In the final minutes of a close flyby of Jupiter on September 6, the Juno spacecraft captured this departing view of the planet's swirling southern hemisphere.
Voyager 2, launched in 1977, is now about 11 billion miles (17.7 billion km) from Earth. NASA says the spacecraft has detected an increase in cosmic rays, which might mean it's close to becoming only the 2nd human-made object, after Voyager 1, to enter interstellar space.
On both September 19 and 23, Arctic sea ice dropped to its minimum extent of 1.77 million square miles (4.59 million square km). The 2018 minimum ties for the 6th-lowest in the satellite record.
When fog rolls in, it can bring along communities of airborne microorganisms, says a new study. Moisture in fog allows microbes to last longer than they would in dry air.
Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.