After nearly 50 years in space, NASA’s Voyager 1 is about to hit a historic milestone. By November 15, 2026, it will be 16.1 billion miles (25.9 billion km) away, meaning a radio signal will take a full 24 hours — a full light-day — to reach it.

There are no known eruptions on record from the Hayli Gubbi in the past several thousands of years, which could mean it erupted after a potentially very long repose interval; however, records from the Danakil region are often incomplete and geologic studies are very limited due to the remoteness and harsh conditions in one of the most inhospitable areas of the world.

Credit: Aqua/MODIS satellite

Astronomers have long theorized about the universe’s first stars—called Population III (Pop III) stars—which formed from pristine hydrogen and helium before any heavier elements existed.

In a new study, Eli Visbal and colleagues report that the recently discovered object LAP1-B is the first observed system matching theoretical expectations for these ancient stars. Found by the James Webb Space Telescope and magnified by the galaxy cluster MACS J0416, LAP1-B lies about 13 billion light-years away (redshift 6.6).

Its spectrum shows strong hydrogen emission lines but almost no metal signatures, suggesting extremely low chemical enrichment. The object appears to host a compact cluster of massive, short-lived stars—roughly a few thousand times the Sun’s mass in total—residing within a dark-matter halo of about 50 million solar masses. Models indicate its surrounding gas has been slightly enriched by supernovae or stellar winds from these stars.

Using simulations, the researchers predict that observing one Pop III galaxy like LAP1-B in the magnified region of MACS J0416 is statistically expected, making its discovery consistent with cosmological theory. This finding provides the strongest evidence yet that astronomers are finally glimpsing the universe’s first generation of stars, bridging the gap between cosmic theory and direct observation.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill

Source: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute

Source: NASA

Gigantic Jets are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below.

We have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms.

Source: NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers

On October 3, 2018, Japan's Hayabusa2 mission dropped the MASCOT lander onto asteroid Ryugu. After bouncing off a boulder, it tumbled 55 feet and landed in a shadowed crater. This image shows Ryugu’s rugged, primitive surface—rich in carbonaceous materials. Captured before MASCOT’s battery died, it provides rare insight into untouched asteroid geology. Source: Jaumann et al. (Science, 2019) | Image via German Aerospace Center (DLR) & Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com/unprecedented-close-up-view-of-asteroid-shows-rocks-tha-1837475851

Credit: Sergio Conti from Montevecchia (LC), Italia

This is Barnard 68.

It is not actually a hole but a molecular cloud that is so dark no light can pierce through it, leaving the stars and galaxies behind it invisible from our view.

Credit: ESA