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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 4, 2026
Hello World
From pole to pole our fair planet is captured in this snapshot from space, an evocative image from a window of the Orion spacecraft Integrity. From the spacecraft's perspective the Sun is moving behind Earth's bright limb along the lower right. Africa and the Iberian peninsula are in view on the pale blue planet's surface, while aurorae crown Earth's south and north poles at top right and bottom left. Commander Reid Wiseman took the historic picture on Artemis II mission flight day 2 (April 2), after the completion of the planned translunar injection burn. That burn boosted the spacecraft out of Earth orbit, sending Integrity and crew on a trajectory that will take them around the Moon and back again. That's a journey humans last made over 50 years ago.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocb-3M2dl_0
Saturn is Shifting, Comet Impact Happening Today | S0 News and frens
Apr.4.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4bcXuqe_PA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVJfYkF3lJE (Ray's Astro: PACIFIC RING OF FIRE - Something Is Happening - What They Don’t Explain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viHJOGRqKIQ (TheEarthMaster: Aftershocks Continue in the Indonesia region. Southern End of the Cascadia Continues the slow slip)
https://watchers.news/2026/04/04/impulsive-m7-5-solar-flare-erupts-from-earth-facing-region-4409-geomagnetic-conditions-remain-elevated/
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2026/amber-wind-warning-for-easter
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2040410144530370623
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2040429495480422786
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/299206/Volcano-earthquake-report-for-Saturday-4-Apr-2026.html
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/aurora-timeline-viewer-product-unavailable-until-further-notice
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2040148581575995532
Is the Observed Spin Reversal of the Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, a Technological Signature?
April 4, 2026
In a new paper published here, the accomplished astronomer David Jewitt reported about an unprecedented behavior of the Jupiter-family comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák.
The report uses archival data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope on December 11–14, 2017, coincidentally about a month after the discovery of the interstellar object 1I/`Oumuamua.
This comet, which likely originated in the Kuiper Belt and was flung into its current trajectory by Jupiter’s gravity, is now visiting the inner solar system every 5.4 years.
It is well known that the spin of cometary nuclei changes as a result of the rocket effect from torques induced by outgassing. The nucleus of 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák exhibited dramatic rotational changes when it passed near the Sun in April 2017.
Eight months later, the combination of Hubble imaging and measurement of non-gravitational acceleration implies a nucleus diameter of about a kilometer (± 200 meters).
Systematic brightness variations are consistent with a rotation period of 0.60 (± 0.01) days, substantially different from periods measured earlier in 2017.
Data from NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in May 2017 implies that the object was spinning three times slower than in March 2017 when it was observed by the Discovery Channel Telescope at Lowell Observatory in Arizona.
The Hubble images from December 2017 detected the comet spinning much faster again, with a period of approximately 14 hours, compared to the 46 to 60 hours measured by Swift.
The simplest explanation is that the comet continued slowing until it almost stopped, and was then forced to spin in the near-opposite direction by outgassing jets from its surface — induced by solar illumination of surface ice.
Jets of gas streaming off the sublimated pockets of ice can act like thrusters and if these jets are unevenly distributed, they can change the spin of the comet.
The spin of the nucleus likely reversed between perihelion in April 2017 and the post-perihelion observations in December 2017 as a result of torque from outgassing jets.
The brightness variations indicate a projected axis ratio of about 1.4 to 1, while the active fraction of the nucleus decreased by a factor of 17.
The time for this small nucleus to spin up is short compared to the reported dynamical time spent in the current orbit — which is estimated to be about 1,500 years.
The inferred mass loss rate from outgassing means that the object should have evaporated or broken up by rapid rotation long ago. Its observed activity should have destroyed it.
As a result, the data constitutes a major puzzle: how did the object survive over the long lifespan of its orbit?
Jewitt suggests two possible explanations to this puzzle.
The nucleus could have been observed by the Hubble telescope during a state of unusually strong activity, leading to an overestimate of the average mass-loss rate and outgassing torque and resulting in an underestimate of its physical lifetime.
Alternatively, the nucleus could be the surviving remnant of a larger body for which outgassing torques were less effective.
But there is a third possible interpretation. Perhaps 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák is a Trojan Horse with the outside appearance of a natural iceberg but with technology embedded in its belly.
In that case, its spin reversal is a technological signature. Based on my personal experience — if Jewitt have discussed this technological possibility, his paper would have been blocked from publication.
Indeed, this possibility is not mentioned in the published paper, but I am free to mention it here in the absence of gatekeepers — within the safe space of my essay.
Whether spin reversal is a technological signature or not, the Hubble data from 2017 on 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák constitutes the first reported evidence for an apparent spin reversal of a comet.
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/is-the-observed-spin-reversal-of-the-comet-41p-tuttle-giacobini-kres%C3%A1k-a-technological-signature-adab2dc8c096
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae4355/pdf
https://earthsky.org/space/new-sungrazing-comet-c-2026-a1-comet-maps/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0x4uSYS5o0 (Suspicious 0bservers: Comet MAPS Hitting the Sun LIVE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imoKV39y4zQ (SarahMaths Astro: Comets A1 MAPS, R3 PanSTARRS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd7L-rLcyjc (David Sereda: 3I/Atlas & The GREATEST STORY OF ALL TIME)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz6SzSj_ZUw (Avi Loeb questions NASA's explanation of 'party hat'-shaped object on Mars | NewsNation Live)
https://x.com/sinus_iridium/status/2040438722223853888
https://x.com/JAtanackov/status/2040436627739119637
Artemis Updates
April 4, 2026 12:00AM
Artemis II Flight Day 3: Crew Prepares Cabin for Lunar Flyby
Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Reid Wiseman work together inside the Orion spacecraft on their way to the Moon.
The Artemis II mission is more than halfway to the Moon. After cancellation of the first outbound trajectory correction burn, the Artemis II crew began preparing the Orion spacecraft’s cabin for the lunar observation period on Monday, April 6, at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Additionally, crew members have been exercising, practicing medical response procedures, and testing […]
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April 3, 2026 5:00PM
Artemis II Flight Day 3: Outbound Trajectory Correction Burn Update
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.
NASA’s Artemis II crew in Orion continues on a precise trajectory to flyby the Moon on Monday, April 6.
Flight controllers in mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston elected to cancel the spacecraft’s first outbound trajectory correction burn, as the spacecraft’s trajectory is on the right flight path. This burn was the […]
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April 3, 2026 2:17PM
Artemis II Flight Day 3: Crew Prepares for First Correction Burn, Readies to Receive Lunar Observation Assignment
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After a successful translunar injection burn on April 2 and a roughly eight-hour crew rest period, the Artemis II crew began their second full day in space, settling into the rhythm of deep‑space operations.
Upon burn completion, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first people to leave Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program in 1972.
The team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, woke the crew at 1 p.m. EDT, […]
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/artemis/
extra Artemis II
https://x.com/NASAArtemis/status/2040248045393043675
https://x.com/NASASolarSystem/status/2040257878494249446
https://x.com/NASA/status/2040341101471551784
https://x.com/NASA/status/2040393011616452726
https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/journey-to-the-moon/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hello-world/
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/meet-nasas-new-artemis-ii-science-officers/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/astronauts-on-the-iss-watched-nasas-historic-artemis-2-launch-from-space
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/an-artemis-2-astronaut-took-a-bath-on-camera-on-the-way-to-the-moon-mission-controls-reaction-was-priceless-video
https://yellowhammernews.com/alabamas-role-in-artemis-ii-mission-includes-birmingham-native-who-helped-shape-nasa-rocket/
https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech/space/what-artemis-ii-astronauts-eat-nasa-space-menu-for-moon-mission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK92zN7d9KA (Artemis II Flight Day 3 Highlights)