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THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Observing an Interstellar Comet
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From Aug. 7 to Aug. 15, NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
While the comet poses no threat to Earth, SPHEREx—along with NASA missions including the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope—is observing 3I/ATLAS to provide more information about the comet's size, physical properties, and chemical makeup.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known object from outside our solar system to be discovered. Astronomers have categorized this object as interstellar because it does not follow a closed orbital path about the Sun. When the orbit of 3I/ATLAS is traced into the past, the comet clearly originates from outside our solar system.
SPHEREx OBSERVATIONS
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THE SOLAR SYSTEM
More 3I/ATLAS Observations
Using its Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument, the James Webb Space Telescope observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Aug. 6. The closest the comet will approach Earth is about 170 million miles. NASA’s space telescopes help support the agency’s ongoing mission to find, track, and better understand solar system objects.
WEBB TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS
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THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Stellar Polka Dots
Scientists have devised a new method for mapping the spottiness of distant stars by using observations from NASA missions of orbiting planets crossing their stars’ faces. The new model—called StarryStarryProcess—builds on a technique researchers have used for decades to study star spots. By improving astronomers’ understanding of spotty stars, the new model can help discover more about planetary atmospheres and potential habitability.
UNDERSTANDING SPOTTY STARS
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THE UNIVERSE
A Star’s Inner Conflict
The inside of a star turned on itself before it spectacularly exploded, according to a new study from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Today, this shattered star—known as the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant—is one of the best-known, well-studied objects in the sky. Over three hundred years ago, however, it was a giant star on the brink of self-destruction.
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THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars’ Lumpy Interior
What appear to be fragments from the aftermath of massive impacts on Mars that occurred 4.5 billion years ago have been detected deep below the planet’s surface. The discovery was made thanks to the now-retired InSight lander, which recorded the findings before the mission’s end in 2022. The ancient impacts released enough energy to melt continent-size swaths of the early crust and mantle into vast magma oceans, simultaneously injecting the impactor fragments and Martian debris deep into the planet’s interior.
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| | | | NASA is kicking off the 2026 Student Launch challenge, looking for new middle school, high school, and college student teams to design, build, and launch high-powered rockets with scientific or engineering research in April 2026. | | |
ARTEMIS
Help NASA Track Artemis II
NASA is seeking volunteers to passively track the Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the Moon and back to Earth.
The Artemis II test flight, a launch of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on an approximately 10-day mission around the Moon.
This opportunity builds upon a previous request released during the Artemis I mission, where ten volunteers successfully tracked the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on its journey thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back.
GET INVOLVED
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| Hours before sunrise on August 30, 1983, Challenger lifted off into the night sky for the eighth mission of the Space Shuttle Program: STS-8. This was the first time the space shuttle was launched at night, and NASA's second night-time launch of a crewed space mission. | |
| What was NASA’s first human space flight to launch at night? | | | | Find out the answer in next week's NASA newsletter! 🤓 | | |
Do you have a telescope? Would you like to see some of the same night sky objects from the ground that Hubble has seen from space? We invite you to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th anniversary by accepting our yearlong stargazing challenge! New challenge objects will be featured weekly.
This week’s object is Messier 57 (M57), better known as the Ring Nebula, located about 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra. Discovered by the French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in 1779, M57 is easy to find, as it lies about halfway between the two 3rd-magnitude stars “Sheliak” and “Sulafat,” which form the bottom of Lyra’s lyre, but it does require a moderately sized telescope to resolve its beautiful ring-like details. M57 is tilted toward Earth, allowing us to see its ring face-on. Hubble’s high-resolution image helped astronomers determine that the nebula’s shape is more complicated than initially thought by revealing an intricate structure of dark, irregular knots of dense gas along its inner rim.
JOIN THE CELEBRATION
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