Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
Monday, 16 February 2026
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows white material believed to be dusty water ice lining the edges of Martian gullies in a region named Terra Sirenum. Scientists believe dust particles within this ice act similarly to dust that falls onto glaciers on Earth, warming up in sunlight and causing subsurface pockets of meltwater to form.
This enhanced-color image was captured by MRO's HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on Dec. 25, 2016.
The blue color at the bottom of the gullies is likely coarse sand (not ice); the hue would not actually be perceptible to the human eye. HiRISE can detect this color by looking at the scene in far-infrared wavelengths.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/W. Vlemmings et al.
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
Astronomers have captured images of a star other than the Sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star R Doradus were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in July and August 2023. This video shows a time-lapse of the star’s surface, where giant, hot bubbles of gas — 75 times the size of the Sun — are seen appearing on the surface and sinking back into the star’s interior. All images featured in this video are real images taken with ALMA.
Credit: Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview; Text: Adam Voiland.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
On February 5, 2026, the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of snow-covered landscapes across Hokkaido. With more than 31 active volcanoes, the island features several large caldera lakes, including at least five that are visible in the image. (Calderas are large depressions formed by volcanic eruptions.) In the east, forested windbreaks around Nakashibetsu form a checkerboard pattern, while to the north, swirling drifts of sea ice adorn the Sea of Okhotsk.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Balick (University of Washington).
Thursday, 19 February 2026
This stunning image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a dramatic interplay of light and shadow in the Egg Nebula, sculpted by freshly ejected stardust. Located approximately 1000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Egg Nebula features a central star obscured by a dense cloud of dust. Only Hubble’s sharpness can unveil the intricate details that hint at the processes shaping this enigmatic structure.
The Egg Nebula, also known as CRL 2688, is located in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan). It is the first, youngest, and closest pre-planetary nebula ever discovered.
Credit: NASA / JPL / MPS / DLR / IDA, and the Dawn Flight Team.
Friday, 20 February 2026
This image of Mars was captured by the Dawn spacecraft near its closest approach during its February 17, 2009, gravity assist flyby. The photo wasn't taken for scientific purposes, as Mars is already being studied well by orbiters in place; instead, what we know about Mars was being used here to test the performance of Dawn's cameras. The image shows a portion of the fretted and cratered northwest margin of Tempe Terra, Mars. The scarp of the highland/lowland boundary is illuminated by the light of dawn, and traces of fog appear in the lower portion. The area covered by the image is about 55 kilometers across.
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