#AsteroidDay / Dag van de Planetoïde 2025 - 10th anniversary
2025-06-30
Asteroid Day (also known as International Asteroid Day) is an annual global event which is held on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on June 30, 1908, the most harmful known asteroid–related event on Earth in recent history.
The United Nations has proclaimed it be observed globally on June 30 every year in its resolution. Asteroid Day aims to raise awareness about asteroids and what can be done to protect the Earth, its families, communities, and future generations from a catastrophic event. Asteroid Foundation celebrates 10th anniversary of Asteroid Day on 26, 27 and 28 June 2025 in Luxembourg. This special programme will focus on blending art and science through exciting performances, creative experiences, and inspiring encounters. The events are open to the public, hosted at Cercle Cité, in Luxembourg and live-streamed on Asteroid Day’s digital platforms. Join the Astronomer For A Night Event, Asteroid Day Space Lecture, Asteroid Day Festival, and Art & Science Performance.

https://www.tumblr.com/nasa/787787203611852800/space-rocks-but-also-space-rocks

Links:
Asteroid Day
Torino scale
Agenda 30-06-2023 – #AsteroidDay
Asteroid Day TV
Special asteroid edition of NASA Science Live
Optimization and decision-making framework for multi-staged asteroid deflection campaigns under epistemic uncertainties
Learn – What is an Asteroid?
What Really Happened on The Day Dinosaurs Died – New Findings
Skyfall – Tracking the asteroids that menace Earth
Asteroid Day Space Lecture

3I/ATLAS - ontdekking
2025-07-01
3I/ATLAS – Nrco0e, aka K Ly at Deep Random Survey
3I/ATLAS, ook wel bekend als C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) (voorheen A11pl3Z), is een op 1 juli 2025 ontdekt interstellair object, de komeet is door het Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System in Río Hurtado in Chili ontdekt.
De komeet bevond zich toen op een afstand van 4,5 AE van de zon. Het is ook teruggevonden op foto’s van 22 mei 2025. Het object volgt een hyperbolische baan rond de zon. 3I/ATLAS is het derde bevestigde interstellaire object dat door het zonnestelsel passeert na 1I/’Oumuamua en 2I/Borisov. De kleinste afstand tot de zon (1,356 AE; perihelium) zal bereikt worden op 29 oktober 2025.
Links:
JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)
Comet 3I/ATLAS
Deep VLT image of 3I/ATLAS, a new interstellar object
3I/ATLAS: The IAC is monitoring closely the third interstellar object detected in the Solar System
Water Detection in the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
3I/Atlas leuchtet plötzlich grün | 3I/ATLAS now shows blue-green coma
ESA’s Mars and Jupiter missions observe comet 3I/ATLAS
3I/ATLAS Mars Perseverance Sol 1643: Right Navigation Camera (Navcam)
View Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Through NASA’s Multiple Lenses

Babelsberger Sternennächte : ANDES, der hochauflösende Spektrograph für das ELT | Dr. Michel Weber (TV webcast)
2025-07-17 20:00 - 21:00 (Europe/Amsterdam)
Die Babelsberger Sternennächte finden online statt, in der Regel gibt es immer am 3. Donnerstag im Monat einen neuen Vortrag einer Wissenschaftlerin oder eines Wissenschaftlers des AIP, der ab 20 Uhr auf dem YouTube-Kanal von Urknall, Weltall und das Leben ausgestrahlt wird (Playlist).
Das Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) der ESO wird derzeit in Chile gebaut. ANDES ist der hochauflösende Spektrograph für dieses Großteleskop, der hochpräzise und stabile Spektroskopie vom ultravioletten Licht (350 nm) bis ins nahe Infrarot (ca. 2 µm) ermöglichen wird. Das AIP in Potsdam ist für die Entwicklung und den Bau des optisch-ultravioletten Arms des ANDES-Spektrographen, genannt ANDES-UBV, zuständig. Dr. Michael Weber ist Leiter der Abteilung „Hochauflösende Spektroskopie und Polarimetrie“ am AIP. Er gibt in seinem Vortrag einen kurzen Abriss der Spektroskopie im Allgemeinen und der hochauflösenden Echelle-Spektroskopie im Speziellen und stellt das ANDES-Projekt vor. Dabei geht er auch darauf ein, welche besonderen wissenschaftlichen Themen mit dem hochauflösenden Spektrographen untersucht werden können.
Link:
Babelsberger Sternennächte

STELLAR CERN’s summer science festival 2025
2025-07-19 16:00 - 23:59 | CERN, CERN, Espl. des Particules 1, Meyrin, Zwitserland
On the 56th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, reach for the Stars at CERN’s summer science festival, blending inspiring talks, hands-on activities, and live music for all ages.
Meet astronauts, Nobel Prize laureates and other world-class scientists. Discover with them how astrophysics and particle physics are shaping the future, from exploring the Universe to transforming our daily lives in a surprising range of diverse fields including healthcare and climate modelling, disaster relief, transportation and global safety.
</center?Links:
STELLAR | CERN

Moon Day 2025
2025-07-20
The General Assembly declared International Moon Day, a United Nations-designated international day to be observed annually on 20 July, in its resolution 76/76 on “International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space” in 2021.
International Moon Day marks the anniversary of the first landing by humans on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. The celebrations will also consider the achievements of all States in the exploration of the Moon and raise public awareness of sustainable Moon exploration and utilization. For thousands of years, human civilizations have looked up to the sky pondering the origin and mysteries of the Moon – our only natural satellite. Ground-based observations enabled by the invention of the first telescopes opened a new chapter in our understanding of our celestial companion. With the birth of space activities, the Moon became the ultimate destination of countless missions, including crewed flights that brought the first human footprints to another place in the universe. As Moon exploration efforts continue taking shape with ambitious plans, this global celebration will serve not only as a reminder of success in the past, but as an annual testimony to future endeavours.
Links:
Moon Day
MoonDay.org
Apollo 11
Apolloprogramma NASA
Apollo 11 Real-Time Mission Experience
Rare Views of the Moon, as Seen by Apollo Astronauts
Letter To The World After The Apollo Astronauts Died On The Moon

SETI@home: Data Acquisition and Front-end Processing / SETI@home: Data Analysis and Findings - publications
2025-07-24
By Al Piskun – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Two papers on SETI@home (“SETI at home”) are published in The Astronomical Journal:

SETI@home: Data Acquisition and Front-End Processing describes SETI@home’s data recorder, splitter, and client program. It covers the five detection types, their parameters and statistics, and the algorithm for finding them.
SETI@home: Data Analysis and Findings describes the back end (Nebula) and its results: RFI removal, candidate finding and ranking. It explains how artificial signals, or ‘birdies’, were used to optimize algorithms and estimate overall sensitivity.

SETI@home (“SETI at home”) is a project of the Berkeley SETI Research Center to analyze radio signals with the aim of searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Until March 2020, it was run as an Internet-based public volunteer computing project that employed the BOINC software platform. It is hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of many activities undertaken as part of the worldwide SETI effort. SETI@home software was released to the public on May 17, 1999, making it the third large-scale use of volunteer computing over the Internet for research purposes, after Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) was launched in 1996 and distributed.net in 1997. Along with MilkyWay@home and Einstein@home, it has the investigation of phenomena in interstellar space as its primary purpose. In March 2020, the project stopped sending out new work to SETI@home users, bringing the crowdsourced computing aspect of the project to a stop. At the time, the team intended to shift focus onto the analysis and interpretation of the 20 years’ worth of accumulated data. However, the team left open the possibility of eventually resuming volunteer computing using data from other radio telescopes, such as MeerKAT and FAST. As of November 2021, the science team has analysed the data and removed noisy signals (Radio Frequency Interference) using the Nebula tool they developed and will choose the top-scoring 100 or so multiplets to be observed using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, to which they have been granted 24 hours of observation time. On March 31, 2020, UC Berkeley stopped sending out new data for SETI@Home clients to process, ending the effort for the time being. The program stated they were at a point of “diminishing returns” with the volunteer processing and needed to put the effort into hibernation while they processed the results. Until 2020, SETI@home procured its data from the Arecibo Observatory facility that was operated by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center and administered by SRI International. The decreasing operating budget for the observatory has created a shortfall of funds which has not been made up from other sources such as private donors, NASA, other foreign research institutions, nor private non-profit organizations such as SETI@home. However, in the overall long-term views held by many involved with the SETI project, any usable radio telescope could take over from Arecibo (which completely collapsed in December 2020), as all the SETI systems are portable and relocatable.
Links:
SETI@home

Meteorenzwerm δ-Cassiopeiïden in juli 2025
2025-07-29
De meteorenzwerm δ-Cassiopeiïden (naar de ster Delta Cassiopeiae) bereikt op dinsdag 29 juli 2025, rond 22:00, zijn maximum.
Wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zouden er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld zo’n 10 meteoren per uur vallen. Rond 06:00 staat de radiant van de zwerm in het hoogste punt (op 79°) aan de hemel. Het beste moment om δ-Cassiopeiïden waar te nemen is op 30 juli rond 03:00. De radiant van de zwerm staat dan ongeveer 64° boven de noordoostelijke horizon. Door de matige omstandigheden zijn er in onze streken dan vermoedelijk maar circa 3–7 meteoren per uur van deze zwerm te zien. Samen met meteoren van andere zwermen, en sporadische meteoren, zijn er bij donkere, heldere hemel in totaal circa 11–18 “vallende sterren” per uur te zien. Op een donkere locatie zijn ongeveer vijf keer zoveel meteoren te zien als in dichtbevolkt gebied. De Maan stoort niet. Rond 05:15 gaat het schemeren en om 05:58 komt de Zon op. Over het algemeen zijn de de meteoren van een zwerm niet alleen op de dag van het maximum zichtbaar. Zo is gedurende circa 5 dagen rondom het maximum meer dan 50% van het maximum aantal meteoren per uur van de δ-Cassiopeiïden te zien. Tot 6 dagen voor en na het maximum zijn nog meteoren van deze zwerm te herkennen. De zwerm heeft daarmee een relatief korte piek. Er zijn dus nog meer kansen, voor het geval het in de nacht van het maximum niet helder is. Wel is iedere dag die je eerder voor het maximum, of later na het maximum waarneemt het aantal meteoren dat zichtbaar is circa 20% kleiner. De typische snelheden van de meteoren in deze zwerm zijn met circa 60 km/s (ongeveer 216.000 km/uur) relatief hoog.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm δ-Cassiopeiïden in juli 2025

Meteorenzwerm δ-Aquariden noord
2025-08-08
De meteorenzwerm δ-Aquariden noord bereikt op vrijdag 8 augustus 2025, rond 18:00, zijn maximum.
Zelfs wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zouden er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld slechts zo’n 4 meteoren per uur vallen. Rond 03:30 staat de radiant van de zwerm in het hoogste punt (op 40°) aan de hemel. Het beste moment om δ-Aquariden noord waar te nemen is op 8 augustus rond 04:30. De radiant van de zwerm staat dan ongeveer 38° boven de horizon, in het zuidzuidwesten. Er is dan bij ons ieder uur niet meer dan één meteoor zichtbaar van deze zwerm. In totaal zijn er, door meteoren van andere zwermen en sporadische meteoren, bij donkere en heldere hemel circa 4–10 meteoren per uur zichtbaar. Op een goed donkere locatie zijn ongeveer 50% meer meteoren te zien dan in een grote stad. De Maan is voor ongeveer 100% verlicht en is een flinke stoorzender; alleen de helderste meteoren zijn hierdoor dit jaar zichtbaar. De Maan gaat om 04:28 onder, en stoort daarna natuurlijk niet. Rond 5:30 uur gaat het schemeren en om 06:12 komt de Zon op.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm δ-Aquariden noord

Meteorenzwerm η-Eridaniden in augustus 2025
2025-08-10
De meteorenzwerm η-Eridaniden bereikt op zondag 10 augustus 2025, rond 07:00, zijn maximum.
Wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zouden er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld zo’n 5 meteoren per uur vallen. Rond 07:30 staat de radiant van de zwerm in het hoogste punt (op 25°) aan de hemel. Het beste moment om η-Eridaniden waar te nemen is op 10 augustus rond 05:00. De radiant staat op dat moment zo’n 18° boven de zuidoostelijke horizon; niet erg gunstig. Er is dan bij ons ieder uur niet meer dan één meteoor zichtbaar van deze zwerm. In totaal zijn er, door meteoren van andere zwermen en sporadische meteoren, bij donkere en heldere hemel circa 3–8 meteoren per uur zichtbaar. De Maan is voor ongeveer 100% verlicht en is een flinke stoorzender; dit jaar zijn hierdoor alleen de helderste meteoren zichtbaar. Rond 05:30 gaat het schemeren en om 06:15 komt de Zon op. Over het algemeen zijn de de meteoren van een zwerm niet alleen op de dag van het maximum zichtbaar. Zo is gedurende circa 4 dagen rondom het maximum meer dan de helft van het maximale aantal meteoren van de η-Eridaniden te zien. Tot 3 dagen voor en na het maximum zijn nog meteoren van deze zwerm te herkennen. De zwerm heeft daarmee een relatief korte piek. Probeer dus ook enkele nachten voor en na het maximum meteoren waar te nemen. Wel is iedere dag die je eerder voor het maximum, of later na het maximum waarneemt het aantal meteoren dat zichtbaar is circa 30% kleiner. De typische snelheden van de meteoren in deze zwerm zijn met circa 64 km/s (ongeveer 230.400 km/uur) relatief hoog. Er is geen speciale apparatuur nodig om meteoren waar te kunnen nemen.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm η-Eridaniden in augustus 2025

The Sky at Night – Queen of Pulsars (TV BBC Four)
2025-08-11 23:00 - 23:30
The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC.
The show had the same permanent presenter, Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date was a posthumous broadcast, which followed Moore’s death on 9 December 2012. This made it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history. Many early episodes are missing, either because the tapes were wiped, thrown out, or because the episode was broadcast live and never recorded in the first place. Beginning with the 3 February 2013 edition, the show was co-presented by Lucie Green and Chris Lintott. Since December 2013 Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been a presenter. The programme’s opening and closing theme music is “At the Castle Gate”, from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, written in 1905 by Jean Sibelius, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
This episode:
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a discoverer and an explorer of the distant cosmos, and she has walked among the stars. She discovered the first pulsar in 1967 – a discovery so important in our understanding of the universe that it would earn a Nobel Prize. But Jocelyn didn’t receive it.
All her life a deep thinker, a dedicated Quaker and a fierce advocate for equal opportunity in physics, Jocelyn has carved an astonishing career doing and communicating science, changing the face of astronomy as a result.
Jocelyn was determined to succeed in an environment not made for her, and her story resonates with young and old, student and professor – and anyone who has ever felt like they may not really belong.
In this film, we hear Jocelyn’s story direct from the subject herself and learn how, from the small town of Lurgan in Northern Ireland, she rose to worldwide recognition. It is a tale of determination and triumph against the prejudice and misogyny of the time.
Alongside the history are the enigmas themselves: pulsars. The conditions surrounding these objects make them the most extreme laboratories in the cosmos, uniting the most complex and cutting-edge physics under one roof. Matter crushed down into its densest form, encased within extreme magnetic fields – and they are even telling us the secrets of the very make-up of our universe. Some flavours of these objects are so dramatic that just one outburst can briefly outshine an entire galaxy.
With Dr Vanessa Graber from Royal Holloway, University of London, Maggie delves into the concealed interiors of pulsars and the exotic states of matter that form them. With superfluids of neutrons hosting quantum tornados and searing hundred-million-degree plasma, pulsars are not the once-predictable characters we thought them.
Chris, meanwhile, is at the University of Oxford with Dr Kaustubh Rajwade, studying the oddballs of the pulsar family and how to decode their messages. As a blast of radiation travels from a pulsar to our detectors, the history of its journey through the universe is imprinted on the signal. We learn how to use this to see the unseen – the parts of the cosmos that are almost impossible for us to observe – revealing its detailed structure for the first time.
In conversation, Jocelyn joins PhD student Aida Seye to discuss shared passions and challenges in chasing cosmic dreams. Aida is a recipient of the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, instigated by Jocelyn to support PhD students from underrepresented groups. Aida is studying the structure of the Milky Way, with the aim of bringing us closer to solving the mystery of dark matter.
Links:
The Sky at Night

Meteorenzwerm Perseïden in augustus 2025
2025-08-13
De meteorenzwerm Perseïden bereikt op woensdag 13 augustus 2025, rond 03:00, zijn maximum.
De meteoren van de Perseïden zijn helder en snel en hebben nalichtende sporen. Wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zouden er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld zo’n 85 meteoren per uur vallen. De radiant van de zwerm staat rond 07:30 in het hoogste punt aan de hemel, op 84° boven de horizon. Het beste moment om Perseïden waar te nemen is op 13 augustus rond 04:45. De radiant van de zwerm staat dan ongeveer 68° boven de oostnoordoostelijke horizon. Door de matige omstandigheden zijn er in onze streken dan vermoedelijk maar circa 11–18 meteoren per uur van deze zwerm te zien. Samen met meteoren van andere zwermen, en sporadische meteoren, zijn er bij donkere, heldere hemel in totaal circa 13–21 meteoren per uur zichtbaar. De Maan is voor ongeveer 85% verlicht en kan dit jaar flink storen; de zwakkere meteoren zullen hierdoor niet zichtbaar zijn. Rond 05:45 gaat het schemeren en om 06:20 komt de Zon op. Over het algemeen zijn de de meteoren van een zwerm niet alleen op de dag van het maximum zichtbaar. Zo is gedurende circa 3,1 dagen rondom het maximum meer dan de helft van het maximale aantal meteoren (7 per uur) van de Perseïden te zien. Tot 12 dagen voor en na het maximum zijn nog meteoren van deze zwerm te herkennen. De zwerm heeft daarmee een relatief korte piek. Er zijn dus nog meer kansen, voor het geval het in de nacht van het maximum niet helder is. Iedere dag verder weg van het maximum zijn er echter wel ongeveer 40% minder meteoren per uur te zien. De snelheden van de meteoren van de Perseïden zijn behoorlijk hoog: zo’n 59 km/s, dat is circa 213.840 km/uur.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm Perseïden in augustus 2025

Metop Second Generation A1 and Copernicus Sentinel-5 - launch
2025-08-13 02:37 - 03:00
Launched on 12 August 2025, the Meteorological Operational Satellite – Second Generation (MetOp-SG) A1 satellite will be a major boost for satellite monitoring of weather, climate and atmospheric composition in Europe, and beyond.
MetOp-SG is a series of six meteorological satellites developed by European Space Agency and EUMETSAT to be launched from 2025 to 2039. In May 2014 during ILA Berlin Air Show, in a presence of chancellor Angela Merkel, ESA, EUMETSAT and Airbus Defence and Space signed the first documents for the development of second generation of the MetOp satellites. On 16 October 2014 contract was signed with Airbus Defence and Space for a construction of the satellites, worth €1.3 billion in total for six spacecraft (on average €266.7 million each). In December 2014 additional contracts were signed for Ice Cloud Imagers to be used on B-series satellites and three microwave sounder instruments. MetOp-SG satellites will be built in two series: A, carrying visible, infrared, and microwave imagers and sounders; and B, carrying microwave imagers and radars. The first A-series satellite was launched on 12th August 2025 at 21:37 (local time) from Kourou, French Guiana, while the first B-series satellite will be launched in 2026 using the Ariane 6 rocket.
Links:
Metop Second Generation A1 and Copernicus Sentinel-5
Betere verwachtingen weer en luchtkwaliteit met nieuwe satelliet Metop-SG
Copernicus soars into new heights with the launch of Sentinel-5A

Carrington Event (1859) 2025
2025-09-01 - 2025-09-02
The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking on 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10.
It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth’s magnetosphere. The geomagnetic storm was associated with a very bright solar flare on 1 September 1859. It was observed and recorded independently by British astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson—the first records of a solar flare. A geomagnetic storm of this magnitude occurring today has the potential to cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts, and damage to the electrical power grid.
Links:
Carrington Event literatuur
The 1859 space weather event revisited: limits of extreme activity
geomagnetic storm of 1859

Meteorenzwerm Aurigiden in september 2025
2025-09-01 08:00 - 17:00
De meteorenzwerm Aurigiden bereikt op maandag 1 september 2025, rond 08:00, zijn maximum.
Zelfs wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zouden er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld slechts zo’n 4 meteoren per uur vallen. Rond 09:00 staat de radiant van de zwerm in het hoogste punt (op 77°) aan de hemel. Het beste moment om Aurigiden waar te nemen is op 1 september rond 04:45. De radiant staat op dat moment zo’n 46° boven de horizon, in het oosten. Door de matige omstandigheden zijn er in onze streken dan vermoedelijk maar circa 0–3 meteoren per uur van deze zwerm te zien. Samen met meteoren van andere zwermen, en sporadische meteoren, zijn er bij donkere, heldere hemel in totaal circa 10–18 “vallende sterren” per uur te zien. Op een goed donkere plek zijn ongeveer drie keer zoveel meteoren te zien als in dichtbevolkt gebied. De Maan stoort niet. Rond 06:15 gaat het schemeren en om 06:51 komt de Zon op. Over het algemeen zijn de de meteoren van een zwerm niet alleen op de dag van het maximum zichtbaar. Zo is gedurende circa 2,8 dagen rondom het maximum ruim de helft van het maximale aantal meteoren (1 per uur) van de Aurigiden te zien. De zwerm heeft daarmee een relatief korte piek. Er zijn dus nog meer kansen, voor het geval het in de nacht van het maximum niet helder is. Wel is iedere dag die je eerder voor het maximum, of later na het maximum waarneemt het aantal meteoren dat zichtbaar is circa 40% kleiner. De snelheden van de meteoren van de Aurigiden zijn behoorlijk hoog: zo’n 66 km/s, dat is circa 237.600 km/uur.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm Aurigiden in september 2025

VPRO #Tegenlicht – Zo ontrafelt deze wetenschapper het geheim van exoplaneten (TV internet)
2025-09-07
Tegenlicht is een informatief televisieprogramma van de VPRO via het internet.
Door de VPRO wordt het programma bestempeld als documentaire op het vlak van politiek, economie, sociologie en wetenschap. Het programma stelt zich ten doel inzicht in de werking van de samenleving te verschaffen.
In deze aflevering zoeken we mee met sterrenkundige Casper Farret Jentink, die diep in de bossen boven Genève werkt aan een van de grootste vragen die de mensheid zich ooit stelde: zijn we alleen in het universum? We worden alleen geboren, we sterven alleen, en daartussenin proberen we te begrijpen wat het betekent om er überhaupt te zijn. In een werkplaats, half sterrenwacht, half sciencefiction-decor, bouwt sterrenkundige Casper Farret Jentink met Zwitserse precisie instrumenten die het licht van verre sterren tot op vijf siliciumatomen nauwkeurig kunnen meten, op zoek naar een tweede aarde. Exoplaneten, planeten die draaien om een andere ster dan de zon, zijn onzichtbaar voor het oog, maar traceerbaar via de dure speeltjes van onder andere Jentink. Er werden er al duizenden gevonden, maar geen enkele zoals onze eigen aarde. Jentink is vastbesloten daar verandering in te brengen, via zelfgebouwde instrumenten met namen als Ristretto en Espresso. Want als we leven vinden, of juist niet, zegt dat iets over onszelf. Zijn we een uniek en kwetsbaar kosmisch toeval? Of zijn we een van de velen, omdat het leven ondanks alle uitdagingen taai en volhardend is. En dat, zegt Jentink, zou nog het geruststellendste antwoord zijn dat de wetenschap ons ooit heeft gegeven.
Links:
Hoe je met zelfgebouwde machines het geheim van exoplaneten kunt ontrafelen

Totale maansverduistering op 7 september 2025 / September 2025 lunar eclipse
2025-09-07 17:28 - 22:57
In de avond van zondag 7 september 2025 vindt een totale maansverduistering plaats, de Maan beweegt zich door de schaduw van de Aarde, zodat er geen direct zonlicht meer op het maanoppervlak valt en de hele Maan veel donkerder is dan normaal.
Vanuit Nederland en België is het grootste gedeelte van de eclips zichtbaar, maar het begin moeten wij missen. De verduistering heeft een grootte van maar liefst 1.37 in de kernschaduw, wat betekent dat de Maan zich dicht bij het centrum van de aardschaduw bevindt en sterk verduisterd wordt. De eclips begint om 17:28 en staat bij het maximum, om 20:12, op een hoogte van circa 0° (in Utrecht). De eclips eindigt om 22:57. Een totale maansverduistering kan erg indrukwekkend zijn. Tijdens de totaliteit, die duurt van 19:31 tot 20:54, bevindt de Maan zich volledig in de kernschaduw van de Aarde en valt er geen direct zonlicht meer op de Maan. Echter, een beetje zonlicht valt door de aardatmosfeer en wordt gebroken, waardoor dit het maanoppervlak alsnog kan bereiken. Dit is met name rood licht, waardoor er een rode gloed over de Maan komt. Deze fase wordt in de volksmond ook wel Bloedmaan genoemd, en duurt bij deze eclips circa 83 minuten. Doordat de verduistering erg centraal is, is dit effect bij deze eclips bijzonder sterk.

Links:
Totale maansverduistering op 7 september 2025
Mondfinsternis mit “Blutmond”: Himmelsspektakel am Sonntag
September 2025 lunar eclipse

The Sky at Night – The Expanding Universe (TV BBC Four)
2025-09-08 23:00 - 23:30
The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC.
The show had the same permanent presenter, Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date was a posthumous broadcast, which followed Moore’s death on 9 December 2012. This made it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history. Many early episodes are missing, either because the tapes were wiped, thrown out, or because the episode was broadcast live and never recorded in the first place. Beginning with the 3 February 2013 edition, the show was co-presented by Lucie Green and Chris Lintott. Since December 2013 Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been a presenter. The programme’s opening and closing theme music is “At the Castle Gate”, from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, written in 1905 by Jean Sibelius, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
This episode:
The team explores one of the greatest discoveries of modern astronomy – that our universe is expanding – and the new questions it raises about how the cosmos works.
In the 1920s, astronomers studying galaxies realised they were moving away from us, with the most distant ones receding the fastest. The
conclusion was revolutionary: space itself was stretching, and the universe was expanding in every direction. But once this discovery was made, a new challenge emerged – how fast is the universe expanding, and what could that tell us about its age, size and ultimate fate?
Chris Lintott travels to the University of Oxford to explore one of the most extraordinary tools astronomers use to answer these questions – the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. Working with Professor David Alonso, Chris learns how scientists use the CMB as a starting point for measuring cosmic expansion. He discovers how the Simons Observatory, a network of telescopes in Chile, is creating the sharpest map yet of this ancient light. These observations promise to refine our understanding of the expansion rate and may shed light on a long-standing puzzle known as the ‘Hubble tension’, where different measurements of expansion don’t agree.
Meanwhile, Maggie Aderin-Pocock investigates a different cosmic speedometer: supernovae, or exploding stars. Meeting Dr Philip Wiseman at the University of Southampton, she learns how type 1a supernovae, which shine with a predictable brightness, can be used to measure cosmic distances. A discovery in the 1990s revealed something astonishing – not only is the universe expanding, but the expansion is accelerating. The Vera Rubin Observatory, with its enormous mirror and world-record-breaking camera, is about to survey the southern skies, capturing supernovae in unprecedented numbers. With its data, astronomers hope to refine how fast the universe’s expansion has accelerated over billions of years.
George Dransfield takes on the most mysterious part of the story – dark energy. Coined to explain the force driving the acceleration, dark energy remains entirely unknown. At the University of Portsmouth, George meets Dr Seshadri Nadathur, who is part of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project. By mapping tens of millions of galaxies across 11 billion years of cosmic history, DESI is building the largest 3D map of the universe ever made. This map is revealing subtle patterns in how galaxies are distributed, providing new insights into how fast the universe has expanded over time – and whether dark energy itself has changed throughout cosmic history. Together, these projects reveal both the power and the limits of our current models of cosmology. Different methods of measuring expansion don’t line up, and far from being a mistake, this mismatch may be a vital clue that new physics is waiting to be discovered.
As ever, Pete Lawrence is on hand with his guide to the skies this month, including how to catch Saturn’s rare ring and moon events, as well as highlights of the autumn equinox.
With cosmic clues building from the earliest light of the Big Bang to the faint glow of distant supernovae, the programme takes viewers on a journey through one of the most profound questions in science: how fast is our universe expanding, and what might that reveal about its past, present and future?
Links:
The Sky at Night

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars - publication
2025-09-10
NASA says Mars rover discovered potential biosignature in 2024.
A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year, the sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” contains potential biosignatures, according to the paper ‘Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars’ published in the journal Nature. A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
Links:
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year
Es gab wahrscheinlich Leben auf dem Mars
Did NASA Just Find Alien Life on Mars?
Agenda – Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars – publication

Babelsberger Sternennächte – Kommentarcheck: Teil 2: Satellitengalaxien, Dunkle Materie und MOND (TV webcast)
2025-09-18 19:15 - 19:40
Die Babelsberger Sternennächte finden online statt, in der Regel gibt es immer am 3. Donnerstag im Monat einen neuen Vortrag einer Wissenschaftlerin oder eines Wissenschaftlers des AIP, der ab 20 Uhr auf dem YouTube-Kanal von Urknall, Weltall und das Leben ausgestrahlt wird (Playlist).
Warum fehlen der Milchstraße so viele Satellitengalaxien? Kosmologische Simulationen sagen hunderte bis tausende Zwerggalaxien voraus – beobachtet werden aber nur wenige Dutzend. Marcel Pawlowski erklärt, warum das kein Widerspruch sein muss: Viele Dunkle-Materie-Halos bleiben unsichtbar, weil sie keine Sterne enthalten. Außerdem geht er auf die Frage ein, wie man zwischen Galaxien und Sternhaufen unterscheidet, welche Rolle Dunkle Materie spielt und was Gravitationslinseneffekte über unsichtbare Strukturen verraten können.
Link:
Babelsberger Sternennächte

Gedeeltelijke Zonsverduistering op 21 september 2025 / Partial Solar Eclipse
2025-09-21 19:29 - 23:53
Op zondag 21 september 2025, rond 22:06, vindt een gedeeltelijke zonsverduistering plaats, in Europa is deze eclips helaas onzichtbaar.
Links:
Zonsverduistering op 21 september 2025
Solar eclipse of September 21, 2025

Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1
2025-09-23
Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) is a future spacecraft mission planned to monitor signs of solar storms, which may pose harm to Earth’s telecommunication network.
The spacecraft will be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with launch scheduled for no earlier than September 23, 2025. It is planned to be placed at the Sun–Earth L1 Lagrange point, a location between the Earth and the Sun. This will allow SWFO-L1 to continuously watch the solar wind and energetic particles heading for Earth. SWFO-L1 is an ESPA Class Spacecraft, sized for launch on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Grande ring in addition to the rocket’s primary payload. The spacecraft’s Solar Wind Instrument Suite (SWIS) which includes three instruments will monitor solar wind, and the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) will monitor the Sun’s surroundings to image coronal mass ejection (CME). A CME is a large outburst of plasma sent from the Sun towards interplanetary space. Together with space weather observation capabilities on the Earth-orbiting GOES-U satellite, SWFO-L1 constitutes the space segment of NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) program. The aim of the SWFO program is to ensure the robust continuity of space-based measurement of the critical space weather environment. All of the spacecraft located in L1 which are currently monitoring CMEs and the solar wind have operated beyond their design lifetime. SWFO-L1‘s SWIS instruments will replace ACE’s and DSCOVR’s monitoring of solar wind, energetic particles and the interplanetary magnetic field while CCOR will replace SOHO’s LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) imaging of CMEs.
Links:
Space Weather Follow On L1 Mission

International Astronautical Congress 2025
2025-09-29 - 2025-10-03
Every year, the International Astronautical Federation with the support of the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), holds the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) which is hosted by one of the national society members of the IAF.
They are an annual meeting of the actors in the discipline of space, and are generally held in late September or early October. They consist of plenary sessions, lectures and meetings. The IAC is attended by the agency heads and senior executives of the world’s space agencies. As the Second World War came to an end, the United States and the Soviet Union held different and competing political worldviews. As the Cold War began to take shape, communication between the two countries became less frequent. Both countries turned their focus to achieving military superiority over the other. Six years after the Iron Curtain fell, the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) was formed by scientists from all over Europe in the field of space research in order to collaborate once more. During the years of the Space Race, the IAF was one of the few forums where members of both East and West Europe could meet during the annual International Astronautical Congresses.
Links:
International Astronautical Congress
World Space Week 2025

Asteroid 2025 TF closest approach to Earth
2025-10-01
2025 TF, previously known as C15KM95, is a meter-sized near-Earth asteroid that passed 409 ± 14 km over the surface of Earth’s South Pole on 1 October 2025 00:49 UTC, at a relative speed of 20.9 km/s.
It is the second-closest asteroid flyby of Earth recorded as of 2025, after 2020 VT4. 2025 TF was discovered on 1 October 2025 06:36 UTC by astronomers using the Bok Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, less than 6 hours after the asteroid’s closest approach to Earth.
Links:
2025 TF – Small-Body Database Lookup

Detection of organic compounds in freshly ejected ice grains from Enceladus’s ocean - publication
2025-10-01
Scientists revisiting data from Cassini—which ended its mission in 2017—have spied even more tantalizing ingredients in the plumes: suites of complex organic molecules which, on Earth, are involved in the chemistry associated with even bigger molecules considered essential for biology.
Published in the article ‘Detection of organic compounds in freshly ejected ice grains from Enceladus’s ocean‘, the discovery bolsters the case for follow-up missions to search for signs of life within Saturn’s enigmatic, ocean-bearing moon. For nearly two decades Enceladus, a 500-kilometer-wide moon of Saturn, has been a top target in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. In 2005, shortly after arriving in orbit around the ringed planet, the joint NASA–European Space Agency (ESA) Cassini mission found clinching evidence that Enceladus harbored a liquid-water ocean beneath its bright-white icy crust—plumes of seawater spraying up from the moon’s south pole. Astrobiologists have become ever more enthralled by Enceladus ever since, as further studies of the ice grains in the plumes have revealed multiple molecular building blocks of life blasting out from the hidden ocean.
Links:
Cassini bewijst: complexe chemie in oceaan van Saturnusmaan Enceladus
Cassini proves complex chemistry in Enceladus ocean
Is Life inside Enceladus? Cassini Uncovers Complex Organic Chemistry in Saturn’s Ocean Moon
Agenda – Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars – publication

NASA Space Apps Challenge
2025-10-04 - 2025-10-05
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is a hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, technologists, and innovators around the world.
Links:
NASA Space Apps Challenge

World Space Week 2025
2025-10-04 - 2025-10-10
By resolution 54/68 of 6 December 1999, the General Assembly proclaimed World Space Week, to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.
World Space Week is the largest annual space event in the world. the weeks helps build up the workforce of tomorrow by inspiring students; demonstrates visible public support for the space programme; educates the public about space activities; and fosters international cooperation in space outreach and education. Each year a theme is selected by the World Space Week Association Board of Directors in close coordination with the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs. The theme provides broad guidance to World Space Week participants on the content of their programmes. The theme is selected to increase the impact of World Space Week on all humanity further, by using a uniform theme globally. On 4 October 1957, the launch into outer space of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, opened the way for space exploration. A decade later, on 10 October 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies entered into force. Space science and technology and their applications are increasingly being used to support a wide range of United Nations activities. At least 25 United Nations entities and the World Bank Group routinely use space applications.
They make important and sometimes essential contributions to the work of the United Nations, including in the implementation of recommendations of major world conferences and those of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), as well as support towards sustainable development. As a consequence, coordination, cooperation and synergy are essential for those activities to be effectively carried out by the United Nations system. The annual sessions of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities are the main means of achieving that synergy. The effectiveness of the Meeting has been further enhanced by the holding, since 2004, of an open informal session immediately after the end of the Meeting, as a means of engaging Member States, in a direct and informal setting, in important space-related developments in the United Nations system. The agenda of the Inter-Agency Meeting is reviewed at each session and adapted to current operational needs.
For World Space Week 2025, the chosen theme is “Living in Space.” This theme explores humanity’s journey toward making space a habitat, emphasizing the innovative technologies, challenges, and collaborative efforts that make this vision a reality. Event organizers worldwide are encouraged to integrate the theme “Living in Space” into their World Space Week events. Activities may range from educational workshops and interactive sessions to panel discussions and collaborative projects, all aimed at fostering innovative environmental solutions.
Links:
World Space Week

#NLSW25 NL Space Week 2025
2025-10-04 - 2025-10-12
Tijdens NL Space Week opent de ruimtevaartsector in Nederland haar deuren, zodat jong en oud de mogelijkheid heeft de ruimte te ontdekken, het is een week vol unieke activiteiten op exclusieve ruimtevaartlocaties.
Zo zijn er de bekende ESA ESTEC open dagen en Space Expo op de NL Space Campus in Noordwijk, maar ook de open dagen van SRON en de Oude Sterrewacht in Leiden, en daarnaast ruim 100 internationale astronauten die tijdens het ASE congres een bezoek aan Nederland brengen. Met een uiteenlopende programmering valt er voor iedereen wat moois te halen. Of je nu een student bent, met je hele gezin komt, of je als bedrijf wilt aansluiten: er is ruimte voor iedereen. NL Space Week is een initiatief van NL Space Campus, in samenwerking met ESA ESTEC en de gehele Nederlandse ruimtevaartsector.
Links:
NL Space Week

Observe the Moon Night 2025
2025-10-05 01:00 - 07:00
International Observe the Moon Night is an annual public outreach event sponsored by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and other NASA and astronomical organizations that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of the Moon and its connection to planetary science and exploration.
Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an event or participating as a lunar observer — and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together. First organized in 2010, there are usually over 500 events annually in over 40 countries, hosted by universities, observatories, NASA Centers, schools, museums, parks, libraries, and amateur astronomers. Some events are offered both in person and via internet streaming video. The date is selected to enhance visibility of lunar topography.
Links:
Observe the Moon Night

Meteorenzwerm Draconiden in oktober 2025
2025-10-08
De meteorenzwerm Draconiden bereikt op woensdag 8 oktober 2025, rond 21:00, zijn maximum.
Zelfs wanneer de radiant in het zenit zou staan, zou er van deze zwerm naar verwachting gemiddeld niet meer dan één meteoor per uur vallen. Rond 18:00 staat de radiant van de zwerm in het hoogste punt (op 88°) aan de hemel. Het beste moment om Draconiden waar te nemen is op 8 oktober rond 20:15. De radiant van de zwerm staat dan ongeveer 70° boven de horizon, in het westnoordwesten. Er is dan bij ons ieder uur niet meer dan één meteoor zichtbaar van deze zwerm. In totaal zijn er, door meteoren van andere zwermen en sporadische meteoren, bij donkere en heldere hemel circa 1–5 “vallende sterren” per uur te zien. De Maan is voor ongeveer 95% verlicht en is een flinke stoorzender; dit jaar zijn hierdoor alleen de helderste meteoren zichtbaar. Rond 07:15 gaat het schemeren en om 07:54 komt de Zon op. Over het algemeen zijn de de meteoren van een zwerm niet alleen op de dag van het maximum zichtbaar. Zo is gedurende circa 4 dagen rondom het maximum meer dan 50% van het maximum aantal meteoren per uur van de Draconiden te zien. De zwerm heeft daarmee een relatief korte piek. Probeer dus ook enkele nachten voor en na het maximum meteoren waar te nemen. Wel is iedere dag die je eerder voor het maximum, of later na het maximum waarneemt het aantal meteoren dat zichtbaar is circa 30% kleiner. De typische snelheden van de meteoren in deze zwerm zijn met circa 20 km/s (ongeveer 73.440 km/uur) relatief laag.
Links:
Meteorenzwerm Draconiden in oktober 2025

The Sky at Night – Brits in Space (TV BBC Four)
2025-10-13 23:00 - 23:30
The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC.
The show had the same permanent presenter, Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date was a posthumous broadcast, which followed Moore’s death on 9 December 2012. This made it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history. Many early episodes are missing, either because the tapes were wiped, thrown out, or because the episode was broadcast live and never recorded in the first place. Beginning with the 3 February 2013 edition, the show was co-presented by Lucie Green and Chris Lintott. Since December 2013 Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been a presenter. The programme’s opening and closing theme music is “At the Castle Gate”, from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, written in 1905 by Jean Sibelius, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
This episode:
Three, two, one, lift off! This edition launches into the extraordinary – and extraterrestrial – world of astronaut training, discovering what it truly takes to become a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.
As Europe looks to play a more prominent role in space exploration, we shine a spotlight on the candidates who are pushing boundaries and preparing to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland amongst the stars.
But first, the programme is honoured to welcome back Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut. Chris Lintott is with Helen at the Science Museum, London, celebrating the opening of the brand new space gallery. Chris finds out what it was like to go to space and how Helen became an astronaut, from the selection process to learning the essential skills needed for life beyond Earth. While exploring the treasures of the exhibition, including Helen’s own space suit from her voyage in 1991, Tim Peake’s Soyuz descent module and a three-billion-year-old chunk of the moon, Chris and Helen contemplate the rise of commercial missions and the future of international collaboration in space.
In France, guest presenter and astrophysicist Jen Gupta joins space scientist Rosemary Coogan, one of the UK’s latest ESA astronaut recruits, as she works toward her private pilot’s licence. Recounting her journey from academia to astronaut selection, we find out if Rosemary’s background in space science might come in handy amongst the stars.
Meanwhile in Germany, Maggie Aderin-Pocock dives into the deep end with British-Australian materials chemist Meganne Christian as she prepares for her first underwater ‘spacewalk’. In ESA’s XR lab, Meganne demonstrates to Maggie how virtual reality is used to train astronauts by immersing them in a simulated ISS environment – without ever leaving Earth.
Maggie also follows up a story from last year, checking in with bronze medal-winning Paralympian John McFall as he continues his historic journey as the world’s first astronaut with a physical disability. Selected for ESA’s feasibility study on making space travel more inclusive, John is undergoing a bespoke training programme designed to assess how physical disabilities can be accommodated during space missions. As he adapts to his prosthetic ‘space leg’, he continues to prove that space can – and should – be accessible to all.
Links:
The Sky at Night
