Pictures of Torifune by #Hayabusa2 will be shown at a press conference Monday at 7:00 UTC report https://bsky.app/profile/ots-min.bsky.social/post/3mpvfopuac225 and https://x.com/nvslive/status/2073706159324991580 (no URL for a webcast announced yet).
Mimasu Yuya looks like he may need to sleep until we reach 1998 KY26 in 2031.
If we make it (and will really stretch an old spacecraft), the second target for the Hayabusa2♯ Extended Mission is a rendezvous with a small, rapidly spinning asteroid; a type never previously visited.
While success of the Hayabusa 2 #Torifune flyby has been declared the image downlink takes time: https://bsky.app/profile/andrewjonesspace.bsky.social/post/3mpvemwffds2t
RE: https://mastodon.online/@elizabethtasker/116866798829208442
No word, though, when close-up images should be downlinked (and no word, let alone pictures, from Tianwen-2 either which should be very close to its target asteroid since yesterday).
A surprisingly clear morning greeted us July 4, allowing farewell imaging of the big sunspots at active regions 4479, 4478, and 4480. All three were sources of flares and accompanying coronal mass ejections. All three are about to rotate over the western Solar horizon. Earthlings with clear nighttime skies last night (and possibly tonight) rewarded with auroral displays. These images all via our Askar 103APO telescope and Baader Planetarium Herschel wedge.
In 6 hours - at 6:00 UTC - a webcast (with commentary in Japanese) at https://www.youtube.com/live/tl8CoHvky4I will cover the #Hayabusa2 visit to #asteroid (98943) #Torifune. See also https://x.com/haya2_jaxa/status/2073388791822532727 for unresolved approach images, https://www.monitormyplanet.com/posts/5707 for a prediction of the rotation state during the encounter, https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/06/20260609-1_e.html for its importance, https://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20260703_direction/index.html for where the asteroid is in the sky and https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/japanese-probe-set-for-super-close-flyby-on-july-5-were-going-to-discover-another-beast-to-put-in-the-zoo-of-asteroids and https://astropics.bookbright.co.jp/hayabusa2-torifune-flyby for preview articles.
Pseudo Little Red Dot - an Active Black Hole Embedded in a Dense and Dusty, Metal-Poor Starburst Galaxy at z=5.96: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.11466 -> Astronomers find an enigmatic source that is most likely a #LittleRedDot in formation: https://www.astronomie.nl/nieuws/en/astronomers-find-an-enigmatic-source-that-is-most-likely-a-little-red-dot-in-formation-4826
Rapid-response 1.3 mm Observations of GRB 260127A with the #SubmillimeterArray: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14297 -> Cosmic Eruption Caught in the Act by Submillimeter Array’s New Fastest Response System: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/cosmic-eruption-caught-act-submillimeter-arrays-new-fastest-response-system
The local galaxy distribution does not violate the #CosmologicalPrinciple: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.01172 -> thread https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mpqaru6xg223 - that's vs. some paper hidden behind a paywall and thus irrelevant anyway, but if you must know https://www.cref.it/en/news-en/anisotropic-structures-identified-on-a-cosmic-scale-new-results-from-desi-data-published-in-nature/ described it.
NEWS! Please stop the 'We Revoke Your Independence' jokes as the US might say yes, begs Foreign Office https://newsthump.com/2026/07/04/please-stop-the-we-revoke-your-independence-jokes-as-the-us-might-say-yes-begs-foreign-office/
SDSS J110546.07+145202.4 - The First Long-duration Radio Changing-look NLS1 Galaxy: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae610f -> A Nearby #BlackHole as a Window into the Early Universe: https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2026/a-nearby-black-hole-as-a-window-into-the-early-universe - the black hole at the centre of a nearby galaxy is growing exceptionally fast, and is producing a burst of radio emission that has never been observed before; with characteristics that are expected in the early Universe, this unique galaxy provides important insights into the processes that governed the growth of the first black holes.
Here's a treat for Voyager admirers.
A new song by PJ Harvey, in the ‘voice' of Voyager 2. Developed in collab. with Prof. Brian Cox.
long years, far place
dark nights, dark days
frozen, silent
bearing Earth-songs
look back at us
as a speck of dust
darkness our home
bear it through love
...
Voyager, look back
at a pale-blue dot
all we don't know
a flake of snow
dust in a sunbeam, blue dot
so far, so cold
kindness, care for…
our shelter... tender
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzCjzFsGl_c
What say you?
2/n
Even with a fairly early morning start, the day's heat set in, roiling the air and overheating both astronomer and computer! The astronomer sweated. The computer became glitchy. Results were good, however, and today we're comparing views in color vs. monochrome, and white light vs. hydrogen-alpha. Earth's star was very photogenic today! Tracking sunspots? They are, top to bottom, at active regions 4479, 4478, and 4480. Clouds expected this July Fourth weekend.
#sun #sunspots #astronomy
The German Environmental Protection Agency @Umweltbundesamt has published an extensive report it commissioned on the potential role (or not) of nuclear power in achieving climate targets, in view of its feasibility, benefits for climate protection, and costs.
The report comes to the clear conclusion that nuclear technology "is not a quick or cost-effective option for significantly reducing the energy system's greenhouse gas emissions".
The report is here - in English!
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/system/files/medien/11850/publikationen/2026-05/32_2026_Climate.pdf
Temperature Diagnostics of Chromospheric Fibrils Using DKIST/ViSP Observations - k-means Clustering Approach: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae78d9 -> Deep Diving the #Sun - How K-Means Clustering is Decoupling Solar Dynamics: https://nso.edu/blog/deep-diving-the-sun-how-k-means-clustering-is-decoupling-solar-dynamics/
Hey, #Mars is back in the sky, kind of: during this dawn's #NLC observations - https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/116856704538285809 - I also scanned for the planet underneath the #Pleiades and got it photographically (1 second at f/2.8 and ISO 800) but couldn't see either object naked-eye.
Another Bochum (Germany) sunrise today, super-clear - and with green segments and rims galore plus still the sunspot groups 4478 (bottom) and 4479 on the disk: more timesteps in https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid037LxVnGhX1WXwgqbJy58LeVa1ijBV9zrfGbE2TFbUEu7fJGR2iiGskfe86w73KKbdl
Faint #NoctilucentClouds in the morning of 3 July 2026 over Bochum, Germany - while the northeastern field faded quickly at dawn, a streak in the northwestern sky persisted - a noctilucent bar ... more pictures in https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid0VVbg5w5t87zHuPwEUTWeDUuuPDQqDjqwZvqW76hcmhqXNeMuZTpq9oD37WRZf6fPl
On Sunday at 18:30 JST, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft will attempt flyby observations of asteroid Torifune as part of the "Extended Mission", after delivering the samples from asteroid Ryugu to Earth. The spacecraft was designed for rendezvous observations, so needs to get pretty close to the asteroid for good data. Cross everything, friends 🤞
Successful launch of the NASA Swift Boost Mission!
LINK, the robotic servicing spacecraft built by Katalyst Space, was launched into orbit today on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which was deployed by the company’s Stargazer, a modified L-1011 aircraft, at an altitude of about 40,000 feet.
LINK has reached orbit. Next milestone: Signal acquisition.
:mastodance:
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/07/03/mission-to-boost-nasas-swift-launches-from-marshall-islands/
15/n