TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
October 6, 2026
A Complete Auroral Oval from SMILE
Have you ever seen a complete auroral oval? You can't see one from the ground because it makes too large a circle around one of Earth's magnetic poles. But spacecraft high above the Earth can see them. The featured video from ESA and CAS's robotic SMILE spacecraft shows not only a full auroral oval, but using ultraviolet light, one that occurred during the day. The time-lapse covers about an hour in late July and shows visually how variable and turbulent auroras really are. The points of light on the sides are distant stars that appear to move only because SMILE's camera view shifts as the spacecraft orbits the Earth. A goal of SMILE is to better understand how the Sun's wind interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere – and so better understand how to protect astronauts, spacecraft, and ground-based electrical grids from solar storms.
https://science.nasa.gov/apod/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlABdzFXL18
Solar Flare and CME Coming to Earth | S0 News and frens
Oct.6.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6HdOOq8iiU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwEyw656co (S0 News: Pole Shift - Tsunamis & Extinction Risk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ-7XfIPFIk (Ryan Hall Y'all: I Don't Like How FAST This Is Happening…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFRXldeotbk (On the Pulse with Silki: LOUD THUD! Then the Water Turned Brown ! Australian Yacht Sinks Near New Zealand)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_kwimMH8HQ (MrMBB333: PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE HOW BIG THIS IS!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aUnd3F3vRY (Mr Weatherman: Isaias will Track toward the Gulf States…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDpdHtDywK0 (EarthMaster: Unusual Cascadia Slow Slips in the Southern End. Solar Flare threat growing. Monday Night EQS)
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solar
https://nso.edu/blog/nasa-award-char-methodology/
https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/safety-ops-regulation/how-space-weather-affects-aircraft-operations
https://scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/news%2C115065%2Ccosmic-pile-drives-strongest-geomagnetic-storm-two-decades.html
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/powerful-solar-eruption-could-supercharge-the-northern-lights-this-week
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wildfires
https://www.edhat.com/california/news/california-wildfire-preparedness-report/
https://darkhorsepressnow.com/news/2026-10-06/mississippi-national-guard-helps-battle-arkansas-wildfire-with-chinook-helicopter/
https://krcrtv.com/weather/wildfires-and-water/fork-fire-east-fork-road-french-gulch-shasta-county-cal-fire-breaking-news-wildfire-update
https://www.dw.com/en/southeast-asias-haze-crisis-have-lessons-been-learned/a-79564992
https://www.undp.org/bosnia-herzegovina/stories/next-wildfire
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storms and floods
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/super-el-nino-is-here-whats-so-super-about-it
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/gulf-tropical-rainstorm-likely-to-strengthen-before-reaching-flood-weary-us-coast-this-weekend/1941938
https://www.1049thewolf.com/2026/10/06/state-farm-raising-insurance-rates-8-for-illinois-homeowners-citing-severe-weather-trends/
https://www.thelocal.es/20261006/were-unprepared-barcelona-struggles-to-deal-with-more-frequent-floods
https://eyeradio.org/south-sudan-warns-of-possible-nile-flooding-as-lake-victoria-water-levels-expected-to-rise/
https://news.tuoitre.vn/30-minute-downpour-inundates-flood-prone-ho-chi-minh-city-road-leaves-residents-wading-home-at-night-103261006110044145.htm
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3332355/floods-have-damaged-4500-factories
https://www.timesnownews.com/world/asia/nepal-calls-off-flash-flood-search-operation-around-5000-still-missing-including-over-180-indians-article-156281496
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tornadoes
https://www.disneydining.com/30-second-tornado-touches-down-near-walt-disney-world-resort-ab1/
1/2
-hurricanes and frens
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/hurricane-rachel-to-send-big-waves-to-california-may-turn-toward-mexico-southwestern-us/1942200
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/el-nino-fuels-tropical-activity-surge-pacific
https://weather.com/2026/10/06/storms/hurricane/tropical-storm-isaias-gulf-coast-louisiana-florida
https://gizmodo.com/the-atlantics-record-late-first-hurricane-may-be-brewing-in-the-gulf-2000822160
https://watchers.news/2026/10/06/flood-watch-issued-for-northeastern-florida-as-al92-raises-late-week-gulf-coast-rainfall-threat-u-s/
https://travelhost.com/news/los-cabos-hurricane-rachel-beach-closures-travel-warning
https://www.bom.gov.au/video/national-weather-forecast-possible-severe-storms-in-the-east
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/10/06/japan/western-pacific-typhoons/
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earthquakes
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/shooting-light-pulses-down-a-3-kilometer-borehole-could-illuminate-seismic-hazards
https://arkansasradio.com/2026/10/new-madrid-seismic-zone-earthquakes-october-2026/
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/530814/58-earthquakes-hit-Iran-in-a-week
https://abc7.com/post/35-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-dana-point-orange-county/19911172/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/quake-info/23414171/mag3quake-Oct-6-2026-Haiti-Region.html
https://cheknews.ca/4-1m-earthquake-rumbles-228-km-west-of-port-hardy-1351536/
https://www.fmbharat.com/en/india/two-earthquakes-shake-assam-and-manipur-45-magnitude-tremor-recorded-in-nagaon
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/quake-info/23414989/mag4quake-Oct-6-2026-Taiwan-424-km-SSW-of-Kaohsiung-City-Hall.html
https://qna.org.qa/en/news/news-details?id=47-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-chile&date=6/10/2026
https://qazinform.com/news/m47-earthquake-strikes-near-iceland-a454bc
https://themalaysianreserve.com/2026/10/06/magnitude-5-0-earthquake-strikes-waters-off-sandakan/
https://cedarnews.net/newstasks/1032600/m5-2-earthquake-strikes-southwest-of-nukualofa-tonga/
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volcanoes
https://www.aol.com/articles/satellites-reveal-two-magma-reservoirs-142531000.html
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-buried-volcano-on-the-moon-hints-at-an-ancient-lunar-dynamo
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dailys
https://schumannresonance.today/
https://www.weather.gov/
https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/
https://www.tornadohq.com/
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=21.41216,-129.99023&extent=52.1874,-60.0293
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/372138/Volcano-earthquake-report-2026-10-06.html
https://www.spaceweather.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=06&month=10&year=2026
2/2
>Screw your Space Comms
>SAVE THE CHILDREN
Human trafficking is only a planet wide ordeal?
Disappearing Planets, Dragon Fireballs, Hunter’s Moon Fill October’s Spooky Skies
October 5, 2026 4:10PM
From disappearing planets to dragon‑born fireballs, the October skies will play a few tricks this month, but they’ll be nothing but treats for skywatchers.
As the daylight wanes and the evenings grow longer, October is one of the best months to step outside, look up, and enjoy the crisp and clear night skies that feel especially made for spooky season.
To help you make the most of it, NASA has rounded up some of the best of these cosmic events.
Lunar occultation of Jupiter
Occultations occur when a larger nearby object — like our Moon — passes in front of a smaller, more distant one, hiding it from view. While the word “occultation” might sound mystical, it simply means to conceal or hide.
Early in the pre‑dawn hours of Tuesday, Oct. 6, the Moon will do exactly that to Jupiter. The bright, star-like glow of the large planet will slip behind the Moon’s thin crescent, vanish for about an hour, then reappear.
You can enjoy the event with just your eyes, although a set of binoculars will give you an even better view, possibly catching Jupiter’s moons as they wink out and back in.
Most of North America will have a chance to observe this rare hide‑and‑seek moment. Exact times will vary by location, but the event will begin around 4 a.m. EDT.
Draconid meteor shower peak
The Draconid meteor shower will peak the evening of Thursday, Oct. 8, into the early morning of Friday, Oct. 9, beginning around 9 p.m. EDT.
This is an ideal meteor shower for casual skywatchers, since it begins soon after darkness falls rather than in the early morning hours.
A nearly new Moon phase means little interference from moonlight, making the shooting stars easier to spot.
Despite the shower’s spooky name — which could be read as hinting at a certain infamous caped count — the Draconid shower is named for the constellation Draco, the dragon, where the shower’s radiant is located.
Find a dark spot, let your eyes adjust, and watch for meteors streaking from anywhere across the sky. A relatively modest shower, viewers may spot a few meteors per hour.
Orionid meteor shower peak
The Orionid meteor shower peaks on Oct. 21, and viewers may see about 3-6 meteors per hour in suburban areas with some ambient light, while those in darker areas may see a few more.
These meteors come from debris shed long ago by Halley’s Comet, igniting in our atmosphere as Earth passes through the comet’s trail. The shower is named after its radiant, near the constellation Orion, the hunter.
Orion also contains the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, whose scarlet glow is easy to spot in the autumn sky (but don’t say that name three times in a row!).
This year, the Moon will be in a waxing gibbous phase, which may wash out some of the fainter streaks.
But once it sets around 3 a.m. local time and the radiant climbs higher in the sky, a prime viewing window opens, giving skywatchers an excellent chance to catch the show before dawn.
Hunter’s Moon
No spooky season would be complete without a bold October full Moon, and this one will appear on Monday, Oct. 26.
Some traditions call this the Hunter’s Moon, which takes its name from the seasonal practice of hunters relying on bright moonlight to track game as autumn fields grew bare and daylight faded.
Leading up to Halloween, the Moon will still be shining, but as a waning gibbous, adding a gentle glow to the late-October nights.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/watch-the-skies/2026/10/05/disappearing-planets-dragon-fireballs-hunters-moon-fill-octobers-spooky-skies/
other space objects
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-a-brilliant-green-meteor-explode-over-arizona-video
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/eyes/2026/10/05/nasas-eyes-software-september-release-notes/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arz5rKGFb78 (Chuck's Astro: Jupiter Disappears Behind the Moon!)
lets bring them all home, wherever home might be
NASA to Stream SpaceX Crew-12 Return, Splashdown Live
Oct 05, 2026
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Oct. 7, for the undocking of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission from the International Space Station, pending weather conditions.
An Oct. 7 undock puts NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev on schedule to splash down off the coast of California at approximately 11:34 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8.
NASA’s live Crew-12 return coverage will stream through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:
https://www.nasa.gov/live
Mission managers continue monitoring conditions in the recovery area, as undocking of the SpaceX Dragon depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather conditions in the Pacific off the coast of California, and other factors.
NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Wednesday, Oct. 7
6 a.m.: Hatch closure coverage begins
6:20 a.m.: Hatch closing
7:45 a.m.: Undocking coverage begins
8:05 a.m.: Undocking
Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will provide audio-only communications between Crew-12, the space station, and flight controllers during Dragon’s transit away from the orbital complex.
Thursday, Oct. 8
10:20 a.m.: Return coverage begins
10:46 a.m.: Deorbit burn
11:34 a.m.: Splashdown
1:15 p.m.: International Space Station briefing for Crew-12 return and SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services-35 launch with the following participants:
Bill Spetch, deputy manager of Commercial, NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program
Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program
Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Customer Operations and Integration, SpaceX
Andreas Mogensen, leader, Human Exploration Group, ESA
To participate virtually in the teleconference, media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom for call details by 12 p.m., Oct. 8, at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111.
To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-stream-spacex-crew-12-return-splashdown-live/
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-spacex-crew-12/
https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/nasa-astronaut-jessica-watkins-first-153003333.html
https://x.com/NASA/status/2107157585489023120
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGSqblvgLIE
moar
https://x.com/astro_anil/status/2107472927381717064
https://x.com/astro_Pettit/status/2107272420327653826
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Catches Stunning Martian Dawn (Red Dawn reference?)
Oct 06, 2026
A newly released panorama captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover offers the most detailed view yet of distant, wind-carved Martian cliffs, highlighting features the mission’s scientists have long been waiting to see up close.
The scene was snapped at 8:30 a.m. local Mars time, showing striking blue hues in the foreground as bright morning light illuminates crags known as yardangs on the horizon.
The panorama was captured by Curiosity’s Mastcam on Aug. 11, the 4,982nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission, and comprises six individual images that were stitched together after being sent to Earth.
Unlike most of Curiosity’s Mastcam images, this one was processed without white balancing, preserving the early morning appearance.
The yardang layer extends roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014.
In fact, the rover recently passed another milestone in its ascent, reaching 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) of elevation — the most ever climbed on Mars.
As it draws ever-closer to the yardangs, mission scientists expect to get even more amazing imagery — and, they hope, answers to how these cliffs were created.
Mount Sharp is made up of layers, each recording a distinct period of Mars’ history. By studying them, scientists have been able to learn more about lakes and streams that covered this part of the Red Planet billions of years ago.
Eventually, the water dried up and left salty minerals behind. After new material stopped settling on the mountain, some of it may have been stripped away by wind, giving rise to the yardangs.
“The yardang layer looks out of place. It’s the wrong color, the layers tilt at an odd angle, and it almost appears plastered on,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“But that’s what makes it exciting to reach. No one is sure exactly what created this layer, but one idea is it may be ash deposited by ancient volcanic eruptions.”
Curiosity is in the second year of its fifth extended mission, which started with an exploration of the spiderweb-like boxwork ridges.
The rover will spend most of the next year or so driving through layers enriched with sulfates and carbonates, both signs of ancient drying on the surface.
Sometime in 2027, scientists hope to reach the base of the yardangs, where Curiosity will be able to use its robotic arm to collect one-of-a-kind data on these mysterious features.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-science-laboratory/curiosity-rover/nasas-curiosity-rover-catches-stunning-martian-dawn/
https://x.com/NASAMars/status/2107494899872587856
moar
https://science.nasa.gov/blog/a-journey-to-the-depths-of-ancient-mars/
https://science.nasa.gov/blog/curiosity-blog-sols-5029-5035-back-in-the-lab/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/scientific-balloons/2026/10/06/nasa-balloon-campaign-concludes-with-final-science-flight/
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/283/the-seas-will-keep-rising-even-if-the-planet-cools/
>Its all an amusement park you paid for, you'll never ride.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-captures-commotion-from-nebulas-stellar-jets/
moar
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-testing-aims-at-supercooled-large-droplet-aviation-safety/
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-beaver-brown-waters-of-rupert-bay/
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/cosmic-origins/community/cosmic-origins-early-career-workshop-registration-open-abstract-submission-deadline/
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/why-is-nasa-bringing-7500-contractors-back-to-work-as-civil-servants/
NASA’s Webb Captures Commotion From Nebula’s Stellar Jets
Oct 06, 2026
A cauldron of cosmic creation is being revealed in a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Webb has unveiled numerous stars formerly hidden by clouds of dust in a stellar nursery known as NGC 7129, which resides about 3,300 light-years from Earth.
Stars, the engines of elemental creation, have life cycles that begin with their birth in molecular clouds – cold, dense regions of dust and gas.
Because of these dusty cocoons, young stars are often impossible to view by many telescopes, particularly those incapable of capturing infrared light.
Webb, however, has a high degree of infrared sensitivity, allowing astronomers to peer through that dust and study the beginning of the star life cycle.
The stars from this cluster are in different stages of their development, as the more massive stars form and evolve the fastest.
The most massive (and the most mature) is the region’s luminous central star, LkH(alpha) 234 (pronounced Lick-H-alpha).
This star, which sports the image’s most prominent diffraction pattern, is a pre-main-sequence star weighing around 5 to 8 times the mass of our Sun.
Pre-main-sequence stars like these have mostly finished gathering mass and are contracting under the force of gravity, causing their temperatures to rise. In time, this star will fuse its own hydrogen like our Sun.
The cavity to its left, which appears in gold and spans about 3.5 light-years, is the largest demonstration of the central star’s impact. Outflows from an earlier stage of the star’s life cycle carve into the dense molecular cloud of hydrogen.
Both the outflows and the star’s light energize the gas, causing it to glow. While much of this hydrogen gas is blown away, a large amount is also compressed, creating the conditions for even more stars to form.
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Interactive: The Colorful Clouds of NGC 7129
A few of these stars are visible within the cavity. Several of them are also pre-main-sequence and emit stellar winds.
The nearby bow shocks, the curved compressed gas that appears near the stars, are created as those winds push into the energetic gas and create their own, smaller cavities.
Together, the central and embedded stars also create the sharp ridge seen at the top of the golden cavity. Their light generates a hot environment that pushes against the colder and denser molecular gas outside the cavity, and creates a boundary known as a photodissociation region.
In this region, the molecules of hydrogen break down into atoms. By influencing the temperature and chemistry of the region, this collection of stars offers insight into how these molecular clouds will gradually erode over millions of years.
The region to the right of the central star narrates a different, but equally chaotic tale. This clumpy matter represented in red hides much younger objects than those on the left: protostars.
The protostar stage is earlier than the pre-main-sequence stage and occurs after molecular clouds of gas and dust initially compress and fragment.
As the protostars accumulate matter and increase their mass, they eject outflows of superheated material. These outflows interact with the dense, gray, translucent matter the protostars are wrapped within, creating shocks that cause a textured appearance.
The red glow is also the result of the interaction. Multiple outflows from multiple stars overlap from our point of view, leading to the scene’s chaotic look.
Image: NGC 7129 Side-by-Side (Spitzer and Webb Image)
More of these protostellar outflows can be seen at the upper left of the image, near a blue-colored nebula. The center of this blue region hosts a protostar surrounded by a donut-shaped disk of material.
This disk casts a shadow against the surrounding nebula, reminiscent of a similar structure known as the “Bat Shadow” that was observed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Webb’s high spatial resolution reveals many rich structures in the region’s gas, building on research done previously by NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope.
Astronomers will continue to use this Webb data to study how the stars and protostars in this region influence the surrounding gas and dust.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory.
Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
2/2
NASA Pushes Permanent Moon Base as Pentagon Moon-Tunneling Paper Suddenly Looks Less Far-Fetched
October 6, 2026
WHAT READERS SHOULD WATCH
NASA says astronauts are headed back to the lunar surface in 2028, with a permanent Moon Base now an official agency objective.
A Pentagon paper in the 6th UAP release examined tunneling through the Moon while searching for hypothetical negative matter.
Apollo impacts really did make the Moon “ring” for nearly an hour, but NASA scientists say that does not mean the Moon is hollow.
Days after USA Herald reported on a Pentagon study containing a section titled “Making a Tunnel through the Moon,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was in Huntington Beach talking about a permanent human foothold on the Moon.
USA Herald’s September 27 report examined the DIA document after its release as part of the Pentagon’s sixth UAP tranche.
NASA’s Pacific Airshow materials say the agency plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and build a permanent Moon Base.
Isaacman has described a phased outpost supporting science and technology needed for eventual human missions to Mars. NASA has separately made development of a Moon Base and lunar nuclear power official agency priorities.
That makes the Pentagon document worth another look.
The 2011 Defense Intelligence Agency paper, Negative Mass Propulsion, was theoretical research—not a NASA construction plan.
But it explored whether hypothetical negative matter could collect deep inside the Moon’s gravitational potential and included a section called ‘Making a Tunnel through the Moon.’ The paper even calculated a thermonuclear-scale excavation concept.
There is no evidence NASA’s current Moon Base program came from that DIA study. Yet tunneling beneath the lunar surface is not nearly as exotic as it sounds. NASA researchers studied underground lunar bases decades ago.
A 1988 technical study described a “subselenean tunneler” that could melt through lunar material, form glass-lined tunnels and place crews underground to reduce radiation exposure and extreme temperature swings.
Those remain practical problems for any long-duration lunar settlement.
Then there is the Apollo-era fact that has fueled speculation for decades.
After Apollo 12’s lunar module ascent stage was deliberately crashed into the Moon, seismometers recorded vibrations for roughly 55 minutes. Later impacts produced similar long reverberations. Scientists famously described the Moon as “ringing like a bell.”
That phrase helped feed the hollow Moon theory. But the seismic evidence does not show a giant empty shell. NASA explains the long ringing through the Moon’s extremely dry, heavily fractured geology, which allows seismic energy to scatter and persist far longer than it typically does on Earth.
NASA scientists have compared the effect more closely to a gong. Modern measurements describe the Moon as a layered body with a crust, mantle and core.
Humanity’s first permanent extraterrestrial settlement will eventually move underground because lunar rock may provide some of the best shielding available. That possibility is becoming practical.
On September 30, NASA selected three new scientific investigations specifically intended to support its Moon Base program near the lunar south pole. Nuclear surface power is also part of the long-term architecture.
Returning astronauts by 2028 remains an aggressive schedule, dependent on launch vehicles, lunar landers, life-support systems and repeated successful missions. Building something permanent will be harder.
But the language has changed. The United States is no longer talking only about visiting the Moon. It is talking about staying there—and eventually, staying may mean going beneath it.
https://usaherald.com/nasa-pushes-permanent-moon-base-as-pentagon-moon-tunneling-paper-suddenly-looks-less-far-fetched/
moar
https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/2107138409672384868
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2107206015582167444
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2107246280481407426
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”
6 October 2026
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Elusive particles from the universe captured at the South Pole
Francis Halzen realised that ice at the South Pole could be used to track particles known as neutrinos.
His vision and scientific leadership have been fundamental for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory – a cubic kilometre of ice that is equipped with light sensors.
Using IceCube, researchers can capture neutrinos from extremely energy-rich processes in the distant universe.
Neutrinos are everywhere, but they do not make themselves known. They pass all the way through the Earth and through our bodies without us noticing.
Very rarely, a single neutrino will interact with an atomic nucleus, which makes it possible for someone with the right equipment to discover them.
Scientists have long known that the cosmos contains natural particle accelerators, which fire out particles with energies up to a million times more than can be achieved in laboratories on Earth.
Much about these sources is mysterious: what are they, where are they, and what are the main processes inside them?
Neutrinos with extremely high energies are created in the same environments as other types of particles.
However, unlike other particles, neutrinos reach us without changing direction or losing energy. This means they can provide information that is not available in any other way.
Francis Halzen first presented his vision for capturing neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988. When a neutrino collides with an atomic nucleus, it produces a flash of light that can be tracked by sensors in the clear glacial ice.
The South Pole’s ice has many advantages, as it is free from various types of interference and the area is geologically stable, with no earthquakes.
Halzen and his idea soon gained the support of other researchers and, just a few years later, preliminary testing was conducted on sensors in ice.
Cosmic neutrinos with extremely high energies are very rare, so an enormous volume of ice is needed to observe an adequate number of collisions.
IceCube covers an entire cubic kilometre and was finished in 2011. Researchers soon discovered the first high-energy neutrinos and, a few years later, could publish their discovery of neutrinos that must originate far outside our solar system.
The search for the universe’s neutrino sources could begin in earnest.
“Francis Halzen has led an international team of researchers and engineers who have provided us with a fantastic instrument.
His tenacity and scientific vision has paved the way for a new kind of astronomy,” says Mark Pearce, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
The neutrino interactions that are continuously collected by IceCube will provide researchers with novel knowledge about the violent settings in which high-energy neutrinos can be created – and could even reveal previously unknown cosmic phenomena.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2026/press-release/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/10/neutrino-physicist-wins-2026-nobel-physics-prize/
moar general space
https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stem-cells-survive-unexpectedly-rough.html
https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/why-is-the-2027-total-solar-eclipse-being-called-the-eclipse-of-the-century
https://www.popsci.com/science/pikachu-space-world-space-week/
https://usaherald.com/world-space-week-2026-celebrates-a-rocket-revolution-in-orbit/
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/ESA_at_IAC_2026_Day_1
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/ESA_at_IAC_2026_Day_2
moar ESA
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/How_to_record_rocket_emissions
https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy/Apply_for_the_Ladybird_Guide_to_Spacecraft_Communications_2027
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/European_rover_trains_for_Mars_in_the_desert
ESA at IAC 2026 – Day 1
05/10/2026
Stronger European capabilities and deeper international cooperation were at the heart of ESA’s first day at the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Antalya, Türkiye.
From exploration to the contribution of space to society, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher underlined the importance of Europe becoming a stronger and more capable partner in a rapidly changing space environment.
Held for the first time in Türkiye, this edition of the IAC brings together space agencies, governments, industry, academia and other participants under the theme ‘The World Needs More Space’.
Organised by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), hosted by the Turkish Space Agency and co-hosted by the SAHA İstanbul Aerospace Cluster, the congress runs from 5 to 9 October.
The opening ceremony brought the international space community together to mark the formal start of the congress.
Speakers included the President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; the Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır; and the President of the IAF Gabriella Arrigo.
The first event of the day was a ministerial round table on 'Space: a national strategic priority?', moderated by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.
The discussion brought together the Minister of Industry and Technology of Türkiye; the Minister of Sports of the United Arab Emirates Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi; the Secretary of State at Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Juan Cruz Cigudosa; the Secretary of State at Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Michał Jaros; and the Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan Sherzod Shermatov.
Cooperation is essential for space activities
Later in the morning, Josef Aschbacher joined IAF Vice President for Space Agency Relations Enrico Palermo for the opening plenary session, ‘One-to-One with Heads of Space Agencies’ (a replay of the full discussion is available here).
He spoke immediately after a discussion between IAF President Gabriella Arrigo and NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson.
ESA Director General stressed the importance of ESA’s contribution to international partnerships, citing cooperation with NASA on the Artemis missions while highlighting ESA’s work with an increasingly diverse range of partners, like Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and India, as well as ESA’s longstanding partner Canada. Referring to NASA’s Ignition event, which outlined a new approach to future lunar exploration and had been highlighted by Matt Anderson, Josef Aschbacher said it had inspired Europe to be bold and “to make sure we are a strong partner”, by strengthening Europe’s capabilities and autonomy while remaining committed to international cooperation.
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He explained that ESA now has a clear mandate to prepare decisions for the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting in Rome in December on strengthening the autonomy and capabilities in human and robotic exploration.
Among the questions being examined is whether Europe should develop its own capability to transport astronauts.
“Not to isolate ourselves, quite the opposite: to be a very strong partner with the many countries we are already working with and with whom we would like to intensify our cooperation,” he said.
The importance of combining strong capabilities with international cooperation was also highlighted by Yusuf Kıraç, President of the Turkish Space Agency, in his opening remarks.
“The future of space will not be built by one country or one agency alone. It will require strong, resilient capabilities, responsible leadership and effective international cooperation. This is also closely connected to the theme of IAC 2026: ‘The World Needs More Space’.”
Putting space at the service of society
Reflecting on the theme of IAC 2026, ESA’s Director General said the discussion should not focus only on having more activity in space, but about how space can benefit people, societies and countries.
“This is exactly what we are doing at ESA,” he added.
Space systems support services on which modern societies increasingly depend, from navigation and communications to weather forecasting, environmental monitoring and emergency response.
He also noted that, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), space-based systems support more than half of the 16 critical infrastructure across OECD countries.
Preparing for the post-ISS era
During this first day at IAC 2026, ESA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vast, continuing their collaboration and paving the way for potential future cooperation in low Earth orbit.
The agreement forms part of ESA’s preparations for the end of International Space Station operations and its deorbiting, as the agency explores options to maintain European access to microgravity research and future flight opportunities for European astronauts.
The press release can be read here.
Europe’s ambitions on display
ESA welcomed delegates to its 150 m² exhibition, presented under the theme ‘European Space Agency: Elevating the Future of Europe’.
Through mission models, images and videos, the exhibition highlights the five goals of ESA Strategy 2040, alongside recent achievements, upcoming missions and the importance of international partnerships.
The first day’s programme at the ESA booth included a discussion on the space economy with Charlotte Mathieu, ESA Head of Space Economy and Industrial Policy Division and Bhavya Lal of the RAND School of Public Policy.
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