Starry Nights Club - SNC

Congratulations Artemis crew!

Moonbound.

The Artemis II mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B today at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 UTC).

Main engine cutoff of the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage is complete, and the core stage has successfully separated from the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and the Orion spacecraft. This marks the end of the first major propulsion phase of the Artemis II mission and the transition to upper‑stage operations.

NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast) This feed will provide continuous coverage of Artemis II mission activities with live commentary, beginning with tanking of the SLS (Space Launch System) roc...

‼️ G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm observed!

If you have clear skies tonight, sorry to those stuck under lake effect clouds in the snowbelt, you may be in for an incredible show with the northern lights putting on a display across most of Ontario.

With a storm this strong, there is a real chance the aurora could be visible even in more urban areas where light pollution usually washes them out. That said, rural locations away from city lights will still give you the best shot at seeing brighter colours and more structure in the sky.

Timing is always tricky with auroras, but we will keep you updated on when conditions look most favourable to head outside and take a look. If you do step out, make sure to bundle up, wind chills are making it feel like the -20s tonight 🥶

If you manage to catch the show, be sure to share your photos and reports to Ontario Storm Reports. We would love to see what you’re seeing!

- Brennen

Source: SpaceWeatherLive

Have you seen the Comet?

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)
Credit: Ivan Pedretti
Italy

COMET C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) ☄️

I drove 2 hours to get to a clear, dark sky to photograph Comet Lemmon last night!

This image includes 40 minutes of total exposure time (40 x 60-seconds) using my astronomy camera through a small telescope.

See you tonight at the Diefenbunker!

Tonight’s Star Party is a GO! The forecast for Sunday, August 31st, is for clear skies, making for perfect stargazing conditions.

We’ll be at the Carp Library (Parking Lot) - 3911 Carp Rd. from 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM. Come explore the cosmos with our members and take on the Messier Objects Bingo Challenge.

We saw it in Kanata too!

🚨 Alien invasion? 👽 Not quite… but it sure had people wondering tonight!

We’ve been getting a ton of reports from across Southern Ontario about a strange glowing “bowtie” shape in the night sky. No, it’s not UFOs, but it is something pretty cool.

Initial reports pointed to it being the exhaust plume from the upper stage of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral at 8:56 PM ET for the USSF-106 mission. The unique shape comes from its dual-engine Centaur V stage, and because it was high enough to still catch sunlight, it lit up beautifully against the dark sky.

However, after further research, it’s also possible this was actually from Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket, which launched earlier in the evening on a northward path for a sun-synchronous orbit. Its upper stage fuel vent could have created the same glowing effect.

Either way, space gave us quite the light show tonight - and it’s always fun when we get front-row seats here on Earth.

Did you catch it?

- Brennen

Is going to be clear in Ottawa tonight. Catch the perseid meteor shower before it's too late!

Perseids from Perseus (APOD: 2025 Aug 12)
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Rosadziński
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250812.html

Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Perseus. That is why the meteor shower that peaks tonight is known as the Perseids -- the meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward Perseus. In terms of parent body, though, the sand-sized debris that makes up the Perseids meteors come from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet follows a well-defined orbit around our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of Perseus. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears in Perseus. Featured here, a composite image taken over six nights and containing over 100 meteors from 2024 August Perseids meteor shower shows many bright meteors that streaked over the Bieszczady Mountains in Poland. This year's Perseids, usually one of the best meteor showers of the year, will compete with a bright moon that will rise, for many locations, soon after sunset.

https://www.instagram.com/krakow_astrophotography/

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250812