RECENT SPACE EXPLORATION
by Paul D. Maley, NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society
PHOTOS OF NOCTILUCENT CLOUD FROM THE STARLINK 17-46 LAUNCH JULY 1, 2026
Perfect sky from Carefree, Arizona after we missed seeing the trail of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched. The VAFB launch occurred 3 minutes after sunset and this photo had to wait until almost 50 minutes after sunset for the cloud to become visible.
One of a number of photos I shot that was published online on Spaceweather.com.
PHOTO OF 7 OF 25 STARLINKS 3 DAYS AFTER LAUNCH MAY 24, 2026
First attempt to use a new Iphone 17 Pro to capture some of the Starlink group G10-31 broad-band satellites launched on May 21, 2026. Range about 300km, magnitude +2.
LAUNCH OF STARLINK 17-14 ON MAY 20, 2026
Liftoff was at 0050UT but the Sun had only recently gone below the horizon so the usual launch cloud was not going to be easily seen. We also had bands of clouds in the southwest and west sky which made detecting a launch cloud difficult. However, within about 10 minutes after liftoff I could see a faint glow a degree or two above the west horizon which gradually brightened as in this image.
The remnants of the yellow/orange launch cloud as distinguished from unrelated clouds above. Looking toward Anthem, Arizona. Photo with Iphone 17Pro.
At 0114UT I spotted the typical silvery noctilucent cloud a few degrees higher in the sky. It was clearly visible in a gap between the regular clouds that permeated my local sky.
The detached noctilucent cloud from the Starlink 17-14 launch.
DISCOVERY OF A SATELLITE ORBITING AN ASTEROID MARCH 7, 2026 FROM CAREFREE, ARIZONA
On this night I recorded an occultation of a 13th magnitude star by the asteroid(92590) with a 28cm telescope and Watec 910HX camera. This was a distinct double occultation. After independent analysis it was concluded that this was not a double star that caused this second drop. Other factors combined with analysis of the data by IOTA determined that this is indeed a satellite (object on the left in both graphs). The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams declared it officially on May 6. This is the culmination of my own 49 years and 2 days of attempting to discover such an object after my visual observation of a 0.5 second occultation of 3.6 magnitude Gamma Ceti on March 5, 1977 from Victoria, Texas. That observation was the catalyst for this decades long quest to personally determine if I could conclusively discover a real asteroid satellite. It was my 1,051st positive detection of an asteroid eclipse and after at least 2,000 attempts that ended in no occultation of any kind being seen. I have conducted expeditions to 6 continents in attempting such a discovery prior to this with no avail. Image on the left is the graph showing light changes over time and the two eclipses. Image on the right is a model showing the satellite (left ellipse) and primary asteroid at the time of the occultation. Reference CBET5686. The original 1977 occultation account can be found in Occultation Newsletter Volume 1, No. 11.
SPACEX LAUNCH APRIL 23, 2026 FROM CAREFREE, ARIZONA AT 0325UT
PRESENTATION APRIL 19 2026 IN SEDONA, ARIZONA ON 2026 AND 2027 SOLAR ECLIPSE EXPEDITIONS
CHINESE YAOGAN-03 A, B, AND C OBJECTS
Launched in September 2025 these are reconaissance satellites in polar orbit and their near co-location is not by coincidence. Photographed April 2, 2026 from Carefree, Arizona. The brightest object is magnitude +4 while the other two are 1.5 magnitudes dimmer. Overhead pass at a range of 943km.
ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBURG AFB
Starlink group 17-17 launch cloud 3 hours 43 minutes after liftoff as seen from Carefree, Arizona March 26, 2026.
ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBURG AFB
Stairway to Seven rocket launch trail photographed from Carefree, Arizona at 2355UT on March 11, 2026 less than 2 hours after liftoff
CHINESE SPACE PLANE
Photo I took of the 4th mission of the Chinese space plane in this article from Leonard David’s INSIDE OUTER SPACE March 8, 2026.
SOLAR ECLIPSE COVERAGE
Account of my travel to South Africa for the February 17, 2026 partial eclipse of the Sun in SPACEWEATHER.COM
PROLIFERATION OF ORBITING SPACECRAFT continues to add to the problem of being able to take photos of recognizable space objects without interference from sunlight reflecting off their structures. Below is an example of the Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri with a 10 second exposure with no less than 4 satellites in the field of view during that time. Februrary 17, 2026 2001UT.
TRACK OF THE CHINESE SPACE PLANE WHILE I WAS IN SOUTH AFRICA. Taken at Grande Roche Hotel, Paarl. 10 second exposure ISO400. February 17, 2026.
TRACK OF THE CHINESE SPACE PLANE ROCKET BODY 2/8/26 1240UT and 1400km away as seen from Carefree, Arizona. It was launched one day earlier.
IMPRESSIVE HALO AROUND THE MOON WITH JUPITER 1/3/26 935UT as seen from Carefree, Arizona
STARLINK GROUP 15-11 LAUNCH 12/10/25 1148UT appearing in a bright sky over the lights of Phoenix; 8mm lens; 8 sec. exposure, ISO1600.
SUN PILLAR 12/09/25 FROM CAVE CREEK, ARIZONA.
In the 10 years I have lived here I have never before seen one of these. It was spotted at the intersection of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road. Photo by Lynn Palmer.
AURORA STORM 11/12/25 FROM CAREFREE, AZ (NOTICE REDDISH HORIZONTAL ARC IN CENTER.
NOCTILUCENT CLOUD PHOTO TAKEN 11/06/25 AFTER SUNSET FROM CAREFREE, AZ. NO ANNOUNCED LAUNCH THAT AFTERNOON/EVENING.
COMET LEMMON PHOTO TAKEN 10/16/25 AT 1225UT FROM CAREFREE, AZ BEING PHOTOBOMBED BY 3 SATELLITES.
NOCTILUCENT CLOUD GENERATED AFTER THE LAUNCH OF SDA TRANCHE 1 ON OCTOBER 15 AT 2106UT FROM VANDENBURG AFB. PHOTO TAKEN 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES AFTER LAUNCH!
ORBITAL TEST VEHICLE 8 (OTV 8) FROM CAREFREE, AZ 062625 AT 1145UT. IT IS THE 4TH FLIGHT OF THE X-37B SPACEPLANE LAUNCHED AUGUST 21, 2025. A 13 SECOND EXPOSURE AT ISO400 AS THE OBJECT MOVES FROM NORTHWEST TO EAST SOUTHEAST. HEIGHT 213 ST. MI, RANGE 304 ST. MI.
RUSSIAN COSMOS 2581, 2582, 2583 IN PROXIMITY OPERATIONS MODE TRAVELING TOGETHER ON JULY 4, 2025 AT 04:40UT FROM CAREFREE, ARIZONA. THE GRAPHICS ON THE RIGHT AND CENTER SHOW THE TRACKS IN THE SKY WHICH OVERLAY EACH OTHER. THE PHOTO REVEALS WHAT APPEARS TO BE A SINGLE TRACK WHEN IN REALITY THERE ARE 3 OBJECTS VERY CLOSE TOGETHER. THERE HAVE RECENTLY BEEN AT LEAST 1 OTHER OBJECT IN THEIR NEAR VICINITY INVOLVED IN COMPLEX MANEUVERS.
ACCIDENTAL SIGHTING OF 27 PAYLOADS FROM THE STARLINK G10-16 LAUNCH ON JUNE 28, 2025 AT 5:16UT FROM AJO, ARIZONA. SCREENGRAB FROM SAMSUNG S24 PHONE OF 13 OF THEM. NOTE THE ALMOST IMPERCEPTABLE IMAGE IN THE UPPER RIGHT AS ONE OF THEM DISAPPEARS IN THE EARTH’S SHADOW ONLY 10 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORTHWEST HORIZON WHEN THEY WERE ABOUT 1016KM AWAY. The view below is centered at 5 degrees elevation!
INTERCEPTION OF A POTENTIAL HAZARDOUS ASTEROID JUNE 22, 2025 FROM TUCSON, ARIZONA AT 0937UT
A plot of the results by 4 observers of an occultation by the asteroid 1998QS52, one of the largest near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that threaten Earth; an impact by it would destroy modern agricultural systems on which civilization depends. Its orbit is known well enough that there’s no chance of impact for at least the next thousand years. But its tiny size (<4km) makes it a difficult target for direct viewing. Hence waiting for it to eclipse a star such as UCAC4 425-114048 allows a determination of its shape from the ground using small telescopes. I participated as one of the 6 stations deployed. Plot by Norm Carlson.
SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCH FROM VANDENBURG AFB ON JUNE 17, 2025 AFTER SUNSET FROM CAREFREE, AZ AT 0138UT
SPACEX ROCKET UPPER STAGE DEORBIT BURN FROM THE STARLINK 6-93 SATELLITE GROUP OBSERVED 33 MINUTES AFTER SUNSET FROM CAREFREE, AZ MAY 7, 2025 AT 0148UT
The 2nd stage and payload group (deployed and hidden inside the cloud) appear as a single, large fuzzy distended image in this Samsung S-24 photo looking west northwest only 33 minutes after sunset. It was quite obvious and impressive.
As the 2nd stage and payload train move higher in the western sky the objects appear to have ‘wings’ around the collective image as the deorbit burn commences.
Finally the 2nd stage has moved ahead of the payload train (28 satellites) as it descends low in the east southeast sky. However, one thing that was not captured was a ‘puff’ that occurred just before the end of the observation. No ‘red sphere’ effect was observed at the end.
SPACEX ROCKET UPPER STAGE DEORBIT BURN FROM THE STARLINK 6-75 SATELLITE GROUP OBSERVED FROM MORRISTOWN, AZ MAY 2, 2025 AT 0322UT
Notice the individual 28 satellites deployed about 30 minutes earlier as the train passes through patchy clouds. The image on the right is taken just a few seconds before shadow entry.
PRESENTATION TO THE ECLIPSE AMBASSADOR COURSE
Prior to the first of several solar eclipses occurring in Spain I was asked to contribute a Zoom presentation for the Eclipse Ambassador Course to help ready the astronomy community in Spain on February 26, 2025.
Photo by Lynn Palmer
CHINESE HULIANWANG SATELLITE GROUP
Launched on April 1, 2025 this group of 7 space objects flew over my Carefree location on May 1 at 1045UT at a slant range of 695 miles / 1118 km at magnitude 4.5. This is a 30 second exposure taken with a 20mm lens that captured the identities and separation of all seven objects that were contained inside an 80 second time window.
NASA’S ADVANCED COMPOSITE SOLAR SAIL
The 80 sq. m. free flying solar sail was photographed here in Carefree on December 19, 2024 at 2338UT as it passed to the east moving southeast to northeast. In this image it passes near the bright star Aldebaran at a range of 1730km in this 20 second exposure at ISO 400 with a 50mm lens. At times it reached +1.0 magnitude.
DISCOVERY OF A NEW DOUBLE STAR
A graph showing the accidental discovery that the star TYC6941-00949-1 is actually a hitherto unknown double star. I recorded this star occulted by the asteroid (4511) Rembrandt on October 23, 2024 from Gladden, Arizona with a Celestron 8 telescope and Watec910HX camera. The resulting double drop in brightness did not reach the fully expected drop of 3.9 magnitudes from its 11.9 magnitude level indicating the drop was not a result of a binary asteroid but rather from a double star where one component was covered followed separately by the next.
(Top) Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from Carefree, AZ October 12, 2024 at 2356UT. 100mm lens; f/4, 3 sec exposure, ISO 800. (Bottom) On the cover page of SPACEWEATHER.COM 10/13/24
Aurora storm as seen from Carefree, AZ. This is a stable aurora SAR arc at 0223UT on October 11, 2024. 8mm lens; f/3.5, 10 sec exposure, ISO 1600.
NROL-113 classified satellite launch from Vandenburg AFB on a Falcon-9 rocket, September 6, 2024 appearing low in the west from Buckeye, AZ at 3:22UT.
Firefly Alpha rocket launch from Vandenburg AFB on July 4, 2024 appearing low in the west from Scottsdale, AZ at 4:12UT. Most trails are airplanes. Nikon 750 and 20mm f/1.4 lens, 10 sec. exposure.
STARLINK 9-1 launch from Vandenburg AFB on June 18, 2024 rises from the western horizon and dwarfs everything except the very high phase Moon in the left side of the image. My photo with an 8mm lens, ISO 16 and 3 second exposure, from New River, Arizona at 3:40UT June 19. The cloud could be seen for 10 minutes before fading away.
SPACEX ROCKET UPPER STAGE DEORBIT BURN FROM THE STARLINK 6-64 SATELLITE GROUP OBSERVED FROM CORDES LAKES, AZ MAY 31, 2024 AT 0409UT
(1) White cloud spotted low in the western sky moving west to east headed for my zenith.
(2) The cloud almost reaches the zenith beginning to fade out leaving a trail in this 3 second exposure.
(3) A red cloud appearing after the white cloud vanished. This remained in place for about 40 seconds before it faded out. The Falcon 9 second stage engines release about 400lbs of water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). A series of charge exchange reactions between those molecules and oxygen ions (O+) in the upper atmosphere produce photons at a wavelength of 6300 Å–the same color as red auroras.
Auroras captured May 11, 2024 from New River AZ (latitude 34 degrees N) in the great storm of 2024 between 0430 and 0700UT.
The launch of Starlink G8-2 on May 10, 2024 occurred around 4:32UT. I happened to be in Buckeye, AZ and took a series of exposures. The fuzzy streak shows the rocket moving right to let after launch from Vandenberg AFB some 600 miles away. This is a time exposure of 4 seconds showing the linear trail of the rocket with a sheath of gas surrounding and trailing it.
Starlink G52 group of 26 satellites observed May 4, 2024 (16 days after launch) between 1105 and 1120UT from Carefree, AZ with 26 separate exposures of the same frame. Some objects appear twice since an 8mm lens used and some objects recorded earlier were still transiting the field of view.
(1)
(2)
(3)
Second stage rocket engine burn from the Falcon 9 Block 5 (Starlink Group 6-55) reentry engine that I photographed May 3, 2024 at 04:08UT from north of Cordes Lakes, AZ. The second stage reentered over the Indian Ocean at 4:50UT. The images progress from top to bottom with a bright blob seen naked eye low in the western sky (1). Each photo is 5 seconds long, with about a 5 second gap before the next photo was taken; ISO 1600 with a 20mm f/1.4 lens. The last photo shows the trail in the sky of the second stage rocket which was hidden behind the cloud in the preceding image until the cloud rapidly began to fade. The entire episode lasted around 60 seconds.
The distinctive silvery cloud from the launch of 22 Starlink 7-13 satellites from Vandenburg AFB as seen from Carefree, Arizona February 9, 2024 at 645pm MST. This was about 11 minutes after launch and my location was hundreds of miles from the launch site.
Spectacular and intense double rainbow from Carefree, Arizona February 4, 2024
A pair of American reconnaissance satellites from the USA 229 mission photographed in Carefree, Arizona October 7, 2023 at 1208UT
Although the photo above may look like an ordinary double rainbow the area between the two bows is called Alexander’s Dark Band. Alexander of Aphrodisias first documented this atmospheric effect in 200 AD. Light rays undergoing a single reflection in raindrops form the primary rainbow and tend to brighten the sky inside it. Rays reflected twice are deviated to from the secondary rainbow or brighten the sky outside. Raindrops along lines of sight between the two rainbows cannot send light to your eye and so the sky is darker there. Taken August 22,2023.
Starlink 6-20 from Carefree, Arizona just after launch. Rocket trail faintly visible as a thin short line on left edge of photo while exhaust plumes appear across the entire frame. Taken 0402UT on August 8 2023.
May 6, 2023 at 308UT 52 Starlink satellites from the G5-6 mission launched at 7:31UT on May 4 appeared over northern Arizona. I video recorded the procession from Carefree, Arizona; you can see this 63 second video on YouTube at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQDm-pMjkNk
Passage of the Starlink G5-6 procession of 56 satellites close together on May 4, 2023 with me in foreground recording it on my home security camera. This is a screen grab from that footage taken at 7:55 pm some 38 minutes after sunset.
Reentry of Dragon Endurance 2 trunk (#55840) over my house April 27, 2023 at 1:51am MST. Not the best image from my Iphone 12.
Total solar eclipse photo in Spaceweather.com April 20, 2023 from the Montebello Islands, Australia. From Spaceweather.com
A very large sunspot that I captured after sunrise on January 21, 2023 from Carefree, Arizona. From Spaceweather.com
Blue Walker 3 satellite over Carefree, AZ at magnitude +1. Bright star is Procyon. Paul Maley photo. See also SPACEWEATHER.COM, Nov. 14, 2022.
Chinese space plane test vehicle. Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
My China space plane video from Carefree, AZ October4, 2022: https://youtu.be/sI9aLQyjaX0
A group of satellites from the STARLINK G4-29 launch passing north of Carefree, AZ October 12, 2022 at 1210UT giving off flares from reflected sunlight off structure. ISO400, 30 sec. 50mm Nikon D3100 lens. Satellite altitude 331km.
Noctilucent cloud seen on the northwest horizon October 5, 2022 above Vandeberg AFB. I took this photo by accident from my driveway recognizing that it was from a STARLINK launch that took place 2 hours 40 minutes earlier. Photo taken at 650pm MST/PDT from Carefree, AZ.
The Chinese Long March rocket body that launched the Wentian laboratory to the Tiangong Space Station makes its final pass over Arizona in this photo that I shot ~6 hours before reentry on July 30, 2022. Taken at 1117UT the sky here in Carefree AZ was almost completely overcast as the rocket passed through a small hole in the clouds flashing once per second. 15 sec exposure, ISO400. Nikon D3100 and 50mm f/1.8 lens.
Detection of a possible shape anomaly in the asteroid (678) Fredegundis June 4, 2022. My observation in the left graph is the bottom broken line derived from raw data on the right.
Photo of the annular solar eclipse June 10, 2021 that I took from an aircraft flying over southern Ontario, Canada appeared on the cover of this German magazine, August 2021
A new nova in the constellation of Cassiopeia was discovered March 18, 2021. I photographed it March 21, 2021 at 1145UT (445am MST) with a 100mm lens, ISO 3200 and 10 sec exposure from Carefree, AZ. In the image above the square photo is from a Sky Patrol image (more zoomed in), while the tilted lighter image is my photo that is less magnified. The small pink cross shows the nova location in the square photo while the arrow from the N is my image. There are two reference stars also shown called A and B that can be seen on both the Sky Patrol image and my photo. Coordinates for the nova designated V1405 Cas are RA 23h 24m 48s, DEC +61deg 11 m15s. It is located about 1.7 parsecs (~33.5 trillion miles) from Earth.
Chinese Long March 5 rocket body from Tianhe-1 launch photographed over Carefree, Arizona May 8, 2021. Tumbling with flashes about once/second these are 8 second exposures, ISO 800 about 18 hours before its reentry. Maximum brightness -1.
Total lunar eclipse May 25, 2021 as seen from Carefree, Arizona. Reference stars Beta, Lambda, Omega 1/2 Scorpii.
Another dramatic event on May 28, 2021 was the eclipse of Jupiter’s moon Io by another moon Ganymede. I captured it on video (green curve) as it dropped 4.9 magnitudes and then recovered after about 30 seconds. Since the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter (discovered by Galileo in 1610) they undergo mutual eclipses about each 6 years as the plane of their orbits lines up with that of Earth.
A rare recurrent nova exploded on August 8, 2021 after previous explosions in 1898, 1933, 1958, 1967, 1985, and 2006. Called RS Ophiuchi I photographed it August 13, 2021 where it appeared at magnitude ~6.6 in comparison to 4 other stars in the above image.
During the pandemic: Instagram talk to 173 students in Iran on May 11, 2020