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A view earned only by leaving the world that made us.

From low Earth orbit, the planet reveals itself in motion — aurora sweeping across the night side, the atmosphere glowing in thin, electric layers, and pieces of the International Space Station drifting quietly through view. In this timelapse, astronauts capture the rhythm of Earth as only orbit can show it: fast, fluid, and alive.

Every frame is a reminder of why we study our home planet from above — to understand its systems, protect its future, and witness the beauty that unfolds just beyond the horizon.

Percy is roving the “Western Frontier” of Mars 🤠

It’s the farthest west our Perseverance rover has explored since landing in Jezero Crater in 2021, and it’s an ancient landscape that may predate the crater itself.

Assembled from 61 individual images, this selfie shows the rover beside a circular abrasion patch on a nearby rock. By grinding away the rock’s outer surface, the rover gives the science team back on Earth a closer look at what lies beneath.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

#NASA #Mars #Perseverance #WildWest

Don’t let anyone dull your shine 💫

The heart of galaxy M77 is shining so brightly in this Webb telescope image, it nearly outshines the galaxy itself. The intense glow is due to gas being pulled into a tight and rapid orbit around the central black hole. The motion of the gas heats it up, releasing tremendous amounts of radiation.

The first image is Webb’s mid-infrared view with swirling filaments of dust shown in blue. The glowing orange bubbles along the arms are being carved out by newly-formed star clusters.

In the second image, the near-infrared reveals a bar spanning 6,000 light-years across the central region. This bar is enclosed by a bright ring, called a starburst ring, formed by the inner ends of the galaxy’s two spiral arms. Starburst regions in galaxies are zones of high star formation rates.

The third image is a composite image, combining both mid and near-infrared shots into one.

Those bright orange lines radiating out of the center of all images are diffraction spikes, an optical effect caused by the telescope itself. When observing a bright object such as a star, the light gets slightly bent (or diffracted) around some of the telescope’s structures. Due to Webb’s optics, its images have a six-plus-two-pointed pattern around bright objects. Hubble images have four-pointed patterns due to its structure.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy

#NASA #Webb #Galaxy

Don’t let anyone dull your shine 💫

The heart of galaxy M77 is shining so brightly in this Webb telescope image, it nearly outshines the galaxy itself. The intense glow is due to gas being pulled into a tight and rapid orbit around the central black hole. The motion of the gas heats it up, releasing tremendous amounts of radiation.

The first image is Webb’s mid-infrared view with swirling filaments of dust shown in blue. The glowing orange bubbles along the arms are being carved out by newly-formed star clusters.

In the second image, the near-infrared reveals a bar spanning 6,000 light-years across the central region. This bar is enclosed by a bright ring, called a starburst ring, formed by the inner ends of the galaxy’s two spiral arms. Starburst regions in galaxies are zones of high star formation rates.

The third image is a composite image, combining both mid and near-infrared shots into one.

Those bright orange lines radiating out of the center of all images are diffraction spikes, an optical effect caused by the telescope itself. When observing a bright object such as a star, the light gets slightly bent (or diffracted) around some of the telescope’s structures. Due to Webb’s optics, its images have a six-plus-two-pointed pattern around bright objects. Hubble images have four-pointed patterns due to its structure.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy

#NASA #Webb #Galaxy

Don’t let anyone dull your shine 💫

The heart of galaxy M77 is shining so brightly in this Webb telescope image, it nearly outshines the galaxy itself. The intense glow is due to gas being pulled into a tight and rapid orbit around the central black hole. The motion of the gas heats it up, releasing tremendous amounts of radiation.

The first image is Webb’s mid-infrared view with swirling filaments of dust shown in blue. The glowing orange bubbles along the arms are being carved out by newly-formed star clusters.

In the second image, the near-infrared reveals a bar spanning 6,000 light-years across the central region. This bar is enclosed by a bright ring, called a starburst ring, formed by the inner ends of the galaxy’s two spiral arms. Starburst regions in galaxies are zones of high star formation rates.

The third image is a composite image, combining both mid and near-infrared shots into one.

Those bright orange lines radiating out of the center of all images are diffraction spikes, an optical effect caused by the telescope itself. When observing a bright object such as a star, the light gets slightly bent (or diffracted) around some of the telescope’s structures. Due to Webb’s optics, its images have a six-plus-two-pointed pattern around bright objects. Hubble images have four-pointed patterns due to its structure.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy

#NASA #Webb #Galaxy

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature."⁣
⁣
@astro_jessica took this picture of Lake Argentino surrounded by the snow-capped Andes Mountains in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina as the @ISS was orbiting 269 miles above South America's Patagonia region. The lake gets its striking blue color from multiple active glaciers that feed the lake with their finely ground glacial sediment.⁣
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Credit: NASA/Jessica Meir⁣
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#NASA #Earth #Lake #Thoreau

POV: You’re coming home after a journey around the Moon. 🌕

Before reentering Earth’s atmosphere at the end of Artemis II, the Orion spacecraft’s crew module — carrying the astronauts — separated from the European-built service module that provided propulsion and power throughout the mission. This view of the separation was captured by cameras located on the service module’s solar array wings.

Credit: NASA

“It’s great to be with you in the people’s house.”

This week, NASA’s Artemis II crew visited the U.S. Capitol to speak with lawmakers, congressional staff, and special guests about their historic 10-day mission around the Moon and back.

And, yes, Rise was there too!

Credit: NASA/Max van Otterdyk

Pretty in purple 💜

You’re looking at Messier 101, otherwise known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. This dazzling photo was taken by @NASAChandraXray and includes data from a variety of other telescopes. This galaxy appears purple because Chandra represents its X-ray data in pink and purple tones. Other wavelengths of light, like visible and infrared, are shown in different colors.

Showing these different wavelengths of light together in one composite image helps scientists study the stars and celestial activity present in galaxies like Messier 101.

Credit: X-ray: Chandra: ASA/CXC/JHU/K. Kuntz et al.; UV/Optical: XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM/R. Willatt; Optical: Hubble: NASA/ESA/STScI/JHU/K. Kuntz et al.; Ground-based: R. J. GaBany; IR: Spitzer: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/K. Gordon; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, K.Arcand

#NASA #Galaxy #Purple

Get unready with us 🧑‍🚀⁣
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Routines are important, especially out in space. In this clip from Flight Day 8 of the Artemis II mission, the crew goes through their pre-sleep checklist, making sure everything is where it should be before turning in for the night.⁣
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Credit: NASA/Sonnet Apple⁣
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#Artemis #NightRoutine

Getting a new perspective

This fisheye-lens view of a Soyuz rocket was taken on April 5, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Three days later, Soyuz launched NASA astronaut @jonnykimusa and two cosmonauts into low Earth orbit for an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Jonny Kim—a flight surgeon and former Navy SEAL—ran medicine and biology experiments, tested remote-controlled robots, and took some incredible photos of Earth during his first mission aboard the @ISS. He returned to Earth on Dec. 9, 2025.

This photo was recognized in our 2025 Photographer of the Year awards.Check out the full set at the link in our bio.

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

#NASA #Space #Astronaut

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers on Earth, from all of the mothers currently in space.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers on Earth, from all of the mothers currently in space.

M O T H E R
 
#MothersDay #Earth

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion

Life inside Orion!

From April 1-10, the Artemis II astronauts lived and worked inside of the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity. NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, and @CanadianSpaceAgency astronaut @AstroJeremy spent those ten days observing the Moon and the Earth, collecting scientific data, and maintaining operations on the spacecraft.

The Moon joy was (and continues to be!) contagious as the Artemis II mission flew around the Moon and broke the record for farthest distance traveled from Earth.

Credit: NASA

#Artemis #MoonJoy #Orion