Category Archives: Space Station

A solar instrument panel designed and built by a University of Colorado Boulder lab and considered a key tool to help monitor the planets climate is at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida awaiting a November launch.

The instrument suite is called the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1. It will launch on a commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon capsule for delivery to the International Space Station.

Once there, it will monitor the total amount of sunlight hitting Earth, as well as how the light is distributed among the ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths.

We need to measure both because both affect Earths climate, said Dong Wu, the TSIS-1 project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

TSIS-1 was designed and built by CU Boulders Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP, for NASA Goddard. The contract value to LASP is $90 million and includes the instrument suite and an associated mission ground system.

CU Boulder professor Peter Pilewskie of LASP, lead mission scientist on the project, said TSIS will continue a 39-year record of measuring total solar radiation, the longest continuous climate record from space.

These measurements are vital for understanding the climate system because the sun is the source of virtually all of Earths energy, said Pilewski, also a faculty member in the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences. How the atmosphere responds to subtle changes in the suns output helps us distinguish between natural and human influences on climate.

Overall satellite measurements of the sun from space have shown that changes in its radiation during periods of both high and low solar activity measure only about 0.1 percent. While scientists believe changes in solar output cannot explain Earths recent warming, a longer data set could reveal greater swings in solar radiation.

One of TSISs two instruments LASPs Spectral Irradiance Monitor will measure how light from the sun is distributed by wavelength and absorbed by different parts of the plants atmosphere and surface.

This is important because measurements of the suns UV radiation are critical to understanding the conditions of Earths protective ozone layer, Pilewski said.

The TSIS instrument suite will be operated remotely from the LASP Space Technology Building in the CU Research Park.

The project involved about 30 scientists and engineers at LASP during its peak, as well as 10 support personnel from Colorado and another 10 people elsewhere, TSIS-1 project manager Brian Boyle said. The mission, slated to run at least five years, also has involved about 15 to 20 CU Boulder undergraduate and graduate students.

Excerpt from:
$90 million solar instrument panel created at CU Boulder headed to ... - The Denver Post

Sunday: The Big Dipper will be visible in the northwest tonight and is one of the most recognizable star patterns in the night sky. This group of stars is also useful in finding other stars. Imagine the handle of the Dipper as forming part of an arc. Move along the arc to the bright star Arcturus, which the International Space Station passed by a few days ago. Arcturus is one of the brightest stars visible in the sky. From Arcturus, continue along the arc to another bright star known as Spica. The mnemonic device arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica will help in remembering these two bright stars names and locations.

Monday: The full moon occurs this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The full moon of August is known as the Sturgeon Moon. This moon was named by fishing tribes because a large number of sturgeons were caught at this time. A partial eclipse of the moon occurs today as well, but will not be visible in the United States. Remember, though, in two weeks the total solar eclipse will occur.

Tuesday: Tonight the planet Jupiter is about 20 degrees above the south-southwest horizon. A telescope aimed at the giant will reveal its four brightest moons all on the western side of the planet. The moons appear as bright stars near the planet and their motion can be apparent when they are observed for several hours.

Wednesday: There are a number of bright passes by International Space Station the rest of the week. Tonight the space station first appears 10 degrees above the northwest horizon at 10:12 p.m. Three minutes later the space station reaches its highest point of 61 degrees above the northern horizon. The ISS will be located halfway between the North Star and the bright star Vega. Also at this point the space station slips into the Earths shadow and disappears.

Thursday: The International Space Station takes a bright northerly track through the sky tonight. The spacecraft starts off in the north-northeast at 9:20 p.m. By 9:23 p.m. the space station has reached its maximum altitude of 35 degrees above the northeast horizon. A minute and a half later the ISS disappears as it enters the shadow of the earth 20 degrees above the eastern horizon.

Friday: The Perseids meteor shower peaks tomorrow afternoon, so the next two nights will be the time to look for them. but the moon will provide some interference. The radiant, or point in the sky where the meteors originate, is in the northern sky in the constellation of Perseus. At 4 a.m. the radiant is 50 degrees above the north-northeast horizon. Since the moon will be out for much of the night, rates of about 40 meteors per hour might be expected.

Saturday: The brightest International Space Station pass was held for the end of the week. Tonight the ISS begins its journey across the sky at 9:11 p.m. 10 degrees above the northwest horizon. The space station then passes through the handle of the Big Dipper and by 9:14 p.m. is directly overhead. As the spacecraft continues across the sky, appearing brighter than any other object visible at this time, it eventually slips into the Earths shadow 20 degrees above the southeast horizon.

Originally posted here:
Skywatch: Perseids meteor shower will occur this week - Tulsa World

A solar instrument package designed and built by the University of Colorado and seen as key to monitoring the Earth's climate has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a launch in November.

Known as the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, designed and built by CU's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., it represents a $90 million contract value to LASP, along with an associated mission ground system, according to a news release.

TSIS-1, as it's called, is scheduled to launch in November on a commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon capsule, destined for the International Space Station.

CU Professor Peter Pilewskie, of LASP, the mission's lead scientist on the project, said TSIS will continue a 39-year record of measuring total solar radiation, the longest continuous climate record from space, the release stated.

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CU Boulder instruments destined for space station reach Florida ... - Boulder Daily Camera

The International Space Station is a unique scientific platform enabling researchers from around the world to develop experiments that could not be performed on Earth. A line of unpiloted resupply spacecraft keeps this work going, supporting efforts to enable future human and robotic exploration of destinations well beyond low-Earth orbit.

The next mission to the space station will be the 12th commercial resupply services flight for SpaceX. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 13 at approximately 12:56 p.m., from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This underscores the center's role as a premier, multi-user spaceport as this will be the ninth SpaceX rocket to take off from the launch pad, all this year. Pad 39A's history includes 11 Apollo flights, the launch of the Skylab space station in 1973, and 82 space shuttle missions.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will boost a Dragon spacecraft filled with almost 6,000 pounds of supplies. The payloads include crucial materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 52 and 53.

About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays. A carefully choreographed series of thruster firings are scheduled to allow the spacecraft to rendezvous with the space station.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli will grapple Dragon using the space station's robotic arm and install it on the station's Harmony module.

The station crew will unpack the Dragon and begin working with the experiments that include plant pillows containing seeds for NASA's Veggie plant growth system experiment. The plant pillows were prepared in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility.

Veggie, like most of the research taking place on the space station, is demonstrating how the research benefits life on Earth as it advances NASA's plans to send humans to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station. It will remain until mid-September when the spacecraft will return to Earth with results of earlier experiments, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.

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Dragon to be packed with new experiments for International Space Station - Space Daily

Submitted by University of Puget Sound

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer will be in the hot seat on the International Space Station on Friday, August 11. He will be under the scrutiny of dozens of American and Russian middle school children watching from Earth, as he referees a microgravity game of program your robot to grab the most floating objects in the finals of the international Zero Robotics tournament.

Among the faces watching the livestream at the Museum of Flight: 18 schoolchildren from Tacoma and Gig Harbor whose team beat out three regional rivals to face off on the big day against 12 other finalist teams from the United States and Russia.

The local group of seventh- and eighth-grade students are participants in University of Puget Sounds Summer Academic Challenge, a science and math-based enrichment program run by the colleges Access Programs for underrepresented students from Tacoma Public Schools.

The annual Zero Robotics game on the space station is led by NASA and MIT Space Systems Laboratory, with Schools Out Washington coordinating the Washington state competition. The game challenges schoolchildren from across the country and overseas to design a robotics program to solve a problem of genuine interest to NASA and MIT.

The Puget Sounders team from University of Puget Sound came first in the state by designing the best program to control NASAs colorful sphere-shaped robots or SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites). Their program, in a real-life scenario, potentially could pick up spacecraft spare parts or broken satellite items that are floating in space and bring them to the space station.

The 13 finalist student teams will be watching their robots in action, via a livestream feed, in venues from Massachusetts to Alabama to California. The Puget Sounders team will view the tournament at 8:20 a.m. on August 11 from the Space Gallery of the Museum of Flight in Tukwila, just south of Seattle. You can watch it live on University of Puget Sound Access Programs Facebook page.

The kids got five weeks to train and experiment with a graphical simulator, which has on-screen elements that look rather like a puzzle, and that have their movements translated into computer code, said Joseph Coln 10, Puget Sound Access Programs coordinator. They had to come up with a strategy for collecting high-value objects floating in the station that would also give them the scope to defend their own bin of objects or to try to grab competitors objects.

On the big day, each teams computer code will be loaded on to computers on the space station. The team that scores the most points for collecting objects will win. All teams participating in the program receive trophies to recognize their work.

Amy Gerdes, the Access Programs teacher guiding the Puget Sounders, said the Zero Robotics experience in coding and its real-world application help prepare the students for studies and careers in the sciences, math, computer technology, and engineering.

Win or lose, the code will be archived by Zero Robotics and potentially used in the future by space agencies on missions to Mars or for ongoing cleanup of Earths atmosphere, she said. Thats pretty special.

WHAT: The Zero Robotics competition finals, involving 13 student teams (12 in the U.S.; one in Russia) will be held on the International Space Station. There will be four Washington state teams, including the state winner, the Puget Sounders, watching the contest via a livestream feed. The media are invited.

WHEN: Friday, August 11, 8:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. Tournament starts at 8:20 a.m.

WHERE: Museum of Flight (Space Gallery), 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, WA 98108

The Puget Sounders team members: Adrianna Pettway, Aunya Crow, Gabriela Lizarraga, Gabrielle Mullen, Jasmine Chhang, Jasmine Jackson, Jenica Truong, Joseph Irish, Lavina Polk, Micah Long, Miguel Angel Davila, Mikyla Fowler, Monee Dubose, Nicholas Yeun, Quienten Miller, Quinton Pettison, Tyler Budd, and Yahbi Kaposi.

The Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program provides students with a five-week curriculum introducing them to computer programming, robotics, and space engineering. It is provided through a partnership between the MIT Space Systems Lab, Innovation Learning Center, and Aurora Flight Sciences. It is sponsored by NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and the Northrup Grumman Foundation.

University of Puget Sounds Summer Academic Challenge is run by the colleges Access Programs, which promote academic excellence for middle and high school students, in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools. The Summer Academic Challenge is a tuition-free summer math and science enrichment program that helps underrepresented students prepare for their next academic year. The program is an integral component of University of Puget Sounds commitment to diversity and its strategic goal to increase the enrollment of individuals from underrepresented minoritized groups, to improve structural diversity, and to promote students retention and success.

Schools Out Washingtons mission is to ensure all young people have safe places to learn and grow when not in school. The nonprofit group is dedicated to building community systems to support quality afterschool, youth development, and summer programs for Washingtons children and youth ages five through young adulthood.

Continued here:
Robots Run by Local Students Compete on International Space Station - southsoundtalk.com

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) captured the crewed Soyuz spacecraft firing thrusters and spewing cryogenic snow into space as it docked with the ISS last week, a scene befitting of a Star Wars space maneuver.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik tweeted out a video of the July 28 event, which can be watched below. Bresnik praises the piloting of Russian Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, who carefully unites the pointed nose of the Soyuz spacecraft with the ISSs docking port.

Docking two spaceships is essentially an orbital ballet culminating in a collision, wrote Bresnik.

These docking maneuvers have become commonplace, but a screen full of blasting thrusters and chunks of cryogenic snow is a vivid reminder of how extreme the space procedure truly is. This docking occurred while both spacecraft were racing around Earth at 17,150 miles per hour.

Until SpaceX and Boeing complete their respective crew modules which are both slated to launch in 2018 the only way any human can travel into space is aboard the Soyuz spacecraft and accompanying rocket.

NASA currently pays Russia some $70 to $80 million per seat on the Soyuz. This might be costly, but it comes with an impeccable record of safety and success. Russian engineers designed and first launched the Soyuz in the mid-1960s. After two fatal incidents soon after its inception, the craft has performed safely for nearly 50 years, both launching astronauts into space and bringing them home.

When the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner come online next year, NASA estimates that the price per seat will be a bit cheaper than a trip upon a trusty Soyuz rocket, at $58 million.

For now, there is a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the ISS at all times to serve as a lifeboat. If the ISS experiences an emergency say the station gets pummeled by an unforeseen asteroid chunk or wayward satellite astronauts can flee from the station via the Soyuz.

Such a dramatic evacuation would likely be as Star Wars-like as the docking, complete with blasting thrusters and a violent descent to Earth.

Read more:
Astronauts Film 'Star Wars'-like Docking of Spaceship With Space Station - Inverse

For the first time, astronauts 250 miles above Earth successfully tested a novel DNA detection method that changes color in the presence of a target DNA sequence, in only 30 minutes. The method, developed by NEB, is called colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (cLAMP). It works through a clever combination of an inexpensive pH dye and less of the buffer that scientists typically use during polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A change from pink to yellow indicates the presence of a predetermined DNA or RNA sequence.

"One major hurdle to DNA-based diagnostics in outer space particularly those based on PCR is the need for specialized equipment, which can present significant logistical challenges. With limited resources and challenging working environments associated with deep space travel, astronauts will need diagnostics that are simple and easy-to-use," said Nicole Nichols, Group Leader, DNA Polymerase Development at NEB and co-investigator of the experiment.

"The robustness of colorimetric LAMP in zero gravity opens up a whole new set of possibilities, including the ability to test for viruses, health markers, or even food and environmental organisms, granting a degree of self-sufficiency needed for life and survival in space," Nichols said.

Here on Earth, this technique could be instrumental in improving healthcare in remote regions of the world. For example, river blindness, the second most common cause of blindness due to infection, is normally detected through either microscopic examination or PCR detection of the Onchocerca volvulus parasite, both of which require equipment and procedures that can be cumbersome for researchers that need a quick diagnosis out in the field.

"The colorimetric LAMP assay is poised to help those who need to work without electricity and use reagents that are cost effective," said Nichols. "NEB's parasitology research group recently tested a cLAMP assay directly on skin snips from African patients with river blindness and found that it was more sensitive in detecting the parasite than PCR and conventional microscopy."

LAMP, which is a single tube technique that can make large amounts of DNA at a constant temperature, obviates the need for expensive thermocyclers used in conventional nucleic acid amplification methods like PCR. However, NEB scientists have modified the LAMP method by adding a colorimetric component that exploits a natural phenomenon during DNA amplification.

"LAMP produces large quantities of protons when DNA from a sample is amplified. However, these protons are masked by the buffer used in a typical LAMP reaction," explains Nathan Tanner, staff scientist at NEB, and one of the developers of the colorimetric LAMP assay.

"By removing the buffer from the reaction, we demonstrated that the accumulation of protons significantly changes pH levels. This change can be visualized by adding a pH-sensitive colorimetric dye, such as our pink to yellow indicator. We've taken this principle and developed it into a stable formulation, which is commercially available for a wide range of diagnostic assay developers to enable field-friendly, point-of-care tests," Tanner said.

The colorimetric LAMP assay conducted on the ISS was part of an experiment designed by Julian Rubenfein, from New York's Stuyvesant High School. Rubenfein was the 2016 winner of Genes in Space, a national competition that challenges students in grades 7-12 to design experiments that solve real-life space exploration problems through DNA analysis. Rubenfein's proposal was centered around the examination of telomere dynamics in outer space and involved two sets of experiments that were flown on board the ISS the colorimetric LAMP experiment and a more traditional PCR, also conducted using NEB's reagents. Both experiments were enabled by a portable thermocycler aboard the ISS designed by miniPCR.

TheGenes in Spacecompetition was founded by miniPCR and Boeing and is sponsored by Math for America, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, NEB, and FedEx.

To learn more about colorimetric LAMP, visit http://www.neb.com/M1800 To learn more about the Genes in Space Competition, visit GenesinSpace.org.

About New England Biolabs Established in the mid 1970s, New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB) is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR and qPCR, gene expression, sample preparation for next generation sequencing, synthetic biology, glycobiology, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors, including molecular diagnostics development. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and seven subsidiaries located in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs visit http://www.neb.com.

NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS and NEB are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.

GENES IN SPACE and MINIPCR are trademarks of Amplyus, LLC.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-successful-colorimetric-lamp-experiment-performed-on-international-space-station-opens-up-new-possibilities-for-dna-based-diagnostics-in-outer-space-300499068.html

SOURCE New England Biolabs

http://www.neb.com

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First Successful Colorimetric LAMP Experiment Performed on International Space Station Opens Up New Possibilities ... - PR Newswire (press release)

A monster typhoon has been swirling in the Northwest Pacific Ocean for over a week. On Sunday, it became the strongest storm on Earth so far this year, with 160-mph winds.

It seems inevitable, given the projections, that this storm will track over Japans southern prefectures of Okinawa and Kagoshima as a very strong typhoon. On Wednesday morning, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicted it would be near northern Okinawa on Saturday evening, Eastern Time, as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.

Japan has already endured several spates of extreme weather this summer, the AP reports, with heavy rains triggering deadly landslides on Kyushu in June that killed 37 people and left six missing. Torrential rains in northern Japan flooded parts of northern Honshu island in late July.

Astronauts on the International Space Station fly over the Pacific Ocean several times per week. Every summer, they have the opportunity to see incredible storms like Typhoon Noru.

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Check out these incredible photos from the ISS of Earth's strongest storm in 2017 - Washington Post

Soon after the onset of nautical dusk on 2August, observers in the British Isles can see not only the 10-day-old waxing gibbous Moon within a low-power binocular field of the ringed planet, but the International Space Station makes a flypast too! Outshining the brightest stars, the ISS rises low in the west soon after 11:16pm. It passes a span of an outstretched hand at arms length above Saturn low in the south-southwest a few seconds before 11:20pm for skywatchers in the heart of the UK but dont leave it too long as the spacecraft fades from view into the Earths shadow around 11:20:30pm (all times British Summer Time). AN graphic by Ade Ashford.

If you see a bright star slowly crawling across the sky in an arc from west to east, an object that doesnt flash or possess red and green running lights like an aircraft, then you can be sure that youve spotted the International Space Station (ISS). The 400-tonne orbiting laboratory is so large 73 109 x 20 metres that it can be viewed with the unaided eye from the heart of the most light-polluted town or city. Fortunately, its current orbit carries it over the British Isles and Western Europe for the next few nights.

As an added bonus, the ISS passes close above an attractive conjunction of the 10-day-old Moon and Saturn late into the evening of Wednesday, 2August 2017 for observers in the British Isles. On this night the ringed planet and waxing gibbous Moon lie just 5degrees apart, so the pair will fit in the same field of view of a low-magnification binocular. As seen from the heart of the UK, the International Space Station passes just 18degrees the span of an outstretched hand at arms length above Saturn and the Moon a few seconds before 11:20pmBST.

If you have a clear quadrant of sky from the south to the west, look low in the western sky of the British Isles at 11:17pm for the spacecrafts ascent but be vigilant as the International Space Station is only in sunlight for a further 3minutes before fading into the Earths shadow in the south close to 11:20pm+30sec. BST.

Using Astronomy Nows Almanac to make ISS viewing predictions Many of you may have used our online Almanac to obtain information about lunar phases, or the rising and setting of the Sun, Moon and planets for wherever you may live, but the Almanac can also tell you when and where to see the International Space Station.

In the Almanac, select the closest city to your location from the Country and City pull-down menus before ensuring that the box beside AddISSpasses? has a tick in it and just as importantly the DaylightSavingsTime? box, if applicable to your time and location. The table underneath the months Moon phase data then shows current nighttime passes of the International Space Station over your chosen location during the next five days, if any.

For the given Date in year/month/day format, LocalTime is the instant the ISS first becomes visible and Duration indicates the length of the sighting in minutes. At the given LocalTime, look in the direction indicated by Approach and, weather permitting, you should see the ISS as a slowly moving, bright star. Max.elevation is how high the Station will get above your horizon (90 is overhead, while 20 is about the span of an outstretched hand at arms length) and Departure indicates where the ISS will be when it vanishes from sight. Sometimes an appearance or disappearance occurs well up in the sky when the Station emerges into sunlight or slips into the Earths shadow, respectively.

Here is an example from last year computed for the centre of the UK:In the example above, as seen from the heart of the BritishIsles on the evening of Tuesday, 2August 2016, the ISS first appeared 16 (a span and a half of a fist at arms length) above the west-southwest (WSW) horizon at 10:09pmBST in a viewing window lasting five minutes. It attained a peak altitude of 50 above the south-southwest (SSW) horizon before sinking down to 15 above the eastern (E) horizon at 10:14pmBST. One orbit later, the ISS rose again at 11:46pmBST.

Note: the actual times of events in the future will change as the orbit of the ISS varies over time; Almanac predictions made on the day are more accurate.

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See the International Space Station, Moon and Saturn in the UK sky ... - Astronomy Now Online

The International Space Station is the size of a football field. But a stunning image by Spanish photographer Dani Caxete shows it as a tiny figure dwarfed by the moona jaw-dropping reminder of the magnificence of nature, and the persistence of human achievement.

The image is on the shortlist for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year, an annual contest run by Britains Royal Greenwich Observatory. Caxete writes:

The International Space Station (ISS) whizzes across the dusky face of the Earths natural satellite, the Moon, whilst photographed in broad daylight. Shining with a magnitude of -3.5, the ISS was illuminated by the Sun at a height of 9 on the horizon. Like the Moon, the ISS receives solar rays in a similar way during its 15 orbits of the Earth a day, making it possible to see it when the Sun is still up. This is a real shot, with no composite or clipping in the process.

The sight of the moonhumanitys first major conquest in spacealongside the space station makes one wonder where technology will take us next. Will we one day see spacecrafts orbiting the Earth the way we see commercials flights streak across the sky? Will a future settlement on the moon be visible from Earth?

Here are some other breathtaking shots from the contests finalists.

A stargazer observes the constellation of the Big Dipper perfectly aligned with the window of the entrance to a large glacier cave in Engadin, Switzerland. This is a panorama of two pictures, and each is a stack of another two pictures: one for the stars and another one for the foreground, but with no composing or time blending.

A large, searing hedgerow prominence extends from the surface of the Sun on 29 August 2016. There are a number of different prominence types that have been observed emanating from the Sun, and the hedgerow prominence is so called due the grouping of small prominences resembling rough and wild shrubbery.

The 7% waxing crescent Moon setting in the evening sky over the Needles Lighthouse at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. Despite the Moon being a thin crescent, the rest of its shape is defined by sunlight reflecting back from the Earths surface.

During an astrophotography tour of the Murmansk region with Stas Korotkiy, an amateur astronomer and popularizer of astronomy in Russia, the turquoise of the Aurora Borealis swirls above the snow covered trees. Illuminated by street lamps, the trees glow a vivid pink forming a contrasting frame for Natures greatest lightshow.

The Milky Way rises ominously above a small radio telescope from a large array at Miyun Station, National Astronomical Observatory of China, in the suburbs of Beijing. The image depicts the ever-growing light pollution we now experience, which together with electromagnetic noise has turned many optical and radio observatories near cities both blind and deaf a battle that inspired the photographers title of the shot. The image used a light pollution filter (iOptron L-Pro) and multiple frame stacking to get the most of the Milky Way out of the city light.

NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral galaxy found some 40 million light years away from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. Of the group of galaxies known as the Deer Lick Group, NGC 7331 is the largest, and can be seen dominating the image whilst the smaller galaxies NGC 7335, NGC 7336, NGC 7337, NGC 7338 and NGC 7340 drift above it.

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A perfectly-timed photo of the space station and the moon puts human achievements in perspective - Quartz