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APOD: 2026 September 5 – Chasing the Moon’s Shadow

2026-09-05 04:05

APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

A solar eclipse as viewed by a pilot from an aircraft cockpit.

Chasing the Moon’s Shadow

Explanation: Chasing the shadow of a New Moon, NASA’s WB-57F high altitude research aircraft took to the skies off the coast of Iceland on August 12 to observe a total solar eclipse. At 50,000 feet the aircraft was piloted along the precisely determined path of totality to maximize its time in the Moon’s shadow. A suite of high-resolution cameras on board was able to record eclipse data from above the clouds, dust, and atmospheric water vapor that interfere with observations made closer to the ground. This view from the cockpit, taken from an inflight video, captures the solar corona emerging at the beginning of totality. The sky appears dark in the shadow of the Moon. Venus is shining left of center in the video frame, while Jupiter and Mercury are just visible to the right of the eclipsed Sun. But the sky is bright along the distant horizon below, beyond the reach of the Moon’s shadow.

APOD’s main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod
Tomorrow’s picture: enhancing Pluto

Date	September 5, 2026
Credit:	NASA
Authors & editors:	Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of:	ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.

Yesterday’s Image

APOD: 2026 September 4 – Na Uhane Mahoe Huki Pu i ke Ola

Tomorrow’s Image

NASA Ames Fire Department Aircraft Firefighting Training

2026-09-04 19:51

The fire department at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley will perform training on the Moffett Federal Airfield beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8 through Friday, Sept. 11. The training will involve the use of a propane-fueled aircraft fire simulator and be conducted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PDT.

Because the aircraft simulator is fueled by propane, very little smoke should be produced during the controlled training fires. However, flames may be visible to drivers on U.S. Highway 101. The training is intended to prepare Ames’ first responders to respond to a variety of realistic aircraft firefighting scenarios.

For more information about NASA’s Ames Research Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ames

-end-

Jeanne Neal
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley
650-604-4789
Jeanne.c.neal@nasa.gov

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NASA Hosts Virtual Artemis Webinar for Blind, Low-Vision Community

2026-09-04 16:48

Two technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans stand around one of the four RS-25 engines for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Sept. 8, 2023. The RS-25 engine looks like a bell-shaped nozzle attached to a network of pipes. The engine is being lifted by the horizontal engine installer so it appears to be lying on its side. The RS-25 engine is about the size of a large pickup truck. The technicians are wearing hard hats and safety harnesses.

Credit: NASA/Michael Democker

NASA will host a virtual webinar at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 2, titled “The RS-25 Engine and the Future of Artemis Missions: An Accessible Webinar for the Blind and Low-Vision Community.” This webinar is open to the public, however it is tailored specifically for a blind and low-vision audience.

The webinar will last about two hours and include an audio-described video of an RS-25 engine test, a Q&A session with an Artemis engineer, and a panel about accessibility in space and science. The event will be hosted on the Zoom platform.

Participants in the session include:

Dr. Kimberly Arcand, visualization scientist, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
Josh Greiner, test director, NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Dr. Craig Moore, materials engineer, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama
Dr. Robert Shelton, lead simulation engineer, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
Christine Malec, freelance writer and consultant

Those interested in attending the webinar must RSVP using this form by Friday, Sept. 25. Any questions can be directed to thalia.k.patrinos@nasa.gov. The details of the webinar will be emailed to registrants in the days leading up to the event.

NASA’s Artemis program will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore the Moon and establish a Moon Base on the lunar surface. For additional information on the Artemis missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

Details

Last Updated

Sep 04, 2026

Location

NASA Headquarters

Related Terms

Lunar Occultation of Venus

2026-09-04 14:14

Venus is seen as it disappears behind the Moon at the start of the occultation on June 17, 2026, from the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington

NASA/Joel Kowsky

On Wednesday, June 17, skywatchers across the United States—and parts of Canada—enjoyed a rare event: a daytime lunar occultation of Venus. A lunar occultation occurs when the Moon moves directly in front of another celestial object from our viewpoint on Earth, briefly hiding it from sight.

This time, the Moon slipped in front of Venus for the first of three occultations happening this year, creating a striking daylight moment for those who caught it. If you missed it, there will be two more opportunities to see Venus disappear behind the Moon in 2026: Sept. 14, visible from parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and western Russia; and Nov. 7, visible from southern South America.

APOD: 2026 September 4 – Na Uhane Mahoe Huki Pu i ke Ola

2026-09-04 04:05

APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola

Explanation: Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, is the Hawaiian name given to this image of a pair of spiral galaxies locked in a mutual gravitational embrace. Some 200 million light-years distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus their spectacular, galactic scale merger is captured in sharp detail in the image from the 8.1 meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. The galaxy pair, known as NGC 7253 and Arp 278, was chosen as a target, researched, and given an Hawaiian name by high school students in the joint Gemini Observatory and University of Hawaiʻi Project Hōkūlani internship program. The name translates to “The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life”. That’s both culturally and astronomically appropriate for galaxy collisions that trigger a cosmic maelstrom of star formation from galactic reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life. These merging galaxies are found within a region of Pegasus identified as the Hawaiian navigational constellation Ka Lupe o Kawelo.

APOD’s main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod
Tomorrow’s picture: chasing shadows

Date	September 4, 2026
Credit:	Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Authors & editors:	Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of:	ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.