Okay, today's soundtrack is my new favorite Christmas album ever.
It's AI, created by a guy named Tarqs, aka Andrew James, and as a one-time semiprofessional classical singer, I have to say I'm kind of glad, because if it were a human vocalist, I'd wonder where she got extra lungs. But as I argued a week ago, AI music is an orchestra, not a composer, and this guy Tarqs created some terrific Christmas songs. Iconoclastic, but hilarious.
In the meantime, seeing as it's Christmas weekend, let's start with the Christmas Tree nebula.
What better way to celebrate the season than a nebula shaped like a Christmas tree?
— Seestar (@Seestar_astro) December 24, 2025
Christmas Tree Nebula -Captured by Jim Wimmer with Seestar S50
10,400×10s | Bortle 4 skies | VeraLux Stretch, Siril, GraXpert, GIMP & AstroSharp
Merry Christmas and clear skies! #merrychristmas pic.twitter.com/Fq7tWnVvdd
And the Milky Way's big brother, Andromeda.
The Andromeda Galaxy pic.twitter.com/2IragCRuWp
— ✨ (@astro4pics) December 25, 2025
Some midsummer aurorae from Antarctica. These are especially spectacular because the Sun is still being excitable, leading to even more energetic particles than usual; the purple color is thanks to that energetic solar storm exciting nitrogen in the upper atmosphere.
Aurora over Antarctica pic.twitter.com/OnbY9ElS1q
— ✨ (@astro4pics) December 24, 2025
Some special holiday aurora from Don Pettit.
Festive aurora colors on the Earth's horizon, shining between bright winter cities and a star field with our galactic neighbor Andromeda. The best holiday lights around! pic.twitter.com/p4XBTpKfmr
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) December 24, 2025
Astrophotography has gotten so popular that even robots are chiming in.
M16 the eagle nebula using a robotic telescope. pic.twitter.com/2LzemFqtSC
— MaritimeSpaceAdvocate (@AstroDavidLP) December 26, 2025
The Needle Galaxy is actually a lot like ours, but we see it edge-on.
The Needle Galaxy pic.twitter.com/Xql36jjns9
— ✨ (@astro4pics) December 24, 2025
This may be the oldest fruitcake ever. And certainly the best traveled.
Hard to believe, isn’t it? Even during the historic Apollo 11 mission, the fruitcake sat untouched!
— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) December 26, 2025
While this fruitcake flew on Apollo 11, it is back on Earth in our collection because, shockingly, it wasn't actually consumed. pic.twitter.com/w2T3WihjTG
Mars had a white Christmas.
❄️Our ExoMars TGO spacecraft revealed water frost inside the summit crater of Mount Olympus on Mars. Before this observation, it was thought improbable for frost to exist in this area.
— European Space Agency (@esa) December 26, 2025
🔗https://t.co/7L38hJQ081 pic.twitter.com/Gz6FkT1QiA
While SpaceX is working on a ticket.
Stack complete pic.twitter.com/9rY1acpavs
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 24, 2025
Something that puzzles me is how we'll set holidays in the outer colonies. NASA hasn't had to solve that one yet.
Today marks the 25th Christmas celebrated aboard the space station which has been continuously inhabited since Nov. 2, 2000! From Earth to orbit, the holiday spirit truly knows no bounds. 🌍🚀🎄https://t.co/KgBDQxygxu pic.twitter.com/WxhBaSuHYd
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 25, 2025
Wishing you a Christmas filled not just with gifts, but with gratitude, healing, and the warmth of people who truly care.☃️
— Japura Astronomy Club (@AstroJapura) December 24, 2025
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
J'pura Astronomy Club
💫More beyond💫
🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕#japuraAstro#astrofamily#usjAstro_2025 pic.twitter.com/id1PjRtVFx
And that's the way it is, Friday, 2025-Dec-26. Good night, Chet.
Fröhliche Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad y prospero Nuevo Año. 新年快乐, あけおめ, and सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दुःखभाग्भवेत्॥.
(And don't forget to comment.)
