ALT This photo of the Moon was captured by the Artemis II crew aboard the Orion spacecraft a few hours before the lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. During the flyby, the crew captured critical science observations as they traveled around the far side of the Moon, traveling farther than any humans ever before. The Moon resembles a gray cratered orb in the distance, standing out against the blackness of space. Credit: NASA

ALT The Moon appears half-illuminated in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew on April 6, 2026. The terminator — the difference between light and darkness — provides a stark contrast and even greater perspective of the Moon's rocky, uneven, and otherworldly surface features. The near side of the Moon, which is what we can see from Earth, appears in the dark gray regions at the top of this image. The Moon stands out against the blackness of space around it. Credit: NASA

ALT The Artemis II crew was tasked with capturing many key features visible in this image of the Moon, captured on April 6, 2026. The terminator, or the difference in light and darkness, is visible on the top left. The large dark gray area toward center-left is Orientale Basin, while the characteristic dark patches of ancient lava flow we see on the near side are visible on the right half of this image. The Moon stands out against the blackness of space around it. Credit: NASA

ALT This photo of a crescent Moon and crescent Earth was taken by an Artemis II astronaut during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. This image captures one of the final moments before their loss of signal with Earth as the Orion spacecraft flew around the far side of the Moon, reemerging and regaining contact approximately 40 minutes later. Earth can be seen peeking behind the Moon in the distance. The illuminated regions of the Moon and Earth stand out against the blackness of space, while the rest are swallowed in shadow. Credit: NASA

ALT This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. The illustration depicts a glowing central star surrounded by a swirling, flattened disk of dust and gas, viewed from an angled perspective against a dark background.

ALT An area inside a star-forming molecular cloud. The background is covered with layers of gas and dust in blue, green and yellowish colours. Thicker clumps of cold dust, dark brown to black, block out light completely. Stars lie among and atop the clouds, from small orange ones to large white or blue ones. Waves and streams of glowing whitish gas are created by jets from protostars colliding with the surrounding material.

ALT This image centers on a bright, pinpoint white glow marking Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, surrounded by a turbulent, cloud-like environment. Radiating outward from the center is a luminous swirl of blue X-ray emission from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, forming a soft, irregular halo that is brightest near the core and fades into darker shades toward the edges. Interwoven with this blue glow are thick, patchy structures in orange, tracing colder gas mapped by radio observations from ALMA. These orange regions form a partial ring and clumpy arcs around the center, but notably break open to reveal a wide, cone-shaped cavity where little to no orange emission appears. This hollowed-out region is instead filled with the blue X-ray glow, emphasizing the contrast between hot and cold material. The scene feels dynamic and layered, with the interplay of blue and orange just a few light-years from the galaxy’s core.

ALT NASA's Artemis II mission lifts off atop the orange Space Launch System rocket from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. White, pillowy plumes fill the bottom half of the photo; a dark blue evening sky fills the top half. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

ALT M30. A spherical collection of stars shines against black space, more closely concentrated at center.

ALT Veil Nebula. A complex, glowing nebula stretches across the image in shades of purple, pink, yellow, and orange. Several stars shine throughout.

ALT Whirlpool Galaxy. A massive, face-on spiral galaxy glows with a yellow core and spiral arms full of dark brown dust and pink stars. The galaxy extends outward, with its outermost arm appearing to overlap with a small, yellowish gaalxy.

ALT An illustration depicting the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope floating above an open book, being orbited by small satellites, telescopes, and celestial bodies. Behind Roman is a rosy stripe of stars and golden light. Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottar

ALT An infographic about the Roman Space Telescope, titled "Capturing The Big Picture: What Roman Will Reveal." Various boxes beneath highlight that Roman will observe, for example, "80,000 supernovae" and "billions of galaxies". Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

ALT A close-up photo of the Moon, which is about three-quarters full; its left side is in shadow. Its gray seas and circular impact craters are clearly visible. Near the center of the image, the International Space Station can just barely be seen passing in front of the Moon. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

ALT A reddish Moon, with clouds passing in front of it, floats above a quickly-moving subway train at night. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

ALT A large, golden Moon, partially shrouded by light clouds, hangs above the peak of the Washington Monument, which is covered in scaffolding. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

ALT In this May 11, 1971, photo of the Apollo 15 Saturn V leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the rocket on the bright red mobile launcher and the VAB are perfectly reflected in a lagoon in the foreground.