This image, captured by ESA's Mars Express, shows the Idaeus Fossae region of Mars – a region characterised by layers of dark volcanic minerals, steep rocky outcrops, and an intriguing example of a butterfly-shaped crater.
This type of crater is formed when a huge piece of space rock crashes into a planet with tremendous force.
The collision caused two distinct lobes of material to be flung outwards to the crater’s north and south, creating two outstretched ‘wings’ of raised ground, as can be seen in this image.
Image by ESA
#marsplanet #scienceimages #redplanet #space #mars
We normally associate dust devils with old American western movies, but they happen on other planets, too.
This is one of many such dust devils logged by ESA's Mars Express mission over the past seven years.
The presence of these dust devils helps to trace strong surface winds on the surface of Mars, building a more accurate picture of the weather systems on the red planet.
Video by ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
#marsplanet #space #weirdscience #esa
Ever wondered how you grow giant vegetables?
Stephen Purvis's onion (weighing a huge 8.8 kg), which won the 'Heaviest Onion' category of the giant vegetable competition at this year's Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, Ripon, UK, on 19 September 2025.
Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
#massiveonion #science #vegetables #weird #autumn
This young star at the edge of our Milky Way galaxy is still forming. But to announce its arrival, it has sent us a huge celestial firework.
These seething twin jets of hot gases are blazing across eight light-years – twice the distance between our Sun and the nearest star system.
Superheated gases falling onto the massive star are blasted back into space along the star’s rotational axis (left to right in this image). Powerful magnetic fields confine the jets to narrow beams of red light.
Image by NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Y Cheng (NAOJ)/J DePasquale (STScI)
#science #space #spacephoto #astronomy #jameswebbspacetelescope #astrophoto
Some newly discovered fossils reveal that Spicomellus afer’s skeleton was covered in huge spikes up to a metre long.
The research, published in Nature, shows how well-protected these dinosaurs were from other dinosaurs, but might also have been used for display.
Spicomellus is the world’s oldest ankylosaur, having lived more than 165 million years ago in the Middle Jurassic period.
Picture 2 - Various fossils discovered during the dig.
Picture 3 - The team analyse the fossils.
Picture 4 - Lead scientist Susannah Maidment pictured during the dig in Morocco
Photo credits:
Reconstruction: Matt Dempsey
All other images: The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
#ankylosaurus #dinosaur #naturalhistorymuseum #science #photographyeveryday #fossils
The highest-resolution images of a solar flare ever captured may reshape how we understand the Sun’s magnetic architecture—and improve space weather forecasting.
Using the U.S. National Science Foundation Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSO), astronomers captured dark coronal loop strands with unprecedented clarity
These are the smallest coronal loops ever imaged, and mark a potential breakthrough in understanding the scale of solar coronal loops.
Video & photo by NSF/NSO/AURA
#space #sciencephotography #sciencefocus #nsf #nso #astronomy
The dwarf planet Ceres may once have had all the ingredients to sustain life, according to new data from NASA's now-defunct Dawn mission.
Analysis of the surface of the dwarf planet reveals that Ceres' bright surface is primarily composed of salts left behind from liquid that percolated up from underground, suggesting the presence of large reservoirs of salty water beneath the surface.
The analysis also showed that Ceres had carbon molecules that could have supported life.
The presence of water and carbon does not mean that Ceres once harboured life, but had life existed, it would have been able to survive.
Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech
#sciencephotography #space #astronomy #ceres
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a new moon orbiting the planet Uranus.
This planet was not even spotted during the flyby of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft nearly 40 years ago.
The moon, known as S/2025 U1, is believed to be very small, with a diameter of approximately 10 km.
Uranus has more small inner moons than any other planet in our Solar System.
Photo by NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/M El Moutamid (SwRI)/M Hedman (University of Idaho)
#solarsystems #moons #astronomy #space #astronomyphotography #sciencefocus #nasa #esa #csa
A forest brigadier uses a hose to extinguish flames during a wildfire in Ribadavia, Ourense, Galicia, Spain, on 18 August 2025.
Nearly 2,000 Spanish troops have been helping to fight the fires, which still burn over large areas of northwest and western Spain.
Portugal, too, has been hit by damaging wildfires as southern Europe experiences heatwave conditions.
Photos by Pedro Pascual/Anadolu via Getty Images
Map by Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu via Getty Images
#wildfire #climatechange #disaster #sciencephotography #climatescience
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image of a weirdly shaped rock on the 5th August 2025.
It resembles a soldier's helmet from centuries ago and was formed on the surface of Mars by wind and chemical erosion.
The rover used its Left Mastcam-Z camera to capture the image. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.
Photo by NASA/JPL
#weirdspace #planetmars #spacephotography #imageoftheday #space
Clinical trials have begun into the possibility that cells from our noses could be used to treat spinal cord injuries.
Scientists at Griffith University will trial a method that involves taking olfactory ensheathing cells, which are specialised cells involved in our sense of smell, from the nose, and placing them on a 'nerve bridge'.
This nerve bridge is then implanted into the spine at the site of injury.
These cells are known to have numerous therapeutic properties for repairing and regenerating nerves.
It is hoped that patients involved in the trial, who will undergo nearly a year of intensive rehabilitation, will experience improvements in movement and mobility.
Caption 1: Ensheathing cells under a microscope.
Caption 2: Griffith University's Professor James St John holding a nerve bridge.
Photos by Griffith University
#science #microscope #cells #spinalinjury
Earth's orbit is getting more and more congested, putting future space missions at risk of collision with active satellites and over 1.2 million pieces of space debris.
To combat this, the European Space Agency (ESA) has been developing its Collision Risk Estimation and Automated Mitigation (CREAM) system.
It is hoped that this system will be used on future ESA space missions to help reduce the risk of collisions in Earth's orbit.
Caption: Still from ESA's video ‘Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?’ showing the distribution of space debris around Earth.
Photo by ESA
#spacedebris #space #satellite #sciencephotography
