NASA Visits ‘Quadrillion Dollar’ Asteroid As Eclipse Stuns America

From a spectacular “ring of fire” solar eclipse to a landmark launch via new views of galaxies and some incredible Jupiter images, it’s been a week to remember in the sky.

First-mover was NASA, whose Psyche spacecraft finally launched on October 13 to begin its long journey to reveal a metal-rich asteroid between Mars and Jupiter that’s said to be (but is not actually) worth $10,000 quadrillion.

The spacecraft also carries the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the moon.

Next came an annular solar eclipse, which was seen as a partial affair across the Americas. However, from within a narrow 125 miles wide path across nine U.S. states as well as through Central and South America, a rare “ring of fire” was glimpsed for up to five minutes. Differing from a total solar eclipse, the moon in an annular solar eclipse covers only the center of the sun’s disk, creating the “ring of fire” effect around the moon.

MORE FROM FORBESBest Eclipse Photos: ‘Ring Of Fire’ Wows Western States As All U.S. See Solar EclipseBy Jamie Carter

This image, above, of two galaxies colliding, was released this week to mark the publishing of the Siena Galaxy Atlas, a detailed atlas of almost 400,000 galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood. Freely available online, it’s designed to be the pre-eminent digital galaxy atlas for large galaxies and should help astronomers probe everything from galaxy formation and evolution to dark matter and gravitational waves.

The diverse worlds of our solar system also came into view when NASA’s Juno spacecraft dipped close to Jupiter for the 55th time this week, as it did so passing closely to the giant planet’s volcanic world Io. The results included the highest resolution images of Io for 22 years. More super-close passes are promised in both December and February.

Back in Earth’s orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope sent back this gorgeous image of the spiral galaxy IC 5332. About 30 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor, the image is so perfect only because it has an almost face-on orientation to Earth. Many other galaxies just as perfect-looking are viewed only side-on. It’s a reminder that our view of the universe is inextricably tied to where we are.

There were also a couple of important tests by two of the world’s most important space agencies. On October 17, NASA conducted the first hot fire test for its new RS-25 engines for the next Space Launch System rocket due to take the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed missions to the moon and beyond. Eleven more tests are planned.

Four days later, the Indian Space Research Organisation conducted an uncrewed test of the emergency-escape system of its new crew capsule. Fresh from its successful landing on the moon of its Chandrayaan-3 mission, it brings closer the space agency’s Gaganyaan orbital flight next year, which will precede a crewed flight of India’s first astronauts.

There will be other key weeks in space exploration and discovery, but it’s hard to think of one so varied.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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