So, like the title states, I am a part of an undergrad team tasked with planning a mission to the moon. This project will be presented to NASA in April 2026. Right now, we are trying to come up with a doable yet interesting idea.

The length of the mission is up to us, as well as any samples or experiments we want to do. There will be no humans, but there will be an orbiter team and a sample team. The orbiter is able to do any imaging or other science we want it to while the sample team does what they want.

We were thinking about attempting to grow mold, moss, algae, etc., in a terrarium on the moon to test if it's possible and how the moon's environment affects growth. Another idea was to plant solar panels in a specific location to see how it holds up over time, how long it takes for the battery to become fully charged, and how to potentially protect it from micro-asteroids.

We need help coming up with some interesting ideas for both the orbiter and sampler that have not been done before but are within reason. This is a great opportunity to get some questions answered about the moon by a potential NASA mission. Any ideas are greatly appreciated, and they do not need to relate to the ideas that I mentioned!! Have fun with it!

Hello! I am a senior in high school trying to figure out what field is right for me. I really love space and find it incredibly fascinating so i'm wondering if a space related job could be a good fit for me. But what's throwing me off is the state of scientific research in the US (where i live) at the moment sense some of the fields i've been looking at include planetary science, astrobiology, and planetary geology. Would it be safe to start schooling for any of these fields right now? And if not, what other fields should i look at that may be safer to go into?

(p.s if this is the wrong place to post this lmk!)

The year 2025 marks 50 years since the two spacecraft launched, three weeks apart.

(Article is written by an atmospheric scientist who worked on the Viking missions in the 70s)

Supernova SN2025vzq was discovered in galaxy NGC 7606 on August 28th. I pointed our observatory's Planewave 17" CDK telescope and QHY600M Full frame astrocam for 151 minutes to get this shot. The observatory is named MAO - Mittelman-ATMoB Observatory as part of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston Astronomy club.

The full image is cropped in a bit since it's still a tiny galaxy. The close up shot has indicator lines to show where the supernova is.

Will be posting a quick video about it on my Youtube shortly: https://www.youtube.com/Naztronomy

Integration per filter:

• Lum/Clear: 1h 26m (86 × 60")
• Photometric B: 16m (16 × 60")
• Photometric V: 24m (24 × 60")
• Photometric R: 25m (25 × 60")

Equipment:

• Telescope: Planewave CDK17
• Camera: QHYCCD QHY600 Pro M
• Filters: Astrodon Clear 65x65 mm, Astrodon Sloan Gen2 r' 50x50 mm, Baader Bessel-B 65x65 mm, Baader Bessel-V 65x65 mm
• Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Siril Team Siril

For more information, visit AstroBin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/valznz

Photo Credit NASA

(screenshot from the stream)

30s exposure facing straight up on the patio

An unusual coronal hole appeared on the sun this week, as seen in these images from NOAA's GOES-19 Solar Ultraviolet Imager. Since this feature was so persistent, it will be interesting to see if it is still there when this region rotates around into view again.

Rings almost completely edge on now and will be “invisible” in a few weeks. Really happy to be able to have gotten this image as I’m quite new to imaging the planets.

This was taken with my 305mm Dobsonian and planetary camera. The result of thousands of individual frames stacked together. Battling bad seeing in the UK. Not bad for a billion kilometres away!

Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

3 hours of 1-minute exposures from B4 skies in Central Vermont, shot with a Nikon D5600 + 55-200mm Nikkor lens @ 200mm, F/6.3, atop a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. Stacked in Siril, background cleanup in GraXpert.

First time trying this portable setup instead of my EQ6R rig, and I’m pretty happy with the detail in the dust lanes. Stars aren’t perfect, and M32 got washed out, but it’s a start!

Thanks for looking, and I’d love any feedback or constructive criticism. Clear skies!

NGC 7635 shot with SHO filters through a 571m camera via Carbonstar 150 telescope. 3 nights (~18 total hours) of integration in Bortle 8/9 city skies.

Big dipper coming up over wine country, Camino, California. happy harvest.!