Sky Candy for a Quiet Weekend

This is called the Skull and Bones, but it really reminds me more of the famous Nefertiti bust.

AstroBin's Image of the Day: "NGC2467 Skull and Crossbones Nebula" by zaki ffcamerahttps://t.co/GYMz9Rve2h#astrophotography pic.twitter.com/YWGlMzPqI0

— AstroBin.com (@AstroBin_com) April 21, 2026

The Orion Nebula, busily making babies.

5,000 light-years from Earth, stars are forming in the Trifid Nebula. Our orbiting @NASAHubble telescope is taking a close look: https://t.co/gkoaV8e64M pic.twitter.com/iq7orzmKub

— NASA (@NASA) April 20, 2026

As an SF reader 50-60 years ago, I expected — and everyone else expected — that the planets in our solar system would be pretty representative of every solar system. It turns out to be much much more interesting. There will be more surprises coming. Our method for finding exoplanets lean real heavily to detecting big planets that occult their stars. 

Science News: NASA's TESS spacecraft discovers a weird system of exoplanets unlike anything seen before https://t.co/FlvNXGqF4h https://t.co/auq28z6fH8

— Species_X 🌍☄️ (@species_x) April 23, 2026

The Milky Way is more spectacular than I think we give it credit from Earth.

two gorgeous but different views of the milky way.
one above the earth from the iss, and the other from artemis ii on their way back to earth from the moon 🌌 pic.twitter.com/hwYgSXHCCu

— Jasmine 🌌🔭 (@astro_jaz) April 23, 2026

Much more.

Super detailed wide-field panorama of out milky way galaxy core and surrounding interstellar dust 🌌🤯 pic.twitter.com/XkJpNBSNtI

— Latest in Cosmos (@latestincosmos) April 22, 2026

Still, it can be pretty dramatic.

The Milky Way from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile pic.twitter.com/KqgozO8EW8

— Space 8K (@uhd2020) April 19, 2026

This shot should have a soundtrack of its own.

Milky Way pictured over the Devil Tower, Wyoming USA🌌 pic.twitter.com/bdMQQuDTxe

— The Astronomy Guy (@astrooalert) April 23, 2026

Another great shot. Chosen just for being pretty this time.

On this one, I set up to catch the milkyway but the clouds got in my way. I actually like this photograph better with the clouds.

That's one of the things I love about astrophotography, you almost never get what you thought you were going to get. pic.twitter.com/6Hc5Sunf53

— Ken James (@openshutter21) April 24, 2026

Planetary nebulae are always fascinating.

AstroBin's Image of the Day: "The Aeon Eye Tribute to George Ogden Abell (Abell7) PK215-30.1" by Brian Diazhttps://t.co/5UYJaNTwoa#astrophotography pic.twitter.com/Co9nsYwvsV

— AstroBin.com (@AstroBin_com) April 22, 2026

A little galactic car wreck.

The "Antennae Galaxies" : A 600-million-year car crash that has a stretched trails of stars & gas across hundred of thousand of light-years. ♥️

This is a preview of what will happen when our own milky way eventually hits Andromeda. pic.twitter.com/fy5aBV9wQH

— Night Sky Today (@NightSkyToday) April 22, 2026

A little more from Artemis II.

Earthshine.

Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch captured this video of Earth outside the windows of the Orion spacecraft during the second flight day of the mission. Orion was roughly 33,800 miles (54,500 km) away from Earth when @Astro_Christina took this video. pic.twitter.com/1YBxVj4hi9

— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 22, 2026

And speaking of jealousy, this just... well, I'd love to have taken any one of these photographs.

Another milestone in a remarkable career: 1,000 flights!

After 38 years with NASA Armstrong, aerial photographer Carla Thomas completed her 1,000th flight. Carla has captured NASA history from the sky aboard more than 20 different high-performance and science aircraft. pic.twitter.com/Mr0IdFwXvo

— NASA Armstrong (@NASAArmstrong) April 21, 2026

And that's your Sky Candy for the week. Play the music, sit back, and relax. It's Friday after all.