Yeah, it's late today. What can I say? It's been a long week. Here's today's soundtrack. I always like me some Tangerine Dream. Even without chemical enhancement.
So this week's theme is clouds, and things like clouds, and things that make me think of clouds, and other stuff. Don't be picky.
We'll start with the Milky Way.
#astrophotography #milkyway @AstroPhotoTurk
— ilys krbn (@ilyaskurban20) July 11, 2025
Tavas,Başalan köyü pic.twitter.com/z9yMbW7iob
I went for most of my life thinking that the Earth looked like a globe — flat and blue. Well, it's blue, but seen from orbit, it's not flat.
A shot of our home’s biggest ocean: Pacific ocean from ISS. pic.twitter.com/PjvHSwFInq
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
It looks flatter from a little higher. Frankly, this is here mainly because I love this shot.
Solar eclipse from space.
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
By ??? pic.twitter.com/cMEbooKHRl
A raggedy galaxy.
Sweeping spiral arms unfurl from galaxy NGC 4536, glowing with brilliant star clusters and fiery red hydrogen clouds, all woven through dark, dusty lanes.
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
Its intriguing structure places it in a rare class: an “intermediate spiral” — a cosmic hybrid between barred and unbarred… pic.twitter.com/zQJQrSHibR
Go for SPF 10,000.
CLOSEST EVER IMAGES TO THE SUN, only 0.04 AU from the solar surface
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
NASA pic.twitter.com/iP7ZwXAanC
The Parker Solar Probe is like something out of a Star Trek opening credits.
The Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever studies of the Sun -- and got this unprecedented look at multiple solar eruptions piling up on top of each other.https://t.co/PxvZsSkzzv pic.twitter.com/JjUFAWIEgM
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) July 11, 2025
Noctilucent ("night shinning") clouds are clouds of ice crystals very high up — between 75 and 85 kilometers. Oh, all right, 47 to 53 miles.
Visible after sunset because they're high enough, they're still in the sun even though the ground below them is now in twilight.
Incredible rare noctilucent clouds this morning over Watertown, South Dakota! The best l've ever seen. #sdwx pic.twitter.com/ptpESzYa8H
— Alex Resel 📸 (@aresel_) July 11, 2025
They generally happen farther north and south.
Transfusing sunlight as the sky grew darker, this exceptional display of noctilucent clouds was captured on July 10, reflected in the calm waters of Vallentuna Lake near Stockholm, Sweden. From the edge of space, about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface, the icy clouds… pic.twitter.com/l0mmsPIeZT
— Astronomy Picture of the Day (@apod) July 11, 2025
We're in the boondocks of the universe.
We are inside a giant cosmic "void"
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
Astronomers have suggested that the Milky Way and its surroundings are located inside a huge region of reduced density (void) with a diameter of about 1 billion light years. The density of matter in this region is about 20% lower than in the… pic.twitter.com/tmyTIRXu1f
Nebulas are clouds. It says so right in the name.
The Heart of the Star-Forming Nebula NGC 6334
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
To mark the 3rd anniversary of its scientific work, the Webb telescope has released a detailed image of the Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). This is an active star-forming region about 4,000 light years from Earth in the constellation… pic.twitter.com/YEoPOKGSdF
Boom.
A stars massive outburst captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) July 11, 2025
📽: NASA/ESA pic.twitter.com/voHpFpinD7
Hubble is still turning in great pictures.
A massive, spacetime-warping cluster of galaxies swarms this week's new #HubbleFriday view!
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) July 11, 2025
Called Abell 209, this cluster is a whopping 2.8 billion light-years away. Its mass is powerful enough that it bends light traveling from galaxies behind it: https://t.co/4BFfLR5pau pic.twitter.com/9FUKVRzHbG
We've seen Thor's Helmet before, but I like it.
NGC 2359, also known as Thor's Helmet.
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 11, 2025
An emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The nebula is about 30 light-years across and is located 12,000–15,000 light-years from Earth. It is created by the interaction between the stellar wind of a Wolf-Rayet star and… pic.twitter.com/vqlTQrypcx
Some nebulae are dark because they're obstructing the light from behind them. If we were on the other side, it would be a bright, shiny nebula.
Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
— Parc Astronòmic Prades (@parcastroprades) July 10, 2025
📷 Cristiano Gualco pic.twitter.com/yTMM2Fgzws
As you know, I can't pass up a picture of the Seven Sisters.
Star trails are like a fingerprint. The pattern here is unique, based on where in the sky I was shooting and how many stars made it into the shot.
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) July 10, 2025
This is star trails of the Pleiades, captured by turning off tracking on my telescope and letting the stars drift through the frame. pic.twitter.com/QuVMfJlo5J
So I got started late, but there was a lot I didn't want to miss. As always, look for more Sky Candy at my Substack, The Stars Our Destination. In theory, it has new content every day, but I've been slack this week. I'll get back on the wagon. Or off the wagon. I'm never sure. But I love comments here or there.
In the meantime, come back next week for more Sky Candy.
