Apologies, everyone. SETI Live today has been postponed until November 19 due to an unexpected issue. Stay tuned!

#PPOD: Two asteroids, two very different sizes, and one remarkable spacecraft. This composite illustration, based on asteroid models, compares Ryugu, the asteroid explored by Japan's Hayabusa2 mission, with its next target, 1998 KY26. Hayabusa2 collected samples from Ryugu in 2018 and returned them to Earth in 2020, but its extended mission will take it to a much smaller world. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser. Asteroid models: T. Santana-Ros, JAXA/University of Aizu/Kobe University

#space #science

What happens when teachers join a real astronomy mission? ✈️🔭

The SETI Institute's Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors flew aboard NASA's SOFIA observatory, then brought their experiences back to classrooms. WestEd's evaluation found measurable improvements in student learning.

https://www.wested.org/blog/in-their-words/thousands-of-feet-above-earth-teachers-immersive-science-learning-took-flight/

#PPOD: More than 140 years after the first photograph of the Orion Nebula, NASA's JWST reveals this familiar stellar nursery in extraordinary infrared detail. Captured on September 11, 2022, by the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), this view peers into the nebula's inner regions, where young stars emerge from vast clouds of gas and dust approximately 1,350 light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA

#space #science

🛰️ At DPS this week? Join SETI Institute's Matt Tiscareno for the Ring-Moon Systems Node Users Group meeting!

📅 Thursday, Oct. 29, 11:45 am–12:45 pm Pacific
📍 Room 206A or via Zoom

Learn about the RMS Node of NASA's Planetary Data System and its resources for planetary researchers.

Contact Matt for Zoom access.

https://pds-rings.seti.org/

#dps2026 #science

🔴 NASA's Viking missions searched directly for living organisms on Mars nearly 50 years ago. No mission has attempted quite the same thing since.

SETI Institute planetary scientist Pascal Lee explains why Viking was revolutionary and how the search for Martian life has changed.

🎧 Listen to the latest #SETILive podcast episode wherever you get your podcasts!

#space #science #podcast

#PPOD: This detailed satellite view captures the historic city of Toulouse along the Garonne River, taken by the Pléiades Neo mission. Located in southwestern France, Toulouse is known as "la ville rose", or the pink city, for the distinctive terracotta tiles that give its rooftops their warm reddish hues. From orbit, the densely packed historic center contrasts with green parks, winding waterways, and the surrounding urban landscape. Credit: Airbus DS (2024), processed by ESA

#space #science

🛸 Newly released Pentagon files detail UFO sightings over California's Catalina Island in the 1940s and 1950s. But do these decades-old reports suggest extraterrestrial visitors?

SETI Institute President and CEO Bill Diamond spoke with CBS Los Angeles about the sightings, the importance of skepticism, and why the possibility of life beyond Earth doesn't necessarily mean aliens are visiting us.

Read the story and watch the interview: https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/new-pentagon-ufo-files-detail-sightings-over-catalina-island/

#SETIInstitute #UFO #UAP #SETI

🎉 Congratulations to SETI Institute scientist Isabel Angelo on being named one of Science News’ "2026 SN 10: Scientists to Watch!"

The SN 10 recognizes early- and mid-career scientists whose research is pushing the boundaries of discovery.

We're thrilled to see Isabel and her work recognized alongside this year's outstanding scientists!

Learn more: https://www.societyforscience.org/press-release/science-news-unveils-sn-10/

#SETIInstitute #ScienceNews #Astronomy #Exoplanets

#PPOD: NASA's Perseverance rover has made history! On October 11, 2026, the rover reached a total distance of 45.22 kilometers across Mars, surpassing the 45.16-kilometer record set by its predecessor, Opportunity. This Navcam image captures Perseverance's tracks stretching across the Martian terrain during the drive that made it the farthest-traveling vehicle on another world. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

#space #science #planetaryscience

Beneath Antarctica's Lake Untersee, microbial communities offer a glimpse into Earth's ancient past.

SETI Institute astrobiologist Dale Andersen is returning to this remote, ice-covered lake to study its geological history and microbial ecosystems, with implications for the search for life on Mars and icy moons.

Follow the expedition: https://www.seti.org/news/preview-fall-2026-lake-untersee-field-season/

📡 #ICYMI: Are fast radio bursts more common toward galaxy clusters?

New research suggests these mysterious cosmic flashes occur more often toward galaxy clusters than expected. But how confident are astronomers in that result?

In this clip from #SETILive, Dr. Mawson W. Sammons explains the statistical significance of the finding, while SETI Institute astronomer Dr. Lauren Sgro puts the odds into perspective.

Watch the clip, then catch the full conversation!

🔴 https://youtube.com/live/xk66kZ3R77k

Rob also helps scientists make the most of spacecraft data. As a co-investigator with NASA's PDS Ring-Moon Systems Node, he develops tools for exploring planetary observations and has helped make approximately 500,000 images from Cassini, New Horizons, Voyager, and Galileo easier for researchers to use.

Not Just Aliens is the SETI Institute’s weekly series featuring scientists exploring astrobiology, heliophysics, planetary science, and more — expanding the search for life beyond Earth.

Robert (Rob) French is a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute who studies the rings and moons of the outer solar system. His research includes Saturn's rings, Uranus's inner moons, and the co-discovery of a moon of Neptune.

#PlanetaryScience #Space #Science #SETI #NotJustAliens

☀️ Could the Sun unleash a superflare?

An enormous sunspot observed in 1947 may have been able to produce one. What does this reveal about our star?

Join Dr. Becca Robinson and Dr. Valeriy Vasilyev for #SETILive on Thursday, October 29, at 2:30 p.m. PDT.

🔴 https://youtube.com/live/3v60YxKMAoc

#space #science

Astronomers have accumulated enormous archives of observations, and new analysis techniques could help researchers look for signals that earlier searches may have missed.

In this episode of SETI Live, Dr. Ben Zuckerman joins Dr. Lauren Sgro to discuss broadband searches for extraterrestrial intelligence and how existing astronomical data could contribute to the search.

🎧 Listen to the podcast: https://sites.libsyn.com/462636/a-new-way-to-search-for-alien-civilizations

#SETI #Astronomy #ExtraterrestrialIntelligence

#PPOD: The graceful spiral arms of Messier 83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, reveal a hidden world of cold gas in this view from Chile's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Located approximately 15 million light-years from Earth, M83 is a nearby spiral galaxy whose sweeping arms contain vast reservoirs of molecular gas—the raw material from which new stars are born. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/J. Koda et al.

#astronomy #space #science

🚀 Could Phobos contain pieces of Mars?

Japan's MMX mission aims to collect samples from the Martian moon and return them to Earth. Those samples could help scientists understand how Mars' moons formed and reveal clues about the planet's ancient history.

SETI Institute scientist Dr. Pascal Lee explains on NewsNation.

🎥 https://www.youtube.com/live/jweSrTSEDk4

#space #science #mars

#PPOD: On October 22, 1975, the Soviet Union's Venera 9 spacecraft made history by transmitting the first photograph from another planet's surface. Landing on Venus at about 32° south latitude, the spacecraft survived for 53 minutes in crushing atmospheric pressure and temperatures hot enough to melt lead. The bright white shape at the bottom is part of the lander, while the scene's curved appearance results from the camera's imaging system. Credit: Soviet Academy of Sciences

#planetaryscience

PRESS RELEASE
🔭 LaserSETI is expanding!

Two new stations are operational in AlUla, Saudi Arabia—our first LaserSETI site in Asia and fifth worldwide.

The global network continuously watches the sky for brief flashes of light, including unusual cosmic events and potential technosignatures.

Learn more about this collaboration between the SETI Institute and the Royal Commission for AlUla: https://www.seti.org/news/laserseti-stations-in-saudi-arabia/

#SETIInstitute #LaserSETI #Astronomy #Technosignatures