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Abundant hydrocarbons in a buried #GalacticNucleus with signs of carbonaceous grain and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon processing: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.04967 -> JWST reveals exceptional richness of organic molecules: https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/jwst-reveals-exceptional-richness-organic-molecules

Does the Measured Abundance Suggest a Biological Origin for the Ancient Alkanes Preserved in a Martian Mudstone? #Mars Organics: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/02/06/nasa-study-non-biologic-processes-dont-fully-explain-mars-organics/

CH3OH and HCN in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Mapped with the ALMA Atacama Compact Array - Distinct Outgassing Behaviors and a Remarkably High CH3OH/HCN Production Rate Ratio: #3IATLAS: https://public.nrao.edu/news/alma-detects-extremely-abundant-alcohol-in-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas/ - astronomers capture a chemical snapshot of planet formation beyond our solar system.

So there is an upcoming novel about #asteroid #2024YR4 which has just sold its movie rights: #TheLastOrbit eventually figure out that it's not only no risk for Earth anymore (as has been known for a year now, of course) but also not for the Moon. Talk about bad timing ... ;-)

Direct detection of an asteroid’s heliocentric deflection - the Didymos system after DART: #DART Mission Changed Orbit of #Asteroid #Didymos Around Sun: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/dart/nasas-dart-mission-changed-orbit-of-asteroid-didymos-around-sun/

dnc: DNC emails (2016)
A network representing the exchange of emails among members of the Democratic National Committee, in the email data leak released by WikiLeaks in 2016.
This network has 2029 nodes and 12085 edges.
Tags: Social, Communication, Unweighted, Multigraph
https://networks.skewed.de/net/dnc

The oldest Milky Way stars - new constraints on the age of the #Universe and the Hubble constant: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/03/aa57038-25/aa57038-25.html -> How old is the Universe? The oldest stars give us a clue: https://www.aip.de/en/news/how-old-is-the-universe/

Qualcomm forms a "coalition" to launch 6G in 2029 and unveils the FastConnect 8800, an "AI-native" Wi-Fi 8-ready NIC that doubles peak speeds over Wi-Fi 7 (Will Sattelberg/9to5Google)
https://9to5google.com/2026/03/01/qualcomm-…

GWTC-4.0 - an Introduction to Version 4.0 of the #GravitationalWave Transient Catalog: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0c06 -> The latest crop of space-time wobbles includes a variety of heavy, fast-spinning, and lopsided colliding black holes: https://physics.mit.edu/news/new-catalog-more-than-doubles-the-number-of-gravitational-wave-detections-made-by-ligo-virgo-and-kagra-observatories/ / New catalog of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observations published: https://www.aei.mpg.de/1415736/new-catalog-of-ligo-virgo-kagra-observations-published - the latest catalog, GWTC-4, includes 128 new candidates from the fourth observing run, more than doubling the previous total.

Ein internes Papier aus dem #Wirtschaftsministerium deutet auf deutlich mehr #Gaskraftwerke hin als bisher öffentlich bekannt.
Bis 2029 könnten Ausschreibungen für bis zu 41 Gigawatt Kapazität erfolgen. Kritik kommt von der

Papier aus dem Wirtschaftsministerium: Doch mehr Gaskraftwerke?
Wirtschaftsministerin Reiche hatte ihre Ausbaupläne für die klimaschädlichen Anlagen zuletzt zurückgefahren. Offenbar war das nicht ihr letztes Wort.

#GlobalWarming Has Accelerated Significantly: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025GL118804 -> Significant acceleration of global warming since 2015: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/significant-acceleration-of-global-warming-since-2015

An anomaly onboard the #Proba3 mission’s Coronagraph spacecraft led to loss of contact between the spacecraft and ground control: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Work_ongoing_to_restore_contact_with_Proba-3_s_Coronagraph - the root cause of the anomaly is under investigation and mission teams are working hard to recover the situation.

Improved measurements of the age of JWST #galaxies at z = 6 − 10: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/546/2/stag089/8426287?login=false -> Do we actually know how old the Universe is? https://astrobites.org/2026/03/05/how_old_is_the_universe/

Als je de herziene Canon van Amsterdam mag geloven, wortelt bijna šlles in het kolonialisme | de Volkskrant
#geschiedenis #Amsterdam

Characteristics of Natural Remanence Records in Fine-Grained Particles Returned From Asteroid Ryugu: #Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft.

Ryzen: AMD will RDNA-3.5-Architektur angeblich bis 2029 durchschleifen
Mainstream-Prozessoren von AMD sollen über Jahre hinweg kein großes GPU-Upgrade erhalten. Intel könnte ab 2028 Nvidia-GPUs integrieren.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@PlanetariumBochum/116185089574467129
Comet West 50 years ago - it's time for such a show again in the northern hemisphere!

Evidence of Recent Material Transport within a Binary Asteroid System: #DART Mission Data Reveals that Asteroids Throw ‘Cosmic Snowballs’ at Each Other: https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/news/jessica-sunshine-tony-farnham-new-nasa-dart-mission-data-reveals-asteroids-throw-cosmic-snowballs - astronomers found evidence that rocks continuously travel between Didymos and its smaller moon Dimorphos, reshaping our understanding of how near-Earth asteroids evolve over time.

A catalog to unite them all - #REGALADE, a revised galaxy compilation for the advanced detector era: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/02/aa56896-25/aa56896-25.html -> 80 million galaxies - gigantic astronomical catalog viewable online: https://www.heise.de/en/news/80-million-galaxies-Gigantic-astronomical-catalog-viewable-online-11202479.html

"Norway’s Deep Sea Mining Ban Strengthens Global Movement for Ocean Protection"
#Norway #Oceans #Environment

Norway's Deep Sea Mining Ban Strengthens Global Movement for Ocean Protection | Happy Eco News
Norway's deep sea mining ban will protect Arctic waters until 2029 after environmental pressure and green party negotiations. The decision ends public funding for mineral mapping and strengthens global resistance to ocean floor extraction. Over 40 countries now support pausing deep sea mining while recycling alternatives could provide needed minerals without environmental destruction.

High-precision Relativistic Timescales for #Cislunar Navigation: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae25ff -> interview with the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKU1vsHsdY4

As @coreyspowell.bsky.social has written;
NASA is sending the OSIRIS-APEX mission to Apophis.
It is already in the sky and will arrive just after the 2029 flyby.
Trump and those with him tried to illegally shut down OSIRIS-APEX in 2025 May.
Members of Congress intervened to keep it going.
h…

3D Reconstruction of #DART Ejecta at #Dimorphos Reveals an Anisotropic, Filamentary Structure: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ae2c64 -> Pulling Back the Curtain on DART Ejecta: https://aasnova.org/2026/03/06/pulling-back-the-curtain-on-dart-ejecta/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@europeanspaceflight/116182982779024614
Two tiny German satellites (PocketQubes) will be among the payloads, ERMINAZ-1U and ERMINAZ-1V: see https://forum.amsat-dl.org/index.php?thread/4540-erminaz-1v-and-erminaz-1u/ and https://destevez.net/2024/06/decoding-erminaz/ for details.

Light curve of the defective #Proba3 satellite in the sky, from the video https://x.com/s2a_systems/status/2030056859353194647 - the "CSC shows currently a repeating rotation pattern of approximately 1150 seconds."

RE: https://vox.ominous.net/@occult/116103841606429399
Extra points for anyone who can explain what she is *doing* here! I cannot ...

Ubiquitous High-frequency Waves and Disturbances in the Active Region Corona Observed with Cryo-NIRSP: #CORONA STAYS SO HOT AND HOW THE SOLAR WIND IS LAUNCHED INTO SPACE.

RE: #PrimordialBlackHoles near the end!

Martian ionospheric response during the may 2024 solar #superstorm: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69468-z -> ESA’s Mars orbiters watch solar superstorm hit the Red Planet: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_s_Mars_orbiters_watch_solar_superstorm_hit_the_Red_Planet

The Stochastic Siren - Astrophysical Gravitational-Wave Background Measurements of the #HubbleConstant: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01997 -> Illinois and UChicago physicists develop a new method to measure the expansion rate of the universe: https://physics.illinois.edu/news/Hubble-tension-expansion-rate-of-universe

Exo–IPM Scattering as a Hidden Gatekeeper of Narrowband Technosignatures: #SETI Might Have Been Missing Alien Signals: https://www.seti.org/news/why-seti-might-have-been-missing-alien-signals/ - turbulent plasma near distant stars could blur ultra-narrow signals before they leave their home star systems, making them difficult to detect.

The dramatic transition of the extreme red supergiant WOH G64 to a yellow hypergiant: #stars

New observations of the #NearEarthAsteroid #2024YR4 with the #Webb Telescope are now also, like the recently discovered precovery positions, firmly excluding a crash into the Moon: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/planetary-defense/2026/03/05/new-nasa-asteroid-observations-eliminate-chance-of-2032-lunar-impact/ - all the studies (and speculations) about consequences for Earth of such a lunar impact are now merely an exercise. But one day ... ;-)

Short-Term Variability of Jupiter's Satellite Footprints as Spotted by JWST: #Jupiter

The seismic diversity of four successive #SolarCycle minima as observed by the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON): https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/547/1/stag277/8472642 -> Forty years of data give unique insight into Sun’s inner life: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/forty-years-of-data-give-unique-insight-into-suns-inner-life - scientists reveal that even small differences in solar magnetic activity produce detectable changes inside the Sun.

So the new #Kreutz #comet #MAPS is *still* following the constant rapid rise in brightness it has shown since discovery: a dumb extrapolation - https://cobs.si/analysis/?comet=2688&from_date=2026-01-15 00:00&to_date=2026-04-30 00:00&observation_type=V&observation_type=C&plot_x_value=1&plot_y_value=1&fit_option=1&exclude_faint=on&exclude_issue=on&observer=&association=&country=&compare_values=compare - has it get 10,000-times brighter than the Sun at its extremely close perihelion which makes so sense at all, of course, physically.
"It must therefore be assumed that this increase in activity will level off significantly in the near future," writes https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/koj_2026/c2026a1/26a1eaus.htm: "More likely are parameters m m0=12.0 mag / n=4 (or even lower), which would still result in a (very short-term) maximum brightness of about –9 mag (but this would probably still be significantly too bright) – always assuming that the comet survives its perihelion passage unscathed."
For other views see http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005600/CBET005663.txt and https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.17626 and https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10236580364221799 and https://cometografia.es/cometa-kreutz-2026-a1-maps-analisis/ - and the actual brightness is tracked at https://cobs.si/obs_list?id=2688 where it has reached ~11.5 mag. now.

A particularly spectacular #JellyfishEffect - #Falcon9 launch from #CapeCanaveral: a realtime video of its formation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n19M0opzSE, a timelapse at https://www.facebook.com/reel/1687387959309966, a webcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU_V0DIkXJw with stills at https://bsky.app/profile/nasaspaceflight.com/post/3mga7rwfzjs2u and more pictures in
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2029173176123449567
https://www.facebook.com/MattDevittWeather/posts/pfbid032FFwnAhw4QUPDso2uotpMv5xnZYbGoDmZcx7UGzQ82Uin9T8vAnmMsR6NZaxZPYsl
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623482615358856/
https://www.facebook.com/LaunchPhoto/posts/pfbid02avAUHt1edWKdPAFASkUGq7HWtyD6L7AxnETXuxxfnUm17WsTnMm4ctoYQFGp2hWNl
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623523352021449/
https://www.facebook.com/rkashka/posts/pfbid02XfzeHSxsD84hT8e7dKQ3a2sroV3dgpeefELmCHVBUMMnFzet8YwGAqefFqmRp8dGl
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623573082016476/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yJ1yaNYNy92SamPfMnsGmY96F4oYR8zDrzWUf9vR2FPisxhAcZ9tGrbWsJJ9ccCtl&id=100082997509705
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623475792026205/
https://www.facebook.com/internationalspacestation83/posts/pfbid0iUCxC19qkZfnSt1VkZoh6agXygZqBS4HAtQ64KDP547WiEM7tB1fELCcXJSVVdbYl
https://www.facebook.com/groups/spacexgroup/posts/10165280564121318/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid021uiBj7WSK4R7ghscKjV8pKU5dGroAnjthmpvD7d2FXxSUgrNvzLwWFRc2M4cGTUfl&id=61584464880089
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623417872031997/
https://www.facebook.com/Launchheaven/posts/pfbid0NrnQHDb6nMT4ELxUeCxMcYyfyUfbraiyvEkcJSkmd5oC9aXbGvncvWiKLfSH4218l
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623436118696839/
https://bsky.app/profile/wordsmithfl.bsky.social/post/3mga7d6bczc2b
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623436242030160/
https://bsky.app/profile/herrea.bsky.social/post/3mga53echrs2a
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623440722029712/
https://x.com/johnkrausphotos/status/2029180436929200188
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623402792033505/
https://x.com/nyoomtm/status/2029149765947035696
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623442242029560/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaceLaunchSchedule/posts/1623411748699276/
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10226811626871617
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10164745548921477
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163648738894793
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=911907484916077

On the night of February 5, 2026, the #Rubin team submitted a large batch of approximately 20,000 #asteroid candidate discoveries to the #MinorPlanetCenter, corresponding to roughly 246,000 individual observations: https://minorplanetcenter.net/media/newsletters/MPC_Newsletter_Feb2026.pdf - the "MPC successfully processed the entire submission. This unusually large batch provided a valuable end-to end stress test of our pipeline and allowed us to identify a few bottlenecks and areas where performance and automation can be improved."

Bundle adjustment of Hayabusa2's ONC images and controlled color mosaic map of #Ryugu: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12554 <- https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/WW3IH0

#Extremophile survives the transient pressures associated with impact-induced ejection from #Mars: #panspermia

Lyα Intensity Mapping in HETDEX - Galaxy-Lyα Intensity Cross-power Spectrum: #Universe: https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/20260303

In this image, ESA’s #Euclid space telescope captures a panoramic view of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Hubble_Euclid_zoom_into_cosmic_eye - in the near-infrared and visible light view, the arcs and filaments of the nebula’s bright central region are situated within a halo of colourful fragments of gas zooming away from the star. The nebula stands out against a backdrop teeming with distant galaxies, demonstrating how local astrophysical beauty and the farthest reaches of the cosmos can be seen together in modern astronomical surveys.

While the camera still had no problem getting #Venus and #Saturn clearly this evening with the Sun 10° below the #Bochum horizon, the latter was not evident to the naked eye anymore (as it had been yesterday) at any solar depression - game over? Also the full moon rising, sadly long uneclipsed again. More pictures from this evening in https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid037uKnrWeiChGm7m379BB3CyG5xj9byMqCziA4p1WNWrcdvkHbuuqfe3ea7ps5QDAYl

Discovery of the most compact 3 1-type quadruple star system TIC 120362137: #StarSystem Yet: https://gizmodo.com/4-body-problem-astronomers-spot-the-most-tightly-packed-quadruple-star-system-yet-2000728811

Here are recordings of seven webcasts of last night's total #LunarEclipse that actually worked (with the time stamp of totality beginning):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLcLAfilkQ from 2:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TywJ47LZ-Ic from 1:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdASZ4AGXeY from 8:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQuzWYn2WJw from 2:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeOlqcK5Edg from 2:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-_LYVuIEE from 0:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGxr_kinPmk from 5:53
Many suffered from clouds - as did even Mauna Kea where a sensitive wide angle camera was eventually able to capture the sky around the dark Moon, however:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJV9EHB05qc (5th hour)
Here are various early timelapse attempts:
https://bsky.app/profile/astrodave.bsky.social/post/3mg5xbiwuvc22
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1999310513984541
https://scicomm.xyz/@david@theblower.au/116165095846134092
https://www.facebook.com/reel/905832598970486
https://bsky.app/profile/nasaspaceflight.com/post/3mg5venqfds2h
This one from an all-sky camera in Alaska features a lot of aurora, better to see during totality:
https://x.com/landon_wx/status/2028820535757472112
And finally one with the Moon setting before totality:
https://bsky.app/profile/naztronomy.com/post/3mg5tzlesxk2p

Moon rising and #Venus und #Saturn setting from #Bochum, Germany, today: the 2nd image coincided with 1.0-mag.-Saturn just having become visible to the naked eye, at an elevation of 6 3/4° with a solar depression of 9 3/4°. More pictures in the album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=dan.fischer.393&set=a.10233358390356655 from image 45.

Short-term survival of #tardigrades (Ramazzottius cf. varieornatus and Hypsibius exemplaris) in #martian #regolith simulants (MGS-1 and OUCM-1): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/shortterm-survival-of-tardigrades-ramazzottius-cf-varieornatus-and-hypsibius-exemplaris-in-martian-regolith-simulants-mgs1-and-oucm1/8A91986096FB533FB264DD056F549DF2 -> ‘Water bears’ reveal potential for adapting, protecting Martian resources: https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/water-bears-reveal-potential-adapting-protecting-martian-resources - microscopic tardigrades help inform how simulated Martian soil might support plant life and mitigate contaminants shedding from human explorers, researchers report -> Scientists Finally Found Something Tardigrades Can’t Survive: https://gizmodo.com/scientists-finally-found-something-tardigrades-cant-survive-2000728358 - tardigrades are practically invincible on Earth, so scientists looked to outer space in search of their kryptonite.

#2024YR4 - Identification of Possible Precoveries in 2016 IPTF Data: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00449 -> "These candidate detections, not accounting for any currently-undetected Yarkovsky forces, predict a perilune of 22001 /- 49 km and a perigee of 277534 /- 46 km (relative to the center of each respective body) representing an improvement of > 300 times in the approach distance uncertainty above the existing orbit solution and, if confirmed, decisively ruling out a lunar impact in 2032" -> https://groups.io/g/mpml/message/41437

A clear detection of #comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) on the morning of March 2 "despite the 99% illuminated Moon, morning twilight and the comet at an altitude of 4.2 degrees": https://groups.io/g/comets-ml/message/34974 -> "The fact that the comet is showing this much detail under such bad conditions with such bad equipment and software bodes well for what we expect will be a very nice comet in the next few months."

No Observational Evidence for Dark Matter Nor a Large Metallicity Spread in the Extreme #MilkyWay Satellite Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae29b8 -> Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 - Dwarf Galaxy or Star Cluster? https://aasnova.org/2026/03/02/ursa-major-iii-unions-1-dwarf-galaxy-or-star-cluster/

Only a few regions on our planet - just west and east and especially inside of the dark zone in this NASA map which is mostly the Pacific Ocean - will have a good view of the full totality from 11:04 to 12:03 UTC of the #LunarEclipse today, but there will be webcasts galore to try out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TywJ47LZ-Ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZCZcS45jg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeOlqcK5Edg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOgOLKgNyLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtL3BA94t5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJUW0Kx4Eg0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLcLAfilkQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-_LYVuIEE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9UAUiqNKM
Also https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10164029689080320 = a graphic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd1R8rrAMzw = an animation, https://groups.io/g/mpml/message/41436 = satellites near the dark Moon, https://www.eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2026Mar03Tprime.html and https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/march-2026-total-lunar-eclipse-your-questions-answered/ and https://solarsteam.siu.edu/3march2026_tle/ and https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-lunar-2026-march-3 and https://news.siu.edu/2026/02/022426-siu-to-host-viewing-party-for-march-3-total-lunar-eclipse.php and https://www.perthobservatory.com.au/astronomy-events/2026-total-lunar-eclipse = websites, https://scicomm.xyz/@AkaSci@fosstodon.org/116156904320261558 = a thread, https://www.space.com/news/live/total-lunar-eclipse-blood-moon-march-3-2026-live-updates = updates, and https://gizmodo.com/the-march-3-total-lunar-eclipse-sounds-amazing-but-theres-a-catch-2000726548 and https://www.geekwire.com/2026/total-lunar-eclipse-visibility-weather/ and https://www.astronomy.com/observing/how-to-watch-the-lunar-eclipse-online/ and https://www.space.com/stargazing/lunar-eclipses/watch-the-blood-moon-total-lunar-eclipse-on-march-3-with-these-free-livestreams = articles.

Thermal Stability of Ice at #Shackleton Crater - Implications for Water Ice Detection for the Chang’E-7 Mission: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ae3c86 -> Chinese scientists map ice "treasure map" for Chang'e-7 mission at moon's south pole: https://english.news.cn/20260227/404c567a54394e19a093832fb8d57929/c.html

The *other* potentially quite interesting April #comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) has been recovered in morning twilight: https://groups.io/g/comets-ml/message/34973 - it "has brightened nicely since my last observation on February 9 when it was in evening twilight at magnitude 13.3, magnitude calculations on the mornings of February 27/28 found the comet at magnitude 11.1 and 10.7 but I am sure the coma is a lot bigger and not fully reflected in these magnitude measurements."

MeerKAT discovery of a high-redshift strongly-lensed hydroxyl #gigamaser: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13396 -> MeerKAT discovers record-breaking cosmic laser halfway across the universe: https://www.sarao.ac.za/news/meerkat-discovers-record-breaking-cosmic-laser-halfway-across-the-universe/

The British press is furious about the hoax of the #planet parade that didn't happen ... generated with https://stirring-fox-7e1fab.netlify.app ;-)

Why the 'planetary parade' social media meme is utter nonsense - and 28 February a particularly bad day to try to see as many #planets as possible at the same time: https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid02smbGM7QrfG7KQLojCxEyVyy3mTVQ94pzydHBNnNwb5139GN7fSj1zWAyShyX34tel goes into the details and shows that 19 February would have been a far better choice. While the question remains: which moron came up with the 28th as 'the' date in the first place ... and why did practically nobody (looking at you, news sites ... and space agencies) bother to check the basic facts?

In the 20-minutes interview #Artemis program was changed. And the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Annual Report https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-aerospace-safety-advisory-panel-releases-2025-annual-report/ also has something to say.

Assessing the Vera #Rubin Observatory's Ability to Discover Asteroid Impactors Before They Collide with Earth: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.16255 -> Can Rubin Spot an Incoming Asteroid in Time? Testing LSST’s Early-Warning Power: https://www.newplanetarium.com/journal/2026-01-29

And now on #ArtemisII Update to discuss "the next steps": https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-invites-media-to-discuss-next-steps-for-artemis-campaign/

Four timesteps from the final 7 seconds before #Venus vanished behind a distant roof structure today: each image 1/3.2 second at f/2.8 and ISO 400 with maximum digital zoom yielding an equivalent focal length of abou 3 meters, pictures in full resolution and cropped, no further processing. The spectral #dispersion is clearly visible; unfortunately Venus 'hit' the structure from the side, so cutting off the red and leaving only the green/blue upper part as in #AtmosphericalOptics

As reported in http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005600/CBET005664.txt the main belt #asteroid (44) #Nysa is showing "an unusual, highly concave, possibly bilobate, shape" in #LBT images - and https://groups.io/g/mpml/message/41424 now adds that the observer describes the object on the so far unpublished pictures as a "freaky little space guy" ...

Yay, in spite of #Mercury having dropped to 1.25 mag. and more clouds than yesterday here it is again, together with low #Venus, 1/2 hour ago this evening from #Bochum, Germany: two images 3 minutes apart, with solar depressions of 8°40' and 9°10', resp., Mercury at 5.3 and 4.8 and Venus at 1.3 and 0.9 degrees elevation, both 1/4 second at f/2.8 and ISO 800. Saturn was also detected again, much higher and way out of the frame.

And the #ArtemisII stack is back in the VAB, arriving around 1:00 UTC today: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/25/nasa-artemis-ii-rocket-returns-for-repairs/ - while in the assembly building, technicians will troubleshoot the helium flow issue to the rocket’s upper stage, replace batteries on the rocket’s upper stage, core stage, and solid rocket boosters as well as service its flight termination system.

First Resolution of a Main Sequence G-Star #Astrosphere Using Chandra: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.09613 -> Young ‘Sun’ Caught Blowing Bubbles by NASA’s Chandra: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/young-sun-caught-blowing-bubbles-by-nasas-chandra/

The Vera C. #Rubin Observatory has released its first alerts documenting astronomical events spotted by the observatory: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2605/ - Rubin issued 800,000 alerts the night of 24 February which called scientists’ attention to new asteroids, exploding stars, and other changes in the night sky; this milestone marks the launch of a system expected to eventually produce up to seven million alerts per night.

A New Method for Probabilistic Spatiotemporal Forecasts of Solar Soft X-Ray “S-Class” (>X10) #Superflares: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JA034977 -> Scientists Successfully Predict When and Where Dangerous Solar Storms Are Likely to Happen: https://www.ceres-science.com/post/scientists-successfully-predict-when-and-where-dangerous-solar-storms-are-likely-to-happen - breakthrough forecasting method validated by surprise solar eruptions on the far side of the Sun.

Near the end of a sad journey ... the #ArtemisII stack almost back at the VAB after crawling for 9 1/2 hours, from the live feed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCrPD7tfcr0 - see https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/ for updates.

https://mastodon.social/@PlanetariumBochum/116133879381718417
The two genuine images of the annular solar eclipse published so far - everything else is (stupid) fakery: https://www.cieletespace.fr/article/voici-les-seules-vraies-photos-de-l-eclipse-de-soleil-17-fevrier

No, there is no magnificent 'planetary parade' in the evening right now as the internet shouts from everywhere but on the other hand there is also more to see than just Jupiter high in the sky - as I could confirm Wednesday from Bochum, Germany, at 51.5°N, #Venus is already a bright if rather low evening star while #Saturn and #Mercury could still be spotted above her: see https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid027a6qUBbjXPf96BtzV89HNTcEA8Z2y9gorSCns8sTzS3nTFUpngTXwagopfUAw6Ngl for more pictures and hard numbers!

ALMA #CentralMolecularZone Exploration Survey (ACES) - Overview: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.20340 and five other papers -> Largest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2603/

The Type II SN 2025pht in NGC 1637 - A Red Supergiant with Carbon-rich Circumstellar Dust as the First JWST Detection of a #Supernova Progenitor Star: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae04de -> Webb locates former star that exploded as supernova: https://esawebb.org/news/weic2604/ & https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-telescope-locates-former-star-that-exploded-as-supernova/ -
Webb shows star was surrounded by a vast shell of carbon-rich dust.

Formation and Survival of Complex Organic Molecules in the Jovian Circumplanetary Disk: #Jupiter

MUSE Study of Two Giant Low-surface-brightness #Galaxies with Compact Satellites: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae3139 -> Rare Giant Galaxies: https://aasnova.org/2026/02/23/featured-image-rare-giant-galaxies/

Constraining properties of dust formed in #WolfRayet binary WR 112 using mid-infrared and millimeter observations: #dust grains emanating from a massive #BinaryStar system: https://public.nrao.edu/news/a-quintillion-to-one-giant-stars-tiny-dust/

Simultaneous Double Transits of #Phobos and #Deimos as Seen from the Martian Surface - A Millennium Catalogue: #Mars

#CoronaDischarges Glow on Trees Under Thunderstorms: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119591 -> Thunderstorms conjure ghostly coronae in treetops, observed outdoors for the first time: https://news.agu.org/press-release/thunderstorms-conjure-ghostly-coronae-in-treetops-observed-outdoors-for-the-first-time/ - the weak electric discharges may set off ultraviolet sparkles over large swaths of forest under storms, potentially impacting canopy health (this is fringe geophysics but some amateur astronomers are going after corona discharges - esp. in webcam images from mountain sites - with a vengeance, so here goes).

Due to weather, NASA now is targeting early Wednesday, Feb. 25, to roll the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for #ArtemisII off the launch pad and back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/23/nasa-targets-artemis-ii-rollback-on-wednesday/ - cold temperatures and high winds are expected Tuesday, and rolling on Feb. 25, gives teams enough time to complete preparations at the launch pad that were limited today by high winds in the area.

NASA is taking steps to potentially roll back the #ArtemisII rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after overnight Feb. 21 observing interrupted flow of helium to the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/21/nasa-troubleshooting-artemis-ii-rocket-upper-stage-issue-preparing-to-roll-back/ - the upper stage uses helium to maintain the proper environmental conditions for the stage’s engine and to pressurize liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant tanks; the systems worked during NASA’s Artemis II wet dress rehearsals, but teams were not able to properly flow helium during normal operations and reconfigurations following the wet dress rehearsal that concluded Feb. 19.

The only genuine image of the 2026 annular #SolarEclipse I've seen so far - and at an extremely short wavelength of only 17 nanometers, from the Proba 2 satellite: https://proba2.sidc.be/Eclipse17February2026 (which sees the solar corona in emission, so the Sun doesn't have a sharply defined edge).

A the press conference #ArtemisII launch after the WDR went so well - see also https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/19/nasa-begins-artemis-ii-launch-pad-ops-after-successful-fuel-test/ issued just after it had ended - but this will not be confirmed before the Flight Readiness Review late next week.

"The most recent orbital computations make it increasingly likely that the object [the new #Kreutz comet MAPS] is a fragment of one of the comets observed by Ammianus Marcellinus in AD 363, thereby strengthening evidence in support of the contact-binary hypothesis of the Kreutz system," writes Zdenek Sekanina in https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.17626: "In this context, the comet is the only second-generation fragment of Aristotle's comet that we are aware of to appear after the 12th century. It does not look like a major fragment, but rather like an outlying fragment of a much larger sungrazer."

"The #ArtemisII wet dress rehearsal ended today at 10:16 p.m., concluding as planned at T-29 seconds in the countdown."

JWST Discovers the Vertical Structure of #Uranus' Ionosphere: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119304 -> Webb maps the mysterious upper atmosphere of Uranus: https://esawebb.org/news/weic2602/ - Webb provides the first vertical view of the planet’s ionosphere, revealing auroras shaped by its tilted magnetic field.

"After running through terminal count for the #ArtemisII wet dress rehearsal, the launch team paused the clock at T-33 seconds in the countdown," says https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/19/live-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal-coverage/: "Teams are now reconfiguring and replenishing the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems, in order to recycle back to the T-10 minute mark and perform another run of terminal count. [...] The entire recycle process lasts approximately 60 to 90 minutes."

Measurement of a lithium plume from the uncontrolled #reentry of a Falcon 9: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-03154-8 -> SpaceX rocket fireball linked to plume of polluting lithium: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd8z4eqlxno

45 minutes til the simulated #ArtemisII launch, and according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KYhqePsm38 and https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/19/live-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal-coverage/ the 2ns wet dress rehearsal is going to plan. How the outcome will be reported: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-provide-coverage-of-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal/

Juno's high-spatial-resolution ultraviolet observations of Ganymede's auroral patches - constraints on the magnetospheric source region: #Ganymede and Earth: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/news/university-of-liege-scientists-reveal-similarities

#Starliner Propulsion System Anomalies during the Crewed Flight Test - Investigation Report: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nasa-report-with-redactions-021926.pdf -> Agency leaders are discussing the findings of investigations into the 2024 crewed test flight of Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geneWmI9ZMY -> NASA Releases Report on Starliner Crewed Flight Test Investigation: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-releases-report-on-starliner-crewed-flight-test-investigation/

HOLISMOKES XIX - SN 2025wny at z=2, the first strongly lensed superluminous supernova / XX - Lens models of binary lens galaxies with five images of Supernova Winny: #supernova: https://www.tum.de/en/news-and-events/all-news/press-releases/details/measuring-the-expansion-of-the-universe-with-cosmic-fireworks - measuring the expansion of the universe with cosmic fireworks.

Tracking the Evolution of Plasma Instabilities from the Prominence–Corona Transition Region into Interplanetary Space with Total Solar Eclipse and PSP/WISPR White Light Images: #corona: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2026/02/17/eclipse-research-suns-corona/

Detection of a giant #flare displaying quasi-periodic pulsations from a pre-main-sequence M star by the Next Generation Transit Survey: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/482/4/5553/5224549?login=false -> Weathering a Stellar Temper Tantrum - How space weather complicates exoplanet habitability: https://astrobites.org/2026/02/16/stellar-temper-tantrum/

A Physics Informed Neural Network for Deriving MHD State Vectors from Global Active Regions Observations: #SpaceWeather: https://www.swri.org/newsroom/press-releases/new-research-takes-first-step-toward-advance-warnings-of-space-weather

The #LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey - VII. Third Data Release: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15949 -> Largest Ever Radio Sky Survey Maps the Universe in Unprecedented Detail: https://www.ru.nl/en/research/research-news/largest-ever-radio-sky-survey-maps-the-universe-in-unprecedented-detail (see the ALT text for what the three sample images show).

Caltech astrophysicist fatally shot on porch of his rural SoCal home: #Grillmair was a specialist for #TidalStreams of #galaxies as his publications (as first author) listed in https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/search/q= first_author:"Grillmair"&sort=date desc, bibcode desc&p_=0 show.

Candidate Dark Galaxy-2 - Validation and Analysis of an Almost Dark #Galaxy in the Perseus Cluster: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adddab/meta -> NASA’s Hubble Identifies One of Darkest Known Galaxies: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-identifies-one-of-darkest-known-galaxies/

Cenozoic evolution of earth’s strongest geoid low illuminates mantle dynamics beneath #Antarctica: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-28606-1 -> Beneath Antarctica - the deep-time story behind Earth’s largest “gravity low”: https://www.ipgp.fr/en/news-and-agenda/news/beneath-antarctica-the-deep-time-story-behind-earths-largest-gravity-low/ -> Antarctica’s ‘Gravity Hole’ Has Been Quietly Growing Stronger: https://gizmodo.com/antarcticas-gravity-hole-has-been-quietly-growing-stronger-2000722955 - scientists aren't fully sure what this means for Antarctica's future, however.

An animation of the antumbra from space during yesterday's #SolarEclipse: https://scicomm.xyz/@AstroDave/116087138815117726 - see also https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=881466661392738 and https://bsky.app/profile/youstorm.bsky.social/post/3mf4vgedthc2p for animations from another position.

JWST Reveals a Candidate #JellyfishGalaxy at z = 1.156: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae3824 -> Scientists observe distant jellyfish galaxy for first time: https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/scientists-observe-distant-jellyfish-galaxy-first-time - new astronomical find is 8.5 billion years old and reshapes our understanding of early cosmic evolution.

ALMA and JWST Identification of Faint Dusty Star-forming Galaxies up to z ∼ 8 and Their Connection with Other Galaxy Populations: #galaxies almost 13 billion years old, helping to revise the history of the universe: https://www.umass.edu/news/article/international-team-astronomers-led-umass-amherst-may-have-just-found-one-missing-links