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Quantum experiment settles a century-old row between Einstein and Bohr
Aluminum Is Crucial to Vaccines—And Safe. Why Are CDC Advisers Debating It?
RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory panel will be discussing the inclusion of adjuvants in childhood vaccinations today. Here’s what’s at stake
The Sun's Poles Are Different Than We Expected
A new analysis of the Solar Orbiter's unique views of the Sun's poles shows how a "conveyor belt" moves within our nearest star.
The post The Sun's Poles Are Different Than We Expected appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
How Australian teens are planning to get around their social media ban
How Australian teens are planning to get around their social media ban
Hubble Spots a Storm of New Stars
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Hubble Spots a Storm of New Stars This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy named NGC 1792.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a stormy and highly active spiral galaxy named NGC 1792. Located over 50 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Columba (the Dove), the bright glow of the galaxy’s center is offset by the flocculent and sparkling spiral arms swirling around it.
NGC 1792 is just as fascinating to astronomers as its chaotic look might imply. Classified as a starburst galaxy, it is a powerhouse of star formation, with spiral arms rich in star-forming regions. In fact, it is surprisingly luminous for its mass. The galaxy is close to a larger neighbor, NGC 1808, and astronomers think the strong gravitational interaction between the two stirred up the reserves of gas in this galaxy. The result is a torrent of star formation, concentrated on the side closest to its neighbor, where gravity has a stronger effect. NGC 1792 is a perfect target for astronomers seeking to understand the complex interactions between gas, star clusters, and supernovae in galaxies.
Hubble studied this galaxy before. This new image includes additional data collected throughout 2025, providing a deeper view of the tumultuous activity taking place in the galaxy. Blossoming red lights in the galaxy’s arms mark Hydrogen-alpha (H-alpha) emission from dense clouds of hydrogen molecules. The newly forming stars within these clouds shine powerfully with ultraviolet radiation. This intense radiation ionizes the hydrogen gas, stripping away electrons which causes the gas to emit H-alpha light. H-alpha is a very particular red wavelength of light and a tell-tale sign of new stars.
@NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Linkedin logo @NASAHubbleMedia Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Hubble Spots a Storm of New Stars
- Hubble Home
- Overview
- Impact & Benefits
- Science
- Observatory
- Team
- Multimedia
- News
- More
2 min read
Hubble Spots a Storm of New Stars This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy named NGC 1792.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST TeamThis NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a stormy and highly active spiral galaxy named NGC 1792. Located over 50 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Columba (the Dove), the bright glow of the galaxy’s center is offset by the flocculent and sparkling spiral arms swirling around it.
NGC 1792 is just as fascinating to astronomers as its chaotic look might imply. Classified as a starburst galaxy, it is a powerhouse of star formation, with spiral arms rich in star-forming regions. In fact, it is surprisingly luminous for its mass. The galaxy is close to a larger neighbor, NGC 1808, and astronomers think the strong gravitational interaction between the two stirred up the reserves of gas in this galaxy. The result is a torrent of star formation, concentrated on the side closest to its neighbor, where gravity has a stronger effect. NGC 1792 is a perfect target for astronomers seeking to understand the complex interactions between gas, star clusters, and supernovae in galaxies.
Hubble studied this galaxy before. This new image includes additional data collected throughout 2025, providing a deeper view of the tumultuous activity taking place in the galaxy. Blossoming red lights in the galaxy’s arms mark Hydrogen-alpha (H-alpha) emission from dense clouds of hydrogen molecules. The newly forming stars within these clouds shine powerfully with ultraviolet radiation. This intense radiation ionizes the hydrogen gas, stripping away electrons which causes the gas to emit H-alpha light. H-alpha is a very particular red wavelength of light and a tell-tale sign of new stars.
@NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Linkedin logo @NASAHubbleMedia Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Scientists and Senators are Excited About the Sugars Found in the OSIRIS-REx Samples
It’s been over two years since the samples from Bennu gathered by OSIRIS-REx were returned to Earth. But there’s still plenty of novel science coming out of that 121.6 g of material. Three new papers were released recently that describe different aspects of that sample. One in particular, from Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan and their co-authors, has already attracted plenty of attention, including from US Senator (and former astronaut) Mark Kelly. It shows that all of the building blocks for early life were available on the asteroid - raising the chances that planets throughout the galaxy could be seeded with the abiotic precursors for life.
Telecom Fiber-Optic Cables Measured an Earthquake in Incredible Detail
Fiber optics that connect the world can detect its earthquakes, too
Cosmic Magnification Is One of the Universe’s Weirdest Optical Illusions
In our topsy-turvy universe, sometimes the farther away an object is, the bigger it seems to be
How Zuranolone, a Fast-Acting Drug, Might Help Those Suffering with Postpartum Depression
Journalist Marla Broadfoot discusses zuranolone, a drug that may help people whose postpartum depression hasn’t responded to traditional antidepressants.
Long Ago, Mars Had Massive Watersheds — Now Finally Mapped
What can mapped drainage systems on Mars teach scientists about the Red Planet’s watery past? This is what a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hopes to address as a team of scientists from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) conducted a first-time mapping study involving Martian river basins. This study has the potential to not only gain insight into ancient Mars and how much water existed there long ago but also develop new methods for mapping ancient river basins on Mars and potentially other worlds.
Why Scientists Are Studying Mayonnaise in Space
Scientists have launched COLIS, a special laboratory aboard the International Space Station designed to study how everyday materials like sunscreens, mayonnaise, and medications behave in near zero gravity. Researchers discovered that gravity influences the long term stability of soft matter far more dramatically than previously understood, affecting how these materials age and restructure at the molecular level. This research could fundamentally improve how we design everything from controlled release drugs to self assembling materials, demonstrating that understanding materials in space offers unexpected benefits for life on Earth.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 5 – 14
The Moon, waning away from full, groups up with Jupiter, Castor and Pollux on two nights. Later in the week the Geminid meteor shower comes into full bloom.
The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 5 – 14 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
When Ancient Scribes Accidentally Became Scientists
On a summer day in 709 BCE, scribes at the Lu Duchy Court in ancient China looked up to witness something extraordinary. The Sun vanished completely from the sky, and in its place hung a ghostly halo. They recorded the event carefully, noting that during totality the eclipsed Sun appeared "completely yellow above and below." Nearly three millennia later, that ancient observation has helped modern scientists measure how fast Earth was spinning and understand what our Sun was doing at a time when Homer was composing poetry.
Earth from Space: Singing dunes and mysterious lakes
Senyar Swamps Sumatra
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Tropical cyclones almost never form over the Strait of Malacca. The narrow waterway separating Peninsular Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra sits so close to the equator that the Coriolis effect is usually too weak to allow storms to rotate enough to organize into cyclones. But on November 25, 2025, meteorologists watched as a tropical depression intensified into Cyclone Senyar—just the second documented case of a tropical cyclone forming in the strait.
Hemmed in by land on both sides, Senyar made landfall in Sumatra later that day as it made a U-turn and headed east toward Malaysia. As the slow-moving storm passed over Sumatra’s mountainous terrain, it dropped nearly 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain in many areas, according to satellite-based estimates from NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. (Due to the averaging of the satellite data, local rainfall amounts may differ when measured from the ground.)
The torrent caused extensive flash floods and landslides in Sumatra’s rugged terrain. Streams and rivers rapidly overflowed with sediment-laden, debris-filled waters that swept through villages, cities, and towns. News reports suggest that the damage was worsened by an earthquake that struck on November 27 and the abundance of loose piles of timber in the region that became destructive battering rams in high water. As of December 4, Indonesian authorities reported several hundred deaths and more than 700,000 displaced people.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image of flooding in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces on November 30, 2025. Muddy sediment-filled water appears to have swamped much of Lhoksukon, a town of 40,000 people, and several surrounding villages.
Other tropical cyclones and monsoon rains hitting Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam at roughly the same time have also caused extensive destruction in the broader region. According to one estimate from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, flooding has affected more than 10.8 million people in the region and displaced more than 1.2 million.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources- BNPB (2025) News Index. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- India Today (2025, December 2) What made Cyclone Senyar a once-in-a-century weather anomaly in Malacca Strait. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- The Malaysian Reserve (2025, December 3) Death toll from floods, landslides in Indonesia rises to 811. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- NASA Earthdata (2025) Tropical Cyclones. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- The New York Times (2025, December 3) Where Floodwaters Turned Piles of Timber Into Floating Battering Rams. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- ReliefWeb (2025, December 3) Asia and the Pacific: Southeast and South Asia Cyclones and Floods Humanitarian Snapshot (Covering 17 November to 3 December 2025. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- Tsunami and Disasters Mitigation Research Center (2025, November 29) Extreme Rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Senyar Triggers Widespread Flooding and Infrastructure Damage Across Aceh. Accessed December 4, 2025.
JPEG (8.43 MB)
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Monsoon Rains Flood Pakistan 3 min readHeavy rains and flooding across the country since June 2025 have displaced millions of people, devastated infrastructure, and submerged farmland.
Article Imelda and Humberto Crowd the Atlantic 3 min readThe tropical cyclones are close enough in proximity that they may influence one another.
Article Rokan River Painted by the Tides 2 min readTides and sediment form brushstroke-like patterns across the river estuary in eastern Sumatra.
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Senyar Swamps Sumatra
- Earth
- Earth Observatory
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Tropical cyclones almost never form over the Strait of Malacca. The narrow waterway separating Peninsular Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra sits so close to the equator that the Coriolis effect is usually too weak to allow storms to rotate enough to organize into cyclones. But on November 25, 2025, meteorologists watched as a tropical depression intensified into Cyclone Senyar—just the second documented case of a tropical cyclone forming in the strait.
Hemmed in by land on both sides, Senyar made landfall in Sumatra later that day as it made a U-turn and headed east toward Malaysia. As the slow-moving storm passed over Sumatra’s mountainous terrain, it dropped nearly 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain in many areas, according to satellite-based estimates from NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. (Due to the averaging of the satellite data, local rainfall amounts may differ when measured from the ground.)
The torrent caused extensive flash floods and landslides in Sumatra’s rugged terrain. Streams and rivers rapidly overflowed with sediment-laden, debris-filled waters that swept through villages, cities, and towns. News reports suggest that the damage was worsened by an earthquake that struck on November 27 and the abundance of loose piles of timber in the region that became destructive battering rams in high water. As of December 4, Indonesian authorities reported several hundred deaths and more than 700,000 displaced people.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image of flooding in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces on November 30, 2025. Muddy sediment-filled water appears to have swamped much of Lhoksukon, a town of 40,000 people, and several surrounding villages.
Other tropical cyclones and monsoon rains hitting Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam at roughly the same time have also caused extensive destruction in the broader region. According to one estimate from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, flooding has affected more than 10.8 million people in the region and displaced more than 1.2 million.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources- BNPB (2025) News Index. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- India Today (2025, December 2) What made Cyclone Senyar a once-in-a-century weather anomaly in Malacca Strait. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- The Malaysian Reserve (2025, December 3) Death toll from floods, landslides in Indonesia rises to 811. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- NASA Earthdata (2025) Tropical Cyclones. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- The New York Times (2025, December 3) Where Floodwaters Turned Piles of Timber Into Floating Battering Rams. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- ReliefWeb (2025, December 3) Asia and the Pacific: Southeast and South Asia Cyclones and Floods Humanitarian Snapshot (Covering 17 November to 3 December 2025. Accessed December 4, 2025.
- Tsunami and Disasters Mitigation Research Center (2025, November 29) Extreme Rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Senyar Triggers Widespread Flooding and Infrastructure Damage Across Aceh. Accessed December 4, 2025.
JPEG (8.43 MB)
You may also be interested in:Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Monsoon Rains Flood Pakistan 3 min readHeavy rains and flooding across the country since June 2025 have displaced millions of people, devastated infrastructure, and submerged farmland.
Article Imelda and Humberto Crowd the Atlantic 3 min readThe tropical cyclones are close enough in proximity that they may influence one another.
Article Rokan River Painted by the Tides 2 min readTides and sediment form brushstroke-like patterns across the river estuary in eastern Sumatra.
Article 1 2 3 4 Next Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory NewslettersSubscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.
Earth Observatory Image of the DayNASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.
Explore Earth Science
Earth Science Data
New Research Could Explain Why Earth has Active Tectonics and Venus Does Not
An international team has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the tectonic evolution of terrestrial planets. Using advanced numerical models, the team systematically classified for the first time six distinct planetary tectonic regimes. Their work provides a unified theory on the geological evolution of both Earth and Venus.