Rinus Rekkers
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rinusrekkers.bsky.social
Rinus Rekkers
@rinusrekkers.bsky.social
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Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a vibrant star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of our Milky Way’s satellite galaxies🧪🔭

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/04/Hubble_spots_stellar_sculptors_at_work_in_a_nearby_galaxy

@science.esa.int @stsci.edu
A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in colour. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.
January 4, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
transport.esa.int
Let's start 2026 dancing! 🕺

This animation shows how Space Rider could fly to an orbital platform and deliver payloads using a robotic arm as well as retrieving other payloads to return them to Earth.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcJ6...
Space Rider orbital ballet
YouTube video by ESA Extras
www.youtube.com
January 2, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
📸 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image captures NGC 4449, a dwarf galaxy just 12.5 million light-years away from us that’s forming stars at an extraordinary rate 🧪🔭

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @stsci.edu @science.esa.int
This Hubble image shows the galaxy NGC 4449. The field is dominated by dust that appears in dark red, with scattered brighter regions of star formation as bright pink globules. The background shows countless blue stars peeking around the dusty regions.
January 2, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Before we ring in the new year, let’s talk about the Ring Nebula. #NASAWebb observed this planetary nebula in 2022, showing its filamentary structure, hot gas, and arcs in great detail. The Ring Nebula is located approximately 2,500 light-years away.

Credit: ESA, NASA, CSA.
The Ring Nebula appears as a distorted doughnut against the black background of space. The nebula’s inner cavity hosts shades of blue and green, while the detailed ring transitions through shades of orange in the inner regions and pink in the outer region. The ring’s inner region has distinct filament elements. Many small yellow dots, which are galaxies, and blue-white stars with eight-pointed diffraction spikes are scattered across the image.
December 30, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
This image of MACS 0416 from #NASAWebb and Hubble shows two galaxy clusters in the process of combining. Their mass magnifies the light from more distant background galaxies, helping astronomers identify distant supernovas and even individual stars: bit.ly/4qSNy5T 🔭
A field of galaxies on the black background of space. In the middle, stretching from left to right, is a collection of dozens of yellowish spiral and elliptical galaxies that form a foreground galaxy cluster. Among them are distorted linear features, which mostly appear to follow invisible concentric circles curving around the center.
December 26, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
🌟 Merry Christmas from a newborn star. Earlier this year the NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope took this stunning image of HH30, an edge-on protoplanetary disc. 🧪🔭

🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_investigates_a_dusty_and_dynamic_disc
A close-in image of a protoplanetary disc around a newly formed star. Many different wavelengths of light are combined and represented by separate and various colours. A dark line across the centre is the disc, made of opaque dust: the star is hidden in here and creates a strong glow in the centre. A band going straight up is a jet, while other outflows form flares above and below the disc, and a tail coming off to one side.
December 25, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Hubble has imaged the largest planet-forming disk ever seen! At 400 billion miles wide, it is roughly 40 times the diameter of our solar system. The disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, offering new insights into how planetary systems form: https://bit.ly/477sQ9b 🔭 🧪
Near the center is an object that resembles an edge-on view of a hamburger. There is a diagonal dark strip (the meat patty) of dust, running from 1 o’clock to 7 o’clock, that obscures a central star. Curving away from either side of the dark strip are glowing white clouds (the buns) where dust is reflecting starlight. Bright blue finger-like wisps of material extend far above and below the dark center plane. A few dozen stars, some with four diffraction spikes, are scattered on the black background of space.
December 23, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
science.esa.int
🎄 Are your holiday decorations ready? Euclid has a cosmic garland to add: NGC 646.

The large barred spiral galaxy appears close to a smaller galaxy to the left, but they’re actually about 45 million light-years apart 👉 https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/12/Euclid_s_galaxy_garland
🔭
An image of space made by the Euclid telescope shows a bright barred spiral galaxywith two sweeping arms glowing in shades of blue and white against a deep black background dotted with stars. Its core is luminous. Its spiral arms curve gracefully outward to the left and down to the right, resembling a cosmic garland draped across the scene. A smaller, faint and round galaxy appears to the left of the barred spiral galaxy.
December 22, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image shows galaxies MCG-02-05-050a (left) and MCG-02-05-050, collectively called Arp 4. But this pairing is simply an unlikely visual coincidence... 🧪🔭

🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2... @stsci.edu
This image shows two galaxies side by side. The galaxy on the top left is smaller in size, and appears as a bright glowing spiral with clearly-defined arms. A larger blue galaxy dominates the full right field of the image. This galaxy is more irregularly shaped, with a glowing central bar, and varying regions of concentrated hues of blue. The background is black with various stars and galaxies in the distance.
December 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
Today is the December solstice at 15:03 GMT/16:03 CET.
This @eumetsat.int MTG‑I1 image from 19 December 2025, 06:00 GMT, shows Earth’s day–night terminator tilted near its annual maximum of about 23.5°.
The 2025 winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere — the shortest day (and longest night) of the year and the beginning of the winter season. The event, which also marks the start of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, is caused by Earth's axial tilt and the planet's motion as it orbits around the sun at the center of our Solar System. Earth doesn't sit upright as it circles the Sun. Instead, it orbits on its axis at a tilt of 23.5 degrees. Our planet's Northern and Southern hemispheres take turns with sunlight, trading places when it comes to seasons. So, on the winter solstice, the planet's Northern Hemisphere is turned as far away from the sun as it ever is.
December 21, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
sterrenwachthalley.bsky.social
Komeet 3I/Atlas die vandaag de Aarde passeert is pas de derde bekende interstellaire komeet en daarom erg instant voor komeetonderzoekers. Niet met het blote oog te zien, maar wel met een telescoop en mogelijk met de verrekijker.
www.rd.nl/artikel/1132...
Roemruchte komeet 3I/Atlas passeert aarde, en is te zien met een telescoop, verrekijker of via livestream
Kometenjagers kunnen hun verrekijker of telescoop alvast afstoffen. Vrijdag passeert komeet 3I/Atlas de aarde. Een livestream is er ook.
www.rd.nl
December 19, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
🆕 This NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope image shows the Westerlund 2 star cluster. 🧪🔭

🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/12/Webb_Dwarf_stars_in_a_glittering_sky

@science.esa.int @stsci.edu
December 19, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
josefaschbacher.esa.int
While we publish new images and stories almost around the clock, it is nice to take a step back and spend time on some of the most exciting moments of 2025.

Scroll through @esa.int's Highlights 2025 👇
esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/corpora...
December 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
eso.org
Enjoy this trip to NGC 1850, a cluster of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This cluster harbours the first small black hole outside of our galaxy to be discovered by looking at its gravitational influence on the path of the star orbiting it

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2116/ 🔭
December 17, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
technology.esa.int
🚯 To clean up orbits around Earth, we first need to identify and approach individual pieces of space debris. 🛰️ Two companies from Luxembourg are developing the eyes 👀 for satellites to be able to do just that 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
Satellite model in a testing facility
December 10, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Another #NASAWebb record breaker: a supernova that existed only 730 million years after the big bang! Learn how Webb delivered the conclusive evidence when it followed up on a fleeting event known as a gamma-ray burst: https://bit.ly/3Y782ul 🔭 🧪
Webb image shows hundreds of galaxies of all shapes and sizes against the black background of space. Toward the center-left is a large white spiral galaxy that is almost face-on. To the right of this is a large box, which zooms in on an area at top right. Within the box is a faint red dot at the center, with the label GRB 250314A.
December 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
astronomienl.bsky.social
Veel meteoren bij Geminiden-sterrenregen in de nacht van 13 op 14 december

www.astronomie.nl/nieuws/veel-...
Veel meteoren bij Geminiden-sterrenregen in de nacht van 13 op 14 december
www.astronomie.nl
December 4, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
science.esa.int
🌞🛰️Sun-watcher SOHO turns 30! 🎂
"SOHO has overcome nail-biting challenges to become one of the longest-operating space missions of all time" – Prof. @cmundell.esa.int , ESA Director of Science
👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭🧪
December 2, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Star power! ✨ This 2023 #NASAWebb image shows globular cluster NGC 6440, a dense collection of old stars bound together by gravity. NGC 6440 is an intriguing environment to study because of its location near our galaxy’s central region. Credit: ESA, NASA & CSA, P. Freire. 🔭 🧪
A dense and spherical collection of stars against the black background of space. The bright stellar cluster is dominated by a concentrated group of bright white stars in the upper center. The stars become gradually less dense moving farther away from the center. Several larger stars, which are orange-yellow, are scattered across the image. Most stars have eight-pointed diffraction spikes.
November 28, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
science.esa.int
Saturn's moon #Enceladus is a top target for us in our #Voyage2050 long-term planning period.

No space agency has ever landed on Enceladus. And yet this moon has enormous potential for new science, particularly in the realm of habitability.

1/ #CM25 🔭
Artist's impression of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, which has a frozen surface covering a deep ocean. Jets of water burst from cracks close to the moon's south pole.
November 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image shows a gigantic cloud of cold hydrogen gas called N159. It's one of the largest star-forming clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, neighbouring our galaxy. 🧪🔭

esahubble.org/images/potw2...

@science.esa.int @stsci.edu
A field filled with stars and covered by clouds of gas and dust. The centre and left side are totally blanketed with billowing, bright red clouds. They are opaque some places — showing clusters of stars forming within — and transparent others. Small patches are dark black in colour, while a large cloud below the centre is mostly pale blue. The right side of the view, mostly gas-free, glitters with stars near and far.
November 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
esa.int
⭐️This is Goal 3: Strengthen European autonomy and resilience

Decisions made during #CM25 will advance our Strategy 2040, which focuses on five goals to show how important space is for European citizens.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVGe...
Goal 3: Strengthen European Autonomy and Resilience
YouTube video by ESA Extras
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Stare into the depths of space with Hubble! At top- and bottom-center are two blue nearby stars. The enormous spiral galaxy UGC 11397 is 250 million light-years away. Many far more distant galaxies show up as orange and red dots. Credit: NASA, ESA. 🔭 🧪
A spiral galaxy seen at an angle. The galaxy’s central disk is golden with a bright core. The galaxy has two spiral arms that curl out from the center. They start narrow but broaden as they wrap around the galaxy before merging into a faint halo. A swirl of dark dust strands and speckled blue star-forming regions follow the arms through the disk. The background of space is black, speckled with tiny stars and distant galaxies.
November 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third object ever identified as entering our solar system from elsewhere in the galaxy. NASA will host a live event at 3 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 19, to share imagery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS collected by a number of the agency’s missions. 🔭 🧪
NASA Shares Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Images - NASA+
Live event to share imagery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS collected by a number of the agency's missions.
plus.nasa.gov
November 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Rinus Rekkers
stsci.edu
This #NASAWebb image features a cosmic creepy-crawly called NGC 6537—the Red Spider Nebula. Using its Near-InfraRed Camera, Webb has revealed never-before-seen details in this picturesque planetary nebula with a rich backdrop of thousands of stars. 🔭 🧪
Cosmic Creepy-Crawly NGC 6537 -- James Webb Space Telescope #shorts
This new James Webb Space Telescope image features a cosmic creepy-crawly called NGC 6537--the Red Spider Nebula. Using its Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), Webb has revealed never-before-seen details in this picturesque planetary nebula with a rich backd...
youtube.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM