dated 2026-01-05, Cloud-9 is the first confirmed Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC)—a neutral hydrogen cloud constrained by reionization. It lies in the outer region of the spiral galaxy M94, about 14 million light-years away. Radio observations (discovered by FAST, then rechecked with Green Bank and the VLA) show a compact, slightly comet-shaped knot of neutral hydrogen. The hydrogen mass is about 1 million times the Sun’s mass, and the core diameter is about 4,900 light-years. Hubble’s ACS image data digs deep into the radio peak region: within the area, no stars from this galaxy are visible—only background galaxies. That’s what seals the argument against the idea that it’s “actually a dark dwarf galaxy, but ground-based telescopes aren’t deep enough.”

If the gas pressure is roughly balanced by the gravitational pull from the dark matter halo, the team estimates the dark matter mass to be about 5 billion solar masses. Compared with typical hydrogen clouds near the Milky Way, it is smaller and rounder. The name simply means it is cloud number 9 around M94—there’s no lottery implication.

Independent verification: The ESA and NASA releases on the same day match in scope and wording; the results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Image: NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay; processed by Joseph DePasquale (STScI); ESA/Hubble heic2601
Data current through: NASA/ESA press release 2026-01-05
#Hubble #NASA

NISAR radar mapped the surface displacement from the two earthquakes in northern Venezuela on 2026-06-24: the most prominent east-west displacement is around Caracas and La Guaira.

According to NASA Earth Observatory on 2026-07-10: the figure was derived by differencing NISAR data from June 25 and 30 after the quake with data from June 13 and 18 before the quake. The red areas are shifted to the east and upward, while the blue areas are shifted to the west and downward; due to the strike-slip fault, the main displacement is primarily horizontal. The white band near Morón (near Momoron) roughly corresponds to the location of deep-seated rupture. Eric Fielding, a geophysicist at JPL, said InSAR can help explain why coastal damage is worse; the USGS also used this dataset to refine a finite fault model.

Independent verification: The USGS event page records that at about 22:04 UTC on the same day, a M7.2 occurred (about 20 km east of San Felipe), and about 32 seconds later, a M7.5 occurred (about 20 km west of Catia La Mar). NASA EO says this is the first time the NISAR Urgent Response system has been used to map surface displacement for a major earthquake.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin; data by Eric Fielding and NISAR / JPL
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-07-10; USGS event page
#NASA #NISAR

The 3rd Category 5 Tropical Cyclone of 2026: Super Typhoon Bavi passes by the Marianas at night, with its eyewall captured very clearly by satellite.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-07-09): NOAA-20 satellite VIIRS day/night band captured Bavi’s eyewall on the west side illuminated by a waning crescent moon at about 15:30 UTC on 2026-07-05 (around 1:30 a.m. local time on July 6). A few hours after the eyewall passage, it crossed north of Guam near Rota (Rota). At around the peak intensity, the maximum sustained winds were about 290 kilometers per hour (about 180 mph); satellite observations at the time indicated a sea surface temperature of about 30°C. On the Saffir–Simpson scale, it was the third tropical cyclone of 2026 to reach Category 5 intensity. In the early morning around July 4, Bavi strengthened into a super typhoon over warm waters, then moved westward across the Northern Mariana Islands and the Guam area.

Independent verification: The Watchers’ separate report confirms that around 2026-07-06, Rota was affected by the eyewall, with maximum sustained winds of about 290 km/h (about 180 mph) at Category 5 intensity, and that it continued westward afterward into the Philippine Sea. NASA EO also cites wording from Yale Climate Connections, calling it the 3rd Category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026. When overlaying the path on July 8 using NOAA-21 VIIRS imagery, the U.S. National Weather Service figures still report maximum sustained winds of about 250 km/h (about 155 mph).

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Michala Garrison; VIIRS data from JPSS / EOSDIS LANCE / GIBS Worldview
Data as of: NASA EO publication 2026-07-09; nighttime 2026-07-05; track map 2026-07-08
#NASA #Typhoon

The West African summer is drawing to a close; there should have been less dust. But this part of Mali is still covered by dust and feathers.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-09-10), the Terra satellite MODIS captured dust over Mali and neighboring countries on 2026-09-05. Large areas of ground detail were obscured. Goddard atmospheric scientist Tianle Yuan noted that such events are often associated with haboobs (dust-wall storms) driven by sinking airflows under strong convective storms.

In the days after the images were taken, aerosols continued spilling westward toward the Atlantic in a wider view. The article suggests this event is not quite like the long-distance transport across the ocean typical of late spring into midsummer, driven by the Saharan Air Layer.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin, MODIS Terra; data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-09-10; image captured 2026-09-05
#NASA #Earth observation

Utah Cottonwood Wildfires Burn About 390 Square Kilometers: One Look at the Satellite Comparison Shows the Scorched Area.

NASA Earth Observatory 2026-07-08: Landsat (USGS) false-color comparison—before the fire on 2026-06-05, and after the fire on 2026-06-29; unburned vegetation appears as brighter green, while scorched patches spread across the landscape. As of July 7, the affected area was about 150 square miles (about 390 square kilometers). At the time, among the active wildfires across the United States, it was only slightly smaller than Babylon in the same state. According to statements from the state forestry department to the media: up to about 150 structures were damaged. Regarding the Eagle Point ski resort, officials said more than 100 apartment buildings and 30 cabins were damaged, and 4 out of 5 chairlifts were destroyed. NASA FEDS (VIIRS) tracking shows that between June 23, within about 12 hours, the burned area expanded by about three times.

Newsweek 2026-07-09 restates the same set of key numbers from Landsat and EO; the NIFC subsequent situation report figure is about 97,464 acres (about 152 square miles).

Image: NASA EO / Michala Garrison, Landsat 8/9 before-and-after + FEDS boundary overview.
Data as of: NASA EO 2026-07-08; imagery 2026-06-05 / 06-29; Newsweek 2026-07-09; NIFC subsequent area figure
#NASA #Earth observation

The largest dune field in the Western Hemisphere is not in a coastal desert, but in Nebraska in the central United States.

NASA Earth Observatory, 2026-06-16: Landsat 8 (2025-08-19) captured the Nebraska Sandhills—rolling dunes with grass covering them account for about one quarter of the entire state, roughly 52,000 square kilometers. About 3,500 years ago, vegetation helped stabilize the dunes; in some places, the transverse dunes reach heights of around 120 meters and stretch for several kilometers. In the valleys there are lakes and wetlands, and along the southwest edge is the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

UNL, National Geographic, same scale: on the order of about 19,300 square miles—also the largest stable dune system in the Western Hemisphere and one of North America’s largest contiguous mixed-grass prairies.

Image by NASA EO / Lauren Dauphin, Landsat 8, USGS.
#NASA #Earth observation

The Black Sea turns “blue” every spring and summer: on June 22, 2026, NASA’s PACE satellite again captured an entire milky-blue vortex field.

According to NASA Earth Observatory (2026-06-25): On June 22, 2026, PACE’s OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) detected widespread turquoise/milky-blue in the surface waters of the Black Sea. The prevailing explanation is coccolithophores—tiny organisms whose outer shells contain calcium carbonate plates. When they gather in large numbers, they scatter sunlight into a milky blue color. From late spring to early summer, they often dominate; at other times of year, diatoms are more common and the water color is usually darker. In the same period, the Bosporus Strait also appears more greenish: on May 27, 2026, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station photographed currents traced by phytoplankton on both sides of the strait (note that the image is oriented with north pointing downward).

Independent verification: Earth.com (2026-08-06) and SciTechDaily, covering the same topic, confirmed the PACE/OCI findings, the image date of 2026-06-22, the coccolithophore calcium carbonate shells as the cause of the coloration, and the ISS 2026-05-27 Bosporus imagery—matching NASA EO.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Michala Garrison (PACE OCI); astronaut photo ISS074-E-619520 (Expedition 74, Nikon Z9, 50 mm)
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-06-25; PACE imagery 2026-06-22; ISS imagery 2026-05-27
#NASA #Earth Observation

An almost uninhabited island near Antarctica twists the clouds into a string of reversed vortices.

According to NASA Earth Observatory on 2026-05-07: Landsat 8 captured on 2026-02-11 the Von Kármán vortex street on the leeward side of Peter I Island. The island lies in the Bransfield Strait at about 68.86° south latitude, roughly 400 kilometers from the southwestern Antarctic coast and more than 1800 kilometers from Cape Horn, Chile. Airflow slows as it moves around the island and then sheds into counter-rotating vortices; the typical wind speeds that form this kind of vortex street are about 18–54 km/h—if the wind is stronger, the vortices can’t hold together. Where the clouds break, the island’s peak can be seen, rising to about 1,640 meters; the summit has a circular volcanic crater roughly 100 meters wide. The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program classifies it as a shield volcano, but there are no records of modern eruptions.

Independent verification: Phys.org (2026-05-07) and EarthSky, in the same-topic reports, confirm that Landsat 8, the 2026-02-11 image date, the leeward vortex street on Peter I Island, and the 18–54 km/h wind-speed range all match NASA EO.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory / Michala Garrison; Landsat 8 (USGS). Also included is a 2011 IceBridge aerial comparison.
Data current through: NASA EO release date 2026-05-07; image acquisition date 2026-02-11
#NASA #earth observation

This time the lunar eclipse is very deep: at the maximum eclipse, about 96.3% of the Moon’s disk passes into Earth’s umbra.

According to NASA’s 2026-09-02 image explanation, and using the parameters for the same eclipse from the Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS): the maximum eclipse occurs at about 04:13 UTC on 2026-08-28 (00:13 Aug 28 in the U.S. Eastern time zone). The maximum-eclipse phase is visible over much of the Americas (excluding Alaska and Canada’s northwest), as well as in Western Europe and West Africa. The photo was taken by NASA photographer Eric Bordelon in southern Louisiana, near the Michoud Assembly Facility.

#NASA #lunar eclipse

Over the sunflower fields in the northwest of Spain, the eclipse moves from a crescent all the way to totality, then slowly pulls away. The image is a group photo taken by NASA photographer Bill Ingalls on 2026-08-12.

According to NASA Earth Observatory 2026-08-14: the location is about 40 kilometers south of León, near San Millán de los Caballeros. The article reports the partial eclipse starting at about 19:32 and ending at about 21:22. Totality begins at about 20:28 and lasts about 2 minutes; the land-based totality path that evening also covers northwest Spain along with Greenland and Iceland.

Independent recheck: Time and Date estimates totality in central León at about 1 minute 44 seconds (maximum around 20:29), which is in the same order of magnitude as EO’s “about 2 minutes,” though the location differs slightly. Local media outlet ahoraLeón also reported that on the evening of August 12, totality in León lasted about 1 minute 44 seconds, while the partial eclipse began at about 19:32.

Photo: NASA / Bill Ingalls (sunflower-field group photo + close-up of totality)
Data as of: NASA EO release 2026-08-14; photographed 2026-08-12
#NASA #Solar eclipse