NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
May 31, 2026
Eagle Nebula Pillars in Infrared from Hubble
Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. They are gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust. The intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in near infrared light, allows the viewer to see through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in visible light. The giant structures are light years in length and dubbed informally the Pillars of Creation. Associated with the open star cluster M16, the Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away. The Eagle Nebula is a satisfying target for small telescopes in a nebula-rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake).
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sZ5kwaRvXE
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/did-you-hear-the-boom-and-what-was-it/3957605/
https://x.com/Pamelanbcboston/status/2060795846715740609
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAm1kGdCtbM
Mysterious sonic boom heard across Mass. was a meteor, experts say
May 30, 2026
People across eastern Massachusetts reported hearing an extremely loud boom on Saturday afternoon, and many police departments in the state said they were inundated with calls, but what exactly was that?
NBC10 meteorologist Pamela Gardner says it was likely a meteorite entering and exploding in our atmosphere.
“There’s a satellite lighting detection around Boston -but no lightning! No earthquakes on USGS either,” Gardner said.
Earthquake? Explosion? Sonic boom? Meteor? People wanted to know, what was that loud noise heard across Massachusetts just after 2 p.m.
NBC10 Boston chief meteorologist Pete Bouchard also weighed in, saying the boom was, indeed, a meteor.
The American Meteor Society confirmed that the booms heard shortly after 2 p.m. were caused by a meteor about 3 feet wide entering the atmosphere around the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts, north of Boston.
Fire program monitor Robert Lunsford said the society received dozens of reports from Delaware to Montreal with people either hearing the double boom, feeling the ground shake or seeing the fireball — which he said looked like a shooting star in the daytime sky.
“It was definitely bigger than a normal fireball, about a yard wide,” he said.
But Lunsford said it’s unlikely the meteor struck the ground.
“We would need more information about the trajectory the speed and other aspects to know for sure if it hit the ground, but if it didn’t burn up, then it would have landed in the ocean,” he said. “Most of them do burn up before they hit the ground.”
NASA confirmed there was a fireball over New England at 2:06 p.m. Initial information put the fireball’s speed at roughly 75,000 mph, and it appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles above extreme northeast Massachusetts/southeast New Hampshire.
This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object – not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite, NASA added.
The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.
NASA said the daytime bolide produced a meteorite fall right in the middle of Cape Cod Bay.
Its viewership over a wide area of the northeast was limited by weather, however, the agency received more than 71 reports about a fireball seen over Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
While all the meteorites from this fall landed in water, according to NASA, the water depth at the fall site is 100 feet. Most meteorites are strongly attracted to a magnet, and these ones are within reach of a 100 foot length of rope dangled off of a boat.
Gardner said it's unlikely any fragments that scattered in the ocean water across Cape Cod Bay would be found. Wave heights during the storm were 5-10 feet, and meteorites are denser than seawater, meaning they likely sank, and the salt would degrade them fast.
The incident sent social media abuzz Saturday afternoon. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security had addressed it on social media around 3:45 p.m., saying that state public safety officials had received reports of an audible boom and ground tremors in the eastern part of the state.
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"Although we do not yet know the cause, there are no known emergency police or fire requests connected to these reports and we do not believe there is any public safety threat," the post on X read.
"We remain in contact with our local, state, and federal partners to monitor any impact and understand the cause when it becomes available."
Police and fire departments across the state also took to social media saying they had received numerous reports from concerned residents who heard the loud boom sound, with no initial confirmation of what it was.
“It was heard over the eastern part of the state. Unknown origin no reports of hazards at this time,” Watertown police said on Facebook.
“The Boom: No reports of any damage or local incident as of yet. Earthquake maybe,” Coventry, Rhode Island, police said.
Police in Cambridge said they were aware of reports and concerns over the loud boom heard.
"At this time, it appears the noise was heard and felt across Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. However, we are unaware of any specific issues or incidents originating in Cambridge," police wrote on Facebook.
In Newbury, the fire department said their communication center had received a number of calls from concerned residents who reported witnessing a significant geological-type activity.
"It's been described as a 'sonic-wave' or 'explosion' like sensation. We felt it here at the PD too and are unaware of any public safety concerns in Newbury or the surrounding communities at this time," the Facebook post read.
"We do not know the cause of the activity. Please only call the Communication Center with relevant information, not to inquire about the source.
With the wind, rain, trees & power lines down, minor costal flooding, now this, we're experiencing a heavy call volume today and want to keep all lines free for emergencies."
Needham police also asked residents to stop calling 911 and the non-emergency number, unless police or emergency services are needed.
"We have no information at this time and phone lines are being tied up with actual calls for service," the Needham Police Department wrote on Facebook. "Yes, we think that was an earthquake…or maybe a sonic boom. Either way, we are over today."
Wrentham's police chief said the large explosion that people heard and called about was likely a large meteor entering the earths atmosphere, according to multiple sources, though none official as yet
"The explosion was heard and felt throughout New England, shaking homes and causing many people to be justifiably concerned," Bill McGrath said. "We have no reports of damage or injuries in Wrentham and haven’t heard of any injuries in the region."
NBC10 Boston's Facebook followers reported hearing it from Bedford, Blackstone, Westport, Framingham, Georgetown, Attleborough, and Cape Cod. Several said they both heard and felt whatever it was.
Some people thought trees fell on their houses, saying their homes shook. Others said their dogs were going wild, and they watched for lightning but never saw any. Many said that it scared them, that they'd never heard anything like it.
Several people also filed reports with the U.S. Geological Survey, registering the shaking they felt with the National Earthquake Information Center, agency spokesman Steve Sobie confirmed Saturday.
The agency opened an event page, based on the number of “Did you feel it?" reports it received on its website.
But he said there was no event registered on the agency's seismographs, meaning the shaking was not due to an earthquake. The USGS has said this event was a widely felt sonic boom from a suspected bolide, or a large meteor.
Dr. John Ebel, of Boston College's Weston Observatory, says we didn't see the space rock because of the day's clouds.
“If it had come through with clear skies, my guess is even during the day people would have seen a streak of light across the sky,” Ebel said. "The Earth is always giving us interesting points. Always something that makes my life really kind of fun when it happens.”
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Sun Frequency Shift - Major Structural Change | S0 News and frens
May.31.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_g8vvWkKZk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRMNF6e3bXQ (S0: SUPERFLOOD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un8qxuQQvWM (Ray's Astro: SOMETHING IS RISING Beneath the Ocean — And an Island May Be Forming)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNXYg-dG4jM (EarthMaster: World Earthquake Watch.. Daily updates on Global Eqs and Space Weather events)
https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/31/tornado-hits-quezon-coastal-village
https://news.ssbcrack.com/severe-weather-causes-power-outages-and-tornado-watch-in-central-nebraska/
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/environment/punishing-winds-to-create-risk-of-tornadoes-in-western-australia/news-story/4173e0204ae612df1c3a756996e8cc94
https://meteoagent.com/schumann-resonance-forecast
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/303782/Volcano-earthquake-report-for-Sunday-31-May-2026.html
https://www.tornadohq.com/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=31&month=05&year=2026
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meteor-explosion-massachusetts-alien-theories-1799833
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/video-meteor-explodes-over-us-with-force-equal-to-300-tonnes-of-tnt-nasa-confirms-11570420
https://news.az/news/meteor-fireball-causes-loud-boom-with-power-of-300-tons-of-tnt
https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2061038112885678375
extra space objects
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/the-mysterious-rising-light-after-a-meteor-strike-near-a-volcano-in-the-philippines-is-not-aliens-448adbb4dcd3
Meteor In Boston Triggers Alien Cover-Up Claims Over NASA's Silence Surrounding The Massive Boom
31 May 2026, 4:43 AM BST
NASA confirms meteor explosion, but online speculation about alien cover-ups persists.
A powerful boom heard across parts of Massachusetts on Saturday afternoon has sparked fresh online speculation after a meteor exploded high above New England, rattling homes and startling residents across the region.
While NASA has since confirmed the object was a fast-moving fireball that broke apart in the atmosphere, the dramatic nature of the event and the brief delay before official statements appeared online fuelled a fresh wave of alien cover-up claims from some social media users.
The incident quickly became one of the most talked-about events in the north-east, with eyewitness videos and questions spreading across the internet within minutes.
A Fireball Over New England
The event was reported at around 2:11pm Eastern Time when residents across eastern Massachusetts began hearing what many initially described as a sudden explosion.
Reports came in from Boston, Ipswich and as far as Rhode Island, with people describing rattling windows, trembling walls and frightened pets reacting to the noise.
NASA later confirmed a meteor had entered the atmosphere over the South Shore area near Boston before breaking apart roughly 40 miles above extreme north-east Massachusetts and south-east New Hampshire.
The agency estimated the object was travelling close to 75,000 miles per hour before fragmentation.
According to NASA, the energy released during the breakup was equivalent to approximately 300 tons of TNT, which was powerful enough to create the sonic boom heard across the region.
Satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also detected a signal consistent with a meteor at the same time, helping scientists confirm the path and timing of the object.
Emergency officials in Massachusetts also acknowledged reports of an audible boom and tremors, though authorities said no emergency police or fire incidents were linked to the event.
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NASA Confirmed A Meteor But Questions Continued Online
NASA said the object was a natural meteor and not a satellite re-entry or space debris. Officials also confirmed it was not linked to an active meteor shower.
Scientists explained that meteors regularly enter Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds and most burn up harmlessly before reaching the ground.
Larger objects can survive deeper into the atmosphere, creating bright fireballs and intense pressure waves.
Astronomy educator Shauna Edson said the sound heard by residents was likely caused by compressed air generated by the meteor's speed, combined with possible fragmentation as the rock broke apart.
Even with that explanation, online discussion continued to build. Videos of the bright fireball and the sound of the boom spread rapidly on TikTok and X, where some users questioned why no warning had been issued beforehand.
'Things are getting weird,' one commenter wrote. Another asked: 'Why didn't NASA see this happening to warn us?' A third simply posted: 'Why is everything exploding?'
The speed of those reactions helped push the story beyond Massachusetts and into wider discussions online.
Alien Cover-Up Claims
As videos circulated, some social media users linked the Boston event to wider conversations around unexplained activity in the skies and recent reports of fireballs in other states.
The fact that another meteor had recently been reported in South Carolina led some users to claim there had been an unusual rise in visible atmospheric events.
That quickly led to more speculative posts suggesting the government was moving too quickly to dismiss dramatic sky sightings as meteors before the public had time to ask questions.
There is no evidence linking the Boston meteor to extraterrestrial activity, and NASA has publicly identified the object as a natural atmospheric event.
However, the combination of a loud unexplained boom, visible fireball footage and the immediate flood of social media commentary turned the event into a flashpoint for wider public suspicion.
Scientists Say The Meteor Was Rare But Natural
Meteors frequently enter Earth's atmosphere, with most burning away unnoticed. Larger objects occasionally create fireballs bright enough to be seen across several states and sonic booms strong enough to be heard far from the actual path.
Scientists also said that if any fragments survived, they most likely landed offshore in the Atlantic, making recovery unlikely. Eyewitness accounts and video footage remain valuable for tracking the object's brightness, speed and direction.
A sudden blast in the middle of the afternoon brought people outside, sent phones into recording mode and turned an ordinary weekend into a regional talking point.
NASA may have delivered a clear scientific explanation, but for many watching from the ground, the dramatic fireball over Boston was enough to keep speculation burning long after the sky had gone quiet.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman Visited Blue Origin Following New Glenn Hotfire Anomaly
May 31, 2026
'America’s greatest achievements in space were never the result of avoiding setbacks'
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman visited the Blue Origin team in Florida yesterday following the New Glenn hotfire anomaly on Thursday.
As @nasaadmin said… “America’s greatest achievements in space were never the result of avoiding setbacks. They came from overcoming them. We have done it before, and we will do it again!”
BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Blue Origin reported an anomaly during a static fire test Thursday evening at its Cape Canaveral facility.
According to the company, all personnel have been accounted for, and there is no threat to the general public.
“Blue Origin experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more,” the company said in a statement.
Officials also confirmed that the incident occurred during a static fire test and emphasized that public safety was not impacted.
The cause of the anomaly has not yet been released. Blue Origin said additional information will be provided as it becomes available.
The company conducts testing and launch operations on Florida’s Space Coast as part of its New Glenn rocket program.
https://spacecoastdaily.com/2026/05/nasa-administrator-jared-isaacman-visited-blue-origin-following-new-glenn-hotfire-anomaly/
https://www.facebook.com/johnkrausphotos/posts/1543162294092289
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2060523381699612973
https://www.livescience.com/space/science-news-this-week-exploding-rocket-overshadows-nasas-next-steps-to-the-moon-doomsday-glacier-faces-big-loss-quantum-computer-ai-hybrid-shows-impressive-results-and-war-deepens-irans-water-crisis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c6rdBVWJ4g (Sen4K: Earth From Space in Stunning 4K 🌍 | Hawaii, Great Barrier Reef & Dragon CRS-34)
Science news this week: Exploding rocket overshadows NASA's next steps to the moon, 'Doomsday Glacier' faces big loss, quantum computer AI hybrid shows impressive results, and war deepens Iran's water crisis
May 30, 2026
Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend
Space dominated this week's science news, with NASA announcing its imminent next steps in plans to develop a permanent moon base being slightly overshadowed by the spectacular explosion of a rocket intended to carry its payloads.
Three uncrewed missions targeted for later this year will involve private companies carrying payloads to the lunar surface ahead of astronauts' return by 2028.
Nonetheless, some experts have voiced skepticism about NASA's highly ambitious timeline, with the gigantic detonation of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket during a static "hotfire" test likely prompting significant delays.
In other space news, the solar system's largest moon, Jupiter's Ganymede, may be heating up due to a unique and mysterious process linked to the planet's inexplicable magnetic field, an unexpected effect is squeezing Mars' atmosphere like toothpaste, and bizarre, scratch-like patterns on Venus' surface have scientists scratching their heads.
If that's not exotic enough for you, we reported on the far-out mystery of the controversial "JuMBO" planets discovered by the James Webb telescope, alongside the telescope's discovery of a "naked" black hole that's heavier than its host galaxy.
But you don't need to go to space to find new ways of looking at the universe, as you can see in this fascinating interview on the uses of radio astronomy in space exploration and the search for aliens.
Indeed, you can gain that sense of awe by watching this new footage of a brilliant-green fireball meteor exploding over an erupting volcano in the Philippines.
Hybrid quantum computer AI can solve questions base models can't
Scientists trained an AI model using an IBM quantum computer — and it answered questions correctly that the base model couldn't
Today's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are notoriously prone to getting things wrong.
To get more accurate, large language models historically (LLM) had to get bigger, using ever more parameters and thus gobbling up more compute time.
Now, however, scientists have found a way around this seemingly inevitable tradeoff — and they did it by inserting a quantum computing component into the AI.
The result led to a small reduction in the perplexity score — used to quantify the inaccuracies LLMs make in predicting their next tokens — and an improvement in the questions the hybrid AI could answer compared with a base model.
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Life's Little Mysteries
What is jetlag, and how can you avoid it?
If you've taken a long-haul flight before, you're likely well aware of what jet lag feels like — the enervating feeling of temporal discombobulation that lingers for days after hopping into a new timezone.
But what's going on in our bodies to cause it? And can it be prevented?
"Doomsday Glacier" will lose ice shelf
'Poised to disintegrate': Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' is set to lose its ice shelf this year
Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier is nicknamed the "Doomsday Glacier" because its collapse would raise global sea levels by 2.1 feet (65 centimeters) and flood coastal communities worldwide.
This week, we reported that a key shelf buttressing the glacier is set to fall apart this year.
It sounds depressing, but that doesn't necessarily spell immediate doom. While scientists can't put an exact timeline on Thwaites Glacier's collapse, they don't think it will be anytime soon.
That at least gives people living in cities such as New York, Boston, and Miami a little time to consider moving inland.
Science Spotlight
War has brought Iran's water crisis to a breaking point: 'Things will collapse unless there is meaningful structural change'
The U.S.-Israeli war has come at a price measured not just in military expenditures but in human lives, key infrastructure and rising energy prices.
But some costs of the war aren't immediately apparent. One of the less-publicized tolls, for example, is the effect on Iran's water system, which was already collapsing before the current war.
In this Science Spotlight, Live Science staff writer Sascha Pare walks us through how the water crisis originated, how the war made things worse, and whether the situation can be turned around.
Science news in pictures
Mars looks blue and bruised in surreal new images from Psyche spacecraft — Space photo of the week
This snapshot of the bruised-blue Martian surface was taken by NASA's Psyche spacecraft as it passed within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the Martian surface on May 15.
The image — a close-up of the double-ringed Huygens crater and the cratered southern highlands that surround it — was captured by the probe to test its multispectral cameras before it arrives at the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche in 2029.
The enhanced-color processing in the photos revealed veins of hidden mineral deposits, hence the blue.
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Three civilians killed in Ukrainian UAV attacks on Russian region
30 May, 2026 16:35 | Updated 30 May, 2026 17:40
Three civilians were killed and four others injured after Ukrainian drones targeted civilian vehicles in Belgorod Region, Russia, the local authorities have said.
A man lost his life “as a result of drone detonation” after the Ukrainian military attacked the village of Oktyabrsky in the early hours of Saturday, officials reported.
Around the same time, Ukrainian forces “deliberately” struck a civilian car with an FPV drone in the same area, killing two occupants and injuring the two others.
Several hours later, another vehicle came under a Ukrainian drone attack in Oktyabrsky, leaving one person injured.
A separate Ukrainian drone attack also targeting a civilian vehicle in the village of Orlovka in Belgorod Region later on Saturday left a man with shrapnel injuries, according to the authorities.
In Rostov Region, Russia, Ukrainian UAVs attacked the sea port in the city of Taganrog overnight, setting a tanker and a fuel tank ashore ablaze, Governor Yury Slyusar stated, adding that the fire has since been extinguished, with no leaks reported.
Two people sustained injuries elsewhere in Rostov Region after a kamikaze UAV struck a house, according to the official, with the total number of Ukrainian drones downed over the region close to 50.
The Russian Defense Ministry estimated that a total of 127 Ukrainian UAVs were intercepted Friday evening to Saturday morning over several Russian regions.
In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its drone raids deep into Russian territory, targeting civilian infrastructure, industrial sites, and residential buildings. These attacks have increasingly targeted Russia’s oil infrastructure.
In April, Ukrainian UAVs hit an oil refinery and an adjacent marine terminal in Tuapse, Russia, a key port in Krasnodar Region. The ensuing fire led to high-risk air pollution, with miles of the beach in the resort town destroyed by an oil spill.
Moscow has accused Kiev of resorting to terrorist attacks to compensate for the setbacks the Ukrainian military has been suffering on the battlefield.
Russia has responded with long-range strikes of its own, saying it only targets Ukrainian dual-use critical infrastructure and military installations, and never civilian sites.
https://www.rt.com/russia/640763-three-civilians-killed-ukrainian-drone-attacks/
extra RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/640766-zaporozhye-nuclear-power-plant-attack/
https://www.rt.com/russia/640772-artist-turns-abandoned-passenger-jet-into-christ-image-armenia/