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This is a photo of our home planet taken only a few hours ago! So what? We have photos of Earth taken from space every day. Ah, but *this* photo was taken by a spacecraft ON ITS WAY TO JUPITER.

From the source: "Mostly black space, most of Earth visible at the top right of the image. Part of a spacecraft visible on the left."

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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026

This is a photo of our home planet taken only a few hours ago! So what? We have photos of Earth taken from space every day. Ah, but *this* photo was taken by a spacecraft ON ITS WAY TO JUPITER.

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New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:

science.org

NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding

Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say

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These are what the clouds on Jupiter look up close. The small patches of white are cloud tops, soaring above the main, colourful cloud layer. Image from NASA's Juno spacecraft during its 38th close approach to Jupiter on 29 November 2021, processed by Kevin Gill (@kevinmgill.bsky.social)

A complex, swirling pattern of lighter and darker clouds. One large system, angled to the upper left in this scene, is a tawny brown colour and is elongate. Another, more circular storm system is at lower centre, and is a grey–greenish colour. The background swirls are various shades of grey to blue; small, white features dot the scene.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 24/09/2026

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Like, this is an area about TWO PERCENT of the total scene. By my count, there's around 10 stars local to the Milky Way in this view. EVERYTHING ELSE IS A GALAXY

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China Space Watch @chinaspace.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

China’s Tiangong Space Station crosses in front of Jupiter in this remarkable astrophotography shot. Just hundreds of kilometres above Earth, Tiangong appears in front of Jupiter, a world hundreds of millions of kilometres away. Captured by 沈老思347

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/09/2026

This is a quick workup of what the night sky might look like on a world close to the galactic core. The planet is a rendering by Martin Kornmesser, to which I added the JWST image. So this scene is suggestive more than scientifically accurate. But still... imagine growing up under a sky like this.

The fore- and middle ground shows a rendering of a rocky exoplanet surface. The JWST Sagittarius scene from the first post occupies the upper half of the image.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/09/2026

The @stsci.edu posted this JWST image from 2023 earlier today—and I had to do the same. This is only a portion (about 50 lightyears across) of the Milky Way's centre. In this view, there's an estimated half-million stars. In our night sky, at a dark site, humans can see ~2,000 stars unaided.

From the source: "In a field crowded with stars, a funnel-shaped region of space appears darker than its surroundings with fewer stars. It is wider at the top edge of the image, narrowing towards the bottom. Toward the narrow end of this dark region a small clump of red and white appears to shoot out streamers upward and left. A large, bright cyan-colored area surrounds the lower portion of the funnel-shaped dark area, forming a rough U shape. The cyan-coloured area has needle-like, linear structures and becomes more diffuse in the center of the image. The right side of the image is dominated by clouds of orange and red, with a purple haze."

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Gary Hershorn @garyhershorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Crazy light across Manhattan with a rainbow as the sun set ahead of an approaching nor'easter storm in New York City, Friday evening #newyorkcity #nyc #newyork #sunset #noreaster #rainbow

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/09/2026

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 24/09/2026

This is a SMALL version of the largest JWST image released so far—of IC 348, a star-forming region about 1,000 lightyears away. Open up the image and marvel in the incredible beauty even in our galactic neighbourhood. This is what it looks like when stars are born.

From the source: "A star-forming region. It is blanketed in thick clouds of gas and dust, millions of kilometres across, that form swirling patterns. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the centre of the scene. Each is crowned with six long points created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors. In the upper right, a couple of hidden stars blast out long, glowing jets of material."

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 24/09/2026

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Another stunner from JWST—this time part of a *much* larger scene I'll post later. This portion is made up of stars and protostars in a cluster about 1,000 lightyears from Earth. The bright, multi-point features are nearby stars. The smaller features in the background are other galaxies.

From the source: "A star-forming nebula that contains young stars called protostars. Two of these protostars are shooting out long jets that are colliding with the nebula, creating glowing, colourful outflows. A few other protostars create orange and red areas in the nebula. Most of the image is covered by blue gas, with brighter areas, denser clouds and dark gaps; the bottom-left corner contains greenish-yellow gas."

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I said I'd do a thread about my new Space Science Reviews paper, so here it is! This is part of a collection of papers arising from a meeting at the International Space Science Institute in Bern in 2024: a workshop to better understand rocky extrasolar planets. A 🧵:

Interior structure models of Earth, Venus, Mercury, Mars, the Moon, and Io, all shown to scale and key elements labelled.

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This is the Dragonfly spacecraft, ultimately destined for Titan, photographed in July during early construction at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The mission PI, Zibi Turtle, shared this image at the OPAG meeting today. Credit: NASA/JHU APL/Zibi Turtle

The Dragonfly spacecraft structure, showing the main chassis, the four struts to which the propellers will be attached, and various electrical and avionics boxes.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 22/09/2026

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Interesting tidbit from today's briefing at the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) meeting by NASA planetary leadership: NASA is considering *two* flagships for flight—one to Uranus, the other to orbit and land on Enceladus. Both were Decadal priorities—but in series, not one over the other.

How does one do alt text for a graphic with loads of text?

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 22/09/2026

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 22/09/2026

Planetary friends, the location for LPSC 2027 has been announced! **** *** It's the Woodlands, TX. Like it's been since 2009, and the same state since the meeting started in 1970.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 21/09/2026

This isn't the diseased skin of some alien—this is Mars! Taken by ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, this colour scene shows a portion of the planet's high southern latitudes where frost, dust, and sunlight combine to produce these pink and purple tones.

From the source: "A purple–pink–coloured patch of Mars, which is lighter on the left and darker on the right. A dark line runs from the top centre towards the bottom right, dividing the light and dark areas. At the centre of the image is a sharp light-coloured crater. Less sharp craters are scattered over the rest of the image. At the bottom left is a bright white-blue triangular patch; it looks icy."

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 21/09/2026

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 21/09/2026

Shadows on Saturn.

Half of the planet is illuminated by the Sun; its ring system arcs through the scene, casting shadows across the lower hemisphere.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 17/09/2026

HOLY SHIT NEW IMPACT CRATER ON THE MOON This crater is 222 m (728 ft) across, and formed in spring 2024. Statistical modelling tells us this is a 1-in-132 year event. So the last time a crater this big formed on the Moon was 1894.

A large crater with bright rays is situated in the centre of this image. The dark, pockmarked lunar surface makes up the background.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 17/09/2026

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 15/09/2026

For your Tuesday, here's a shot of deep, deep, deep space from JWST. Every bright, six-pointed feature is a star in the Milky Way. Everything else—even the smallest, faintest dots—are whole galaxies millions to *billions* of lightyears away.

A spiral galaxy sits in the centre of the image; smaller galaxies dot the scene, some resolved only a small, colourful smudges. The six-pointed features are stars in the Milky Way.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 15/09/2026

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 13/09/2026

See that small bright object in the middle right of this image? That's the small icy moon Mimas. Floating in space against a backdrop of giant Saturn, the planet crossed by shadows from its rings.

A black swath of shadow crosses the scene from top left to bottom right. The background is various shades of blue and grey. A small, illuminated crescent is at upper right. The lower portion of the image is lighter grey/brown.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 13/09/2026

Live Laugh Smash the Moon into Mercury for the lulz

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 13/09/2026

See that small bright object in the middle right of this image? That's the small icy moon Mimas. Floating in space against a backdrop of giant Saturn, the planet crossed by shadows from its rings.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 12/09/2026

I have a new paper out! Over the weekend I'll do a thread on what the Solar System can tell us about rocky exoplanets— but for now, enjoy this to-scale set of cross sections I made of the rocky worlds in *this* system! (They're all different, but still all variations on a theme...)

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 12/09/2026

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This is what our home looks like from 6 billion kilometres away.

A set of colourful streaks of stray light across a dark, noisy background. At centre right is a small, pale, blue dot.

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This is what our home looks like from 6 billion kilometres away.

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In honour of the day that's in it—the 60th anniversary of Star Trek.

A Constitution-class heavy cruiser on a shakedown test past the Moon. Crescent Earth is in the background.

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In the long list of stupid ideas, this one's gotta be near the top.

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In honour of the day that's in it—the 60th anniversary of Star Trek.

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Astrophotographer Adam (AJ) Smadi caught this image a few hours ago from Washington state. A thin crescent Moon, sunlight illuminating the rugged lunar surface. And 2,400 times farther away—and on the other side of the Sun—mighty Jupiter, and its moons Io (left) and Ganymede (right).

A crescent Moon seen during the day, arcing from upper left to lower right of the frame. At lower centre is the full disk of Jupiter; the small dots to its upper left and lower right and Io and Ganymede, respectively.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 06/09/2026

Weird rock on Mars. Photographed yesterday.

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I was invited to write up a short blogpost for the Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month based on our recent JGR Planets paper! We make the case that some of the highlands on Venus have borders that form in the same way mountain belts on Earth do: planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com

An oblique view from Google Earth looking approximately east, from around the location of Bourg-en-Bresse towards Geneva, which is situated at the eastern end of the crescent Lac Leman at center left. The Jura foothills in the foreground correspond to folds in volcanic plains that run parallel to larger folds in tesserae, which in this analogy are the Alps proper.

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Weird rock on Mars. Photographed yesterday.

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Ground- and space-based telescopes have revealed something new at Saturn: a giant, ten-sided structure in the clouds near the planet's south pole. This decagon is almost stationary, extends deep below the cloud tops, and is similar (though not quite the same) as the famous north pole hexagon.

Left: A Hubble Space Telescope view of Saturn; the decagon at high southern latitudes is barely visible as a dark band. Right: A polar projection of those same data, where the dark decagon is clearly visible.

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