This is one of the thousands of images from the Artemis 2 mission that NASA recently released. In this image, you can see the moon, with some craters visible at top left, and the glow of the eclipsed sun shining behind. Over the weekend, NASA released 12,000 Artemis pics to the public. See our favorites below. Image via NASA.
NASA releases 12,000 Artemis pics!
NASA has released more than 12,000 images from the Artemis 2 mission on its website. They are a collection of views of Earth and the moon that the astronauts captured while aboard their spacecraft, Integrity. The website is here. Note that a high interest in the images has caused the website to go offline numerous times since NASA released the pictures.
To find images from the Artemis 2 mission, you’ll want to click on Search Photos. Then scroll down to the box that says “Search using NASA Photo IDs” and enter ART002-E (for the Artemis 2 mission). Then hit Run Query. Voilà!
At this point, the image data is mostly blank. A few of the downloads shared information on which astronaut – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – took the image. But most did not. Eventually, the details on who took each photo with what equipment and what you’re seeing in the photo will come.
It’s not the smoothest process! But thankfully, beloved science communicator Hank Green has built a solution. He’s created a website that allows you to view the best Artemis 2 mission photos in chronological order. Take a look. And he’s currently running a public vote to find the best of the new 12,000 photos so he can add them to the site. You can take part here.
And now, relive the thrill of the mission with some of EarthSky’s favorite images below.
Reid Wiseman took this image showing sunlight peeking out from behind the moon. You can even see some unevenness in the moon’s terrain on the limb (edge). Image via NASA.Here’s a shot of the moon that Reid Wiseman took during their lunar flyby. Instead of a man in the moon, can you see craters that almost create an image of a bear’s face near the center of the image? Image via NASA.This closeup of the moon’s cratered limb is from Victor Glover. Image via NASA.Christina Koch captured this image of the moon (left) and distant Earth (right). Image via NASA.
Looking toward home
Here’s a view of the crescent Earth from the window of the Integrity spacecraft. Image via NASA.This is the “dark side” of Earth, with the sun lighting up the limb (edge) on the right. Image via NASA.Victor Glover took this image of Earth’s thin atmosphere lit from behind. Image via NASA.Victor Glover captured this image of home. Image via NASA.
Seeing stars
The Artemis 2 astronauts also had a good view of the Milky Way galaxy. Image via NASA.Here’s a view of the Milky Way with a time lapse that reveals star trails. Image via NASA.
Bottom line: NASA has released more than 12,000 Artemis pics to the public. See some of our favorites here and find out how to access them yourself!
This is one of the thousands of images from the Artemis 2 mission that NASA recently released. In this image, you can see the moon, with some craters visible at top left, and the glow of the eclipsed sun shining behind. Over the weekend, NASA released 12,000 Artemis pics to the public. See our favorites below. Image via NASA.
NASA releases 12,000 Artemis pics!
NASA has released more than 12,000 images from the Artemis 2 mission on its website. They are a collection of views of Earth and the moon that the astronauts captured while aboard their spacecraft, Integrity. The website is here. Note that a high interest in the images has caused the website to go offline numerous times since NASA released the pictures.
To find images from the Artemis 2 mission, you’ll want to click on Search Photos. Then scroll down to the box that says “Search using NASA Photo IDs” and enter ART002-E (for the Artemis 2 mission). Then hit Run Query. Voilà!
At this point, the image data is mostly blank. A few of the downloads shared information on which astronaut – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – took the image. But most did not. Eventually, the details on who took each photo with what equipment and what you’re seeing in the photo will come.
It’s not the smoothest process! But thankfully, beloved science communicator Hank Green has built a solution. He’s created a website that allows you to view the best Artemis 2 mission photos in chronological order. Take a look. And he’s currently running a public vote to find the best of the new 12,000 photos so he can add them to the site. You can take part here.
And now, relive the thrill of the mission with some of EarthSky’s favorite images below.
Reid Wiseman took this image showing sunlight peeking out from behind the moon. You can even see some unevenness in the moon’s terrain on the limb (edge). Image via NASA.Here’s a shot of the moon that Reid Wiseman took during their lunar flyby. Instead of a man in the moon, can you see craters that almost create an image of a bear’s face near the center of the image? Image via NASA.This closeup of the moon’s cratered limb is from Victor Glover. Image via NASA.Christina Koch captured this image of the moon (left) and distant Earth (right). Image via NASA.
Looking toward home
Here’s a view of the crescent Earth from the window of the Integrity spacecraft. Image via NASA.This is the “dark side” of Earth, with the sun lighting up the limb (edge) on the right. Image via NASA.Victor Glover took this image of Earth’s thin atmosphere lit from behind. Image via NASA.Victor Glover captured this image of home. Image via NASA.
Seeing stars
The Artemis 2 astronauts also had a good view of the Milky Way galaxy. Image via NASA.Here’s a view of the Milky Way with a time lapse that reveals star trails. Image via NASA.
Bottom line: NASA has released more than 12,000 Artemis pics to the public. See some of our favorites here and find out how to access them yourself!
On this day in May 6, 1968: Neil Armstrong’s close call
In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. But things could have been very different. More than a year earlier, he narrowly escaped from a dramatic accident during training.
He was flying in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston. The LLRV had been designed to simulate a descent to the moon’s surface, and all the lunar astronauts trained in it. That day, while Armstrong was piloting, a leaking propellant caused a total failure of his flight controls.
He attempted to right the vehicle, but to no avail. The craft plummeted to the ground … and he ejected just before impact. See the dramatic footage of Neil Armstrong’s close call above.
Neil Armstrong in the lunar module Eagle shortly after his historic 1st moonwalk, when he became the 1st human to set foot on a world besides Earth. Image via NASA/ Wikipedia.
Armstrong made it through unscathed
Armstrong was fine. He bit his tongue hard during his landing by parachute, but otherwise was uninjured. Smithsonian magazine described this encounter between Armstrong and another astronaut later that day:
… astronaut Alan Bean saw Armstrong that afternoon at his desk in the astronaut office. Bean then heard colleagues in the hall talking about the accident, and asked them: ‘When did this happen?’, ‘About an hour ago,’ they replied.
Bean returned to Armstrong and said: ‘I just heard the funniest story!’ Armstrong said: ‘What?’
‘I heard that you bailed out of the LLRV an hour ago.’
‘Yeah, I did,’ replied Armstrong. ‘I lost control and had to bail out of the darn thing.’
Bean later recalled: ‘I can’t think of another person, let alone another astronaut, who would have just gone back to his office after ejecting a fraction of a second before getting killed.’
So no doubt … Armstrong was made of the right stuff for space travel!
Bottom line: On May 6, 1968 – more than a year before his famous first moonwalk – Neil Armstrong narrowly escaped disaster during a training accident.
On this day in May 6, 1968: Neil Armstrong’s close call
In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. But things could have been very different. More than a year earlier, he narrowly escaped from a dramatic accident during training.
He was flying in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston. The LLRV had been designed to simulate a descent to the moon’s surface, and all the lunar astronauts trained in it. That day, while Armstrong was piloting, a leaking propellant caused a total failure of his flight controls.
He attempted to right the vehicle, but to no avail. The craft plummeted to the ground … and he ejected just before impact. See the dramatic footage of Neil Armstrong’s close call above.
Neil Armstrong in the lunar module Eagle shortly after his historic 1st moonwalk, when he became the 1st human to set foot on a world besides Earth. Image via NASA/ Wikipedia.
Armstrong made it through unscathed
Armstrong was fine. He bit his tongue hard during his landing by parachute, but otherwise was uninjured. Smithsonian magazine described this encounter between Armstrong and another astronaut later that day:
… astronaut Alan Bean saw Armstrong that afternoon at his desk in the astronaut office. Bean then heard colleagues in the hall talking about the accident, and asked them: ‘When did this happen?’, ‘About an hour ago,’ they replied.
Bean returned to Armstrong and said: ‘I just heard the funniest story!’ Armstrong said: ‘What?’
‘I heard that you bailed out of the LLRV an hour ago.’
‘Yeah, I did,’ replied Armstrong. ‘I lost control and had to bail out of the darn thing.’
Bean later recalled: ‘I can’t think of another person, let alone another astronaut, who would have just gone back to his office after ejecting a fraction of a second before getting killed.’
So no doubt … Armstrong was made of the right stuff for space travel!
Bottom line: On May 6, 1968 – more than a year before his famous first moonwalk – Neil Armstrong narrowly escaped disaster during a training accident.
The globular cluster Omega Centauri – with as many as 10 million stars – shows all its splendor in this image captured with ESO’s La Silla Observatory. Image via ESO/ Wikimedia Commons.
Omega Centauri is the largest known globular star cluster of the Milky Way. This behemoth, also known as NGC 5139, contains about 10 million stars, and has a diameter of about 150 light-years. That makes it 10 times more massive than a typical globular cluster.
It’s not only Omega Centauri’s great size that sets it apart from other globular star clusters. While most globular clusters are made of stars of a similar age and composition, Omega Centauri is different. It holds stellar populations that formed at various periods of time. It may be that Omega Centauri is something other than a globular cluster. Instead, it might be a remnant of a small galaxy absorbed by our Milky Way galaxy in the distant past!
Despite all its stars, scientists have said Omega Centauri is probably not home to life. Why? Stars are packed so tightly inside Omega Centauri that the average distance between stars in the cluster’s core is 0.1 light-years. That’s much closer than the sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, at 4.25 light-years. So scientists suspect that stars in Omega Centauri would gravitationally interact with each other too frequently to harbor stable habitable planets.
What’s a globular star cluster?
The symmetrical, round appearance of Omega Centauri distinguishes it from star clusters such as the Pleiades and Hyades. These are examples of what astronomers call open star clusters.
An open star cluster is a loose gathering of dozens to hundreds of young stars that formed together within the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. Open clusters are weakly held together by gravity, and tend to disperse after several hundreds of millions of years.
Globular clusters, on the other hand, orbit the Milky Way outside the galactic disk. They harbor tens of thousands to millions of stars. Tightly bound by gravity, globular clusters remain intact for billions of years.
Omega Centauri is the most luminous of all globular star clusters, making it a great object for stargazers. It sits far to the south on the sky’s dome. It’s visible from the southern half of the United States, or south of 40 degrees north latitude (the latitude of Denver, Colorado and Beijing, China).
However, it’s been said that Canadians can spot Omega Centauri from as far north as Point Pelee (42 degrees north latitude). When seeing conditions are just right, they say they can catch Omega Centauri skimming along the surface of Lake Erie.
On the other hand, from the Southern Hemisphere, Omega Centauri appears much higher in the sky and is a glorious sight.
From the Southern Hemisphere, use the bright constellation Crux as a guide to find Centaurus and Omega Centauri.
It’s visible to the unaided eye
At about 16,000 light-years away, Omega Centauri is one of the few of our galaxy’s 150 or so globular clusters that is visible to the unaided eye.
It shines at +3.9 magnitude. It looks like a faint, fuzzy star. Like any globular cluster, Omega Centauri is best viewed with a telescope. Even a small scope will reveal a delicate, glittering ball of stars that becomes almost impossibly dense toward the center.
Finding Omega Centauri from the Northern Hemisphere
From some northerly latitudes, Omega Centauri is never visible. But it can be seen in more southerly parts of the Nothern Hemisphere. To see if it’s visible where you are, try inputting your location in Stellarium.
If you’re in part of the Northern Hemisphere that can see this cluster, know that it can only be seen at certain times of the year. It’s best seen in the evening sky from the Northern Hemisphere late on April, May and June evenings.
So around mid-May, this wondrous star cluster is highest up and due south around 11 p.m. your local daylight-saving time.
Then, by mid-June, Omega Centauri is highest up and due south around 10 p.m. your local daylight-saving time.
Some Northern Hemisphere residents can see Omega Centauri from January through April as well, but they must be willing to stay up past midnight or get up before dawn.
Use the bright blue-white star Spica to locate the large Omega Centauri star cluster on Northern Hemisphere spring evenings. This chart shows the view from 35 degrees north latitude. Image via Stellarium.
Use the Big Dipper to find Spica
For those in the Northern Hemisphere, Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, serves as your guide star to Omega Centauri.
When Spica and Omega Centauri transit – appear due south and reach the highest point in the sky – they do so in unison. However, Omega Centauri transits about 35 degrees south of (or below) sparkling blue-white Spica. For reference, your fist at arm’s length is roughly 10 degrees on the sky. Find Spica by following the arc in the handle of the Big Dipper.
Use the Big Dipper to locate the stars Arcturus and Spica.
Photos from our EarthSky community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Giuseppe Pappa from Sicily, Italy, used a remote telescope in Namibia to capture this view of globular cluster Omega Centauri on May 22, 2025. Giuseppe wrote: “Omega Centauri taken remotely from Namibia. For me it is one of the most beautiful and exotic objects in the sky. Where I live in Sicily, in this period, is visible very low above the horizon. This time I photographed it from Namibia with a remotely-controlled telescope.” Thank you, Giuseppe!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Scott Smith of Palmetto, Florida, captured this image on March 3 2025. Scott wrote: “Omega Centauri (NGC 5139 or Caldwell 80) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, making it the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.” Thank you, Scott!
Bottom line: The Milky Way’s largest globular star cluster, Omega Centauri, contains about 10 million stars. It’s visible from the Southern Hemisphere as well as parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
The globular cluster Omega Centauri – with as many as 10 million stars – shows all its splendor in this image captured with ESO’s La Silla Observatory. Image via ESO/ Wikimedia Commons.
Omega Centauri is the largest known globular star cluster of the Milky Way. This behemoth, also known as NGC 5139, contains about 10 million stars, and has a diameter of about 150 light-years. That makes it 10 times more massive than a typical globular cluster.
It’s not only Omega Centauri’s great size that sets it apart from other globular star clusters. While most globular clusters are made of stars of a similar age and composition, Omega Centauri is different. It holds stellar populations that formed at various periods of time. It may be that Omega Centauri is something other than a globular cluster. Instead, it might be a remnant of a small galaxy absorbed by our Milky Way galaxy in the distant past!
Despite all its stars, scientists have said Omega Centauri is probably not home to life. Why? Stars are packed so tightly inside Omega Centauri that the average distance between stars in the cluster’s core is 0.1 light-years. That’s much closer than the sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, at 4.25 light-years. So scientists suspect that stars in Omega Centauri would gravitationally interact with each other too frequently to harbor stable habitable planets.
What’s a globular star cluster?
The symmetrical, round appearance of Omega Centauri distinguishes it from star clusters such as the Pleiades and Hyades. These are examples of what astronomers call open star clusters.
An open star cluster is a loose gathering of dozens to hundreds of young stars that formed together within the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. Open clusters are weakly held together by gravity, and tend to disperse after several hundreds of millions of years.
Globular clusters, on the other hand, orbit the Milky Way outside the galactic disk. They harbor tens of thousands to millions of stars. Tightly bound by gravity, globular clusters remain intact for billions of years.
Omega Centauri is the most luminous of all globular star clusters, making it a great object for stargazers. It sits far to the south on the sky’s dome. It’s visible from the southern half of the United States, or south of 40 degrees north latitude (the latitude of Denver, Colorado and Beijing, China).
However, it’s been said that Canadians can spot Omega Centauri from as far north as Point Pelee (42 degrees north latitude). When seeing conditions are just right, they say they can catch Omega Centauri skimming along the surface of Lake Erie.
On the other hand, from the Southern Hemisphere, Omega Centauri appears much higher in the sky and is a glorious sight.
From the Southern Hemisphere, use the bright constellation Crux as a guide to find Centaurus and Omega Centauri.
It’s visible to the unaided eye
At about 16,000 light-years away, Omega Centauri is one of the few of our galaxy’s 150 or so globular clusters that is visible to the unaided eye.
It shines at +3.9 magnitude. It looks like a faint, fuzzy star. Like any globular cluster, Omega Centauri is best viewed with a telescope. Even a small scope will reveal a delicate, glittering ball of stars that becomes almost impossibly dense toward the center.
Finding Omega Centauri from the Northern Hemisphere
From some northerly latitudes, Omega Centauri is never visible. But it can be seen in more southerly parts of the Nothern Hemisphere. To see if it’s visible where you are, try inputting your location in Stellarium.
If you’re in part of the Northern Hemisphere that can see this cluster, know that it can only be seen at certain times of the year. It’s best seen in the evening sky from the Northern Hemisphere late on April, May and June evenings.
So around mid-May, this wondrous star cluster is highest up and due south around 11 p.m. your local daylight-saving time.
Then, by mid-June, Omega Centauri is highest up and due south around 10 p.m. your local daylight-saving time.
Some Northern Hemisphere residents can see Omega Centauri from January through April as well, but they must be willing to stay up past midnight or get up before dawn.
Use the bright blue-white star Spica to locate the large Omega Centauri star cluster on Northern Hemisphere spring evenings. This chart shows the view from 35 degrees north latitude. Image via Stellarium.
Use the Big Dipper to find Spica
For those in the Northern Hemisphere, Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, serves as your guide star to Omega Centauri.
When Spica and Omega Centauri transit – appear due south and reach the highest point in the sky – they do so in unison. However, Omega Centauri transits about 35 degrees south of (or below) sparkling blue-white Spica. For reference, your fist at arm’s length is roughly 10 degrees on the sky. Find Spica by following the arc in the handle of the Big Dipper.
Use the Big Dipper to locate the stars Arcturus and Spica.
Photos from our EarthSky community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Giuseppe Pappa from Sicily, Italy, used a remote telescope in Namibia to capture this view of globular cluster Omega Centauri on May 22, 2025. Giuseppe wrote: “Omega Centauri taken remotely from Namibia. For me it is one of the most beautiful and exotic objects in the sky. Where I live in Sicily, in this period, is visible very low above the horizon. This time I photographed it from Namibia with a remotely-controlled telescope.” Thank you, Giuseppe!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Scott Smith of Palmetto, Florida, captured this image on March 3 2025. Scott wrote: “Omega Centauri (NGC 5139 or Caldwell 80) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, making it the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.” Thank you, Scott!
Bottom line: The Milky Way’s largest globular star cluster, Omega Centauri, contains about 10 million stars. It’s visible from the Southern Hemisphere as well as parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. was the 1st American in space. Here he is in his silver pressure suit with the helmet visor closed, preparing for his historic flight into space. Date of photo: April 20, 1961. Image via NASA.
May 5, 1961. Just 23 days after Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first person in space, NASA launched astronaut Alan Shepard aboard the Freedom 7 capsule powered by a Redstone booster to become the first American in space. His historic flight began from Cape Canaveral in Florida and, notably, lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds before a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
During the rocket’s acceleration, Shepard experienced 6.3 g (g-forces), or 6.3 times his normal weight, just before shutdown of the Redstone engine two minutes and 22 seconds after liftoff. Soon after, America’s first space traveler got sight of the Earth from above and became the first astronaut to say:
What a beautiful view.
Splashdown: Mission success!
His spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, 302 miles (486 kilometers) from Cape Canaveral. Subsequently, a helicopter recovered him and Freedom 7 and transported them to the waiting aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain. After his flight, the astronaut joked:
It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.
A serviceman hoists Alan Shepard out of the ocean and onto an awaiting helicopter in 1961. Image via NASA.
Project Mercury put the 1st American in space
Alan Shepard was one of 110 test flight pilots who volunteered for NASA’s manned space flight program – Project Mercury – in 1959. Later, NASA selected him and six other pilots to be part of the project. All of the pilots went through a rigorous training regimen before NASA made a final selection. Of these magnificent seven, America’s first astronauts, NASA chose Shepard to become the first American to travel into space.
Meanwhile, the first American to orbit Earth was John Glenn, aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.
Trajectory of Alan Shepard’s flight aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. Image via NASA.
Competing against the Soviet Union during the Cold War
NASA launched Alan Shepard into space against a backdrop of the Cold War. The Soviet Union had launched Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, aboard a spacecraft named Vostok (Russian for East). Gagarin completed a single orbit of the Earth, landing after a flight of one hour and 29 minutes. Consequently, he became a hero in the Soviet Union and around the world.
Then three weeks later, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard flew aboard a Mercury spacecraft, which he had named Freedom 7. Kurt Debus, who was NASA’s Launch Operations director at the time and who would go on to serve as the first director of the Kennedy Space Center, said years later:
We knew we were in a competitive situation. But, we never permitted the pressure to make us take risks that might endanger Shepard’s life or the success of the mission.
The Space Race heats up
Just weeks after Shepard’s flight, the Space Race began to heat up. Significantly, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a stirring speech before a joint session of Congress, in which he declared his intention to focus U.S. efforts on landing humans on the moon within a decade. Among other things, he said:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
In due time, the first human footsteps on the moon took place on July 20, 1969. On that date, Apollo 11’s lunar module – named the Eagle – successfully landed on the moon.
The New Shepard crew capsule – named for Alan Shepard – separates from its propulsion module during an October 5, 2016, in-flight test. New Shepard is a reusable launch system – a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing suborbital manned rocket – being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism. Image via Blue Origin/ SpaceNews.com.
Bottom line: Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. His suborbital flight took place just three weeks after the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth.
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. was the 1st American in space. Here he is in his silver pressure suit with the helmet visor closed, preparing for his historic flight into space. Date of photo: April 20, 1961. Image via NASA.
May 5, 1961. Just 23 days after Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first person in space, NASA launched astronaut Alan Shepard aboard the Freedom 7 capsule powered by a Redstone booster to become the first American in space. His historic flight began from Cape Canaveral in Florida and, notably, lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds before a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
During the rocket’s acceleration, Shepard experienced 6.3 g (g-forces), or 6.3 times his normal weight, just before shutdown of the Redstone engine two minutes and 22 seconds after liftoff. Soon after, America’s first space traveler got sight of the Earth from above and became the first astronaut to say:
What a beautiful view.
Splashdown: Mission success!
His spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, 302 miles (486 kilometers) from Cape Canaveral. Subsequently, a helicopter recovered him and Freedom 7 and transported them to the waiting aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain. After his flight, the astronaut joked:
It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.
A serviceman hoists Alan Shepard out of the ocean and onto an awaiting helicopter in 1961. Image via NASA.
Project Mercury put the 1st American in space
Alan Shepard was one of 110 test flight pilots who volunteered for NASA’s manned space flight program – Project Mercury – in 1959. Later, NASA selected him and six other pilots to be part of the project. All of the pilots went through a rigorous training regimen before NASA made a final selection. Of these magnificent seven, America’s first astronauts, NASA chose Shepard to become the first American to travel into space.
Meanwhile, the first American to orbit Earth was John Glenn, aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.
Trajectory of Alan Shepard’s flight aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. Image via NASA.
Competing against the Soviet Union during the Cold War
NASA launched Alan Shepard into space against a backdrop of the Cold War. The Soviet Union had launched Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, aboard a spacecraft named Vostok (Russian for East). Gagarin completed a single orbit of the Earth, landing after a flight of one hour and 29 minutes. Consequently, he became a hero in the Soviet Union and around the world.
Then three weeks later, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard flew aboard a Mercury spacecraft, which he had named Freedom 7. Kurt Debus, who was NASA’s Launch Operations director at the time and who would go on to serve as the first director of the Kennedy Space Center, said years later:
We knew we were in a competitive situation. But, we never permitted the pressure to make us take risks that might endanger Shepard’s life or the success of the mission.
The Space Race heats up
Just weeks after Shepard’s flight, the Space Race began to heat up. Significantly, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a stirring speech before a joint session of Congress, in which he declared his intention to focus U.S. efforts on landing humans on the moon within a decade. Among other things, he said:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
In due time, the first human footsteps on the moon took place on July 20, 1969. On that date, Apollo 11’s lunar module – named the Eagle – successfully landed on the moon.
The New Shepard crew capsule – named for Alan Shepard – separates from its propulsion module during an October 5, 2016, in-flight test. New Shepard is a reusable launch system – a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing suborbital manned rocket – being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism. Image via Blue Origin/ SpaceNews.com.
Bottom line: Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. His suborbital flight took place just three weeks after the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth.
Archaeologists used AI to create this image of a man fleeing in ancient Pompeii, which was destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. So the image is fake … but the man was real. His skeleton was found holding a bowl over his head as he fled. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.
Archaeologists recreate Pompeii victim using AI technology
In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted above Pompeii, Italy, filling the air with flying rocks. A man ran through the streets of the Porta Stabia neighborhood, holding a terracotta bowl over his head for protection from the heavy shower of volcanic ash. But it wasn’t enough. He didn’t escape the devastation.
In 2024, archaeologists unearthed the skeleton of this man just outside one of Pompeii’s busiest gates. They found him curled up with the fractured terracotta bowl near his head. He also carried a ceramic lamp in an attempt to see through the ash-darkened streets. And he wore a small iron ring on his left little finger and carried 10 bronze coins.
On April 27, 2026, the Pompeii Archaeological Park in Italy said that, for the first time, it has reconstructed the moments just before the man’s ultimate fate, using AI digital technology.
Researchers used artificial intelligence software and photo editing techniques to create the image above. They wanted to present a scientifically sound image that was still accessible to the general public.
The Pompeii Archaeological Park, in collaboration with the University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory and the Ministry of Culture, created the AI reconstruction based on the skeleton and nearby materials. Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli talked about the intersection of excavations and AI. Giuli said:
The investigations conducted with these excavations demonstrate that innovative methodologies, used rigorously, can offer us new historical perspectives.
The vastness of archaeological data at Pompeii and beyond is now such that only with the help of artificial intelligence will we be able to adequately protect and enhance it. If used well, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies, narrating the classical world in a more immersive way.
The project opens a broader debate on the use of AI in archaeology: a technology that can contribute to the production of interpretative models and the improvement of communication tools, but which requires controlled and methodologically sound use, always in integration with the work of specialists.
Reconstructing the last moments
Luciano Floridi is the founding director of the Digital Ethics Center at Yale. Floridi said:
The man of Pompeii fled with a mortar on his head, a lamp in his hand, and ten coins: he carried whatever he thought was useful for orienting himself in the darkness. Two thousand years later, AI is helping us reconstruct his last moments.
AI does not replace the archaeologist. Under its control, it expands and deepens his potential and makes accessible to many what was previously accessible only to a few. Without AI, much of the heritage risks remaining unexplored for those who practice archaeology, and silent for those who love it …
AI produces hypotheses, not truths. Hypotheses must be reviewed, discussed, corrected, integrated, approved. Scientific responsibility cannot be delegated. But the risk is not that AI makes mistakes: it’s that we stop thinking by using it. The humanities teach us precisely this, to distinguish reconstruction from fantasy. Pompeii, once again, is the great laboratory that teaches us.
Pliny the Younger
The story of this man who ran for his life while trying to protect his head echoes the stories told by an eyewitness. Pliny the Younger wrote two accounts of the eruption at Pompeii. In them, he described people trying to protect their heads with objects, including tying pillows to their heads.
Photos from the excavation
The skeleton of the man was near a large terracotta bowl that had a fracture. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.Archaeologists also found a ceramic lamp near the skeleton of the man who was trying to protect his head. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.There was a second victim uncovered close to the man with the bowl protecting his head. This victim was a bit younger and likely died some hours after the first man. Archaeologists think he was overcome as he tried to run from the pyroclastic flow. A pyroclastic flow is fast-moving gas and ash that sweeps down from an eruption. These flows kill via incineration and asphyxiation. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.
Bottom line: Archaeologists have used AI technology to recreate a Pompeii victim. The man fled the volcano while trying to protect his head with a terracotta bowl.
Archaeologists used AI to create this image of a man fleeing in ancient Pompeii, which was destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. So the image is fake … but the man was real. His skeleton was found holding a bowl over his head as he fled. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.
Archaeologists recreate Pompeii victim using AI technology
In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted above Pompeii, Italy, filling the air with flying rocks. A man ran through the streets of the Porta Stabia neighborhood, holding a terracotta bowl over his head for protection from the heavy shower of volcanic ash. But it wasn’t enough. He didn’t escape the devastation.
In 2024, archaeologists unearthed the skeleton of this man just outside one of Pompeii’s busiest gates. They found him curled up with the fractured terracotta bowl near his head. He also carried a ceramic lamp in an attempt to see through the ash-darkened streets. And he wore a small iron ring on his left little finger and carried 10 bronze coins.
On April 27, 2026, the Pompeii Archaeological Park in Italy said that, for the first time, it has reconstructed the moments just before the man’s ultimate fate, using AI digital technology.
Researchers used artificial intelligence software and photo editing techniques to create the image above. They wanted to present a scientifically sound image that was still accessible to the general public.
The Pompeii Archaeological Park, in collaboration with the University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory and the Ministry of Culture, created the AI reconstruction based on the skeleton and nearby materials. Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli talked about the intersection of excavations and AI. Giuli said:
The investigations conducted with these excavations demonstrate that innovative methodologies, used rigorously, can offer us new historical perspectives.
The vastness of archaeological data at Pompeii and beyond is now such that only with the help of artificial intelligence will we be able to adequately protect and enhance it. If used well, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies, narrating the classical world in a more immersive way.
The project opens a broader debate on the use of AI in archaeology: a technology that can contribute to the production of interpretative models and the improvement of communication tools, but which requires controlled and methodologically sound use, always in integration with the work of specialists.
Reconstructing the last moments
Luciano Floridi is the founding director of the Digital Ethics Center at Yale. Floridi said:
The man of Pompeii fled with a mortar on his head, a lamp in his hand, and ten coins: he carried whatever he thought was useful for orienting himself in the darkness. Two thousand years later, AI is helping us reconstruct his last moments.
AI does not replace the archaeologist. Under its control, it expands and deepens his potential and makes accessible to many what was previously accessible only to a few. Without AI, much of the heritage risks remaining unexplored for those who practice archaeology, and silent for those who love it …
AI produces hypotheses, not truths. Hypotheses must be reviewed, discussed, corrected, integrated, approved. Scientific responsibility cannot be delegated. But the risk is not that AI makes mistakes: it’s that we stop thinking by using it. The humanities teach us precisely this, to distinguish reconstruction from fantasy. Pompeii, once again, is the great laboratory that teaches us.
Pliny the Younger
The story of this man who ran for his life while trying to protect his head echoes the stories told by an eyewitness. Pliny the Younger wrote two accounts of the eruption at Pompeii. In them, he described people trying to protect their heads with objects, including tying pillows to their heads.
Photos from the excavation
The skeleton of the man was near a large terracotta bowl that had a fracture. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.Archaeologists also found a ceramic lamp near the skeleton of the man who was trying to protect his head. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.There was a second victim uncovered close to the man with the bowl protecting his head. This victim was a bit younger and likely died some hours after the first man. Archaeologists think he was overcome as he tried to run from the pyroclastic flow. A pyroclastic flow is fast-moving gas and ash that sweeps down from an eruption. These flows kill via incineration and asphyxiation. Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park/ University of Padua – Digital Cultural Heritage Laboratory/ Ministry of Culture.
Bottom line: Archaeologists have used AI technology to recreate a Pompeii victim. The man fled the volcano while trying to protect his head with a terracotta bowl.
The bright star Arcturus is easy to identify. Just follow the arc in the handle of the Big Dipper. In other words, follow the arc to Arcturus. Image via EarthSky.
As a result, Arcturus is the 4th-brightest star in Earth’s sky. It’s the brightest star in the northern half of the sky. It’s far enough north on the sky’s dome that – for Northern Hemisphere observers – it’s visible during some part of the night throughout most of the year.
Look for Arcturus on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere. There’s an easy mnemonic for finding it. Just remember the phrase follow the arc to Arcturus. So you’ll follow the arc in the Big Dipper’s handle – just draw that line outward, in your mind – until you reach this bright orange star.
Arcturus is the alpha star of a cone-shaped constellation called Boötes the Herdsman. It’s tough to see a herdsman in these stars. But you might see a kite! See the chart below.
Arcturus is in the constellation Boötes the Herdsman. Boötes has the shape of a kite, and Arcturus is at the point where you’d attach a tail. You can see it on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere.
It’s the brightest star in the northern half of the sky
When astronomers speak of the celestial sphere, they’re talking about the imaginary sphere of stars surrounding Earth.
Imagine Earth’s equator projected onto the sky. A line drawn all the way around the sky – above Earth’s equator – is called the celestial equator. It divides the sky into northern and southern hemispheres, much as the earthly equator does for Earth.
The three brightest stars of the sky – Sirius, Canopus and Alpha Centauri – are all south of this celestial equator.
And, meanwhile, Arcturus is north of the celestial equator. That makes Arcturus the brightest star in the northern part of the sky. But it’s only marginally brighter than the north celestial sphere’s 2nd-brightest star, blue-white Vega.
By the way … did you know? Some people think Polaris, the North Star, is the brightest star. But it’s not. It’s about the 50th brightest star! It’s famous for being located near the celestial north pole. Read about Polaris here.
History and mythology of Bootes and Arcturus
Arcturus’ constellation Boötes the Herdsman is sometimes pictured as guarding the Great Bear, or Ursa Major, which contains the Big Dipper asterism. We sometimes hear Arcturus called the Bear Guard.
In China, Arcturus’ constellation is also called the Dragon.
In some classical Greek stories, Boötes was Icarus, who flew too close to the sun.
Because it passes directly over the Hawaiian islands, Arcturus – brightest light in Bootes – was a particularly important navigational star to the islands’ indigenous inhabitants and other Polynesians.
The translation may be questioned, but Arcturus is among the few stars mentioned in the Bible. (“Which maketh Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south” – Job 9:9, KJV, and “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” – Job 38:32, KJV.)
Arcturus is so bright, it’s can be seen in daytime
In 1635, less than three decades after the invention of the telescope, Jean-Baptiste Morin of France observed Arcturus in the daytime with a telescope.
It was the first time that any star, besides the sun and a rare supernova, had been seen telescopically during daylight hours.
You can also observe Arcturus with the unaided eye during the day. There’s an explanatioin on how to do it in this reprint of a science paper from 1911.
1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago
One interesting story about Arcturus relates to the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Its promoters wanted a flashy way to open the show. And somebody figured out that the light from Arcturus could start it.
At 9:15 pm on May 27, 1933, four telescopes located in different observatories captured the light from the star and focused it into photoelectric cells. The photocells in turn worked as the switch that turned on the main spotlights to open the exhibition. It’s a good thing it wasn’t cloudy!
How did this idea come about? There’d also been a World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, 40 years earlier. And, at the time, astronomers thought that Arcturus was 40 light-years away. If so, that light left Arcturus at the end of the 1893 fair and traveled for 40 years through space, like an Olympic torch bearer, to open the 1933 show.
It was a good idea. But today’s astronomers place the distance to Arcturus at just less than 37 light-years. Oh well. Progress!
The red giant Arcturus is roughly 25 times the diameter of our sun. But it’s not the largest of the red giants, as this diagram shows. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Arcturus compared to our sun
Arcturus is a more evolved star than our sun. Billions of years from now, our sun will be a red giant star, much as Arcturus is now.
Arcturus’ diameter is roughly 25 times greater than our sun. Because of its larger size, it radiates more than 100 times the light of our sun, in visible light. If you consider infrared and other frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, Arcturus is about 200 times more powerful than our sun. But its mass is only slightly greater than the sun’s.
The reddish or orange color of Arcturus signifies its temperature, which is about 7,300 degrees Fahrenheit (around 4,000 degrees Celsius). That makes it several thousand degrees cooler than the surface of our sun.
Arcturus is flying southward
Generally speaking, the stars are fixed. They are all moving through space, but we don’t see them move because they’re so far away. But Arcturus has a large proper motion, or sideways motion, on the dome of Earth’s sky. Among the 1st-magnitude (or bright) stars in our stellar neighborhood, only Alpha Centauri – our sun’s nearest neighbor among the stars – has a higher proper motion.
And of course, the large proper motion of Alpha Centauri stems from the fact that it’s so close to us.
But what does the proper motion of Arcturus tell us?
It tells us that Arcturus is moving at a tremendous speed (76 miles/s or 122 km/s) relative to our solar system. Arcturus is thought to be an old star. It appears to be moving with a group of at least 52 other such stars, known as the Arcturus stream or Arcturus moving group.
Scientists think these stars weren’t part of our Milky Way galaxy, originally. Instead, they might have come from a dwarf satellite galaxy that assimilated into the Milky Way.
From the vantage point of Earth, Arcturus is rapidly moving in a southerly direction at a rate of 3.9 arcminutes per century. It’s now at about its closest point to Earth. As it moves away, it’ll someday vanish from visibility to the unaided eye.
This will happen when it reaches the border of the southern constellations Carina and Vela … in about 150,000 years.
The position of Arcturus is RA: 14h 15 m 39.7s, dec: +19° 10′ 56″
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy captured this image on May 1, 2025, from Oregon and wrote: “The Big Dipper, Arcturus and Polaris, the North Star, shine brightly with the other stars in the still of the blue midnight. The 2 front stars of the Big Dipper are called Pointers because they point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris, is the brightest star in the Little Dipper and the closest bright star to the north celestial pole. When you are looking at Polaris, you are facing north. Arcturus is a 1st-magnitude star and stands right behind the Big Dipper. Arcturus is the brightest star of the constellation Boötes the Herdsman.” Thank you, Cecille!
Bottom line: Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern half of the sky. It’s easy to find in spring in the Northern Hemisphere near the handle of the Big Dipper.
The bright star Arcturus is easy to identify. Just follow the arc in the handle of the Big Dipper. In other words, follow the arc to Arcturus. Image via EarthSky.
As a result, Arcturus is the 4th-brightest star in Earth’s sky. It’s the brightest star in the northern half of the sky. It’s far enough north on the sky’s dome that – for Northern Hemisphere observers – it’s visible during some part of the night throughout most of the year.
Look for Arcturus on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere. There’s an easy mnemonic for finding it. Just remember the phrase follow the arc to Arcturus. So you’ll follow the arc in the Big Dipper’s handle – just draw that line outward, in your mind – until you reach this bright orange star.
Arcturus is the alpha star of a cone-shaped constellation called Boötes the Herdsman. It’s tough to see a herdsman in these stars. But you might see a kite! See the chart below.
Arcturus is in the constellation Boötes the Herdsman. Boötes has the shape of a kite, and Arcturus is at the point where you’d attach a tail. You can see it on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere.
It’s the brightest star in the northern half of the sky
When astronomers speak of the celestial sphere, they’re talking about the imaginary sphere of stars surrounding Earth.
Imagine Earth’s equator projected onto the sky. A line drawn all the way around the sky – above Earth’s equator – is called the celestial equator. It divides the sky into northern and southern hemispheres, much as the earthly equator does for Earth.
The three brightest stars of the sky – Sirius, Canopus and Alpha Centauri – are all south of this celestial equator.
And, meanwhile, Arcturus is north of the celestial equator. That makes Arcturus the brightest star in the northern part of the sky. But it’s only marginally brighter than the north celestial sphere’s 2nd-brightest star, blue-white Vega.
By the way … did you know? Some people think Polaris, the North Star, is the brightest star. But it’s not. It’s about the 50th brightest star! It’s famous for being located near the celestial north pole. Read about Polaris here.
History and mythology of Bootes and Arcturus
Arcturus’ constellation Boötes the Herdsman is sometimes pictured as guarding the Great Bear, or Ursa Major, which contains the Big Dipper asterism. We sometimes hear Arcturus called the Bear Guard.
In China, Arcturus’ constellation is also called the Dragon.
In some classical Greek stories, Boötes was Icarus, who flew too close to the sun.
Because it passes directly over the Hawaiian islands, Arcturus – brightest light in Bootes – was a particularly important navigational star to the islands’ indigenous inhabitants and other Polynesians.
The translation may be questioned, but Arcturus is among the few stars mentioned in the Bible. (“Which maketh Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south” – Job 9:9, KJV, and “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” – Job 38:32, KJV.)
Arcturus is so bright, it’s can be seen in daytime
In 1635, less than three decades after the invention of the telescope, Jean-Baptiste Morin of France observed Arcturus in the daytime with a telescope.
It was the first time that any star, besides the sun and a rare supernova, had been seen telescopically during daylight hours.
You can also observe Arcturus with the unaided eye during the day. There’s an explanatioin on how to do it in this reprint of a science paper from 1911.
1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago
One interesting story about Arcturus relates to the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Its promoters wanted a flashy way to open the show. And somebody figured out that the light from Arcturus could start it.
At 9:15 pm on May 27, 1933, four telescopes located in different observatories captured the light from the star and focused it into photoelectric cells. The photocells in turn worked as the switch that turned on the main spotlights to open the exhibition. It’s a good thing it wasn’t cloudy!
How did this idea come about? There’d also been a World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, 40 years earlier. And, at the time, astronomers thought that Arcturus was 40 light-years away. If so, that light left Arcturus at the end of the 1893 fair and traveled for 40 years through space, like an Olympic torch bearer, to open the 1933 show.
It was a good idea. But today’s astronomers place the distance to Arcturus at just less than 37 light-years. Oh well. Progress!
The red giant Arcturus is roughly 25 times the diameter of our sun. But it’s not the largest of the red giants, as this diagram shows. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Arcturus compared to our sun
Arcturus is a more evolved star than our sun. Billions of years from now, our sun will be a red giant star, much as Arcturus is now.
Arcturus’ diameter is roughly 25 times greater than our sun. Because of its larger size, it radiates more than 100 times the light of our sun, in visible light. If you consider infrared and other frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, Arcturus is about 200 times more powerful than our sun. But its mass is only slightly greater than the sun’s.
The reddish or orange color of Arcturus signifies its temperature, which is about 7,300 degrees Fahrenheit (around 4,000 degrees Celsius). That makes it several thousand degrees cooler than the surface of our sun.
Arcturus is flying southward
Generally speaking, the stars are fixed. They are all moving through space, but we don’t see them move because they’re so far away. But Arcturus has a large proper motion, or sideways motion, on the dome of Earth’s sky. Among the 1st-magnitude (or bright) stars in our stellar neighborhood, only Alpha Centauri – our sun’s nearest neighbor among the stars – has a higher proper motion.
And of course, the large proper motion of Alpha Centauri stems from the fact that it’s so close to us.
But what does the proper motion of Arcturus tell us?
It tells us that Arcturus is moving at a tremendous speed (76 miles/s or 122 km/s) relative to our solar system. Arcturus is thought to be an old star. It appears to be moving with a group of at least 52 other such stars, known as the Arcturus stream or Arcturus moving group.
Scientists think these stars weren’t part of our Milky Way galaxy, originally. Instead, they might have come from a dwarf satellite galaxy that assimilated into the Milky Way.
From the vantage point of Earth, Arcturus is rapidly moving in a southerly direction at a rate of 3.9 arcminutes per century. It’s now at about its closest point to Earth. As it moves away, it’ll someday vanish from visibility to the unaided eye.
This will happen when it reaches the border of the southern constellations Carina and Vela … in about 150,000 years.
The position of Arcturus is RA: 14h 15 m 39.7s, dec: +19° 10′ 56″
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy captured this image on May 1, 2025, from Oregon and wrote: “The Big Dipper, Arcturus and Polaris, the North Star, shine brightly with the other stars in the still of the blue midnight. The 2 front stars of the Big Dipper are called Pointers because they point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris, is the brightest star in the Little Dipper and the closest bright star to the north celestial pole. When you are looking at Polaris, you are facing north. Arcturus is a 1st-magnitude star and stands right behind the Big Dipper. Arcturus is the brightest star of the constellation Boötes the Herdsman.” Thank you, Cecille!
Bottom line: Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern half of the sky. It’s easy to find in spring in the Northern Hemisphere near the handle of the Big Dipper.
This isn’t an ordinary cloud. It’s a fire-generated thunderstorm, as seen from an airplane in 2019. Weather-watchers call this a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. Lightning strikes, strong winds, and even fire tornadoes spawned by pyrocumulonimbus clouds can, in turn, make wildfires worse. Image via NOAA.
What are pyrocumulonimbus clouds?
Most people have heard of cumulonimbus clouds, those towering thunderheads that bring storms with lightning, thunder, heavy rain, hail and sometimes tornadoes. Pyro is a prefix meaning fire. And pyrocumulonimbus clouds are thunderheads that form due to fires.
So when wildfires grow large and intense, they can create their own weather. The heat and smoke from fires can rise into the atmosphere like the updraft in a thunderstorm. As the hot air ascends, it carries smoke, ash and water vapor high into the atmosphere.
If conditions are right – especially if the atmosphere is unstable – the rising plume can grow into a towering thunderstorm cloud. These clouds look quite similar to cumulonimbus clouds that produce lightning and heavy rain, except for brownish colors at their base. But pyrocumulonimbus clouds are fueled by fire rather than typical atmospheric processes.
Some pyrocumulonimbus clouds can reach heights of 30,000 to 50,000 feet (9 to 15 km)! That’s far above the height most airplanes fly. They can punch through the troposphere (the layer of air closest to Earth where we live) to the stratosphere. They can also spread out into anvil-shaped tops.
And the higher these clouds reach, the more these fires can spread smoke. It’s partly thanks to pyrocumulonimbus clouds that the smoke from wildfires can travel thousands of miles away.
Before there are pyrocumulonimbus clouds, they might be ordinary pyrocumulus clouds. This smaller version of a fire-generated cloud will have a darker, brown-tinged base. Sometimes you can see the fire beneath it, but sometimes the fire is hidden by haze or the terrain.
But as the fire grows, so can the cloud. Eventually the rising air and heat causes moisture to condense on particles, in this case, usually smoke particles. The formation of a pyrocumulonimbus cloud can bring rain. But, unfortunately, by that time the cloud has often drifted downwind. So the rain typically falls outside the fire.
And here’s an especially pernicious aspect of pyrocumulonimbus clouds. They can create lightning and thus spark new areas of fire nearby. Plus, the storms can generate strong winds that make the fire situation worse.
In fact, if the conditions are right, the storms that occur with pyrocumulonimbus clouds can even generate a fire tornado. Also known as a fire whirl, fire swirl, fire devil, firenado or fire twister, a fire tornado is a whirlwind induced by a fire and often (at least partially) composed of flame or ash.
In 2018, a firefighter was tragically killed in California when the Carr fire spawned a fire tornado. Read about it here. Or watch incredible video in the news report below.
Smoke in the upper atmosphere can last for months
In 2023, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a study of pyrocumumlonimbus clouds’ effect on Earth’s atmosphere. The study showed that that smoke injected into the upper atmosphere via these clouds can stick around for months. A fire in 2017 in the Pacific Northwest put so much smoke into the atmosphere that remote sensing instruments around the globe monitored it for more than eight months.
Fires that year forced also black carbon and organic carbon into the lower stratosphere. This carbon affected our climate and temporarily cooled the planet.
These fire clouds are growing larger and more frequent.
Lead author Joe Katich, who now works for BAE Systems, said that same year:
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds contribute more to the stratospheric makeup than we thought. They act in different ways than we thought and stick around longer than we thought. This finding is important on its own. But it will also help us understand the long-term implications of solar geoengineering with aerosols. [Editor’s note: Geoengineering refers to a range of different activities that humans might undertake with the goal of cooling the Earth or removing certain gases from the atmosphere.]
Bottom line: Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are fire-driven thunderstorms. The storms can produce lightning and strong winds that make the fire situation worse.
This isn’t an ordinary cloud. It’s a fire-generated thunderstorm, as seen from an airplane in 2019. Weather-watchers call this a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. Lightning strikes, strong winds, and even fire tornadoes spawned by pyrocumulonimbus clouds can, in turn, make wildfires worse. Image via NOAA.
What are pyrocumulonimbus clouds?
Most people have heard of cumulonimbus clouds, those towering thunderheads that bring storms with lightning, thunder, heavy rain, hail and sometimes tornadoes. Pyro is a prefix meaning fire. And pyrocumulonimbus clouds are thunderheads that form due to fires.
So when wildfires grow large and intense, they can create their own weather. The heat and smoke from fires can rise into the atmosphere like the updraft in a thunderstorm. As the hot air ascends, it carries smoke, ash and water vapor high into the atmosphere.
If conditions are right – especially if the atmosphere is unstable – the rising plume can grow into a towering thunderstorm cloud. These clouds look quite similar to cumulonimbus clouds that produce lightning and heavy rain, except for brownish colors at their base. But pyrocumulonimbus clouds are fueled by fire rather than typical atmospheric processes.
Some pyrocumulonimbus clouds can reach heights of 30,000 to 50,000 feet (9 to 15 km)! That’s far above the height most airplanes fly. They can punch through the troposphere (the layer of air closest to Earth where we live) to the stratosphere. They can also spread out into anvil-shaped tops.
And the higher these clouds reach, the more these fires can spread smoke. It’s partly thanks to pyrocumulonimbus clouds that the smoke from wildfires can travel thousands of miles away.
Before there are pyrocumulonimbus clouds, they might be ordinary pyrocumulus clouds. This smaller version of a fire-generated cloud will have a darker, brown-tinged base. Sometimes you can see the fire beneath it, but sometimes the fire is hidden by haze or the terrain.
But as the fire grows, so can the cloud. Eventually the rising air and heat causes moisture to condense on particles, in this case, usually smoke particles. The formation of a pyrocumulonimbus cloud can bring rain. But, unfortunately, by that time the cloud has often drifted downwind. So the rain typically falls outside the fire.
And here’s an especially pernicious aspect of pyrocumulonimbus clouds. They can create lightning and thus spark new areas of fire nearby. Plus, the storms can generate strong winds that make the fire situation worse.
In fact, if the conditions are right, the storms that occur with pyrocumulonimbus clouds can even generate a fire tornado. Also known as a fire whirl, fire swirl, fire devil, firenado or fire twister, a fire tornado is a whirlwind induced by a fire and often (at least partially) composed of flame or ash.
In 2018, a firefighter was tragically killed in California when the Carr fire spawned a fire tornado. Read about it here. Or watch incredible video in the news report below.
Smoke in the upper atmosphere can last for months
In 2023, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a study of pyrocumumlonimbus clouds’ effect on Earth’s atmosphere. The study showed that that smoke injected into the upper atmosphere via these clouds can stick around for months. A fire in 2017 in the Pacific Northwest put so much smoke into the atmosphere that remote sensing instruments around the globe monitored it for more than eight months.
Fires that year forced also black carbon and organic carbon into the lower stratosphere. This carbon affected our climate and temporarily cooled the planet.
These fire clouds are growing larger and more frequent.
Lead author Joe Katich, who now works for BAE Systems, said that same year:
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds contribute more to the stratospheric makeup than we thought. They act in different ways than we thought and stick around longer than we thought. This finding is important on its own. But it will also help us understand the long-term implications of solar geoengineering with aerosols. [Editor’s note: Geoengineering refers to a range of different activities that humans might undertake with the goal of cooling the Earth or removing certain gases from the atmosphere.]
Bottom line: Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are fire-driven thunderstorms. The storms can produce lightning and strong winds that make the fire situation worse.
