Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Monday, 5 January 2026
Team members working with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover created this “postcard” by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.
The panoramas were captured at 4:15 p.m. on Sol 4,722 and 8:20 a.m. on Sol 4,723 (both at local Mars time), then merged together. Color was later added for an artistic interpretation of the scene, with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one. The resulting “postcard” is similar to ones the rover took in June 2023 and November 2021. Adding color to these kinds of merged images helps different details stand out in the landscape.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
Tuesday, 6 January 2026
This view of a region called Syrtis Major is from the 100,000th image captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its HiRISE camera. Over nearly 20 years, HiRISE has helped scientists understand how the Red Planet’s surface is constantly changing.
Shown here are plains and sand dunes within Syrtis Major, a region about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Jezero Crater, which the agency’s Perseverance rover is currently exploring. Studying this landscape is helping scientists understand how sand is produced and trapped here, eventually forming dunes. The subject of the 100,000th image was chosen by a high school student through the HiWish site, where any member of the public can suggest parts of the planet to study with HiRISE.
Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2022), processed by ESA.
Wednesday, 7 January 2026
What a wintery image: a red and white sphere that, if seen from a distance, resembles a festive decoration.
The ‘bauble’ in question is actually the Manicouagan crater in the Canadian province of Quebec. Visible from space, this round structure was formed by a giant asteroid impact some 214 million years ago.
The anular reservoir, with René-Levasseur Island at its centre, is some 700 km north-east of Quebec City. Sometimes referred to as the ‘eye of Quebec’, it spans 72 km from east to west, while the asteroid that caused the impact is thought to have been 5 km in diameter.
This false-colour image was captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2.
In this image, the white is actually snow. Frozen lake water is shown in blue. The area’s thick vegetation, shown in red, includes boreal forest and tundra that are part of a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve.
Credit: NASA / Juno / SwRI, MSSS, Jason Major.
Thursday, 8 January 2026
The JunoCam onboard NASA's Juno spacecraft captured a view of this Earth-sized storm on Jupiter's northern hemisphere during its P13 pass on May 24, 2018. The storm is approximately 12,700 kilometers across, which is about the diameter of the Earth, give or take a few tens of kilometers.
Credit: Santiago Borja Photography.
Friday, 9 January 2026
Santiago Borja Lopez is a Quito, Ecuador-based pilot with Ecuador Airlines. Whenever he is off duty, he pulls out his camera to capture the magnificent sights he witnesses in the air. From incredible storms to lightning bolts, the photos he captures are truly magnificent. Here is a colossal cumulonimbus flashing over the Pacific Ocean, captured at 37,000 Feet en route to South America.
Related News
Related Projects
Support the
SETI Institute
Scientists are getting closer in their search for life beyond earth. But with limited federal funding for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, supporters are the reason cutting-edge scientists can keep their eyes on the sky.
){kind=logo}
