APOD: 2026 September 24 – The Ghosts of Five Supernovas

APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

OriginalAnnotated

The Ghosts of Five Supernovas

Explanation: The ghosts of five supernovas haunt this extraordinary image. It was acquired at Oukaïmeden Observatory in Morocco with approximately 200 hours of observations and shows a large patch of the sky, equivalent to the area of one thousand full moons tiled together, in the constellation of Auriga (the charioteer). From left to right, the five supernova remnants visible across the field are G181.1+9.5, G182.4+4.3, G179.0+2.6, G180.0−1.7 (Sh2-240, the Spaghetti Nebula), and G178.2−4.2. They are highlighted in the annotated image, together with open cluster M37 and the Tadpole Nebula. As each explosion expanded into space, it created a growing shell of shocked gas and delicate filamentary structures shown in red (hydrogen) and blue (oxygen), respectively. These ancient stellar explosions happened independently; they are at various distances up to about several thousands of light-years away from Earth and have estimated ages up to tens of thousands of years old. Early humans may have seen them as bright new stars, fading over weeks or months.

APOD’s email for image submissions has changed. Please see: APOD Submissions.
APOD’s main NASA site is moving : From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod
Tomorrow’s picture: what’s next?

Date	September 24, 2026
Credit	Stephane Vetter, Yann Sainty
Authors & editors:	Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of:	ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Cloudy Cloak Over the Northwest

Cool, marine air rolling off the Pacific Ocean led to a picturesque layer of morning clouds over western Washington and Oregon in mid-September 2026. Low-lying stratus clouds and fog extended as far inland as the western foothills of the Cascade Range. Near the coast, taller portions of the Olympic Mountains in Washington and the Oregon Coast Range appeared island-like, protruding above the cloud layer.

The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows the extent of the Pacific Northwest’s cloudy cloak on September 19, 2026, at about 10:45 a.m. Pacific Time (17:45 Universal Time). Abundant clouds also appear offshore over the Pacific, while smoke from wildland fires fills valleys in the North Cascades.

For several nights in a row, marine air flowed onshore, according to the National Weather Service, bringing with it low-level clouds known as marine stratus. These clouds form when moist air near the surface, trapped beneath a warmer air layer in a temperature inversion, cools enough for its water vapor to condense. The surge of cool, moist conditions was particularly strong early on September 19, producing cloudy conditions all the way up to the Cascade foothills. Some areas witnessed foggy conditions, where clouds extended down to the ground.

That same day, when NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the area at about 4:15 p.m. Pacific Time (23:15 Universal Time), skies had cleared over much of the area. However, some marine clouds still clung to the Oregon coast, where temperatures stayed cooler than inland locations.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

Downloads

September 19, 2026

JPEG (3.26 MB)

References & Resources

• Dye, A. W., et al. (2020). Spatial patterns and trends of summertime low cloudiness for the Pacific Northwest, 1996–2017. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2020GL088121.
• EUMeTrain, Fog and Stratus. Accessed September 23, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2016, December 20) A Celebration of Clouds From Space, Earth Has an Elegant Atmosphere. Accessed September 23, 2026.
• National Weather Service, What are Marine Layer Clouds and How Do they Form? Accessed September 23, 2026.
• National Weather Service Portland, OR (2026, September 23) Area Forecast Discussion. Accessed September 23, 2026.
• National Weather Service Seattle WA (2026, September 23) Area Forecast Discussion. Accessed September 23, 2026.

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

El Niño Is Underway

4 min read

Satellite observations of sea surface height indicated that the 2026 event continued to strengthen in early June.

Article

El Niño Alters Marine Life in the Pacific

5 min read

Satellite measurements of chlorophyll at the sea surface signal shifts in the ocean’s nutrient supplies in mid-2026.

Article

Olympic Mountain Glory

4 min read

Snow-capped mountains carved by deep river valleys preside over northwestern Washington state.

Article

Keep Exploring

Discover More from NASA Earth Science

Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters

Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.

Earth Observatory Image of the Day

NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science Data

Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

NASA Modernizes Commercial Airline Systems

NASA’s researchers know that when you settle into your seat on a commercial flight, you expect a smooth takeoff, views over the clouds, a steady descent, and hopefully an early arrival at your destination. But when your flight gets delayed on the tarmac instead of lifting off, or it ends up in a holding pattern rather than landing on time, things start to change. Your experience goes from smooth to anxiety-inducing as you worry about making your connection or getting home in time for dinner.

Large airports are among the busiest, most complex environments in aviation, with aircraft, ground crews, and service vehicles sharing crowded taxiways. Researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley recently worked with Boeing to advance three types of field tests – digital taxi information, safe taxiway, and safe runways – that could lead to safer, more efficient runway environments at airports.

During the digital taxi tests, pilots were given taxiway guidance directly on cockpit displays or tablets, instead of verbally from air traffic controllers. Aircraft autonomously followed digital routes while researchers monitored a suite of sensors designed to identify vehicles or other aircraft impeding the taxi path and runway. The system reduced pilot and air traffic controller workloads and the risk of verbal errors.  

Safe runway technology testing can also improve situational awareness for approaching aircraft. While preparing to land a Boeing aircraft during testing, the same sensors successfully flagged a vehicle on the runway, providing additional awareness to ensure pilots could avoid potential collisions or other safety concerns.

Together, these NASA capabilities aim to reduce miscommunication, ease pilot workloads, and keep airport traffic moving smoothly. Future testing will integrate the sensor and digital taxi systems into a simulated air traffic control environment to evaluate how the technologies can benefit overall management of the airspace.

For years, NASA has worked to improve your experience when flying by developing new technologies to modernize the commercial airline system. Key NASA technologies streamline and digitize the flying experience – from the departure gate, to the skies, to your safe arrival at your destination.

“Aviation safety is key to NASA’s research,” said Parimal Kopardekar, director of NASA’s Airspace Operations and Safety project. “Technology that can provide additional autonomy and support a future airspace with multiple aircraft operating in harmony is key to advancing the National Airspace System.”

NASA’s research innovations continue after your flight takes off. Modern flights constantly respond to shifting weather, turbulence, and traffic. Even small changes in direction or altitude can affect when a plane arrives. These changes can force flights into holding patterns while air traffic controllers attempt to rebalance the busy airspace.

NASA’s air traffic management researchers have been working for years to reduce those situations. In a 2025 collaborative effort with Boeing, United Airlines, and international partners, NASA evaluated real‑time trajectory sharing on domestic and transoceanic flights.

During that testing, a United Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft shared frequent flight information with airline operations centers and air traffic control. NASA used the data to understand how frequently those updates should be sent and what details matter most for generating accurate arrival predictions. Better information helps controllers sequence traffic more precisely, which means fewer holding patterns and more direct descents for passengers.

Pre-departure rerouting technology and digital exchange tools developed at NASA allow dispatchers and controllers to see the same digital picture of flights preparing to depart.

When a better route becomes available, controllers could coordinate the change digitally instead of relying on verbal communication between pilots, controllers, and dispatchers. The technology could lead to fewer delays, reduced fuel consumption, and more predictable operations for passengers.

NASA has now transferred the routing technology to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airlines will continue to test it. These tools build on decades of NASA contributions to national airspace modernization.

In coordination with the FAA, NASA has advanced automation concepts, improved how arrival and departure flows are managed, and introduced data‑driven software that commercial airlines use every day.

By working closely with airlines, manufacturers, and global partners, NASA is helping to improve every phase of flight to make air travel safer and more reliable, now and in the future.

Explore More

1 min read

NASA Aircraft to Make Low-Altitude Research Flights Over Colorado

Article


4 hours ago

4 min read

Passion Meets Precision at NASA’s Flight Research Lab

Article


1 week ago

3 min read

NASA Celebrates Restoration of Guam Station Damaged by Typhoon Mawar 

Article


1 week ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Airspace Operations and Safety Program

Air Traffic Management and Safety Project

Ames Research Center

Aeronautics

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Tara Friesen

NASA Welcomes Croatia as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

The Republic of Croatia became the 74th signatory to the Artemis Accords on Wednesday during a ceremony in the capital city of Zagreb with NASA and U.S. Department of State officials present.

“It is my privilege to welcome the Republic of Croatia as the latest signatory of the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Deputy Matt Anderson in pre-recorded remarks during the ceremony. “Joining the Artemis Accords opens another chapter. We’ve aligned on the principles. The opportunities to contribute are growing. And now we can look toward what the United States and Croatia can accomplish together beyond Earth. Humanity’s opportunities in space are endless, and we are proud to welcome Croatia to the Artemis Accords community.”

Croatia’s Minister of Science, Education, and Youth Radovan Fuchs signed on behalf of the country. U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Nicole McGraw and Gregory Mann, NASA Europe representative, attended event.

“Croatian scientists and companies are demonstrating growing interest in the space industry,” said Fuchs. “We have therefore decided to expand our international cooperation by joining the Artemis Accords. This international agreement has been recognized as a key opportunity for the robust development of Croatia’s scientific community, the introduction of new technologies, and the strengthening of the economy.”

Croatia marked a major milestone with the successful launch of its first satellite, CroCube, on Dec. 21, 2024. The satellite reached orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, highlighting Croatia’s growing technological capabilities and interest in space collaboration.

NASA and the State Department joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords in 2020, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies.

The Artemis Accords are the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing transparency, safety, and coordination among like-minded nations as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, committing nations to:

• Explore peaceably and transparently
• Render aid to those in need
• Enable access to scientific data
• Ensure activities do not interfere with those of others
• Preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices

By signing the Artemis Accords, nations open the door to opportunities for future lunar exploration with NASA, advancing humanity’s return to the Moon, and shaping the Golden Age of space exploration and innovation.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Elizabeth Shaw

NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class

NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to the next phase of development. This space telescope is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program.

“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe. It will unveil the obscure across cosmic time to better understand the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA selected PRIMA to move into Phase B, the stage of development that advances the preliminary design and technology development for the mission. The mission is subject to a confirmation review, based on technical, programmatic, and cost performance, to determine its readiness to begin implementation in Phase C. If confirmed, PRIMA’s project cost is capped at $1.2 billion, not including launch and other non-project costs. The observatory will be targeted to launch in 2033, for a planned five-year mission.

With a 5.9-foot telescope, PRIMA will conduct deep, sensitive surveys of the universe in far-infrared light, helping bridge the gap between existing infrared observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes. By studying radiant energy that only emerges in the far-infrared, PRIMA will address a wide range of questions about the universe. This includes the origins of planets outside our solar system, how galaxies and their black holes have grown and evolved over cosmic history, and how dust and heavy elements have built up in the universe over time – all helping paint a better picture of why the universe looks the way it does today.

“A single mission alone can’t probe all the universe’s mysteries. But by extending the survey capabilities of our fleet into far-infrared wavelengths with PRIMA, we’re enabling an incredibly comprehensive look at the cosmos,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters. “With our Webb and Roman space telescopes, we set a cadence of launching premiere-class missions in both halves of the decade. We’re going to keep that up and kick off the next decade with PRIMA, as part of a pipeline that will consistently have missions of this caliber ready to go.”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, recommended NASA establish this new Probe Explorers mission class. NASA selected PRIMA for development after detailed evaluation of concept studies for Probe Explorer missions, based on their scientific merit in alignment with the Decadal Survey’s recommendations, feasibility of their development plans on cost and schedule, and use of technologies that could support the development of future large missions.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will manage the PRIMA mission. Other partners include NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The PRIMA mission also will have contributions from international partners: CNES (Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales), ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and the UK Space Agency.

The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the Explorer 1 launch in 1958, which discovered Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 100 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators.

The Explorers Program is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system, and the universe.

To learn more about NASA’s Astrophysics missions, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/universe

-end-

Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Jessica Taveau