What is Smile set out to discover? This groundbreaking mission will observe Earth’s magnetosphere in X-rays while capturing the northern lights in ultraviolet, offering an entirely new way to see how our planet defends itself from solar storms. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

Congratulations to the SMILE team! We have a new mission on its way to study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere.

Last chance! If you've not seen the powerful 'Our Fragile Space' photography exhibition outside the RAS, this weekend is your final opportunity to do so. 📸 Don't miss out, drop by Burlington House to see the free display, which lays bare the problem of space debris and what can be done about it. 🛰️

Want to support lunar and deep space operations? Goonhilly is hiring a Shift Mission Operations Engineer at its historic Cornwall site. Find more and apply here: spacecareers.uk/jobs/f25f545...

🎉#Artemis II update: Integrity is back on Earth! At 01:07 BST/02:07 CEST, Orion and its crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. 🚀Our European Service Module propelled Orion over 1 million km through deep space, before burning up in Earth's atmosphere, its job complete 🔥 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

✅ #Artemis II update: Day 7, Orion now heading back to Earth at 2245 km/h, 367 530 km from Earth and 77 666 km from the Moon. Image is from early morning of 7 April, during the eclipse period (pic: NASA). Track at nasa.gov/missions/art... @exploration.esa.int

I love this image taken by the Artemis II crew. Their view of a total solar eclipse - revealing the faint light scattered by dust around the Sun and electrons in the atmosphere of the Sun itself: images.nasa.gov/details/art0...

Today’s the day of the Artemis II lunar fly by! The astronauts will set the record for furthest distance humans have travelled from Earth (previously held by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970) & at around 7:45 pm BST lunar observations will begin.

More Mare Orientale in this new Artemis II image - www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2... - than in the first one with a long focal length presented. The lunar flyby webcast www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j1... will begin at 17:00 UTC today, and the lunar observations run from 18:45 UTC to 1:20 UTC on 6 April.

✅ #Artemis II update: Day 5, Orion is moving at 1536 km/h, 356 379 km from Earth and 89 967 km from the Moon. One last look at Earth before arriving at the Moon (pic: NASA). See nasa.gov/missions/art... @exploration.esa.int

Getting to the Moon has been an international effort. Find out about the European service module here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew. Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

T-6️⃣ days until launch! DYK? Smile will observe the northern lights non-stop for 45 hours at a time for the first time ever. This will give us a better idea of how geomagnetic storms lead to auroras, but also of other consequences on our infrastructure 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 ☀️🧪

The four Artemis II astronauts are no longer orbiting Earth, but are now headed towards the Moon www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

For four billion years, Earth has been under attack. Travelling at 2 million km an hour, the solar wind heads directly our way. Luckily, we have an invisible shield that keeps us safe. Understanding this shield, how it holds and how it breaks will be Smile's goal 👉 youtu.be/XS3INI9IsME 🔭 🧪 ☀️

The Sun’s been active today. Let’s hope we have no major space weather events that affect the Artemis II launch www.spaceweather.com

Artemis 2 countdown clock is now counting down.

The RAS is alarmed by the threat to ground-based astronomy posed by proposals put forward by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Reflect Orbital. We have opposed the plans with @eso.org and the International Astronomical Union. Find out more at: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

Interested in doing a PhD in space heritage? If so, this opportunity might be for you!

I finally get to see the Sun (in Winchester Cathedral)

Great detective work combined with a stroke of luck!

#Aurora over Alveston near Bristol. Could see no colour unless looking through the iphone. Now cloudy ☹️

Amazing data in real time from the @esa.int #SolarOrbiter magnetometer @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social show that this storm will keep its main Bz > 0 field and its total field will decline, resulting in a West-North-East (WNE) flux rope. At the end there should be an interval Bz < 0 (=more aurora!)

Beautiful!

Amazing view towards north-east at Hoher Sonnblick in #Austria! Monday Jan 19 2026 22:40 CEST #polarlights #northernlights #spaceweather www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/klein...

A fast coronal mass ejection from the Sun has arrived at Earth! If you have clear skies tonight, you might be lucky enough to see some aurora. It’s cloudy where I am so send photos!

Wow! You have got to see the spectacular prominence eruptions in this latest movie from the European PROBA-3 mission! Congratulations to Andrei Zhukov and his team! 🧪🛰️🔭☀️

The Sun is joined by three planets in the sky this week. Can you guess what they are before opening the thread?

NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) has reached its destination, from where it will study the inner regions and the edge of the vast magnetic bubble created by the Sun: www.jhuapl.edu/news/news-re...

Are you (or do you know of) an undergrad with an interest in solar physics? Check out the Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer Students (LEAPS 2026). Myself, Andy To and Henrik Eklund invite you to come work with us at ESTEC on "Catching the Solar Wind in Action". leaps.strw.leidenuniv.nl#none

Venus now begins its long trek into the dusk sky. SOHO’s LASCO C2 coronagraph can also follow Venus right through superior conjunction:

Happy 2026 everyone! This year will see the launch of Smile (Sun-Earth interaction mission), new data/findings from Euclid (revealing more about the dark Universe), the 20th anniversary of Hinode (solar physics mission) & the re-entry of the remaining two Cluster satellites (magnetosphere mission).

Today is the December solstice at 15:03 GMT/16:03 CET. This @eumetsat.int MTG‑I1 image from 19 December 2025, 06:00 GMT, shows Earth’s day–night terminator tilted near its annual maximum of about 23.5°.

Stepped outside and immediately saw two very bright shooting stars before some light cloud rolled in. Fantastic! www.popastro.com/meteor/gemin...

Beautiful morning at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory

Space weather isn’t just about lovely displays of the aurora. There is a very real impact on our technology too.

The Goddard Space Flight Center has played a central role in America’s success in space exploration. It’s shocking to see what is now happening to it edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/s...

#WorldSpaceWeek 🚀 PhD student Aida Seye (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory) and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell discuss shared passions and challenges in chasing cosmic dreams on BBC's Sky at Night programme (from 20 mins 23 secs): bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis.... #wsw2025 #WomenInScience #SkyAtNight #STEM

On Oct 31st, the London Philharmonic Orchestra will be celebrating the ocean, and the ace @lizbonnin.bsky.social and I will be speaking on stage beforehand about all things ocean. Tickets are available here, if you'd like to join us and immerse yourself in our water world: lpo.org.uk/event/harmon...

“In an anonymous survey of (UK Physics) department heads by the Institute of Physics (IoP), 26% said they faced potential closure of their department within the next two years, while 60% said they expected courses to be reduced.” www.theguardian.com/education/20...

🌞🎶 Experience the aurora like never before! Aurora — an immersive exhibition turning May 2024 aurora into sound 🔊 📅 Opens 10 Sept, 5–6.30pm 📍 Gallery North, Northumbria Uni, NE1 8QE #Aurora #SpaceWeather #Sonification #NorthumbriaUni #NewcastleUni #WeAreAllSolarOrbiters

What an incredible journey Solar Orbiter is on!

For over 25 years, science and discovery centres have been at the heart of inspiring millions of people to explore, question, and be part of UK science and technology. But they're seriously under threat… 1/3

There were some nice features on the Sun yesterday. I have posted more on my Flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/eagle...

Yesterday the Sun produced this moderate-class #SolarFlare. Despite its smaller size, it was a long duration event, continuing for several hours and providing this hypnotic view of beautiful coronal rain (seen in yellow) and Supra-arcade Downflows (seen in cyan). Mesmerising!

The success of the UK space sector, and the role that the UK Space Agency plays in this, requires proper resourcing. Something the government must still commit to when the UKSA is absorbed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology next year.

Don’t worry, I won’t be colliding with the Earth 🤣

Harsh but true

This is great news! Congratulations Michele! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Complex and completely mesmerising!