Good times!
Leading right up to Oct 28, I didn't get any sleep that whole month.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
October 1, 2025
NGC 6960: The Witch's Broom Nebula
Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light would suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was from a supernova, or exploding star, and record the expanding debris cloud as the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant. This sharp telescopic view is centered on a western segment of the Veil Nebula cataloged as NGC 6960 but less formally known as the Witch's Broom Nebula. Blasted out in the cataclysmic explosion, an interstellar shock wave plows through space sweeping up and exciting interstellar material. Imaged with narrow band filters, the glowing filaments are like long ripples in a sheet seen almost edge on, remarkably well separated into atomic hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue-green) gas. The complete supernova remnant lies about 1400 light-years away towards the constellation Cygnus. This Witch's Broom actually spans about 35 light-years. The bright star in the frame is 52 Cygni, visible with the unaided eye from a dark location but unrelated to the ancient supernova remnant.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
New Data on the Extreme Nickel Production of 3I/ATLAS
October 1, 2025
A new report (accessible here) from the UVES spectrograph of the European Very Large Telescope in Chile provides data on the anomalous abundance of nickel and iron in the plume of gas surrounding the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS.
The presence of nickel and iron atoms in the spectrum of comets is unexpected because the surface temperature is too low to allow the sublimation of refractory minerals containing these metals.
The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov showed nickel and iron with an abundance ratio that is similar to that observed in solar system comets.
On average, the typical cometary ratio is an order of magnitude higher than the solar abundance ratio of nickel to iron.
The new data on 3I/ATLAS covers six time-bins at heliocentric distances ranging from 3.14 to 2.14 times the Earth-Sun separation (AU). Nickel was detected at all times, but iron was only detected at heliocentric distances smaller than 2.64 AU.
Altogether, 3I/ATLAS shows a high production rate of nickel atoms as well as a high nickel to iron ratio, making it exceptional when compared to solar system comets and 2I/Borisov.
In conclusion, the authors write: “At the distances at which comets are observed, the temperature is far too low to vaporize silicate, sulfide, and metallic grains that contain nickel and iron atoms.
Therefore, the presence of nickel and iron atoms in cometary coma is extremely puzzling… 3I/ATLAS, which is a C2-depleted comet, exhibits extreme properties in the early phases of its activity with regard to the production rates and abundance ratios of nickel and iron.”
Hopefully, we will learn much more about 3I/ATLAS in the coming days. Between October 1–7, 2025, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA’s Mars orbiters Mars Express and ExoMars will observe 3I/ATLAS as it passes within 29 million kilometers from Mars.
The highest resolution image so far was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS was at a distance of 570 million kilometers from the telescope. This is 20 times farther than the closest approach of 3I/ATLAS to Mars.
As a result, the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will obtain images with a much better spatial resolution of 30 kilometers per pixel. The brightest pixel in the HiRISE image would gauge the surface area of 3I/ATLAS and therefore its diameter.
In a recent paper (accessible here), I derived that the diameter of 3I/ATLAS is larger than 5 kilometers — the width of Manhattan Island. The first recognized interstellar object, 1I/`Oumuamua, was pancake shaped and 0.1 kilometers in diameter — the size of a football field (see discussion here).
Why is the third interstellar object 3I/ATLAS a million times more massive than the first one? The HiRISE image might exacerbate or weaken the discrepancy. Nature is sometimes more imaginative than script writers in Hollywood.
Science is fun because we can learn something new from evidence, and not from past narratives dictated by the “adults in the room”.
My biggest reward arrived recently in the form of an email message from a former US Air Force pilot who wrote that his daughter wants to become a scientist after seeing me on television talking about 3I/ATLAS.
Early this morning, I was asked on “Fox & Friends” whether my gut feeling is that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet or a technological artifact?
I responded that 3I/ATLAS is most likely a natural comet, but we need to be prepared for a black swan event where among the interstellar rocks discovered by the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory there might be a tennis ball thrown by a cosmic neighbor.
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/new-data-on-the-extreme-nickel-production-of-3i-atlas-c889b20342c1
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.26053
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/
https://x.com/UAPWatchers/status/1973004149781307633
she lurks in the Pit
It’s Shutdown Time
September 30, 2025
This was sent out to NASA employees by Stephen Shinn Acting NASA Chief Financial Officer:
“A funding lapse will result in certain government activities ceasing due to a lack of appropriated funding.
In addition, designated pre-notified employees of this agency would be temporarily furloughed. P.L. 116-1 would apply.”
Planning for Potential Lapse in Funding
NASA Civil Servants,
We have received official confirmation from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to notify employees of the potential upcoming lapse in appropriations. Please see below for its official correspondence.
We encourage employees to be on the lookout for additional guidance from NASA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) and to regularly review NASA’s shutdown webpage at www.nasa.gov/shutdown
Stephen Shinn
Acting Chief Financial Officer
President Trump opposes a government shutdown, and strongly supports the enactment of H.R. 5371, which is a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November 21, and already passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands. If Congressional Democrats maintain their current posture and refuse to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded before midnight on September 30, 2025, federal appropriated funding will lapse.
A funding lapse will result in certain government activities ceasing due to a lack of appropriated funding. In addition, designated pre-notified employees of this agency would be temporarily furloughed. P.L. 116-1 would apply.
The agency has contingency plans in place for executing an orderly shutdown of activities that would be affected by any lapse in appropriations forced by Congressional Democrats.
Further Information about those plans will be distributed should a lapse occur.
https://nasawatch.com/personnel-news/its-shutdown-time/
https://nasawatch.com/shutdown/nasa-continuity-of-appropriations-plan/
https://nasawatch.com/shutdown/nasa-memo-orderly-shutdown-activities/
https://nasawatch.com/shutdown/confusing-nasa-furlough-letters/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/nasa-closes-doors-to-15-000-employees-as-us-government-shutdown-begins
NASA closes doors to 15,000 employees as US government shutdown begins
October 1, 2025
More than 15,000 NASA civil servants have been furloughed as the U.S. federal government enters a shutdown.
The grinding halt forces NASA and other agencies to scale back nearly all of their day-to-day operations after lawmakers in Washington D.C. failed to pass a government funding bill by the deadline.
Only a fraction of NASA's workforce remains on duty, assigned to missions that cannot be paused without risking astronaut safety, critical hardware, or the Trump administration’s highest priorities.
With most science programs and public-facing activities frozen, the shutdown leaves NASA in a holding pattern until Congress approves new funding.
NASA's updated shutdown plan, released Sept. 29, outlines how the agency will operate during the funding lapse, and confirms the scale of furloughs now underway.
Out of NASA's 18,218 civil servants, 15,094 have been sent home, while a little more than 3,100 are classified as "excepted" and remain on the job.
By comparison, NASA's August 2023 continuity plan projected 17,007 furloughs and just 1,300 excepted employees.
The smaller furlough number this year likely reflects newly expanded exemptions for Artemis, which now cover the entire program, rather than only operations necessary for "safety and protection of life and property."
The added stipulation reflects NASA's push to launch its Artemis 2 mission on time, currently scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 5, 2026.
Artemis 2 will fly a crew of four around the moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo missions, and sets the stage for Artemis 3, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA's efforts to return to the moon are being challenged by a similar push by China — a race which, if lost by the U.S., would lead to geopolitical turmoil back on Earth, according to lawmakers. A
ny significant delay to Artemis 2 would likely create ripple effects for its follow-on mission, further stressing a strained timeline that experts warn may already be in jeopardy of falling short of its goals.
The new shutdown guidance confirms predictions made by NASA’s Exploration Systems acting Deputy Administrator Lakiesha Hawkins during a press conference on Sept. 23, who said, "we anticipate being able to request, and being able to continue to move forward on Artemis 2 in the event of a shutdown."
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Another addition in NASA's latest shutdown guidance includes a directive that restricts the use of carryover funds (leftovers from last year's appropriation) to "presidential priorities."
Space policy experts say the language is unusual and could reflect a broader effort to prioritize White House initiatives during a funding lapse.
Casey Dreier, executive director of the Planetary Society, told Space.com in an email on Oct. 1 that while it's too early to know exactly how the guidance will be applied, the wording suggests leftover funds from the previous fiscal year could be redirected away from their original allocations.
"Carryover funds are not lapsed appropriations, so they can fund some number of limited activities," Dreier explained.
"This could functionally consolidate those into preferred activities to continue various functions that the White House would like to do to mitigate the pain or disruption of a shutdown."
NASA estimates it will take around half a day to secure facilities and complete the orderly shutdown of non-excepted operations.
As for missions deemed too critical to interrupt, the International Space Station remains staffed, with flight controllers and engineers working around the clock to keep astronauts safe and systems running.
Earth-observing and weather satellites considered vital to public safety, also maintain their operation, ensuring that data on weather, natural disasters and space debris remains available.
Most of NASA's research portfolio, from science grants to technology development, has been placed on hold, freezing progress across a wide range of projects.
Public engagement efforts such as visitor centers, NASA TV and social media platforms have gone dark, limiting the agency's ability to communicate with the public.
Contractors are in a mixed position. A small number can continue temporarily if their work is already funded, but even programs with those resources may stall without their NASA counterparts present to offer oversight.
Furloughed employees are legally prohibited from doing any NASA work, even on a voluntary basis, and have been reduced to a select few who will spend the shutdown's first half-day facilitating an "orderly shutdown" at agency centers across the country.
Federal law guarantees that civil servants will eventually receive back pay, but the timing of those payments depends entirely on how long the shutdown lasts and how quickly Congress acts.
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Sol 4669: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection
September 30, 2025
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took 19 images in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to create this mosaic.
The seam-corrected mosaic provides a 360-degree cylindrical projection panorama of the Martian surface centered at 58 degrees azimuth (measured clockwise from north).
Curiosity took the images on September 24, 2025, Sol 4669 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 198, site number 119.
The local mean solar time for the image exposures was 12 PM. Each Navcam image has a 45 degree field of view.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4669-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
What’s Up: October 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Sep 30, 2025
A supermoon, and meteor showers from the Draconids and Orionids
A supermoon takes over the sky, the Draconid meteor shower peeks through, and the Orionid meteor shower shines bright.
Skywatching Highlights
Oct. 6: The October supermoon
Oct. 6-10: The Draconid meteor shower
Oct. 21: The Orionid meteor shower peaks (full duration Sept. 26 - Nov. 22)
Transcript
What’s Up for October? A Supermoon takes over, the Draconid meteor shower peeks through, and the Orionid meteors sparkle across the night sky.
The evening of October 6, look up and be amazed as the full moon is bigger and brighter because - it's a supermoon!
This evening, the moon could appear to be about 30% brighter and up to 14% larger than a typical full moon. But why?
Supermoons happen when a new moon or a full moon coincides with "perigee," which is when the moon is at its closest to Earth all month.
So this is an exceptionally close full moon! Which explains its spectacular appearance.
And what timing - while the supermoon appears on October 6th, just a couple of days before on October 4th is "International Observe the Moon Night"!
It's an annual, worldwide event when Moon enthusiasts come together to enjoy our natural satellite.You can attend or host a moon-viewing party, or simply observe the Moon from wherever you are.
So look up, and celebrate the moon along with people all around the world!
The supermoon will light up the sky on October 6th, but if you luck into some dark sky between October 6th and 10th, you might witness the first of two October meteor showers - the Draconids!
The Draconid meteor shower comes from debris trailing the comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner burning up in Earth's atmosphere
These meteors originate from nearby the head of the constellation Draco the dragon in the northern sky and the shower can produce up to 10 meteors per hour!
The Draconids peak around October 8th, but if you don't see any, you can always blame the bright supermoon and wait a few weeks until the next meteor shower - the Orionids!
The Orionid meteor shower, peaking October 21, is set to put on a spectacular show, shooting about 20 meteors per hour across the night sky.
This meteor shower happens when Earth travels through the debris trailing behind Halley's Comet and it burns up in our atmosphere.
The full duration of the meteor shower stretches from September 26 to November 22, but your best bet to see meteors is on October 21 before midnight until around 2 am.
This is because, not only is this night the shower's peak, it is also the October new moon, meaning the moon will be between the Earth and the Sun, making it dark and invisible to us.
With a moonless sky, you're much more likely to catch a fireball careening through the night.
So find a dark location after the sun has set, look to the southeast sky (if you're in the northern hemisphere) and the northeast (if you're in the southern hemisphere) and enjoy!
Orionid meteors appear to come from the direction of the Orion constellation but you might catch them all across the sky.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/whats-up-october-2025-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-MdvqKe33c
NASA signs US-Australia Agreement on Aeronautics, Space Cooperation
Sep 30, 2025
At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Sydney this week, representatives from the United States and Australia gathered to sign a framework agreement that strengthens collaboration in aeronautics and space exploration between the two nations.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy and Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo signed the agreement Tuesday on behalf of their countries, respectively.
“Australia is an important and longtime space partner, from Apollo to Artemis, and this agreement depends on that partnership,” said Duffy.
“International agreements like this one work to leverage our resources and increase our capacities and scientific returns for all, proving critical to NASA’s plans from low Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
Australian Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science Tim Ayres said the signing builds on more than half a century of collaboration between the two nations.
“Strengthening Australia’s partnership with the U.S. and NASA creates new opportunities for Australian ideas and technologies, improving Australia’s industrial capability, boosting productivity, and building economic resilience,” Ayres said.
Known as the “Framework Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Australia on Cooperation in Aeronautics and the Exploration and Use of Airspace and Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes,” it recognizes cooperation that’s mutually beneficial for the U.S. and Australia and establishes the legal framework under which the countries will work together.
Potential areas for cooperation include space exploration, space science, Earth science including geodesy, space medicine and life sciences, aeronautics research, and technology.
NASA has collaborated with Australia on civil space activities since 1960, when the two countries signed their first cooperative space agreement.
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex played a vital role in supporting NASA’s Apollo Program, most notably during the Apollo 13 mission.
Today, the complex is one of three global stations in NASA’s Deep Space Network, supporting both robotic and human spaceflight missions.
One of the original signatories to the Artemis Accords, Australia joined the United States under President Donald Trump and six other nations in October 2020, in supporting a basic set of principles for the safe and responsible use of space.
Global space leaders from many of the 56 signatory countries met at IAC in Sydney this week to further their implementation.
As part of an existing partnership with the Australian Space Agency, Australia is developing a semi-autonomous lunar rover, which will carry a NASA analysis instrument intended to demonstrate technology for scientific and exploration purposes.
The rover is scheduled to launch by the end of this decade through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.
NASA’s international partnerships reflect the agency’s commitment to peaceful, collaborative space exploration.
Building on a legacy of cooperation, from the space shuttle to the International Space Station and now Artemis, international partnerships support NASA’s plans for lunar exploration under the Artemis campaign and future human exploration of Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasa-signs-us-australia-agreement-on-aeronautics-space-cooperation/
NASA, International Partners Deepen Commitment to Artemis Accords
Sep 30, 2025
NASA, along with leaders from global space agencies and government representatives worldwide, convened on Monday to further the implementation of the Artemis Accords — practical principles designed to guide the responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The meeting was held during the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Sydney. In opening remarks, acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy highlighted the five-year anniversary of the Artemis Accords next month.
“When President Trump launched the Artemis Accords in his first term, he made sure American values would lead the way – bringing together a coalition of nations to set the rules of the road in space and ensure exploration remains peaceful.
After five years, the coalition is stronger than ever. This is critical as we seek to beat China to the Moon, not just to leave footprints, but this time to stay,” said Duffy.
The United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, signed the accords on Oct. 13, 2020, with seven other founding nations.
The accords were created in response to the growing global interest in lunar activities by governments and private companies. They now comprise 56 country signatories — nearly 30% of the world’s countries.
The event was co-chaired by NASA, the Australian Space Agency, and the UAE Space Agency. Dozens of nations were represented, creating the foundation for future space exploration for the Golden Age of exploration and innovation.
“Australia is a proud founding signatory of the Artemis Accords and is focused on supporting new signatories in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Head of Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo.
“The purpose of the accords is as important — if not more important — as it was when first established.
This annual gathering of principals at IAC 2025 is a key opportunity to reaffirm our collective commitment to exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond in a peaceful, safe, and sustainable way.”
During the meeting, leaders discussed recommendations for non-interference in each other’s space activities including transparency on expected launch dates, general nature of activities, and landing locations.
They also discussed orbital debris mitigation and disposal management, interoperability of systems for safer and more efficient operations, and the release of scientific data.
In May 2025, the United Arab Emirates hosted an Artemis Accords workshop focused on topics, such as non-interference and space object registration and reporting beyond Earth orbit.
“Through our active participation in the Artemis Accords and by organizing specialised workshops, we aim to reinforce the principles of transparency, sustainability, and innovation in space activities.
We are committed to strengthening international partnerships and facilitating the exchange of expertise, thereby contributing to the development of a robust global framework for safe and responsible space exploration, while opening new frontiers for scientific research,” said UAE Minister of Sports and Chairman of UAE Space Agency Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi.
“This reflects the UAE’s unwavering commitment to enhancing international cooperation in space exploration and promoting the peaceful use of space.”
More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-international-partners-deepen-commitment-to-artemis-accords/
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/
Discovery Alert: ‘Baby’ Planet Photographed in a Ring around a Star for the First Time!
Sep 30, 2025
The (Proto) Planet:
WISPIT 2b
The Discovery:
Researchers have discovered a young protoplanet called WISPIT 2b embedded in a ring-shaped gap in a disk encircling a young star.
While theorists have thought that planets likely exist in these gaps (and possibly even create them), this is the first time that it has actually been observed.
Key Takeaway:
Researchers have directly detected – essentially photographed – a new planet called WISPIT 2b, labeled a protoplanet because it is an astronomical object that is accumulating material and growing into a fully-realized planet.
However, even in its "proto" state, WISPIT 2b is a gas giant about 5 times as massive as Jupiter. This massive protoplanet is just about 5 million years old, or almost 1,000 times younger than the Earth, and about 437 light-years from Earth.
Being a giant and still-growing baby planet, WISPIT 2b is interesting to study on its own, but its location in this protoplanetary disk gap is even more fascinating.
Protoplanetary disks are made of gas and dust that surround young stars and function as the birthplace for new planets. Within these disks, gaps or clearings in the dust and gas can form, appearing as empty rings.
Scientists have long suggested that these growing planets are likely responsible for clearing the material in these gaps, pushing and scattering dusty disk material outwards and greeting the ring gaps in the first place.
Our own solar system was once just a protoplanetary disk, and it's possible that Jupiter and Saturn may have cleared ring gaps like this in that disk many, many years ago.
But despite continued observation of stars with these kinds of disks, there was never any direct evidence of a growing planet found in one of these ring gaps.
That is, until now. As reported in this paper, WISPIT 2b was directly observed in one of the ring gaps around its star, WISPIT 2.
Another interesting aspect of this discovery is that WISPIT 2b appears to have formed where it was found, it didn't form elsewhere and move into the gap somehow.
Details:
The star WISPIT 2 was first observed using VLT-SPHERE (Very Large Telescope - Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch), a ground-based telescope in northern Chile operated by the European Southern Observatory.
In these observations, the rings and gap around this star were first seen.
Following these observations of the system, researchers looked at WISPIT 2, and spotted the planet WISPIT 2b for the first time, using the University of Arizona's MagAO-X extreme adaptive optics system, a high-contrast exoplanet imager at the Magellan 2 (Clay) Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.
This technology adds another unique layer to this discovery. The MagAO-X instrument captures direct images, so it didn't just detect WISPIT 2b, it essentially captured a photograph of the protoplanet.
The team used this technology to study the WISPIT 2 system in what is called H-alpha, or Hydrogen-alpha, light. This is a type of visible light that is emitted when hydrogen gas falls from a protoplanetary disk onto young, growing planets.
This could look like a ring of super heated plasma circling the planet. This plasma emits the H-alpha light that MagAO-X is specially designed to detect (even if it is a very faint signal compared to the bright star nearby).
When looking at the system in H-alpha light, the team spotted a clear dot in one of the dark ring gaps in the disk around WISPIT 2. This dot? The planet WISPIT 2b.
In addition to observing the protoplanet's H-alpha emission using MagAO-X, the team also studied the protoplanet in other wavelengths of infrared light using the LMIRcam detector as part of the The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer instrument on the University of Arizona's Large Binocular Telescope.
Fun Facts:
In addition to discovering WISPIT 2b, this team spotted a second dot in one of the other dark ring gaps even closer to the star WISPIT 2.
This second dot has been identified as another candidate planet that will likely be investigated in future studies of the system.
https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/discovery-alert-baby-planet-photographed-in-a-ring-around-a-star-for-the-first-time/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf7a5
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf721