TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
September 17, 2026
A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula
This treasure chest is full of stars. The featured image was obtained with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and shows a dust pillar in the Carina Nebula inside our Galaxy, roughly 7500 light-years away. It is formed by interstellar gas and dust, and shaped by powerful stellar winds and radiation form neighboring stars like the nearby Eta Carinae stellar system which is more luminous than 5 million suns. The star formation inside the pillar is excavating its head, creating the open lid of the chest. Astronomers estimate that there are about 70 stars in a compact cluster inside the pillar. This cluster is now thought to be only around 1.3 million years old. Its bounty of young stars includes a massive star approximately 19 times as massive as the Sun. More massive stars are rarer, shine brighter and evolve faster than less massive stars. They are the shiniest jewels in the treasure chest.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi7maVGMZUI
I'm not sure to be honest.
I dont think he has but I could be wrong, or we could've missed something somewhere.
Magnetic Anomaly Grows, Two Tropical Systems | S0 News and frens
Sep.17.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlhefcUoweU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdaQau3mlnk (Tamitha Skov: Surfing the Edge of Fast Wind & Solar Storm Side Swipes | Space Weather Mid Week 16 September 2026)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pfzd_n5dbE (Max Velocity: Nobody Saw This Weather Pattern Coming…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6miws7e650 (Mr Weatherman: Tropical Activity starting to Increase…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCBZJYC7K2M (MrMBB333: IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN AND PEOPLE WANTING ANSWERS NOW!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOxZMmEEiE (dutchsinse: 9/17/2026 – MAJOR EARTHQUAKE WARNINGS issued for areas of Mediterranean, Middle East, W. Pacific)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcWYpFkWHUI (EarthMaster: Cascadia Tremor activity. Latest update on Kilauea Volcano activity. WED Night update)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efoaaK1SyeA (On the Pulse with Silki: KRAKATAU MYSTERY — Did the Monster Volcano Swallow Their Boat ? Huge Search Finds NOTHING !)
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solar
https://science.nasa.gov/helio-and-you-a-fresh-perspective-on-the-sun/
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wildfires
https://www.kcra.com/article/floriston-fire-map-interstate-80-updates/73773255
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/firefighters-continue-battle-wildfires-across-texas
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/vacation-paradise-attack-officials-suspect-arsonists-behind-inferno
https://asianews.network/indonesias-sumatran-elephants-run-out-of-room-as-wildfires-spread/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40410056/wildfire-unearths-human-remains-missing-mum-man-arrested/
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storms and floods
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-selects-tomorrowio-to-help-advance-us-weather-forecasting
https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16137195/once-thousand-year-storm-floods-arizona-utah-colorado-new-mexico.html
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/flooding-rain-risk-to-return-to-plains-midwest-and-northeast/1934740
https://weather.com/2026/09/17/forecast/regional/flood-threat-kansas-city-chicago-midwest-minneapolis
https://www.12news.com/article/weather/severe-weather/water-rescues-around-phoenix-storm-passed-through-mesa-scottsdale/75-5d257070-845b-442a-9472-306d957a92b0
https://fox59.com/morning-news/governor-provides-update-on-indiana-flood-recovery/
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/downpours-prompt-chicago-flood-risk-on-thursday/
https://ktar.com/arizona-news/flash-flood-grand-canyon-north-rim-sept-2026
https://wng.org/sift/flooding-on-navajo-nation-leaves-three-dead-1789658483
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2026/09/17/prolonged-heavy-rain-causes-widespread-flooding-in-hanoi
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16137705/Streets-submerged-floods-Spain-countrys-hottest-summer-woman-washed-away.html
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-hurricanes and frens
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/norbert-to-boost-trade-wind-showers-in-hawaii-after-deadly-hurricane-summer/1934264
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/asian-games-2026/from-torrential-rain-to-typhoon-threat-asian-games-face-turbulent-start-in-aichi-nagoya/articleshow/134303641.cms
https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16139319/atlantic-hurricane-record-broken-el-nino.html
https://weather.com/2026/09/17/storms/hurricane/atlantic-tropical-development-invest-98l-bermuda
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earthquakes
https://en.sggp.org.vn/three-consecutive-earthquakes-shake-buildings-in-da-nang-post129753.html
https://azertag.az/en/xeber/magnitude_31_earthquake_hits_in_azerbaijan_039s_lerik_district-4418514
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/earthquake-nelson-bc-washington
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2026/09/17/magnitude-44-earthquake-jolts-philippines039-leyte-and-samar-provinces
https://cedarnews.net/newstasks/989544/earthquake-m4-9-strikes-west-istmina-colombia/
https://qna.org.qa/en/News-Area/News/2026-9/17/51-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-indonesia
https://cedarnews.net/newstasks/990310/earthquake-m5-3-strikes-south-southeast-hihifo/
https://watchers.news/2026/09/17/strong-m6-5-earthquake-hits-fox-islands-aleutian-islands/
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volcanoes
https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/photo-video-chronology-halemaumau-overflight-and-maps-new-activity-kilauea
https://themalaysianreserve.com/2026/09/17/indonesia-calls-off-search-for-8-missing-near-anak-krakatau-volcano/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/krakatau/news/356854/Krakatau-volcano-Indonesia-Sertung-Island-completely-devastated-following-major-eruption.html
-dailys
https://schumannresonance.today/
https://www.weather.gov/
https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn
https://www.americanforests.org/wildfire-map/
https://www.tornadohq.com/
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/356759/Volcano-earthquake-report-2026-09-17.html
https://www.spaceweather.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
2/2
Sure thing, sorry it wasn't more definitive.
>thanks, anon.. i guess we'll see what happens.
Always and then some.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-moon-orbiter-spots-new-once-in-century-moon-crater/
https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/16447
moar
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/notes-from-the-field/2026/09/17/cascades-a-journey-along-greenlands-coast-where-ocean-meets-ice/
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/summer-goes-out-with-a-heat-dome/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/09/16/cargo-mission-and-crew-13-updates-station-research-maintenance-continue/
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasas-integrated-medical-model-imm/
NASA’s Moon Orbiter Spots New, ‘Once-in-Century’ Moon Crater
Sep 16, 2026
It started as a routine data-quality check.
But as Robert Wagner, a scientist with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scanned a giant Moon map on his computer screen, an unusually large bright spot circled by a dark halo caught his eye, as it implied that surface material in that area had been shaken up.
“I just stopped, dropped everything, and started looking into what that spot was,” said Wagner, an image-processing specialist from Intuitive Machines who works with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) system.
By comparing before and after images of the Moon, Wagner realized he had discovered the largest, newly formed crater ever found in the solar system, as scientists reported Wednesday in Science Advances.
This discovery highlights the value of NASA’s Moon orbiter data in studying a dynamic landscape as the agency advances a sustained human presence and expanded scientific and commercial activity on the Moon.
Officially named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, the crater formed on the Moon’s eastern edge sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, after a comet or asteroid the size of a three- to six-story building hit the surface.
The crash left a crater, 728 feet wide, that spans the length of two football fields. And at 141 feet deep, the crater could fit three vertically stacked yellow school buses.
Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer.
Moon takes some hits
For more than 17 years, LRO has been circling the Moon and using its seven instruments to map the topography, surface composition, temperature, and radiation environment there.
The spacecraft’s team has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters throughout the mission and flagged 100,000 more surface changes from an object smashing into the Moon or from the debris that flung out after.
With no atmosphere to slow them or burn them up, space rocks and other objects easily reach the lunar surface. Most are much smaller compared to the object that carved out McGetchin crater.
The smallest craters scientists can distinguish from LRO images are about 30 feet wide, the length of a three-story building laid on its side, made by rocks about 43 inches wide, the size of a monster-truck tire.
Scientists estimate that impacts of this scale produce about 140 new craters across the Moon each year. But most new ones are made by microscopic projectiles that leave holes too small to identify in orbital images.
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With its numerous instruments, the spacecraft can observe changes to the lunar surface that aren’t apparent in the LROC images alone.
After the crater was discovered, scientists working with LRO’s thermal instrument, Diviner, made follow-up observations of the site. They found a 4-mile-wide area around the crater that is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night than its surroundings.
Reporting in a second paper Wednesday in the same journal, researchers say that the cooling happens because the impact fluffs up the regolith around the crater, making it less dense and therefore less able to retain heat.
The large extent of this “cold spot” is striking, scientists say, because it shows that impacts can modify the Moon’s surface far beyond the crater itself. These physical changes could affect how rover wheels interact with the surface, for instance.
Road to discovery
The LROC system collects images from about 60 miles above the Moon as LRO loops from pole to pole. The system includes two cameras that capture high‑resolution black‑and‑white images and one camera for moderate‑resolution multispectral images.
Over the years and thousands of passes, scientists have built maps detailed enough to spot not only new craters, but also landslides, landers, seismic faults, and even hints of lava tubes.
LROC scientists regularly analyze close-up images of small portions of the Moon's surface taken by the Narrow-Angle Camera.
Using these images, they look for changes that are typically less than 30 feet across. But every few years the team searches for large (wider than 150 feet) features by creating global Moon maps and comparing them to older versions.
That’s what Wagner was doing on Oct. 24, 2025, when he came across McGetchin.
Using images from LROC’s Wide-Angle Camera, which captures broad views with pixels the size of football fields, he stacked hundreds of “before” and “after” frames with software designed to highlight change.
Anything that stayed the same turned gray while anything different showed up as bright or dark patches.
While the process sounds straightforward, spotting real craters requires a lot of manual work. The software flags every tiny shift in lighting or shadow, generating hundreds of false alarms.
For this reason, Wagner typically verifies the software, looking for small fuzzy halos around pixel‑wide bright points, which indicate splashes of regolith around a new crater.
Spanning hundreds of pixels, McGetchin stood out immediately. “It was by far the most obvious impact debris pattern I’ve ever seen in one of these images,” Wagner said.
After his discovery, scientists turned to the Narrow-Angle Camera, which takes much sharper views at about 3 feet per pixel. This camera’s close-up images, taken as LRO flew over the impact site again, revealed the crater size, shape, and how the surrounding terrain was affected.
These images also helped researchers estimate the size and force of the rock fragment that formed the new crater, details that are expected to appear in a future paper.
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NASA Unveils Enterprise, the First Space Shuttle
Sep 17, 2026
Fifty years ago, on Sept. 17, 1976—Constitution Day of America’s bicentennial year—NASA unveiled its first space shuttle orbiter, OV-101, to the public.
NASA had originally planned to name the vehicle Constitution, but a letter-writing campaign changed the agency’s plans.
Nearly 100,000 fans of the Star Trek television series wrote the White House urging that the shuttle be named after the USS Enterprise, the fictional starship featured in the series.
In a memo, President Gerald Ford directed NASA to christen the shuttle Enterprise saying he was “partial to the name”.
The name Enterprise, long celebrated in U.S. naval history, had earlier been bestowed on the first nuclear-powered carrier, a World War II carrier, and an American vessel of the Revolutionary War.
Hundreds of invited guests attended the rollout ceremony at Rockwell’s Palmdale facility in southern California, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and several cast members.
Pictured from left to right in this photo are NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, DeForest Kelley (Dr. “Bones” McCoy), George Takei (Mr. Sulu), James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), series creator Gene Rodenberry, U.S. Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla) and Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov).
Even though Enterprise was not designed to fly in space, it performed the essential atmospheric test flights that paved the way for the shuttle program’s first spaceflights in 1981.
The orbiter is now on display at the Intrepid Museum in New York City.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-unveils-enterprise-the-first-space-shuttle/
https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-shuttle-enterprise-makes-its-public-debut/
moar
https://www.nasa.gov/people-of-nasa/armstrong-people/passion-meets-precision-at-nasas-flight-research-lab/
https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/nasa-watches-earths-weight-finds-center-of-mass/
https://x.com/NASA/status/2100588142734590227
https://x.com/NASAUniverse/status/2099592775326970015
Milky Way
@PanatpongJ
USA 32, a spy satellite, just broke apart in Earth orbit 🛰️
The US Space Force detected the breakup on Sept. 13th when USA 32 unexpectedly shed a cloud of debris 775 km above Earth. The number of fragments is still unknown.
7:39 AM · Sep 17, 2026
https://x.com/PanatpongJ/status/2100595424436625861
Jessica Meir
@Astro_Jessica
Southern Hemisphere Milky Way galaxy view from the @Space_Station cupola.
This 3s exposure series captured two of my favorite cupola views, the particularly dense Milky Way galaxy as seen from the Southern Hemisphere, and the bright, colorful lights of squid fishing boats (here, the bright blue and green lights off the coast of China, Thailand and India). Look at what the light did now!
10:15 AM · Sep 16, 2026
https://x.com/Astro_Jessica/status/2100272325299970549
moar
>https://x.com/NASA/status/2100306604344132055
>https://x.com/NASAhistory/status/2100326418693390800
>https://x.com/Space_Station/status/2100230430687428940
>https://x.com/NASAUniverse/status/2100272276604108828