Category: 7. Science

The totality of bacteria, viruses and fungi that exist in and on a multicellular organism forms its natural microbiome. The interactions between the body and these microorganisms significantly influence both, the functions and health of the host organism. Researchers assume that the microbiome plays an important role in the defence against pathogens, among other things. The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1182 “Origin and Function of Metaorganisms” at Kiel University has been investigating the highly complex interplay between host organisms and microorganisms for several years using various model organisms, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

In a recent study, researchers from the CRC 1182 have gained new insights into the molecular mechanisms within the microbiome which contribute to the defence against pathogens. In collaboration with scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and the University of Edinburgh, they discovered that a protective bacterium of the genus Pseudomonas, which is found in the intestinal microbiome of C. elegans, produces sphingolipids. This result was surprising, as it was previously assumed that the production of sphingolipids was restricted to only a few bacterial phyla and the bacterial genus Pseudomonas was not known to be able to produce these specific molecules. The researchers discovered that Pseudomonas utilises an alternative metabolic pathway for sphingolipid production, which differs significantly from the known sphingolipid synthesis pathways in other bacteria. They were also able to show that the sphingolipids produced by Pseudomonas bacteria play an essential role in protecting the intestinal epithelium of the host from damage by the pathogen.

Responsible for sphingolipid production in Pseudomonas bacteria is a specific biosynthetic gene cluster that forms the enzymes for this novel metabolic pathway. Interestingly, similar gene clusters were also found in other host-associated gut bacteria, suggesting that the ability to produce sphingolipids may be more widespread than previously thought. This suggests that bacterial sphingolipids may play a central role in microbiome-mediated protection against infection – not only in C. elegans, but potentially also in other host organisms. The results of the interdisciplinary study, conducted under the leadership of PD Dr Katja Dierking (Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics research group at Kiel University), in collaboration with other research groups from Kiel and national and international cooperation partners, were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Bacteria use alternative pathway to produce protective sphingolipids

A few years ago, the Kiel research group had already published a study (Kissoyan et al. (2019), Current Biology) that showed that certain members of the C. elegans microbiota protect against pathogen infection.  “For one Pseudomonas species we knew that it can protect the worm from infections. However, we had not yet been able to identify the substances and mechanisms involved,” emphasises Dr Lena Peters, a scientist in the Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics research group.

In a broad-based collaboration of scientists both within the CRC 1182 – including Kiel professors Christoph Kaleta and Manuel Liebeke – and with external scientists, including Professor Helge Bode from the MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg and Professor Dominic Campopiano from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, the genetic and metabolic basis of the protection against infection mediated by the microbiome was analyzed. Using metabolic and transcriptional studies, single molecule analyses and mass spectrometry approaches, the researchers made a surprising discovery: they were able to prove that the protective bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas produce sphingolipids that influence the worm’s sphingolipid metabolism and thus support the host’s protection against pathogens.

“This finding is relatively new,” explains Peters, member of the CRC 1182, “normally, bacteria use the sphingolipid metabolism of host organisms to manipulate it in a targeted manner to promote infections. In our case, however, we observe the opposite – bacterial sphingolipids apparently actively support the protection of the host.” Sphingolipids are fat-like molecules that are typically found in eukaryotes, where they fulfil important structural and regulatory functions, but are rare in bacteria. In Pseudomonas, they are synthesised via a previously unknown, alternative metabolic pathway – not as a component of primary metabolism, as is usually the case, but as a so-called secondary metabolite.

The researchers discovered that this previously unknown metabolic pathway is based on a specific biosynthetic gene cluster, a so-called polyketide synthase. “With our experiments, we were able to confirm that the worms survived better in the presence of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria possessing this gene cluster when they were infected with the pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis,” emphasises Peters, first author of the study. After identifying the responsible genes, the scientists could confirm through further analyses that the gene cluster encodes the enzymes required for sphingolipid synthesis. “It is exciting to be authors on this important, breakthrough paper. We are pleased that our expertise in bacterial sphingolipid research has helped discover a new role in the worm microbiome for these enigmatic lipids,” says Prof. Campopiano.

“The protective mechanism against infections with B. thuringiensis apparently works indirectly. The lipids produced by Pseudomonas influence the worm’s sphingolipid metabolism, which presumably leads to an improved barrier function of the intestinal cells,” explains Peters. When the worm is infected with B. thuringiensis, the toxins of the pathogen create small pores in the cell membrane of the host, which makes it easier for the pathogens to penetrate. “We assume that the sphingolipid metabolism modified by P. fluorescens strengthens the stability and resistance of the cell membranes – and thus offers effective, indirect protection against pathogens,” Peters continues.

“Overall, the new research work expands our understanding of how microbial metabolites support host defence against pathogens,” says Dierking, independent group leader in the Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics research group. In the long term, the researchers of the CRC 1182, who are also active in Kiel University’s priority research area Kiel Life Science (KLS), hope that better knowledge of such fundamental mechanisms will also make it possible to influence disorders of the human gut microbiome which may result in better treatment options for a variety of associated diseases.

Reference: Peters L, Drechsler M, Herrera MA, et al. Polyketide synthase-derived sphingolipids mediate microbiota protection against a bacterial pathogen in C. elegans. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):5151. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60234-1

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After nearly two decades in orbit, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is trying something new.

Engineers have taught the spacecraft how to roll – hard. This isn’t just a simple tilt. These are full-body rolls, sometimes nearly upside down.

The purpose is to see deeper beneath the surface of Mars and hunt for signs of water and ice.

Teaching Mars Orbiter to roll

The new technique comes from scientists at the Planetary Science Institute and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Between 2023 and 2024, MRO performed three massive rotations – what the team calls “very large rolls” – to boost the performance of one of its key instruments.

“Not only can you teach an old spacecraft new tricks, you can open up entirely new regions of the subsurface to explore by doing so,” said Gareth Morgan of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Advanced planning and careful balance

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was originally built to roll up to 30 degrees to aim its cameras and sensors at specific features on the Martian surface.

It’s a flexible platform, designed to twist and turn in space so scientists can target impact craters, landing zones, and more.

“We’re unique in that the entire spacecraft and its software are designed to let us roll all the time,” said Reid Thomas, MRO’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

But the bigger rolls – 120 degrees or more – are something else entirely. These require advanced planning and careful balance.

Mars Orbiter: Why every roll counts

MRO’s five main science instruments all have different needs. When one is pointed at Mars, others might lose their ideal view.

That means every maneuver is scheduled weeks in advance. Teams negotiate which instruments will be active and when.

An algorithm takes over from there, guiding the orbiter to roll and aim while keeping its solar panels locked on the Sun and its antenna aimed at Earth. For very large rolls, even those systems go dark temporarily.

“The very large rolls require a special analysis to make sure we’ll have enough power in our batteries to safely do the roll,” Thomas said.

Flipping for stronger radar returns

The massive rolls are especially helpful for SHARAD, the Shallow Radar instrument on board. It is designed to see about half a mile to 1.2 miles (0.8 – 1.9 kilometers) below the Martian surface.

SHARAD can also differentiate between ice, rock, and sand – a crucial capability for identifying water that future astronauts might one day use.

“The SHARAD instrument was designed for the near-subsurface, and there are select regions of Mars that are just out of reach for us,” said Morgan. “There is a lot to be gained by taking a closer look at those regions.”

Normally, SHARAD’s signals bounce off parts of the orbiter before hitting Mars, which muddies the data. But by flipping the spacecraft 120 degrees, SHARAD gets a clean line of sight. That single move boosts signal strength tenfold or more.

This improvement is big, but it comes with tradeoffs. During the maneuver, MRO can’t communicate with Earth or recharge its batteries. That limits the team to one or two very large rolls each year – for now.

Old instruments with new tricks

SHARAD isn’t the only instrument adjusting to new routines. The Mars Climate Sounder, a radiometer built at JPL, is also leaning into MRO’s roll capability. It tracks temperatures and atmospheric changes on Mars, revealing patterns in dust storms and cloud formations.

Originally, this instrument used a gimbal to adjust its view. But the gimbal started to fail in 2024. Now, the Climate Sounder depends on the orbiter’s roll maneuvering instead.

“Rolling used to restrict our science, but we’ve incorporated it into our routine planning, both for surface views and calibration,” said Mars Climate Sounder’s interim principal investigator, Armin Kleinboehl of JPL.

Mars Orbiter still delivers after 18 years

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the Red Planet since 2006. It’s an aging but incredibly capable machine.

These new rolling maneuvers show that even after 18 years in space, it’s still finding new ways to contribute.

By shifting its body in bold new directions, MRO is helping us see what lies beneath the Martian dust – and just maybe, where water waits to be found.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Macquarie University research shows a chemical banned in Europe but still sprayed on Australian produce to kill fungus also wipes out beneficial insects and pollinators, potentially fuelling global insect decline.

A widely-used agricultural chemical sprayed on fruits and vegetables to prevent fungal disease is also killing beneficial insects that play a critical role in pollination and wider ecosystems.

New Macquarie University-led research published in Royal Society Open Science, shows chlorothalonil, one of the world’s most widely used agricultural fungicides, deeply impacts the reproduction and survival of insects, even at the lowest levels routinely found on food from cranberries to wine grapes.

“Even the very lowest concentration has a huge impact on the reproduction of the flies that we tested,” says lead author, PhD candidate Darshika Dissawa, from Macquarie’s School of Natural Sciences.

“This can have a big knock-on population impact over time because it affects both male and female fertility.”

The insect species Drosophila melanogaster, commonly called fruit fly or vinegar fly, was used as a laboratory model representing countless non-target insects found in agricultural environments.

“D. melanogaster is also at the bottom of the food chain, becoming food for a whole lot of other species,” says Dissawa.

Unlike major horticultural pests in Australia, such as the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) and the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), D. melanogaster feed on rotting fruit and play an important role in nutrient recycling in agriculture.

Testing the fungicide

Scientists exposed D. melanogaster larvae to chlorothalonil amounts matching levels typically found in fruits and vegetables.

Even at the lowest dose tested, the flies showed a 37 per cent drop in egg production at their maturity, compared with unexposed individuals.

Supervising author Associate Professor Fleur Ponton, from Macquarie’s School of Natural Sciences, says the dramatic decline was surprising.

“We expected the effect to increase far more gradually with higher amounts. But we found that even a very small amount can have a strong negative effect,” Associate Professor Ponton says.

The findings add to mounting evidence of what researchers call the “insect apocalypse” – a global phenomenon that has seen insect populations plummet by more than 75 per cent in some regions in recent decades.

Where the fungicide is used

Although banned in the European Union, chlorothalonil is extensively applied to Australian crops to control fungal diseases such as mildews and leaf blights.

The chemical has been detected in soil and water bodies near agricultural areas, with residue levels in fruits and vegetables ranging from trace amounts to 460 milligrams per kilogram.

“Chlorothalonil is particularly common in orchards and vineyards and is often used preventatively when no disease is present,” Associate Professor Ponton explains.

“People assume fungicides like chlorothalonil only impact fungal diseases, but they can have devastating, unintended consequences for other species.” says Associate Professor Ponton.

Knock-on effect

The study found that chlorothalonil exposure during larval development caused severe reproductive damage in adult flies.

Females showed significantly reduced body weight, fewer egg-producing structures called ovarioles and drastically reduced egg production. Males had reduced iron levels, suggesting disruption to metabolic processes essential for sperm production.

The scientists also found the larvae consumed the contaminated food normally, ruling out taste aversion as an explanation.

“We didn’t find a significant aversion for food contaminated with chlorothalonil, except when there was a very high concentration of the chemical,” says Associate Professor Ponton. “This means the impacts are due to chlorothalonil ingestion.”

Knowledge gap has broad implications

In agricultural landscapes where entire orchards and vineyards are treated with fungicides, insects cannot escape chemically-contaminated food sources.

“We need bees and flies and other beneficial insects for pollination, and we think this is an important problem for pollinator populations,” Associate Professor Ponton says. “There is a strong commercial incentive to understand the impact in the field and address the use of this chemical.”

The research highlights a critical knowledge gap in pesticide regulation. Chlorothalonil is one of the most extensively used fungicides globally, but fewer than 25 scientific papers examine its effects on insects, despite mounting evidence of widespread insect population decline.

“People assume fungicide only affects fungal diseases, but it has an effect on other non-target organisms,” Associate Professor Ponton says.

The researchers have called for more sustainable agricultural practices, such as reduced frequency of applications to allow insect populations to recover between treatments.

“We need field trials to explore options and develop evidence-based guidelines to consider the knock-on effects of fungicides on beneficial insects,” says Associate Professor Ponton.

Future research will examine whether the reproductive damage carries over to subsequent generations and investigate the combined effects of multiple agricultural chemicals typically used together in farming operations.

Reference: Dissawa MD, Boyer I, Ponton F. Chlorothalonil exposure impacts larval development and adult reproductive performance in Drosophila melanogaster. Royal Soc Open Sci. 2025. doi: 10.1098/rsos.250136

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The Earth’s atmosphere is now trapping far more heat than climate models predicted. This energy imbalance has doubled since 2005, from 0.6 to 1.3 watts per square meter, according to researchers from Australia, France and Sweden. The Conversation reports.

Scientists believe the acceleration is due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases and changes in cloud cover. In particular, the area of white reflective clouds has decreased, while darker ones have increased. This weakens the planet’s ability to reflect the sun’s heat back into space.

Most of the additional energy (up to 90%) is absorbed by the oceans, but there is also melting of glaciers and warming of land. This accumulation of heat has already raised the average temperature of the Earth by 1.3–1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period.

The authors emphasize that real changes are happening faster than the models predict. If the trend continues, the world could face increased heat waves, droughts and storms. What is particularly worrying is that only models with high sensitivity to emissions come close to the recorded values – they predict more severe warming in the future.

An additional threat is a possible reduction in funding for satellite climate monitoring in the United States, a key tool that allows us to capture such changes at an early stage.

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Ecosystems aren’t just defined by what species exist, but by how much life they contain. While scientists understand species diversity and where marine life is most abundant today, we still lack a clear picture of how biomass, the total weight of living organisms, has changed over time.

Biomass reveals the real impact and energy flow of life in an ecosystem, like knowing not just the cast of a play, but who the lead actors are and how powerful their performances can be. It’s a vital clue to understanding an ecosystem’s true strength and health across deep time.

While scientists have long known that biodiversity has increased throughout Earth’s history, a new Stanford study adds a key piece: biomass, or the total amount of ocean life, has also mostly grown over the last 500 million years.

Despite some dips during mass extinction events, the overall trend is upward, just like biodiversity. This suggests a powerful link: as life became more diverse, it also became more abundant, filling the oceans with both variety and volume.

Scientists uncover massive, diverse ecosystem deep beneath Earth’s surface

Imagine if ancient seas left behind a diary, not in words, but in shells and skeletons. That’s exactly what the team is decoding. Researchers studied thousands of rock samples packed with the fossilized remains of marine organisms, shells, algae, and tiny protists. These fossils recorded the biomass of their time, that is, the total “living material” preserved across Earth’s history.

Why does it matter?

Biomass reveals how much life an ecosystem could support, and how much energy it moves around, making it a key sign of past ocean health.

Although it once seemed too complex to measure across deep time, researchers took on the challenge. They analyzed over 7,700 limestone samples spanning 540 million years, using a method called petrographic point-counting to examine the amount of fossilized shell material.

By combining decades of studies with new data, they created a clearer picture of how life in Earth’s oceans has ebbed and flowed through deep history.

Some sea life could face extinction over the next century

They found that in the Cambrian Period, fewer than 10% of rocks had shell material. As life diversified during the Ordovician, that percentage rose, evidence of the Cambrian Explosion.

Calcifying sponges were among the early biomass leaders but were soon overtaken by echinoderms (like early starfish) and marine arthropods (like trilobites and crab ancestors).

Over the past 230 million years, oceans saw dramatic rises and falls in life, recorded in the shell content of marine rocks. Shell material stayed above 20%, signaling healthy ocean life, until the Late Devonian extinction (~375–360 million years ago) caused a notable drop.

Then came the worst: the Great Dying (~250 million years ago), the Permian-Triassic extinction, when shell content plunged to just 3%, reflecting a massive collapse in marine life.

Even after major extinctions like the end-Triassic and the one that ended the dinosaurs, marine life bounced back. In today’s era, the Cenozoic, shell remains now make up over 40% of marine rocks, largely due to mollusks and corals thriving.

To be sure, this rise reflected real increases in ocean life, not just fewer shell-destroying predators or sampling bias, researchers ran thorough tests. They analyzed fossil samples across shallow and deep waters, various latitudes, and different ancient continental setups.

Animal poop helps ecosystems adapt to climate change, study

The result? The trend held strong across the board, showing that the growth in shell content truly reflects a long-term rise in ocean biomass.

As ocean organisms became more specialized, they got better at using energy and nutrients, boosting ecosystem productivity. This efficient recycling from phytoplankton to decomposers helped support more life, reflected in greater biomass.

But today, human impacts like pollution, overfishing, and climate change threaten that balance. Scientists warn we may be entering a sixth mass extinction, where shrinking biodiversity could reduce biomass, and future fossil records might carry the traces of this decline.

Jonathan Payne, Dorrell William Kirby Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said, “Our findings show that overall biomass is linked to biodiversity and that losses in biodiversity may suppress productivity for geologically meaningful intervals, adding one more argument for why conserving biodiversity is essential for the health of humans and our planet.”

Journal Reference:

1. Pulkit Singh, Jordan Ferré, Bridget Thrasher, et al. Macroevolutionary coupling of marine biomass and biodiversity across the Phanerozoic. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.006

I caught a glimpse of the satellite as it flew over Ireland, just weeks before it bursts into flames.

Nearly two years after being launched into space, Ireland’s very first satellite mission is about to come to a close.

Throughout its lifespan, the tiny cuboid satellite, called EIRSAT-1, sent down troves of data to ground control at University College Dublin (UCD), sharing what it found about the secrets of the universe, while setting up the precedence for more student-led Irish space projects to come.

Recently, SiliconRepublic.com visited mission control at UCD – a small office laden with computers – to meet with the team behind the project.

“It’s the first Irish satellite and something that we’re very, very proud of,” says Dr David Murphy, the satellite’s systems engineer and a research fellow at the UCD C-Space, Centre for Space Research.

The EIRSAT-1, or Education Research Satellite-1’s story began back in 2017 through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Fly Your Satellite! program.

The UCD-led project received support from Queen’s University Belfast and a number of Irish space tech companies.

In its time, the satellite detected nearly a dozen gamma ray bursts and a few solar flares, and the team tells SiliconRepublic.com that they are already developing newer projects that build on what they learnt from this small – yet large – leap into Ireland’s achievements in space science.

Late last week, UCD announced another ESA-funded space project which is set to send a swarm of satellites to the Earth’s orbit to detect more gamma ray bursts. Murphy has been working on this new project, called Comcube-S, for a while now.

The making of

Over the years, more than 60 people, comprising of students and early-career researchers, helped create EIRSAT-1. At its tail end, the project has about 10 active contributors.

Nearly six years of development went into building and testing the EIRSAT-1, including several months where the team had to work remotely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They received support from various government agencies through grants, as well as through Prodex, an ESA programme that supports university space projects.

Using this, they were able to fund their research, test the spacecraft and provide scholarships for their contributors.

However, after some unavoidable legislative setbacks and launch delays later, the satellite finally took to space in late 2023 on the ESA’s Vega-C rocket.

EIRSAT-1. Image: ESA

The EIRSAT-1 has a length and width of about 10.6cm and a height of 22.7cm. Inside its small aluminium body, the spacecraft is fitted with parts that help navigate and orient itself and collect data and send it back down to Earth.

A few of these complex parts include a magnet worker that lines the satellite to Earth’s magnetic field, a “very, very cool” antenna deployment mechanism, as pointed out to me by Murphy, a gamma ray detector and a sun sensor, which shows the accurate angle between the sun and the spacecraft.

The satellite is covered on all sides with solar panels. Some of its body is anodized – or coated with a protective oxide layer – which ensures that the aluminium parts do not cold weld with parts of the rocket.

Using this tiny complicated box floating alone in space, the scientists at UCD were able to detect around a dozen gamma rays – up from two when I last spoke to Murphy near Christmas last year. They also detected two solar flares.

“[Gamma rays] are the most luminous explosions in the universe,” Caimin McKenna, a current PhD student in the Space Science Group at UCD tells me. These rays are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe such as neutron stars and supernova explosions.

McKenna, 25, was pursuing his undergraduate degree when calls were put out for students to join the EIRSAT-1 programme.

Although, after the first few successful sightings, gamma ray detection “turned into work”, the team told me, laughing. Still, they were excited for more.

Interception

Our conversation was briefly diverted when the EIRSAT-1 neared Ireland overhead at around 12:40 pm that afternoon.

Each day, the satellite sends data it collects while flying over the country via two on-ground communication systems – one above the UCD building we were at, and one in a goat farm in Co Kerry.

The small control room is fitted with several computers. On one monitor, I could see the tiny satellite approaching Ireland, while on a larger one on the wall, I could see faint red bands, which got darker and more prominent as the satellite neared us.

EIRSAT-1 control room, UCD. Image: Suhasini Srinivasaragavan

The two-way communication happens through amateur radio frequency bands. The team sends audio tones to the spacecraft, which it can decode into commands, sending back the requested data.

“Essentially, it’s sending beeps and boops,” Murphy tells me. The beeps and boops contain troves of scientific data. “It’s like a constant stream of data down from the spacecraft to us.” The EIRSAT has made hundreds of such rounds.

However, less than two years after being thrusted into space on a rocket, this tiny spacecraft wandering the Earth’s orbit is set to burn up in the atmosphere. “It’s essentially spiralling down to Earth”, Murphy tells me. “We’ve got weeks left now”.

“It’s sad on one side that you know, it’s burning up and it’s only been about a year and a half since we launched,” Dr Joe Thompson, the project’s chief engineer tells me.

“But on the other side, we have to be very happy with how successful it all was. It’s surpassed all of our expectations.”

Although, the team isn’t entirely sure when the satellite will burn up. “At some point, I think a bunch of people are just going to be sitting around in the room wondering ‘Is this the last time we talked to her?’,” Thompson says.

While the team is sad to see “her” go, they tell me that they’ll do something to commemorate the journey and its end.

All Ways Home

The EIRSAT-1 story isn’t just a victory for the dozens who developed and launched the spacecraft. It’s a win for the wide-eyed ones among us who stare up at the sky wondering what it all means.

It’s a win for Ireland, which has showcased the calibre of its academic prowess, creating the precedence for a potential space program of its own one day – hopefully.

It also gave bragging rights to Thompson’s nephew who told his class that “uncle joe” went to California to launch a rocket.

Although the brains behind the project were sitting at UCD, EIRSAT-1 received support from school children across the country who poured their creativity to design special mission patches.

A few design submissions for the EIRSAT-1 mission patches. Image: Suhasini Srinivasaragavan

12 DEIS secondary school students, along with contributors from UCD, also wrote a poem, entitled ‘All Ways Home’ which is etched onto the side of EIRSAT-1.

All Ways Home

A lone pilot searching for home amid starry frescos,
And little blood waves that mimic the tide-pull.
Our insignificance! Our planet a crumb on the fabric of spacetime,

Sharing the same sky, you and I, wherever feet are anchored.
I will write your name on the moon with my fingertips,
An apparition cast from memory’s design.
Universe-whisper, orange as goldfish.
All I want is the delicious scent, the dark blue muddy shoes
and ruined grass of starlight, home.
Strawberry moon in the cloudless, blue black mystic, one day it could all be rain.
Those wind-swept words; voices clutched to our warmth,
Courage plucked from conversation.

Breezebreath, feel the blush dust my cheeks, the stars like old photos.
Leave the porch light on. The children dance, their mothers sing.
Everything changes all at once, the sky, the sun.
Bound with images of mystery, like lemongrass and sleep, except for the tree.
I look up. I see stars. They live forever inside me.
Home is the wild bitterness of backyard blackberries,
A bay tree, its fragrant leaves,
Breathing easy,
A smell so familiar it has none.

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The Gemini North Telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, studies the skies above Maunakea, a mountain in Hawai’i. Its twin, the Gemini South Telescope, is based in the Chilean Andes at Cerro Pachón.

What is it?

According to NOIRLab, both Gemini Telescopes have four imagers and spectrographs that view in both optical and infrared wavelengths simultaneously, which are mounted on the back of the telescopes. These instruments work in sync with the telescopes’ guidance systems in order to be able to look deep into the universe.

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In a rare celestial alignment, a solar flare erupted just as the International Space Station (ISS) passed in front of the Sun, resulting in a stunning photograph by Arizona-based astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy. Captured from the remote wilderness of the Sonoran Desert, the image is being hailed as one of McCarthy’s finest works to date.

Once-in-a-lifetime moment captured in Sonoran Desert

Known for his detailed composite images of the Sun and Moon, McCarthy set out to photograph a solar transit of the ISS — a fleeting moment when the orbiting space station crosses in front of the Sun from the viewer’s perspective. What he didn’t anticipate was a solar flare erupting in the background at the precise moment of transit.

“While waiting for the ISS to transit the Sun, a sunspot group started flaring, leading to this once-in-a-lifetime shot,” McCarthy wrote on Instagram. He titled the image Kardashev Dreams, a nod to Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, who introduced the Kardashev scale to measure a civilisation’s technological progress.

“The most detailed solar transit photo I’ve ever done…I call the piece ‘Kardashev Dreams’, representing our first steps to being a much greater civilisation,” he added.

To manage the extreme desert temperatures, which soared to 121°F (roughly 49.4°C), McCarthy said he used ice packs and thermoelectric coolers to prevent his telescopes and computing equipment from overheating. “According to the thermometer in my car it was 121F outside when I got this shot. To mitigate the effects of the heat, I brought ice packs and thermoelectric coolers to help keep the telescopes and computers from overheating.”

The final image, which McCarthy described as a composite mosaic, was created by continuing to photograph the Sun after the ISS had passed. “This is a composite mosaic, as I continued shooting the Sun after the transit to fill in the entire full disc in extreme detail,” he explained. He also revealed that certain elements, including the transition into negative space, were enhanced using material from the 2024 solar eclipse.

“The negative space has some elements composited in from the 2024 eclipse to transition the chromosphere to black, which aides in telling the story of everything happening on the Sun,” McCarthy wrote.

ISS safe from solar flare, despite dramatic imagery

Though visually dramatic, the ISS, which orbits Earth at approximately 400 kilometres, was never in danger from the flare. Experts note that while solar flares can increase radiation levels and affect onboard electronics, they typically pose no immediate threat to astronauts.

The station completes an orbit around Earth roughly every 90 minutes, offering rare opportunities for photographers like McCarthy to capture it crossing the Sun or Moon. These moments last only a fraction of a second, demanding precise timing, high-end gear, and meticulous planning.

Social media erupted with praise for McCarthy’s achievement, with many calling it award-worthy. One user commented, “That’s an absolutely insane shot. Second is favourite,” while another wrote, “This gotta win an award. Where can I vote?”

A third user noted the immense skill and patience behind the image: “The average person will look at this photo and be like that’s awesome but most have no idea how much time effort and planning it took to capture this. Well done sir!”

Responding to a follower who asked how he managed to focus on two objects “billions of kilometres apart,” McCarthy replied, “Millions, not billions. They’re both infinity to the camera. After a few miles everything is, depth of field only applies for close distances while there’s still parallax.”

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