I feel like we need a little vacation this week.
I was probably the only 10-year-old in the world whose favorite records were by Martin Denny.
JWST is busy at work, though.
This is the spectacular Pandora Galaxy Cluster, observed by the James Webb Space Telescope in the near-infrared spectrum (with the NIRCam instrument). It is 3.5 billion light-years from the Milky Way and, behind it, we can see some of the most distant known galaxies. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA et al. #HappyWeekend
Este es el espectacular Cúmulo de galaxias de Pandora, observado por el telescopio James Webb en el espectro infrarrojo cercano (con el instrumento NIRCam). Está a 3500 millones de años luz de la Vía Láctea y, detrás, podemos ver algunas de las galaxias más lejanas conocidas.… pic.twitter.com/dHmdaYcnqz
— Álex Riveiro (@alex_riveiro) September 18, 2026
This galaxy is upset; maybe it needs a break, too.
Our ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month features a galaxy spinning out of sync 🫨
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) September 18, 2026
NGC 4698 may look like any other spiral galaxy, but it has a chaotic secret 🤫 it is one of a few known spiral galaxies with a bulge that extends from its disc at a right angle. This is just visible… pic.twitter.com/2lEJgrpb2e
I always like comet pictures. The funny thing about them is they look like they should be streaming back and moving. In real life, they are, but we don't see it because the eye's shutter speed is too fast.
Once-in-a-Million shot of a bright Comet Lemmon streaks across the Milky Way above Stonehenge ☄️ pic.twitter.com/RgPvcRizq3
— Latest in Cosmos (@latestincosmos) September 18, 2026
New Zealand. What else is there to say?
Astrophotography from New Zealand ✨ pic.twitter.com/OQ5VzwbSGA
— Paul (@paulwilsonimage) September 18, 2026
The constellation Orion has lots of stuff going on.
M42 Great Orion nebula by @astronomer_g15 pic.twitter.com/9S3WMWGyGI
— Alienigena11 (@Madriles6211) September 18, 2026
We've had a number of shots of the Statue of Liberty Nebula, but I think this is the first one that actually looks like the Statue of Liberty.
NGC3576 The Statue of Liberty nebula by terrazaalcosmos (Instagram) pic.twitter.com/xeOpaCoC6w
— Julio Maiz (@maiz_julio) September 18, 2026
Most JWST. The caption says it includes brown dwarfs, although I sure don't see them. But a brown dwarf only twice the size of Jupiter? Did we just miss being in a binary star system?
This starry view is one of the largest images released to date from @NASAWebb – and it contains a surprise. Researchers found brown dwarfs twice the mass of Jupiter, which is small for this strange class of cosmic object. https://t.co/6HRYpgegUe pic.twitter.com/uEdhlFJp6K
— NASA (@NASA) September 16, 2026
I don't think I've ever seen an orange skyglow. Grok explains:
Jessica Meir shot these as 3-second exposures from the cupola. That long shutter is what makes a faint, always-present atmospheric glow pop. She has described the same colors in earlier ISS photos: orange and green on the night horizon are airglow from chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere, not solar-wind particles.
Southern Hemisphere Milky Way galaxy view from the @Space_Station cupola. This 3s exposure series captured two of my favorite cupola views, the particularly dense Milky Way galaxy as seen from the Southern Hemisphere, and the bright, colorful lights of squid fishing boats (here,… pic.twitter.com/YCUKXXluse
— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) September 16, 2026
Stars at work.
Massive stars don’t just live in their environment—they shape it. In nebula N44, stellar winds and supernovae from enormous stars carved out a giant central void, pushing cold gas into an outer shell where a new generation of stars are forming.https://t.co/oAa4meURmY pic.twitter.com/0Jm1NwsdPe
— NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) September 16, 2026
The Triangulum Galaxy is always good for a show.
APOD: 2026 September 18 – Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy - #Astronomy - https://t.co/R5OhvRLmuJ pic.twitter.com/tw0HCzTz0E
— Eyes to the Stars (@Eyes2TheStars) September 18, 2026
Related: Sunday Supplement: Roman Holiday
I've talked a lot about the Nancy Grace Roman observatory recently, but the Vera C Rubin is starting to produce results like this.
The Vera C. @VRubinObs Observatory has captured a deep image of the COSMOS field and its surroundings, revealing more than half a million galaxies and over 50,000 foreground stars.
— Erika (@ExploreCosmos_) September 12, 2026
Located in Sextans, this extensively studied region provides a valuable reference for comparing… pic.twitter.com/MJfElS2uAg
And finally, this is kind of cool — an app that turns the Rubin Observatory's data into music.
POV: Your background music is a bit…terrestrial.
— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) September 15, 2026
Try a cosmic soundtrack instead! 🎧🌌
Skysynth translates NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s data into sound — now with Rubin's view of COSMOS!
Let it drift, or pan, zoom, and jump between different spots🎶https://t.co/3WnqEaAxb8 pic.twitter.com/pJOhG6gT5q
Not Stardust, but cool.
And that's it for this week. Come back next week for more Sky Candy, and watch for the Sunday Supplement this week, with some surprising biology that may suggest life is more widespread than we think.
Recommended: Household Income at All-Time High. Poverty at All-Time Low. So Where's the Party?
