On Friday, SDO captured views of the sun coughing out a strong X2.2 solar flare. X-class flares are the most powerful kind. The X2.2 solar flare occurs at 44 seconds into the video. “Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy,“NASA saidin a statement on Friday. NASA categorizessolar flares into classes. A-class flares are weak, while X-class flares are the strongest. There’s a lot of wiggle room within the X-class. Higher numbers are more intense, with scientists having measured a whopper of an X28 in 2003....

Gravity: hard to live with it and inconceivable to imagine the universe without it. The below GIF is made up of a number of images from SOHO captured late Saturday and early Sunday. But this particular unnamed comet has made its final visit to our neighborhood. Rest in (obliterated) pieces, buddy.

NASA has revealed the16 people who will lead its studyofunidentified aerial phenomena. The team will look at unclassified data from civilian government entities, commercial entities and other sources. According to the space agency, UAP concerns both national security and air safety. The people chosen for the study are specialists across artificial intelligence, aerospace safety, science and data. Led by astrophysicistDavid Spergelas chair, the team is: More on UFOs

In 1572, Tycho Brahe noticed what seemed to be a bright new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Danish astronomer had actually spotted an ex-star. The above image of theTycho supernova remnantwas created using observations from NASA and the Smithsonian’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The latest addition to the collection is the sounds of the Tycho supernova remnant. The sonification uses the Chandra X-ray data, starting at the center and moving outward....

When it’s rescheduled, the spacewalk will be the fifth for Marshburn and the first for Barron.

Viper is a sturdy-looking wheeled vehicle designed to search for ice on the moon’s South Pole. Water is heavy and expensive to transport across space. That’s where Viper would come in, to help map the frigid South Pole and locate ice deposits. When Viper and Griffin eventually launch, it’ll beon a SpaceX Falcon Heavyrocket. Delays are common for space missions, especially when dealing with new equipment like the lander. It’s space business as usual, then, for the Viper mission....

NASA is once again delaying its Artemis missions to the Moon. This marks another schedule shift to the missions due to technical and logistical challenges. “We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.” Humans have not landed on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The new timeline appears to eliminate thepreviously hoped-for April launch date. “We’re still evaluating the tail end of May.” That’ll be an approximately 11-hour trip. Other parameters the team is considering include weather, emphasizing the importance of a daylight launch. “I think that’s quite an honor for all of us.”

A sunrise on Mars is a different experience from a sunrise on Earth. “I’ll never tire of sunrise on Mars,“the InSight team tweeted this week. A GIF shows the glowing orb of the sun as it moved above the horizon on April 10. Ill never tire of sunrise on Mars. Itsburrowing “mole"wasn’t able to work itself into the ground. But it has given scientists anew view of the planet’s interiorandtracked the activity of marsquakes....

This Saturday,NASAinvites the world to join together in an international revelry for lunar science. The hour-longNASA TV broadcastwill kick off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT. The broadcast will live stream onNASA Televisionand NASA social media channels. Virtual and at-home activities for for all ages are scheduled for the evening. Check out thefull listof activities on NASA’s website.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has delivered another unforgettable view of stormy Jupiter. Jupiter’s stormy atmosphere is home to jet streams, which are bands of strong winds. Juno is helping scientists study what’s going on with these flows. It’s visible at the top right, sneaking off over the horizon. We can look forward to more excellent Jupiter views sinceNASA recently extended the mission until late 2025. Here’s to looking at you, Jupiter.

On Saturday, NASA dropped the latest video ofIngenuity, allowing you to experience those thrills for yourself. DuringIngenuity’s 25th flight, on April 18, the little rotorcraft that could most certainlydid. Its next flight will be its 29th.

Ingenuity’s previous flight, No. 28, took place at the end of April. Ingenuity has greatly outlasted its expected lifespan since taking its first flight in April 2021.