TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 3, 2026
Caught in the Web: Visualization of a Black Hole Merger in the Tarantula Nebula
How can we see what is invisible? Black holes are not easy to see in the dark cosmic night, but astronomers can find them by analyzing their gravitational effects on matter, light and spacetime. The featured image shows an illustration that combines a simulation of a black hole binary system in its final "death-dance" with an astrophotography image of the Tarantula Nebula in the background. Even though black holes don't emit light, they distort the path of light rays, acting like a gravitational lens. As a result, the nebula appears extremely distorted, forming Einstein rings and multiple images. Tarantula Nebula lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is one of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, 160,000 light-years away. That is more than 1,000 times closer than any of the binary black hole mergers detected so far. We'll probably never detect a merger so close to home!
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YCWK5tFQWg
Comet MAPS is VISIBLE, Solar Flares, Galactic Field, Storm Watch | S0 News and TGIF frens
Apr.3.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSSnL_2h_9g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BsE78q9QLM (MrMBB333: Well, here we go AGAIN!! It's coming in FAST!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_owRKtOXg0 (Stefan Burns: The Earthquake That Just Struck California is Concerning…)
https://x.com/SunWeatherMan/status/2040055607643021541
https://x.com/SolarHam/status/2040048912090775728
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2040067114711576969
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/quake-info/22870668/mag3quake-Apr-3-2026-Offshore-Tarapaca-Chile.html
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental
https://www.spaceweather.gov/news/cme-blasted-sun-1-april-possible-influences-4-april
https://www.spaceweather.gov/news/g2-moderate-levels-reached
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g2-moderate-geomagnetic-storm-watch-issued-2
https://spaceweather.com/
Rare 'sungrazer' comet MAPS will shine superbright on Saturday — if it survives a dangerous encounter with our star
April 3, 2026
A rare "sungrazer" comet is about to pass very close to our star and could become visible in daylight — or it could completely disintegrate before our eyes.
Either way, there could be something special to see in the night sky, with a large tail potentially visible late this week.
Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was discovered Jan. 13 by French astronomers at the AMACS1 Observatory in Chile.
Although the comet was initially thought to have a nucleus measuring around 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide, astronomers later reduced the estimate to under 0.25 miles (0.4 km) based on James Webb Space Telescope observations taken in February.
C/2026 A1 (MAPS) belongs to a special family of comets called Kreutz "sungrazers," so called because they get very close to the sun, lighting up brightly but often breaking into smaller pieces.
There are around 3,500 members of the Kreutz family, all of which are thought to be fragments of a single giant comet that got too close to the sun about 1,700 years ago, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com.
C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is expected to get within 98,000 miles (158,000 km) of the sun's surface and pass through the lower regions of the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, at 9:30 a.m. EDT (13:30 UTC) Saturday (April 4), according to the British Astronomical Association (BAA).
According to the European Space Agency, many Kreutz sungrazers evaporate, but if they survive, they could put on a spectacular show.
Because C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is traveling into the sun's glare, it will be difficult to see before April 4. If it survives its close encounter with the sun — even if it fragments — it could become visible for a short time after sunset in the evenings that follow.
Unless it breaks apart before it gets close to the sun, there will be a possibility of seeing a potentially large and bright tail in the western evening sky starting around April 9, according to the BAA.
If that occurs, Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will be the first of two comets visible in April, with the likely dimmer but more predictable C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) set to become an easy binocular target close to April 20.
https://www.livescience.com/space/comets/rare-sungrazer-comet-maps-will-appear-brighter-than-ever-on-saturday-if-it-survives-a-dangerous-encounter-with-our-star
https://www.space.com/stargazing/watch-comet-c-2026-a1-plunge-toward-the-sun-online-this-week
https://www.iflscience.com/new-deep-space-color-image-and-revolutionary-insight-about-interstellar-comet-3iatlas-from-jupiter-bound-juice-mission-83063
https://twistedsifter.com/2026/04/new-esa-image-shows-interstellar-object-3i-atlas-hurtling-through-our-solar-system-leaving-a-path-of-gas-and-debris-in-its-path/
https://thedebrief.org/12-billion-year-old-space-invader-james-webb-space-telescope-reveals-the-ancient-origins-of-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas/
https://x.com/honeymalikk2/status/2040063966752223710
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd7L-rLcyjc (David Sereda: 3I/Atlas & The GREATEST STORY OF ALL TIME)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xe_jIiEwRs (Dobsonian Power: REGULUS PROPHECY EASTER 2026 - LIVE TELESCOPE VIEWS)
Artemis II Flight Day 2: Orion Completes TLI Burn, Crew Begins Journey to the Moon
April 2, 2026 10:10PM
NASA’s Artemis II crew is on the way to the Moon.
After the mission management team polled “Go” Thursday, NASA’s Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for five minutes and 50 seconds beginning at 7:49 p.m. EDT, to successfully complete the translunar injection (TLI) burn, sending the crew in Orion out of Earth orbit and on a trajectory toward the Moon.
Orion’s main engine provides up to 6,000 pounds of thrust, enough to accelerate a car from 0 to 60 mph in about 2.7 seconds. At the time of the burn, Orion’s mass was 58,000 pounds and burned approximately 1,000 pounds of fuel during the firing.
Crew members also are spending time exercising on the spacecraft’s flywheel exercise device. During exercise, teams on the ground monitored the spacecraft’s air revitalization system, which maintains a breathable, comfortable cabin environment for the crew, and assessed how exercise impacts movement of the spacecraft.
The flywheel uses a simple cable‑based mechanism that supports both aerobic exercises like rowing and resistive movements such as squats and deadlifts.
Operating much like a yo‑yo, the device provides resistance proportional to the force applied, allowing loads up to 400 pounds. This capability is especially important in deep space, where astronauts do not have access to the extensive exercise equipment aboard the International Space Station.
On the station, crews rely on more than 4,000 pounds of exercise hardware spread across roughly 850 cubic feet. In contrast, Orion’s flywheel weighs just 30 pounds and is about the size of a carry‑on suitcase—meeting the strict mass and volume constraints of deep‑space missions while still supporting crew health and reentry readiness.
The crew members – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen – have successfully checked out the AVATAR scientific payload.
Engineers also determined that a brief loss of two-way communications between the ground and crew that occurred shortly after the crew reached orbit was due to a ground configuration issue involving the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system.
The issue was rectified quickly with no impact to mission operations.
Lunar Science Team Prepares for Flyby
After the TLI burn that sent Orion on its path to the Moon, the lunar science team began building a Lunar Targeting Plan, a guide to what the crew will look at on the Moon’s surface during its approximately six-hour observation on Monday, April 6.
The targeting plan will include documenting features that can help scientists understand how the Moon and solar system formed, such as craters, ancient lava flows, and cracks and ridges created as the Moon’s outer layer slowly shifted over time.
One feature that will be added to the plan is a solar eclipse, which will last for nearly an hour toward the end of the flyby window. During the eclipse, the Sun will be hidden from view as it moves behind the Moon from the perspective of Orion.
The crew will see a mostly dark Moon at this time — an opportunity for them to look for flashes of light from meteoroids striking the Moon’s surface, dust lofting above the edge of the Moon, and deep space targets, including planets.
While the Sun slides behind the Moon, the crew will observe the solar corona, the Sun’s outermost atmosphere, while it’s visible.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/02/artemis-ii-flight-day-2-orion-completes-tli-burn-crew-begins-journey-to-the-moon/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/artemis/
https://www.space.com/news/live/artemis-2-nasa-moon-mission-launch-updates-april-3-2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kR2KK8TEs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH4XQSoXWsU (Artemis II Flight Day 2 Highlights)
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/nasa/2026/04/03/548048/take-a-look-at-the-first-photos-from-artemis-iis-lunar-mission/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/lucky-airplane-passengers-capture-nasas-artemis-2-moon-launch-from-the-sky
https://x.com/Teslarati/status/2039759783364825321
Moar Artemis
Here’s how Artemis astronauts will document parts of the moon never seen before + extra Artemis
April 3, 2026, 4:19 AM
Four astronauts in the Artemis II Space Launch System successfully launched into space Wednesday, marking the start of NASA’s renewed push to get to the moon, and eventually build a base there.
Artemis astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are on board. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. The mission is set to last less than 10 days.
WTOP covered the first portion of the itinerary here. More excitement is in store in the later days of the mission.
After about a four-day voyage, the crew will review the lunar flyby imaging plan on Day 5. That will be done in two shifts, with two astronauts looking out Orion’s windows with cameras and writing what they see in their personal computers.
In the first hour of Day 6, the crew will make its closest approach to the moon, and minutes later will reach its maximum distance from Earth.
Here is how NASA describes the flyby.
“Over the course of the day, the crew will come within 4,000 to 6,000 miles of the lunar surface as they swing around the far side of the Moon — it should look to them about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.
They will devote the majority of their day to taking photos and videos of the Moon, and recording their observations as they become the first to see some parts of the Moon with their own eyes.
Because the Sun’s angle on the Moon changes by about one degree every two hours, the crew won’t be sure what lighting conditions to expect on the lunar surface until they launch.
If the Sun is high in the lunar sky during the flyby, there will be few shadows, and the crew will be looking for subtle variations in surface color and rightness.
If the Sun is lower on the horizon, long shadows will stretch across the surface, enhancing relief and revealing depth, ridges, slopes, and crater rims that are often difficult to detect under full illumination.
If the Sun is overhead from Orion’s perspective — like noon on Earth — shadows will be few to nonexistent, creating ideal lighting conditions for close-up imaging of specific lunar features.
The crew will record their observations in real time, as they take photos and videos — including when they lose communication with Earth for 30-50 minutes as they pass behind the Moon.
That way, their observations can later be linked with the exact images they took.”
The astronauts, using safe sun viewing glasses, will also witness an eclipse of the sun and see the solar corona.
Artemis mission project scientist Noah Petro is very familiar with the moon, as he was the project leader for Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been absolutely crucial to supporting Artemis.
Petro said Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images of the moon were used to make a movie simulating what the astronauts would see through the windows of Orion and help in their lunar science training.
They also conducted classroom sessions and field geology training in Iceland (parts of that country really do look like the moon).
“A human eyeball connected to a trained brain is a very powerful combination,” Petro told WTOP.
He said the time of the launch determines precisely what the Artemis II crew will see on the far side of the moon.
The hope is that they will be able to see an almost fully illuminated far side disk, including areas that have never been seen by human eyes, since Artemis II will fly a different profile than the Apollo astronauts did.
The crew will also get a glimpse of the moon’s South Pole — a prized area for human exploration.
One big difference between the Apollo and Artemis missions, which is a huge advantage for exploring and imaging the moon, is the altitude above the lunar surface.
Petro said Artemis II is 4,000-6,000 miles above the moon, compared with the 60-70 mile altitude of Apollo. That height allows for a wide, global assessment of lunar features.
The moon will appear as big as a basketball held at arm’s length through the windows of the Space Launch System.
There will be two separate shifts during the approximately four-hour flyby; one crew member will image the moon with a mirrorless camera and the other will document observations.
Petro described the mission as a “lunar linchpin.” It will bring the legacy of Apollo and the promise of Artemis together. That is a very powerful combination.
https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2026/04/heres-how-artemis-astronauts-will-document-parts-of-the-moon-never-seen-before/
extra Artemis II
https://futurism.com/space/nasa-astronauts-organ-chips
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/theres-a-bit-of-toilet-trouble-on-nasas-artemis-2-mission-to-the-moon
https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/03/christina-koch-details-artemis-toilet-problems/
https://x.com/NASA/status/2039908597748940872
American Hostage!? Iran Shoots Down Fighter Pilot as US Military Conducts Dire Search and Rescue==
April 3, 2026
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/2040068818219966971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o2tCvGPMAA