Can't find any info on the status of the TACHELES 6U CubeSat from Germany, deployed by Artemis II.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

A fascinating image of the Moon's far side during the total solar eclipse, as seen last night by Artemis II astronauts around 01:06:19 UTC.

The Sun's corona forms a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing details of the Sun’s outer atmosphere typically hidden by its brightness.

The left side of the moon is dimly lit up by Earth-shine, light reflected off the Earth, which is located off the frame in the distance on the left side.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193054741/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/
64/n

[ericfielding@mastodon.social]

@AkaSci What three planets are visible to the lower right of the Moon?

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

@EricFielding
Saturn, Mars and Mercury as seen in this simulated view at 01:06:19 UTC April 7.

Neptune, located between Saturn and Mars, is too faint to see.

Eyes on the Solar System - NASA/JPL

Explore the 3D world of the Solar System. Learn about past and future missions.

Eyes on the Solar System - NASA/JPL (eyes.nasa.gov)

[the_turtle@mastodon.sdf.org]

@AkaSci yay, regular old 10-year-old DSLRs in spaaaaaaaaaace!

My D7200 feels better now.

[cosmos4u@scicomm.xyz]

@AkaSci This is NOT the corona - all the NASA image captions get it wrong - but the zodiacal light i.e. cold dust unrelated to the Sun other than being illuminated by it. The super-hot atmosphere of the Sun, the (K) corona, shows up only in the image https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e009299 as the helmet streamers on top of the zodiacal light pyramid. Require more image processing - some high spatial frequency boosting - to bring them out more clearly.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

@cosmos4u
They just updated the description of the image with "We see a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. The science community is investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two."

[cosmos4u@scicomm.xyz]

@AkaSci Yikes, they have a room full of 40-50 top scientists - and need to "investigate" a most obvious phenomenon ... #facepalm

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

@cosmos4u
True.

The Corona goes out about 13 million km from the Sun's surface, as measured by PSP. So, the Corona sphere diameter = ~27 million km.

The moon is blocking a sphere around the Sun with diameter of about 42 million km, given the vantage point of Orion, 10,410 km from the surface of the Moon at that point in time.

So, it is bit of a stretch to attribute the halo to the Corona.

I corrected the post.
Thanks!

[enigma@norden.social]

@AkaSci
tried already to contact them ?
+49 30 275816600
info@neurospace.de
https://www.neuro-space.de/mission

and don't hesitate to contact DLR, Cologne PR department
https://www.dlr.de/de/aktuelles/nachrichten/2024/artemis-ii-deutscher-kleinsatellit-fliegt-mit-zum-mond
Kommunikation & Presse
Königswinterer Straße 522-524, 53227 Bonn
Tel: +49 228 447-221

@markmccaughrean @cosmos4u

[cosmos4u@scicomm.xyz]

@AkaSci The caption in https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/07/artemis-ii-flight-day-7-crew-makes-long%e2%80%91distance-call-begins-return/ remains the same ...

[seiz@mastodon.social]

@AkaSci @monkeydom_de Wow! Instant Desktop:

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

The solar eclipse imaged by the "mighty" GoPro HERO4 Black camera mounted on one of the solar arrays of the Artemis II Orion spacecraft, taken at 01:10:44 UTC.

Featuring the moon lit by Earthshine on the left, a halo of zodiacal light, planets Saturn and Mars on the lower right and stars posing for the camera.

Go #Artemis. Go #GoPro.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193566011/
65/n

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

The two newly named craters on the Moon -
1. Carroll - named after astronaut Reid Wiseman's late wife, 18.84°N 86.83°W
2. Integrity - named after the Artemis II Orion spacecraft, 2.67°N 104.92°W

After the mission is complete, the crater name proposals will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union for official review and adoption.

https://quickmap.lroc.im-ldi.com/?camera=8583.1212%2C-4490898.2733%2C12862.3235%2C-0.0019%2C1%2C-0.0029%2C0%2C0.0029%2C1%2C60&showGraticule=true&stack=3314%2C3113&proj=22&defs=N4IgzAjBYgXKB7ADgQwMYEsAuBPOAGAOgBYwBfAGnEmLkVU1zgjLKA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carroll_(crater)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrity_(crater)
66/n

[ericfielding@mastodon.social]

@AkaSci Thanks, I knew one was Mars because one of the astronauts was talking during the eclipse and said one of the bright planets seemed to be orange or red. The Houston ground folks said "that is Mars, our future destination". I don't think the astronaut's comment was scripted but the ground "capcom" had that line ready.