NASA's Illuminate Series (2026)

NASA’s Illuminate: Sun Rips Comet’s Tail in HalfIn October 2025, as comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) passed near the Sun, an eruption called a coronal mass ejection burst from our star. Soon after, NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission watched as part of the comet’s tail wavered and ripped apart — not once but twice. Imaging comet Lemmon every 4 to 8 minutes over three months, PUNCH created one of the longest and most detailed records yet of a comet interacting with the Sun.Video Credit: NASA/Lacey YoungMusic credit: "Hyperconscious” by Timothy William Oliver [PRS] from Universal Production MusicSound Effects: Pixabay

NASA’s Illuminate: Dark Secrets of the Black AuroraColors of the aurora: Red, green, purple… black?Mysterious “black auroras” are real, and they’re not like the northern and southern lights you’ve seen before. Inside these dark spots, strange physics is at work — and a NASA rocket just launched from Alaska to reveal it.On Feb. 9, 2026, NASA launched the Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor sounding rocket mission from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska. Flying their rocket through the black aurora, the team, led by principal investigator Marilia Samara of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, placed scientific instruments inside a black aurora to help reveal how and why they form.Video Credit: NASA/Lacey YoungMusic credit: "Solo Trip” by Nicholas Smith [PRS] from Universal Production MusicSound Effects: Pixabay

NASA’s Illuminate: The Moon’s Tan Lines Did you know the Moon has “tan lines”? These tan lines, which feature bright tendrils and swirls amid darkened areas, are caused by the Sun. But that’s only half of the story. These weathered patches also give us clues as to what’s going on below the lunar surface. Video Credit: NASA/Lacey YoungMusic credit: "Rich Formula” by Theophile Laszio Moussouni [SACEM] from Universal Production MusicSound Effects: Pixabay

NASA's Illuminate: Why Is the Sun "Smiling"?June 21, 2026, is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a.k.a. the summer solstice! The extra sunlight has got us smiling, but the Sun owes its grin to something else: coronal holes! Coronal holes are cooler, lower density parts of the solar atmosphere where solar material escapes to space at incredible speeds. Dive into coronal holes with us in this episode of NASA’s Illuminate.Video Credit: NASA/Joy NgMusic Credit: "Hectic Motion" by Koka Media [SACEM] from Universal Production Music