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2025 NASA Science Calendar
Welcome to the 2025 NASA Science Calendar! Download our latest calendar and wallpaper backgrounds for your desktop or mobile device, and discover the fascinating science behind the images featured each month.
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2025 NASA Science Images
The strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades dazzled scientists and skywatchers in May 2024. Overnight on May 10–11, an extreme storm culminated in a remarkable display of the aurora that was visible from many areas worldwide, including latitudes where aurora sightings are uncommon. Photographers captured the striking range of colors in ground-based photos, some of which they shared with NASA’s Aurorasaurus project—a citizen science effort that maps crowdsourced aurora reports. This photo, shot by Aurorasaurus ambassador Gunjan Sinha, shows the sky on May 11, 2024, near Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada. Aurorasaurus launched in 2014 around the time of the solar maximum, part of an approximately 11-year cycle when the Sun is most active and auroras are more frequent and intense. The Sun’s activity ramped up again in 2024, and brilliant photos of the aurora poured in from citizen scientists, marking the first solar maximum that has included widespread pictures taken with smartphones. These reports help researchers better understand geomagnetic storms and verify models of where the aurora will be visible from the ground. Anyone can submit aurora sightings to Aurorasaurus online. Aurorasaurus is a project of the New Mexico Consortium, supported by the National Science Foundation and NASA. Photo and text credit: Photo by Aurorasaurus ambassador Gunjan Sinha; text by NASA Earth Observatory/Kathryn HansenAurorasaurus Citizen Scientist Captures Brilliant Photo of Aurora.
The strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades dazzled scientists and skywatchers in May 2024. Overnight on May 10–11, an extreme storm culminated in a remarkable display of the aurora that was visible from many areas worldwide, including latitudes where aurora sightings are uncommon.
Photo and text credit: Photo by Aurorasaurus ambassador Gunjan Sinha; text by NASA Earth Observatory/Kathryn Hansen
On its journey to the never-before-visited Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft made a remarkable discovery during a flyby in the main asteroid belt—the first contact binary celestial body, or satellite, seen orbiting a larger asteroid. On November 1, 2023, during Lucy’s planned encounter with asteroid Dinkinesh, the spacecraft spotted the larger asteroid’s satellite, later named Selam. This montage beginning at the upper left and moving counter-clockwise shows the asteroid in the minutes around the spacecraft’s closest approach—270 miles (430 kilometers). As Lucy sped away at 10,000 mph (16,093 kph), seen in the montage on the right moving clockwise, the two lobes of Selam came clearly into view. Lucy’s encounter with Dinkinesh was added to the mission in January 2023 to test the spacecraft’s tracking and imaging system. After an Earth gravity assist in December 2024, Lucy is slated for another main asteroid belt encounter in 2025, as it continues on its mission. Image and text credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)/National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)NASA’s Lucy Observes First Contact Binary Orbiting Asteroid
On its journey to the never-before-visited Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft made a remarkable discovery during a flyby in the main asteroid belt—the first contact binary celestial body, or satellite, seen orbiting a larger asteroid. On November 1, 2023, during Lucy’s planned encounter with asteroid Dinkinesh, the spacecraft spotted the larger asteroid’s satellite, later named Selam.
Image and text credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)/National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)
As NASA prepares to return to the Moon, it is important to study the impacts of space radiation and other spaceflight hazards on the human body. To do that, researchers developed human brain models in the lab and exposed them to simulated space radiation. This image captures a variety of cells around blood vessels and shows how astrocytes, which regulate multiple aspects of brain health, respond to radiation. Astrocytes gather to form a pattern similar to a scar (green) and express a protein that controls the permeability of blood vessels (red). Cell nuclei appear in blue. Studying how space radiation affects cells and organ models, including the brain, enables scientists to better understand the risks to astronaut health and develop countermeasures to protect crew on long-duration space journeys. Image and text credit: Estrella Passerat de la Chapelle, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and Egle Cekanaviciute, NASA’s Ames Research CenterStudying Biological Impacts of Space Radiation
As NASA prepares to return to the Moon, it is important to study the impacts of space radiation and other spaceflight hazards on the human body. To do that, researchers developed human brain models in the lab and exposed them to simulated space radiation.
Image and text credit: Estrella Passerat de la Chapelle, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and Egle Cekanaviciute, NASA’s Ames Research Center
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, launched on February 8, 2024, collects data on microscopic life in the ocean and particles in the air, advancing researchers’ understanding of issues including fisheries' health, harmful algal blooms, air pollution, and wildfire smoke. With PACE, scientists also investigate how the ocean and atmosphere interact with each other and are affected by a changing climate. This image of West Africa and the Canary Islands was taken by PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument on May 4, 2024. In it are many elements the mission enables researchers to study—and that are represented in the PACE acronym. Blooms of phytoplankton (P) are seen as green colors off the coast. Tan dust aerosols (A) blow from western Africa over the Atlantic Ocean, which is dotted with white clouds (C), some of which show distinctive von Kármán vortices to the southwest of the Canary Islands. Minerals carried within the dust deliver key nutrients, such as iron, to sustain life at the base of the ocean ecosystem (E). Image and text credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/PACE; Image processing: Carina PoulinAir and Ocean Views
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, launched on February 8, 2024, collects data on microscopic life in the ocean and particles in the air, advancing researchers’ understanding of issues including fisheries' health, harmful algal blooms, air pollution, and wildfire smoke. With PACE, scientists also investigate how the ocean and atmosphere interact with each other and are affected by a changing climate.
Image and text credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/PACE; Image processing: Carina Poulin
Every winter, a layer of carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) forms on the surface of Mars. At its greatest extent in midwinter, this frost reaches from the poles down to the middle latitudes, until it is too warm and sunny to persist. In most places, this is around 50 degrees latitude, similar to the latitude of southern Canada on Earth. However, small patches of dry ice are found closer to the equator on pole-facing slopes, which are colder because they receive less sunlight. This image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 18, 2022, in the middle of winter in Mars's southern hemisphere. It shows a crater near 37 degrees south latitude. The south-facing slope has patchy bright frost, blue in enhanced color. This frost occurs in and around the many gullies on the slope and, in other images, has caused flows in the gullies. Image and text credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)–Caltech/University of ArizonaCool as Ice
Every winter, a layer of carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) forms on the surface of Mars. At its greatest extent in midwinter, this frost reaches from the poles down to the middle latitudes, until it is too warm and sunny to persist. In most places, this is around 50 degrees latitude, similar to the latitude of southern Canada on Earth. However, small patches of dry ice are found closer to the equator on pole-facing slopes, which are colder because they receive less sunlight.
Image and text credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)–Caltech/University of Arizona
For the first time, astronomers have combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope to study the well-known supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). This work has helped explain an unusual structure in the debris from the destroyed star called the “Green Monster,” first discovered in Webb data in April 2023. The area of the Green Monster is outlined in the inset image. This composite image contains X-rays from Chandra (blue), infrared data from Webb (red, green, blue), and optical data from Hubble (red and white). The outer parts of the image also include infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (red, green, and blue). Image and text credit: X-ray: NASA/Chandra X-ray Center (CXC)/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); Optical: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)/Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Infrared (IR): NASA/ESA/Canadian Space Agency (CSA)/STScI/Milisavljevic et al., NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)–Caltech; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt and K. ArcandNASA Telescopes Chase Down “Green Monster” in Star’s Debris
For the first time, astronomers have combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope to study the well-known supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). This work has helped explain an unusual structure in the debris from the destroyed star called the “Green Monster,” first discovered in Webb data in April 2023.
Image and text credit: X-ray: NASA/Chandra X-ray Center (CXC)/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); Optical: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)/Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Infrared (IR): NASA/ESA/Canadian Space Agency (CSA)/STScI/Milisavljevic et al., NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)–Caltech; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt and K. Arcand
The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument aboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) West satellite observed a flurry of solar activity in mid-December 2023. This December 11 image from the SUVI 304A channel corresponds to plasma in the upper chromosphere of the Sun at a temperature of about 6,000 kelvins. GOES is a collaborative National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA program providing continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions and solar activity (e.g., space weather). NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center uses GOES satellite data to produce space weather forecasts to predict the impact solar storms can have on Earth. Such solar eruptions can impact technology like satellites, spark auroras, and more. NASA builds and launches the GOES satellites, and NOAA operates them. Image and text credit: NOAA/Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)NASA-NOAA Satellite Observes Large Solar Eruption
The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument aboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) West satellite observed a flurry of solar activity in mid-December 2023. This December 11 image from the SUVI 304A channel corresponds to plasma in the upper chromosphere of the Sun at a temperature of about 6,000 kelvins.
Image and text credit: NOAA/Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
This face-on view of spiral galaxy NGC 628 is split diagonally, showing observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the top left portion of the image and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the bottom right portion. JWST’s observations combine near- and mid-infrared light, while HST’s observations showcase visible light. Complementary views show predominantly stars (HST) and obscuring dust (JWST). In JWST’s high-resolution infrared images, the gas and dust stand out in stark shades of orange and red and show finer spiral shapes with the appearance of jagged edges, though these areas are still diffuse. In HST’s images, the gas and dust show up as hazy dark brown lanes, following the same spiral shapes. HST’s images are about the same resolution as JWST’s, but the gas and dust obscure a lot of the smaller-scale star formation. Image and text credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (University of Oxford), Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) TeamWebb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 628
This face-on view of spiral galaxy NGC 628 is split diagonally, showing observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the top left portion of the image and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the bottom right portion. JWST’s observations combine near- and mid-infrared light, while HST’s observations showcase visible light.
Image and text credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (University of Oxford), Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) Team
Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats in the ocean. This photo, taken from NASA’s Gulfstream V Research Aircraft on July 21, 2022, shows Arctic sea ice in the Lincoln Sea north of Greenland. For more than 40 years, NASA has been observing a dramatic decline in Arctic sea ice extent, which is a result of warming global temperatures. With the launch of Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) in 2018, NASA observes sea ice thickness as well. Sea ice thickness is a crucial measurement for understanding total ice loss at the poles and its potential impact on Earth’s climate. However, measurements of sea ice thickness are complicated in summer when the snow on sea ice melts, forming melt ponds (the aqua blue areas in the photo) that make it difficult for ICESat-2 observations to distinguish sea ice from open water. Researchers have been developing new methods to improve these summer sea ice thickness data and flew two different lidar instruments on the Gulfstream V aircraft along ICESat-2’s orbit tracks to further develop and validate these methods. Image and text credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ICESat-2/Rachel TillingThinning Arctic Sea Ice
Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats in the ocean. This photo, taken from NASA’s Gulfstream V Research Aircraft on July 21, 2022, shows Arctic sea ice in the Lincoln Sea north of Greenland.
Image and text credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ICESat-2/Rachel Tilling
During its close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io on December 30, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured some of the most detailed imagery ever of Io’s volcanic surface. In this image, taken by the JunoCam instrument from about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) above the moon, Io’s night side [left lobe] is illuminated by “Jupitershine,” which is sunlight reflected from the planet’s surface. The image shows evidence of an active plume, tall mountain peaks, and lava lakes. Juno has been exploring Jupiter and its large moons Io, Ganymede, and Europa since the spacecraft’s arrival at the planet in 2016. Originally designed to operate during eight Jupiter flybys in one of the solar system’s harshest radiation environments, JunoCam has continued to collect stunning images as Juno completed 57 orbits around the planet in early 2024. The visible-light color images from JunoCam are made available for processing by citizen scientists around the world. Juno’s other instruments include an infrared imager and navigational star camera. Image and text credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory–Caltech/Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)/Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS). Image processing: Emma Wälimäki © CC BYThe Sharpest Pictures of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io in a Generation
During its close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io on December 30, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured some of the most detailed imagery ever of Io’s volcanic surface. In this image, taken by the JunoCam instrument from about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) above the moon, Io’s night side [left lobe] is illuminated by “Jupitershine,” which is sunlight reflected from the planet’s surface.
Image and text credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory–Caltech/Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)/Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS). Image processing: Emma Wälimäki © CC BY
Soldering is an essential manufacturing step for joining electrical conductors. It involves the melting and solidification of materials, which can result in voids and shrinkage during the process. To improve the soldering process on Earth—and enable deep-space repairs and manufacturing in space—researchers conducted experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Solidified solder beads were made aboard the station in the microgravity environment and returned to Earth for investigation, where researchers cut, polished, and photographed the samples under a microscope. This photograph shows the copper wire in the top left corner (appearing as orange and resembling the Sun) and a void at the bottom right (bluish-green circle resembling Earth). Conventional solder aggregates appear in dark-brown and greenish-blue irregular patches in between. The photograph received the 2022 Gravitational and Space Research (GSR) Journal Cover Award at the 2022 American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) conference and appeared as the 2022 GSR journal cover. This work, supported by a NASA Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) grant, was awarded to Iowa State University to study the fundamental mechanisms, phenomenology, and process conditions that govern the integrity and performance of solder joints produced in terrestrial versus reduced-gravity environments. Image and text credit: Iowa State University/Manish Kumar and Siddhartha PathakSolar System Parallelism Inside a Solder Bead
Soldering is an essential manufacturing step for joining electrical conductors. It involves the melting and solidification of materials, which can result in voids and shrinkage during the process.
Image and text credit: Iowa State University/Manish Kumar and Siddhartha Pathak
A flash of lightning, and then—something else. High above a storm, a crimson figure blinks in and out of existence. If you see it, you are a lucky witness of a sprite, one of the least-understood electrical phenomena in Earth’s upper atmosphere. But if you catch it on camera, your photo could contribute to a ground-breaking scientific discovery. NASA’s citizen science project, Spritacular (pronounced sprite-tacular), leverages the power of crowdsourcing to advance the study of sprites and other Transient Luminous Events (TLEs). TLEs include a range of electrical phenomena that occur above thunderstorms and produce brief flashes of light. Many science questions pertaining to TLEs remain unanswered. Spritacular aims to generate a crowdsourced database of TLEs and connect professional scientists with members of the public who would like their camerawork to contribute to scientific studies. The photo above, shot by Spritacular project participant Nicolas Escurat with a Sony A7s camera, shows the sky on September 3, 2022, looking toward a castle named Château de Beynac in Dordogne, a department in southwest France. Photo and text credit: Photo by NASA’s Spritacular project participant Nicolas Escurat; text by NASASpritacular Citizen Scientist Captures Photo of Elusive Upper Atmospheric Electrical Phenomena Over Château de Beynac
A flash of lightning, and then—something else. High above a storm, a crimson figure blinks in and out of existence. If you see it, you are a lucky witness of a sprite, one of the least-understood electrical phenomena in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Photo and text credit: Photo by NASA’s Spritacular project participant Nicolas Escurat; text by NASA
