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Posts by Prof Lucie Green

NASA's Orion spacecraft and its crew splashed down safely in a deep blue Pacific Ocean, marking the successful end of the Artemis II mission.

NASA's Orion spacecraft and its crew splashed down safely in a deep blue Pacific Ocean, marking the successful end of the Artemis II mission.

🎉#Artemis II update: Integrity is back on Earth! At 01:07 BST/02:07 CEST, Orion and its crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
🚀Our European Service Module propelled Orion over 1 million km through deep space, before burning up in Earth's atmosphere, its job complete 🔥

www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

1 week ago 695 114 11 20
The Moon seen backlit by the Sun during the solar eclipse period on 7 April CEST, is photographed by one of the cameras on the European Service Module’s solar array wings. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.

The Moon seen backlit by the Sun during the solar eclipse period on 7 April CEST, is photographed by one of the cameras on the European Service Module’s solar array wings. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.

Graphic showing Artemis II position and trajectory

Graphic showing Artemis II position and trajectory

#Artemis II update: Day 7, Orion now heading back to Earth at 2245 km/h, 367 530 km from Earth and 77 666 km from the Moon. Image is from early morning of 7 April, during the eclipse period (pic: NASA). Track at nasa.gov/missions/art...

@exploration.esa.int

2 weeks ago 316 60 3 6

We are working on a mission that would use the Moon to occult the Sun to observe total solar eclipses like this on a regular basis: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10....

2 weeks ago 2 0 0 0
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I love this image taken by the Artemis II crew. Their view of a total solar eclipse - revealing the faint light scattered by dust around the Sun and electrons in the atmosphere of the Sun itself: images.nasa.gov/details/art0...

2 weeks ago 9 1 1 0

Today’s the day of the Artemis II lunar fly by! The astronauts will set the record for furthest distance humans have travelled from Earth (previously held by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970) & at around 7:45 pm BST lunar observations will begin.

2 weeks ago 8 1 0 0
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More Mare Orientale in this new Artemis II image - www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2... - than in the first one with a long focal length presented. The lunar flyby webcast www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j1... will begin at 17:00 UTC today, and the lunar observations run from 18:45 UTC to 1:20 UTC on 6 April.

2 weeks ago 9 3 0 0
Looking through one of the four windows of the Orion spacecraft, a crescent Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space and grows smaller as the crew journeys closer to the Moon. This image was taken by an Artemis II crew member on the fifth day of the mission.

Looking through one of the four windows of the Orion spacecraft, a crescent Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space and grows smaller as the crew journeys closer to the Moon. This image was taken by an Artemis II crew member on the fifth day of the mission.

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#Artemis II update: Day 5, Orion is moving at 1536 km/h, 356 379 km from Earth and 89 967 km from the Moon. One last look at Earth before arriving at the Moon (pic: NASA). See nasa.gov/missions/art...

@exploration.esa.int

2 weeks ago 373 76 6 8
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Getting to the Moon has been an international effort. Find out about the European service module here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

2 weeks ago 2 0 0 0
That's home. That's us.

That's home. That's us.

This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew.

Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right.

Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

2 weeks ago 21960 7450 292 1004
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T-6️⃣ days until launch!

DYK? Smile will observe the northern lights non-stop for 45 hours at a time for the first time ever.

This will give us a better idea of how geomagnetic storms lead to auroras, but also of other consequences on our infrastructure 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

🔭 ☀️🧪

2 weeks ago 51 10 1 1
Artemis II blasts closer to the far side of the Moon The mission's last, big push on its lunar journey takes humans out of the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972.

The four Artemis II astronauts are no longer orbiting Earth, but are now headed towards the Moon www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

2 weeks ago 6 1 1 0
We’re about to see Earth’s magnetic shield like never before
We’re about to see Earth’s magnetic shield like never before YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA

For four billion years, Earth has been under attack.

Travelling at 2 million km an hour, the solar wind heads directly our way.

Luckily, we have an invisible shield that keeps us safe.

Understanding this shield, how it holds and how it breaks will be Smile's goal 👉 youtu.be/XS3INI9IsME 🔭 🧪 ☀️

3 weeks ago 76 17 2 5

The Sun’s been active today. Let’s hope we have no major space weather events that affect the Artemis II launch www.spaceweather.com

3 weeks ago 4 1 0 0
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Artemis 2 countdown clock is now counting down.

3 weeks ago 246 64 7 18
The Royal Astronomical Society logo over a purple, starry background.

The Royal Astronomical Society logo over a purple, starry background.

The RAS is alarmed by the threat to ground-based astronomy posed by proposals put forward by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Reflect Orbital.

We have opposed the plans with @eso.org and the International Astronomical Union. Find out more at: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

1 month ago 77 49 1 0
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Interested in doing a PhD in space heritage? If so, this opportunity might be for you!

1 month ago 3 2 0 0

🤣

2 months ago 0 0 0 0
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I finally get to see the Sun (in Winchester Cathedral)

2 months ago 15 2 1 0

Great detective work combined with a stroke of luck!

2 months ago 5 0 0 1

It’s raining here, sadly!

3 months ago 1 0 1 0
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#Aurora over Alveston near Bristol. Could see no colour unless looking through the iphone. Now cloudy ☹️

3 months ago 23 2 3 0
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Amazing data in real time from the @esa.int #SolarOrbiter magnetometer @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social show that this storm will keep its main Bz > 0 field and its total field will decline, resulting in a West-North-East (WNE) flux rope. At the end there should be an interval Bz < 0 (=more aurora!)

3 months ago 11 3 1 0

Beautiful!

3 months ago 9 2 0 0
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Amazing view towards north-east at Hoher Sonnblick in #Austria!
Monday Jan 19 2026 22:40 CEST
#polarlights #northernlights #spaceweather
www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/klein...

3 months ago 29 5 1 0

A fast coronal mass ejection from the Sun has arrived at Earth! If you have clear skies tonight, you might be lucky enough to see some aurora. It’s cloudy where I am so send photos!

3 months ago 5 1 1 0
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Proba-3: our eyes on the Sun’s inner corona Proba-3: our eyes on the Sun’s inner corona

Wow! You have got to see the spectacular prominence eruptions in this latest movie from the European PROBA-3 mission! Congratulations to Andrei Zhukov and his team! 🧪🛰️🔭☀️

3 months ago 55 13 1 1
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The Sun is joined by three planets in the sky this week. Can you guess what they are before opening the thread?

3 months ago 13 6 1 0
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NASA’s IMAP Reaches Orbit to Start Study of Heliosphere and Space Weather NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) has reached its destination of the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L1), where it will start its prime mission of studying the heliosphere and ...

NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) has reached its destination, from where it will study the inner regions and the edge of the vast magnetic bubble created by the Sun: www.jhuapl.edu/news/news-re...

3 months ago 5 1 0 0

Congratulations!

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LEAPS LEAPS is an opportunity for students with an interest in astronomy and astrophysics to perform a 10 week summer research project in collaboration with a research scientist from Leiden Observatory or ESA/ESTEC. The program is open to all students not currently engaged in a Ph.D. program (please see the full eligibility criteria) We would like to use LEAPS as an opportunity to increase the diversity of researchers in Astronomy as we understand that successful science is supported by this. Students are selected for the program based on their academic achievements and research potential. Each applicant has the opportunity to choose up to two projects of interest, and they are selected by project advisors based on what they indicate their scientific interests and experience to be. Research at Leiden Observatory and ESA/ESTEC takes place on a diverse array of topics (see below for LEAPS 2026 projects), and student projects will likely consist of anything from the analysis of data from world-class telescopes, to large computer simulations, to hands-on work in the astrochemistry laboratories.

Are you (or do you know of) an undergrad with an interest in solar physics? Check out the Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer Students (LEAPS 2026). Myself, Andy To and Henrik Eklund invite you to come work with us at ESTEC on "Catching the Solar Wind in Action". leaps.strw.leidenuniv.nl#none

3 months ago 10 9 0 1