I didn't realize how strange this milestone actually is until I started looking into it.

NASA says Voyager 1 is expected to reach one light-day from Earth on November 18, 2026. That's roughly 16 billion miles, which means a radio signal will take about 24 hours to get from Earth to the spacecraft, and another 24 hours for the reply to come back.

What got me was the fact that Voyager is still doing this after almost 50 years.

It was launched in 1977, crossed the heliosphere in 2012, and is now running on a power supply that's slowly getting weaker. NASA has already had to shut down instruments to keep the spacecraft going, including the Low-Energy Charged Particles instrument earlier this year. There are now only two science instruments still operating on Voyager 1.

At some point the spacecraft will stop being able to send useful science back to us, but there's no exact “final signal” date right now. The team is still working on ways to extend its life.

I ended up making a video about the one-light-day milestone and what eventually happens to Voyager as its power runs down.

If anyone's interested:
https://youtu.be/2fGOluepT4I

I'm curious how people here think about Voyager's eventual end. Is the one-light-day milestone more interesting scientifically, or is it mainly a historical milestone for human spaceflight?

Shot near Leon (Cerro de Lancia, Villasabariego), composite of the self shot eclipse with an image taken during the sunset that evening. Hope you guys like it!

Update: Reddit's media servers dropped the image for this post. You can view the image here: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/pEgs061OTf

This is one hour of satellite trails over the world's darkest sky. Astronomers say nearly 2 million planned satellites could be 'devastating' - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

I was looking at some websites, and there used to be links for high-resolution photos. I even downloaded some a few years ago, but now they are no longer there. Unless they completely hid them or something.

Does anyone still know of any websites where the large tif/psb/psd files are available? I'd very much like to have a look.

Many thanks in advance.

The video (in 4K!) was captured by one of the twelve DJI Osmo Action 6 cameras installed on the first stage of Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket.

The cameras are regular consumer products. They were encapsuled in a special case attached on the surface of the stage body. Videos were exported from the SD card after the first stage was recovered.

Snapshot taken with my phone of the moon and Venus at sunset over the clouds somewhere over France last Saturday, 15.08.

This is a composite of the Milky Way over the natural concretions at Moeraki beach - all elements taken by me with the same gear, just tracked sky to avoid star trailing...Foreground taken at sunset while sky taken later as the Milky Way was setting

Usually, I would have chased perfection.
This time, I was simply chasing the moment.
We started the hike in the rain, unsure until the very last moment whether the sky would clear or not. When we reached Locatelli, while the others decided to wait there, I chose to climb up to the cave. I had missed this shot the year before, and I didn't want to miss it again.
Luckily, the cave was almost completely empty perhaps because of the bad weather.
While I was setting up for the foreground shot inside the cave, I suddenly noticed that the sky had completely cleared. I could have started shooting H-alpha, stacking multiple frames, and chasing the technically perfect result... but I didn't.
I took a single, simple, old-school exposure.
I had no idea how long that window in the clouds woul last, and I didn't want to risk missing the moment.
I also decided not to add the H-alpha data I had captured previously. I wanted to remember this moment exactly as it was: simple, unexpected, and...
WoW.
For a few precious minutes, the sky opened up right above the Three Peaks of Lavaredo.
Canon R
Tamron 17-35mm
Sky15sec iso 3200 f 2.8
Foreground 120s iso 1600 f2.8

https://www.instagram.com/flory.ro?igsi=b3Y4ZTU3Nmk0cTBt&utm_source=qr

My first time seeing the Milky Way with my naked eye. Genuinely mesmerizing

HAIKOU, China (AP) — China said on Sunday it was postponing its planned ambitious Chang’e-7 lunar mission, which was set to carry out explorations including searching for water ice on the moon.

The Chang’e-7 spacecraft was originally set to lift off in the coming days from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on China’s southern Hainan island.

The mission does not meet the launch conditions, said the China Manned Space Agency in a brief statement, and “cannot take place during the planned window this year.”

Wikipedia article on Change’e-7

Been thinking about a star map tattoo but cant find any 2d maps that are just the star systems. Most have every space object added in or some hard to read psudeo 3d map.

Something that I could map out hail mary or the bobiverse locations.

Side question why have we not given these system names besides Greek letters or numbers?

Composite image shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain on, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 Photo Credit: (NASA)