Baal's to the wall
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
February 11, 2026
A Year of Sunspots
How many sunspots can you see? The central image shows the many sunspots that occurred in 2025, month by month around the circle, and all together in the grand central image. Each sunspot is magnetically cooled and so appears dark – and can last from days to months. Although the featured images originated from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, sunspots can be easily seen with a small telescope or binoculars equipped with a solar filter. Very large sunspot groups like recent AR 4366 can even be seen with eclipse glasses. Sunspots are still counted by eye, but the total number is not considered exact because they frequently change and break up. Last year, 2025, coincided with a solar maximum, the period of most intense magnetic activity during its 11-year solar cycle. Our Sun remains unpredictable in many ways, including when it ejects solar flares that will impact the Earth, and how active the next solar cycle will be.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOC0DESeXRw
Ocean Collapse, Jupiter Changes, Coronal Hole | S0 News and frens
Feb.11.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzbrQZjWEHc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlbVGi4_Iso (Observers Live #22 - Timelines)
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-propose-surprising-link-between-space-weather-and-earthquakes/
https://quantumzeitgeist.com/space-station-data-unlocks-clearer/
https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/astronomy/giant-sunspot-growing-now-seven-times-larger-than-earth-and-threatening-to-trigger-blackouts.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/bizarre-magnetic-anomaly-beneath-australia-has-a-surprisingly-familiar-shape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECqZ6z1yi0 (Dr.Tamitha Skov: An Earth-Directed Mini-Storm & More Flares Possible | Space Weather MidWeek 10 February 2026)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieo-N8ns8W8 (Ryan Hall, Y'all: A Strange Signal Just Appeared In The Forecast…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHAOsbzaat0 (Sabine Hossenfelder: We Live In Between Two HUGE Dark Matter Voids)
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2021497712890573100
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2021570254145462655
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2021289672711057506
https://x.com/NRO_gov/status/2021600393386463611
https://x.com/EdPiotrowski/status/2021563283203907795
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE
https://www.space.com/live/aurora-forecast-northern-lights-possible-tonight-feb-11
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
https://russian.rt.com/science/article/1591057-snimok-obekta-ptica-kosmos
https://en.iz.ru/en/2037749/2026-02-05/astronomer-explained-appearance-mysterious-flying-object-near-sun
"Rare noise or real physical object?": what is known about the mysterious "bird" near the Sun
4 February 2026, 18:27
On February 2, 2026, astronomers discovered an unusual structure near the Sun that resembles the silhouette of a bird. The object came into view of the LASCO C2 telescope of the SOHO solar observatory.
Moreover, this phenomenon has already been observed earlier, in May 2025. Scientists suggest that the unusual signal may be associated with the impact of a rare cosmic particle that flew from the depths of the Galaxy, but it has not yet been possible to determine its exact nature.
RT found out from the head of the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Bogachev, what is the uniqueness of the "solar bird" and what versions of its origin are being considered.
Astronomers have recorded an unusual structure near the Sun, resembling the silhouette of a bird.
On February 2, the object came into view of the LASCO C2 telescope installed on the SOHO solar observatory. The spot attracted the attention of scientists because of its irregular shape.
As the head of the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS), Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Bogachev explained in an interview with RT, various artifacts are regularly recorded in the images coming from orbital telescopes - traces of space debris, glare, interference or signals from high-energy particles.
As a rule, the origin of such images is not a mystery to scientists.
"But sometimes rare forms appear, which can be recorded only a few times a year. It is such cases that raise questions: is this a rare noise or a real physical object?" said Bogachev.
According to him, the observed "sunbird" belongs to such rare phenomena. In May 2025, the LASCO telescope already recorded a similar object - a silhouette resembling a bird or an aircraft with an elongated trail.
Then, as now, the signal appeared only in one frame - in subsequent pictures it was no longer there.
Scientists cannot yet give an answer as to what a "sunbird" really is. According to Sergey Bogachev, the signal appears for a very short time: in the images taken about 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the shooting, the "bird" was already missing.
This is a separate mystery for astronomers: after all, if we are talking about a physical object, then it must move at a very high speed, the scientist explained.
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However, Bogachev doubts that the "bird" refers to real objects: the size of the spot itself testifies against this version.
"If we assume that this is a physical object located next to the Sun, it should be colossal. Even if you fantasize about some spacecraft, it is difficult to imagine an object with a diameter of thousands of kilometers," Bogachev said.
Scientists consider the most likely hypothesis to be the hit of a charged particle in the telescope detector.
Bogachev explained that such particles can come not only from the Sun, but also from the depths of the Galaxy. However, scientists have yet to figure out what kind of particle we are talking about.
"Usually, particle traces look like long stripes. And here there is a complex two-dimensional structure with a tail of an unusual shape.
It is fractional and does not look like a trace. For example, there was a flash, and the entire detector was bombarded with particles. And here is a single event.
Therefore, if it is a particle, then it is of galactic origin," the RT interlocutor explained.
The scientist also said that the researchers of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences consulted with nuclear physicists and the developers of the telescope.
According to him, colleagues are also inclined to the version of the impact of the particle, but so far they cannot determine its nature.
Such rare waveforms may be of interest to researchers, as they allow them to study the properties of high-energy particles and the features of detectors.
Phoenix, angel or "space fly"?
An unusual picture caused a violent reaction from users of social networks. Many commentators jokingly dubbed the object the Phoenix, drawing a parallel with the mythological bird that rises from the flames.
Other users published memes with the phrase "I feel sorry for the bird" - a quote from the Soviet comedy "Prisoner of the Caucasus, or the New Adventures of Shurik".
Some commentators have offered more mundane versions of the object's origin. "An ordinary space fly," one of them sneers.
Others drew attention to the estimated scale of the phenomenon. "The bird is very GREAT!" wrote a participant in the discussion, emphasizing the unusual size of the observed phenomenon.
Some commentators recalled the appearance of a similar object last year.
"I've already seen this firebird somewhere," an interested user notes under a post in the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy (XRAS) Telegram channel.
"Do they have a nest there?" the commentators jokingly suggest.
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https://avi-loeb.medium.com/a-swarm-of-35-million-interstellar-objects-was-just-discovered-within-the-earths-orbit-around-the-24890ebac62f
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/cosmic-waterfalls-in-spacetime-cliffs-408e8d67e8e7
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15547801/Swarm-interstellar-objects-Earths.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073047.htm
https://orbitaltoday.com/2026/02/10/3i-atlas-lived-through-a-solar-blast-rewrote-what-we-know-about-alien-comets/
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2021385736231231847
https://x.com/ProjektBlueBeam/status/2021590770344509482
https://x.com/AnnOsiri/status/2021496250550321377
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nelr6GApGro (David Sereda: 3I/Atlas and the DATE of the MESSIANIC Return REVEALED!)
A Swarm of 35-Million Interstellar Objects Was Just Discovered Within the Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun
February 10, 2026
Survey telescopes, like the existing NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory for the southern sky or the planned Argus Array for the northern sky, are sensitive to reflected sunlight from interstellar objects at a distance comparable to the Earth-Sun separation, that are larger than our biggest rocket, Starship, namely more than a hundred meters in diameter.
Fortunately, we can also discover much smaller interstellar objects by using the Earth’s atmosphere as the detector. When a 3-meter object collides with Earth, its friction on air generates a meteor fireball with an energy output comparable to the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
Such an explosion is easily detectable by the U.S. Government satellites which are monitoring Earth routinely for the heat emitted by the launch of ballistic missiles from adversarial nations.
When deemed unclassified, the meteor fireballs detected by these warning systems are reported in NASA’s CNEOS fireball catalog, available here.
Yesterday, I co-authored with my postdoc Richard Cloete a new paper, posted here, that reported the discovery of two meter-scale interstellar meteor candidates in the CNEOS catalog.
By exploiting an empirically calibrated uncertainty model from 2025 (reported here), we have found two events that robustly exceed the escape velocity from the Solar System.
CNEOS-22 (detected on 2022–07–28 over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean) exceeds escape by 8.7 standard-deviations and CNEOS-25 (detected on 2025–02–12 over the Barents Sea in the Arctic) exceeds escape by 5.5 standard deviations.
The diameters of both objects are 1.8 meters for CNEOS-22 and 1.2 meters for CNEOS-25. For a full account of the discovery details, click here.
Given the detection of two interstellar meteors in the CNEOS fireballs database over a period of 7 years, the inferred collision rate of meter-scale interstellar objects with Earth is about 0.3 per year.
This rate equals the product of the number density of the parent population times the Earth’s cross-sectional area: 128 million square kilometers, times the Earth’s orbital speed around the Sun: 30 kilometers per second.
The measured collision rate yields a number density of 8.4 million interstellar objects of meter-scale per AU cubed, where 1 AU (Astronomical Unit) is the Earth-Sun separation.
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This implies that there are about 35 million meter-scale interstellar objects embedded at any time within the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
Assuming they have a solid density of a few grams per cubic centimeters, each object carries about 3 million metric tons. Altogether, this population totals a hundred trillion (10^{14}) metric tons of interstellar material interior to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
For comparison, the estimated number density of the parent population of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS — which was measured here to have a diameter of 2.6 kilometers, is 0.003 per AU cubed, about 2.8 billion times smaller than the number density of 2-meter-scale interstellar objects.
The mass of each of these objects is larger than that of a meter-scale object by a factor of (2.6 kilometer/2 meter)³, namely 2.2 billion. Multiplying the number per unit volume by the object’s mass, we find that the population of kilometer-scale interstellar objects — like 3I/ATLAS, carries approximately the same mass per unit value as the population of meter-scale interstellar objects, about a hundred trillion metric tons interior to the Earth’s orbit.
The fact that the mass density of kilometer-scale interstellar objects is the same as meter-scale interstellar objects, suggests that the two populations might be related with the smaller objects being fragments of the bigger objects.
As suggested in the recent paper that I co-authored with the brilliant student Oem Trivedi (available here), it would be most efficient to study the population of interstellar objects with a new observational architecture, including discovery by the Rubin and Argus observatories, high-resolution imaging by a lunar optical interferometer, and closer studies of anomalous objects by space interceptors.
A comprehensive campaign for information gathering would alert earthlings of potential threats from impacts by either natural rocks or alien technological gadgets.
Ignoring threats from the sky did not work out well for non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago. So far, our planetary defense strategy contemplated Solar System rocks, but we should expand our risk assessments to interstellar objects as well.
In the coming months, I will attempt to secure funding for new ocean expeditions to retrieve materials from the two new candidates of interstellar meteors, CNEOS-22 and CNEOS-25.
Radioactive dating of their interstellar materials could be used to estimate the durations of their interstellar journeys and constrain their origins. Finding evidence for a Voyager-like meteor would be even more exciting.
Here’s hoping that in a few billion years, after Voyager 1 and 2 will have traverse most of the Milky Way disk of stars — at least one of them will collide with a habitable exo-planet and appear as a meteor to a local population of aliens.
Based on its low-altitude explosion, a curious alien astronomer might suggest that Voyager is anomalous in material strength and potentially not a rock.
Other astronomers will not only ridicule this proposal but also deny that Voyager is interstellar in origin — by inflating the measurement errors.
After leading an expedition to the meteor site, the alien astronomer might find the 12-inch Golden Record of Voyager, with its 115 images, natural sounds, musical selections and greetings in 55 languages from Earth.
Figuring out that they are not alone will be the ultimate intelligence test of the aliens. After all, they must have asked numerous times: “Where is everybody?”
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FAA lifts El Paso flight restriction after US disables Mexican cartel drones that 'breached US airspace'
Updated February 11, 2026 9:30am EST
The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a flight restriction that had grounded all flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday, after previously warning that the U.S. government "may use deadly force" against any aircraft in violation.
A Trump administration official told Fox News that the initial lockdown came in response to "Mexican cartel drones" that breached U.S. airspace.
The FAA had announced Wednesday morning that all flights to and from El Paso were being grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation.
The restriction was initially set to be effective from February 10 at 11:30 p.m. MST to February 20 at 11:30 p.m. MST.
"Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones. The FAA and DOW have determined there is no threat to commercial travel," the official told Fox News.
The FAA had cited "special security reasons" for the earlier closure, but did not elaborate.
The El Paso airport had issued a statement confirming the closure on Wednesday.
"Travelers should contact their airlines to get the most up-to-date flight status information," it said in a statement.
Former FAA safety team member Kyle Bailey told Fox News on Wednesday that a 10-day restriction like the one initially announced would have been "unprecedented." He also noted the airport's proximity to the Fort Bliss Army post.
"It's definitely something like a national security event, a high-level VIP," Bailey speculated, "but the interesting thing is that on the Mexican side of the border there is no flight restriction."
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/faa-halts-all-flights-el-paso-international-airport-10-days-special-security-reasons#
NASA’s Swift Mission Transitions Ops to Prep for Orbit Boost
February 11, 2026
On Feb. 11, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory temporarily suspended most science operations in an effort to reduce atmospheric drag and slow the spacecraft’s orbital decay.
Halting these activities will enable controllers to keep the spacecraft in an orientation that minimizes drag effects, extending its time in orbit in anticipation of a reboost mission.
“Normally, Swift quickly turns to view its targets — especially the fleeting, almost daily explosions called gamma-ray bursts — with multiple telescopes,” said principal investigator S. Bradley Cenko at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“Swift’s Burst Alert Telescope will continue to detect gamma-ray bursts, but the spacecraft will no longer slew to observe targets with its other telescopes.”
Solar activity heats Earth’s atmosphere and causes it to puff outward, which increases drag on all spacecraft in low Earth orbit, gradually reducing their altitude over time.
While NASA could have chosen to allow Swift to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, as many missions do at the end of their lifetimes, the agency instead contracted Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona, for a mission to boost the 21-year-old observatory into a higher orbit, extending its scientific life while also pioneering an important new capability for the nation.
To maximize the orbit boost’s chances of success, Swift’s average altitude needs to be above about 185 miles (about 300 kilometers). As of early February, Swift’s average altitude had fallen below about 250 miles (about 400 kilometers).
By making these changes to slow Swift’s descent, the team is maximizing the opportunity to allow Swift to continue delivering important science by rapidly observing changes in the universe, as well as expanding the use of satellite servicing to a new and broader class of spacecraft.
“We anticipate the reboost mission to launch in the summer, so we’re transitioning operations now to give it the best margin we possibly can,” Cenko said.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/02/11/nasas-swift-mission-transitions-ops-to-prep-for-orbit-boost/
Cardiac and Psychology Research on Station as Crew-12 Adjusts Launch Date
February 10, 2026 11:50AM
NASA and SpaceX have completed a weather review and have waived off Crew-12’s Thursday, Feb. 12, launch opportunity to the International Space Station due to unfavorable forecasted weather conditions.
Meanwhile, the Expedition 74 crew focused on astronaut health research, cargo operations, and lab maintenance.
Mission teams are targeting the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission for no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev would then dock to the space station’s Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.
The commercial crew quartet will stay in space for a nine-month microgravity research mission.
Back on the orbital outpost, NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams began his shift with a fitness test measuring his cardiovascular health.
Williams attached sensors to his chest and strapped on a heart rate monitor then pedaled for an hour on an exercise bike in the Destiny laboratory module.
Doctors on the ground monitored his workout session in real time to detect potential signs of space-caused distress and ensure his long-term well-being off the Earth.
Williams ended his day continuing to pack completed science experiments, their associated samples, and station hardware inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for return to Earth on an upcoming date.
Dragon arrived at the orbital outpost on Aug. 25, 2025, delivering over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations, station hardware, and crew supplies.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev took turns measuring their heart activity using electrodes and collecting their blood pressure measurements wearing cuffs on their arm, wrist, and thumb.
Their biomedical data was recorded to a computer and will be shared with doctors on Earth to assess microgravity’s effect on blood flow regulation and inflammation responses.
Kud-Sverchkov then studied how living in space affects memory and immunity. He first collected his saliva and hair samples for analysis. Next, he took a test measuring his sleep quality, daily moods, and the stress levels he experiences.
Finally, he collected his heart and oxygen data and saved the data to a computer. Doctors will use the data to investigate how living in space long term impacts a crew member’s psychological state.
Mikaev focused on maintenance during the first part of his shift on Tuesday starting in the Nauka science module and servicing its ventilation system then inspecting and photographing cargo panels in the Zarya module.
Next, he participated in a psychological test to determine how living in space affects his personality characteristics and his team behavior.
Researchers will use the insights to help prevent stress-related health issues, maintain cognitive performance, and maintain team harmony during a spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/10/cardiac-and-psychology-research-on-station-as-crew-12-adjusts-launch-date/
Spacecraft Anomalies and Failures (SCAF) 2026
February 11, 2026
March 24-26, 2026
NASA and NRO will jointly host the Spacecraft Anomalies and Failures (SCAF) Workshop with the goal of bringing together government, industry, academia, allies, and international partners to share the critical role of analysis, trends, and lessons learned from anomalies and failures to prevent them from reoccurring.
This workshop provides the unique experience to learn from leading experts on how to more effectively design, operate, protect, and defend space, ground, and communication systems.
The three-day workshop will occur at two locations and multiple classification levels.
Registration and visit requests are required for each location by 10 March 2026
Register for Day 1 here.
To register for Days 2 and 3 or for questions concerning those days, send emails to SE-MA-SCAF@nro.mil
Due to new NASA conference travel rules, NCTS approval is required for NASA civil service and contractor personnel to attend the SCAF 2026 workshop.
Please work with your manager to obtain the necessary approvals. NCTS approval is not required for non-NASA personnel.
https://www.nasa.gov/nase/conferences/scaf2026/