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@sublime-space.bsky.socialOct 13, 2026, 5:00 PM

1976 Redux: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. Many of the telescopes at the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, featured in this image, are equipped with spectrographs. These instruments separate light into its constituent colors, just as water droplets in rain clouds split sunlight into a rainbow. By measuring the light emanating from objects in space at different wavelengths — from infrared to visible light — astronomers can learn more about an object’s composition, motion, and distance. Carey Portnoy, a former Technical Assistant at KPNO, captured this image of a double rainbow over the mountain sometime in 1976. On the far left is the distinctly shaped NSF McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope and the vacuum telescope tower behind it, both of which have since been decommissioned. At the time, this tower contained a vacuum chamber that was nearly the full height of the building. It stabilized the environment inside the telescope...
@martincid.comOct 9, 2026, 9:00 AM

The star that exploded in 1181 left gas knots 10 times wider than Neptune’s orbit #Noirlab #Astronomy #Supernova

@sublime-space.bsky.socialOct 6, 2026, 5:00 PM

Let’s Go, Airglow!

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

A color-packed sky full of brilliant orange airglow hangs over Gemini North in Hawai‘i. The Gemini North telescope is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab. In the top right of this image, we see the constellation Orion (The Hunter). Three red emission nebulae of the Orion molecular cloud complex are vividly captured in this photo: The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) in the middle of Orion’s sword, the large Barnard’s Loop (Sh 2-276) around Orion’s lower half, and the faint Lambda Orionis Ring (Sh 2-264) around his head. Orion is joined on the left by Canis Major (the greater dog), featuring the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius. Further to the left, above Gemini North, is the massive Gum Nebula (Gum 12). The wash of orange airglow is caused by sunlight energizing atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere during the day. The atoms and molecules then shed this excess energy by...
@sublime-space.bsky.socialSep 29, 2026, 5:00 PM

Rubin and the Seven Sisters

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

The Pleiades glow in the southern sky above NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory from a viewpoint on Cerro Pachón in Chile. Rubin Observatory is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) began earlier this year on 29 June 2026. This NOIRLab Image of the Week captures the seven bright stars of the sisterly asterism. The Pleiades are part of an open star cluster of more than 1000 confirmed members, known as Messier 45. This cluster is dominated by hot, blue luminous stars, of which up to seven can be seen with the naked eye under normal dark skies. There are reports of 11 members seen in the darkest skies with perfect naked-eye vision. The Milky Way contains thousands of star clusters like the Pleiades, and Rubin Observatory will precisely measure them across six spectral bands. With unprecedented depth and homogeneous sky coverage, Rubin will make some of the first...
@sublime-space.bsky.socialSep 22, 2026, 5:00 PM

Three Faces of the Moon over Kitt Peak

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

On 3 March 2026, the Moon showed us three of its “faces”: the full Moon, the blood Moon, and the distorted Moon. This image compares these views as seen from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) in Arizona, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. When full, the Moon is completely illuminated by the Sun. The full Moon appears on the left of the image, taken at 1:12 a.m., before the start of the eclipse. The center image depicts the fully eclipsed Moon. Taken later at 4:33 a.m., the full Moon is mostly within Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of its shadow. The sunlight that reaches the Moon inside the Earth’s shadow must first pass through Earth’s atmosphere, which covers the Moon in red light instead of the usual white sunlight. The right side of the Moon in this image lies within Earth's penumbra, the outer and lighter part of Earth's shadow. Within the penumbra, only a portion of the Sun's light is blocked. Because of this, the Moon appears only...
@sublime-space.bsky.socialSep 15, 2026, 5:00 PM

Mid-70s Spring in the Sonoran Desert

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

Winter rains awakened this lush field of California poppies near U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Carey Portnoy, a former Technical Assistant at Kitt Peak, captured this image sometime between 1975 and 1977. This area along Arizona State Route 86 is known for its abundance of springtime wildflowers, but it is full of interesting desert flora year-round. Common plants that can be spotted on the drive up to Kitt Peak include saguaro cacti, jumping cholla cacti, and manzanita bushes (which give the mountain its O’odham name, l'oligam Du'ag, or Manzanita Shrub Mountain). Astronomers are honored to be permitted to conduct scientific research on the sacred mountain located in the homelands of the Schuk Toak District within the Tohono O’odham Nation. Standing tall on the mountaintop in the distance is the eighteen-story-tall NSF Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, which can be seen from over 50 miles away. At the time...
@sublime-space.bsky.socialSep 8, 2026, 5:00 PM

Comet C/2025 K1 Caught in Color!

#NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space

The shattered remains of comet C/2025 K1 appear in color in this 2025 image from Gemini North. Gemini North is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab. This color image of comet C/2025 K1 was taken on 24 December 2025, following earlier observations from 11 November and 6 December 2025. This comet has been capturing astronomers' attention in part because it originated in the distant Oort cloud and in part because it is breaking into pieces. Earlier observations showed that the comet had broken into a parent body and four fragments, but this new image reveals that the fourth piece appears to have dissipated. When comets break apart, the smaller chunks shed mass and leave behind a cloud of gas and dust rather than a solid body. This is what happened to the dissipated fragment of comet C/2025 K1. This full-color image also helps researchers understand the comet's composition. Due to...