I'm feeling old, so let's go for some old-style space music.
We couldn't get much more old-style without doing H.G Wells.
TODAY IN HISTORY #3 - June 20th
— Adrian | History Hub (@adrianhistory) June 20, 2026
Today, 82 years ago, MW 18014 V-2 rocket reached an altitude of 176 kilometres. This was the first time a man-made object reached outer space. pic.twitter.com/tqeJERbYPy
And just to make a nice parenthesis, SpaceX did its first demonstration of the Starfall cargo return capsule.
The SpaceX Starfall Demonstration capsule was successfully recovered off the coast of California following its launch Florida. The recovery vessel Shannon brought the capsule into the Port of Long Beach, where it was unloaded and trucked away to for post-flight inspections. pic.twitter.com/RQEzXrvnnG
— Magnus B - Space Coast West (@spacecoastwest) June 26, 2026
It appears that at least part of the test cargo was a load of various strains of brewer's yeast for Starbase Brewing ("Official Brewery of Mars"). I guess the 1000 kg payload limit was too much for another Tesla.
In the meantime, the Euclid telescope is having a look at the hub of the Milky Way.
Europe's Euclid telescope just captured the largest, sharpest photo ever of the Milky Way's crowded heart.
— Jerry Cards (@JerryCardsUSA) June 25, 2026
One 26-hour exposure. 60+ million stars near our galaxy's center - with 51 known planetary systems hidden inside a single frame. pic.twitter.com/pvhL2Gug9P
Now think about the sky from a planet well into that mess. Here are some more details.
ESA’s Euclid space telescope captured the most detailed visible light image ever made of the Milky Way’s central bulge. In only about 26 hours, it recorded more than 60 million stars and 51 known planetary systems. pic.twitter.com/PqNE9ZurhU
— Cosmoknowledge (@cosmoknowledge) June 25, 2026
In the meantime, there have been a lot of nebulae pictures this week.
The Lagoon Nebula ✨
— 🔭AstroBackyard (@AstroBackyard) June 25, 2026
For this image, I used short exposures (60-seconds) without a filter to capture the varying star colors and dust in the area.
I am pretty stoked with the way this turned out from the backyard - It's quite low in the sky, and I had to set up my rig in a new… pic.twitter.com/pITcNxqHKz
This picture has lots of cool details of the Crescent Nebula.
A Closer Look at the Crescent Nebula
— ZWO (@zwoastro) June 24, 2026
The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is one of the most intricate emission nebulae in the night sky—and this image captures its incredible detail beautifully.
With over 14 hours of narrowband data, the fine textures and complex layers of gas… pic.twitter.com/yQcY9du9UU
Making baby stars in the Greater Magellanic.
Our #HubbleTopImage features masses of star formation ⭐🏭
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) June 25, 2026
This view of the star formation region N11 was captured by Hubble in 2010. N11 is the second largest star-forming region in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and has produced some of the most massive… pic.twitter.com/EyUmi7PQWq
These aren't as flashy, but it's interesting to see what can be captured from someone's backyard.
Finally a clear night for my garden, so I had the smart telescopes hard at work through the night. 🔭
— MrPeachUK🖖 (@MrPeachUK) June 25, 2026
The Dumbbell Nebula (M27)
The first picture shown, 1,360 LY away, 3 LY across. The glowing red and blue wings are made of stellar material expanding into space at 68,000 mph.… pic.twitter.com/8wjWHC2nZs
Finally, a clear night!
— andromeda (@andromeedae) June 24, 2026
NGC 7000 The North American Nebula
IC 5060 The Pelican Nebula
Seestar s30 Pro
2hr12min
Lightroom
Coram, Montana#seestar #seestars30pro #astrophotography #nightsky #universe #nebula #stars pic.twitter.com/58IY3N55CW
Tadpol Nebula (IC 410) in True Colour & Hubble Palette. 17 Nov 2025. Seestar S50 in Eq mode. 406x20s (Integration 2 hours 15 minutes) stacked in Seestar & processed in PixInsight, Graxpert, Cosmic Clarity Suite, Affinity & ACDSee. Location: Abbottabad, Pakistan.@smartphone_astr pic.twitter.com/dHwm6efRdz
— Astronomer G15 (@astronomer_g15) June 21, 2026
☄️🔭
— AstroSmartUniverse (@AstroSmartUni) June 26, 2026
📱
Name: Fireworks Galaxy
Constellation: Cepheus and Cygnus
Distance: 25.2 Mly
Smart Telescope: Celestron Origin Mark II
Mount: Alt-Azimuth
Bortle Scale: Class 7
Exposure Time: 67 min
Filter: Built-in Filter
Image Processing: Origin App#galaxy #celestronorigin #space pic.twitter.com/Z7C715ZIUW
This one is interesting — we don't see and can't see all the details of objects that, suitably processed with space telescopes, show much more going on. This is the Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302), a planetary nebula. That means it's the final death throes of a star in the tiny point at the center.
Three views of the same nebula, presented in a triangle with one image on top and two on the bottom. The bottom two images, which are labeled ‘Hubble Optical’ and ‘Hubble Near IR’, show the nebula at roughly the same scale. These two images show some similar features, including a… pic.twitter.com/R0pFi3czaP
— Stellarix (@Stellarixorine) June 19, 2026
A little night gallery from NASA.
These are among the most beautiful photos of galaxies ever taken by NASA, showcasing massive star systems millions of light-years away from Earth. pic.twitter.com/5rL11osc8z
— Gwendolyn (@rayes_mc) June 25, 2026
The universe is wa-ay more creative than we gave it credit for when I was a kid.
NASA's TESS spacecraft discovers a weird system of exoplanets unlike anything seen before | Space https://t.co/DJPooqKEMY
— Pablo Santos Sanz (@PabloSantosSanz) June 23, 2026
You know, there are just a whoole lot of stars out there.
Come back next week for more of them in the next Sky Candy.
