Space can be a wondrous place, and we've got the pictures to prove it! Take a look at our favorite space pictures here, and if you're wondering what happened to today in space history don't miss our On This Day in Space video show here!
Behold, the chromosphere!
Friday, April 12, 2024: The last of our solar eclipse image round-up for eclipse week! The moon passes in front of the sun in Bloomington, Indiana, in this picture from photojournalist Jeremy Hogan. The solar eclipse, which was seen from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, was the first one to pass over the American state of Indiana since 1869.
The solar eclipse reveals aspects of the sun that are usually obscured. This image shows the pink layer of the sun's chromosphere around the dark disk of the moon during totality.
Vanish the clouds
Thursday, April 11, 2024: The solar eclipse looks particularly fierce in a "miracle" image taken from Kimball Bend Park in Central Texas by Space.com reader Justin Maune. They said, "I just took this photo a few hours ago. I traveled 30 hours from So Cal to Texas to see this.
"The clouds were looking terrible. Overcast. And then it cleared. Like a miracle, 10 minutes before totality, the sky was clear, and I was able to snap this pic."
Eclipse Across America
Wednesday, April 10, 2024: The total solar eclipse was one of the most-watched eclipses ever. All of North America and Central America experienced a partial solar eclipse, but only those located within the path of totality — an approximately 115-mile (185-kilometer) wide and 10,000-mile-long (16,000 kilometers) route — saw the moon completely obscure the sun.
The path of totality crossed four states in Mexico (Sinaloa, Nayarit, Durango and Coahuila) before sweeping over 15 U.S. states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) and seven Canadian Provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland).
Pictured above, Bloomington, Indiana, enjoyed clear skies Monday, gifting onlookers a full 2.5 hours as the moon began and ended its full transit in front of the sun.
About yesterday...
Tuesday, April 9, 2024: Yesterday, in Bloomington, Indiana, as the solar eclipse slipped into the diamond ring effect just before totality, Space.com's Josh Dinner proposed to his fiancée, and she said, "Yes!"
The total solar eclipse swept across North America yesterday, making way for millions to view the rare celestial alignment. We hope you were able to make your way to the path of totality. The next total solar eclipse in the United States won't occur until 2045!
The Sun!
Monday, April 8, 2024: It's the sun! Today, for many across North America, the sun will be blocked out for up to four and a half minutes, as the shadow from the moon passes across the face of the Earth.
Solar eclipses aren't entirely uncommon, but the occurrence of one over such a populated swath of land is seldom seen. The next major total solar eclipse to cross the United States won't come around until 2045.
Super Heavy gettin' ready
Friday, April 5, 2024: Super Heavy is presumably being positioned for a static fire, a prelaunch test in which the booster's 33 Raptor engines will burn for a few seconds while the vehicle remains anchored to the pad.
SpaceX has already performed static fires with the booster's partner — a 165-foot-tall (50-meter-tall) upper-stage spacecraft that will fly with this Super Heavy on the fourth Starship test flight.
That mission could launch as soon as as soon as early May, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said last month. — Mike Wall
A comet during the eclipse?
An unusual "horned" comet is now visible in the night sky — and it may even make a rare appearance during the 2024 total solar eclipse on April 8. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks can currently be seen in the night skies of the northern hemisphere. Comets, composed of dust, rock and ices, heat up and expel gas when their orbits bring them closer to the sun, creating a glowing halo around the comet itself known as a coma. Outbursts observed from Comet 12P give it a horned-like appearance, earning it nicknames such as "Devil Comet" and "Millennium Falcon." — Samantha Mathewson
Like fireworks in space!
Wednesday, April 3, 2024: NASA's astronomy photo of the day for today comes to us from over 450 light-years away. According to NASA, the Pa 30 nebula resembles planetary nebulas, or other nebulas formed from nova. However, scientists believe Pa 30 may have formed after two white dwarf stars entered into a spiral together, eventually merging. Because of this, Pa 30 is also referred to as SN 1181 (SN for supernova). The blue star in the center is though to be the "zombie star" remnant of the white dwarf collision.
This image was captured using data from multiple telescopes. NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Hiltner 2.4-meter Telescope at MDM Observatory, Pan-STARRS, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton telescope were all used to combine infrared, visible and X-ray light spectra.
Astronaut afloat
Tuesday, April 2, 2024: NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara conducts leak checks aboard a Russian module of the International Space Station (ISS). O'Hara launched to the ISS in September, 2023, riding the MS-24 Soyuz capsule with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.
O'Hara recently donned the Sokol IVA suit she will wear during MS-24's return to Earth. She is seen here wearing the suit while performing leak checks in one of the station's Roscosmos modules. While living and working aboard the orbital laboratory, O'Hara is serving as Expedition 70 Flight Engineer. Her, Kononenko and Chub are expected to scheduled to complete their crew rotation and return aboard their Soyuz capsule April 6.
One week until the total solar eclipse!
Monday, April 1, 2024: We are one week away from the United States' last total solar eclipse until 2044! With only seven days to go until the April 8 eclipse, we are almost there. In this photo, the sun and moon are almost there, too. This image was captured during the 2017 total solar eclipse, in the moments leading up to totality. Just like the moon covering the sun in this photo, the U.S. is inching toward a solar eclipse that will, quite literally, sweep across the nation, putting millions in the moon's shadow and the path of totality, which will last nearly 4.5 minutes.
Related: Total solar eclipse 2024: Live updates
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