🚀 Space Pulse · 2026-09-10 22:01 UTC
SPACE PULSE
Thursday, September 11, 2026 — 22:00 UTC Edition
⚡ TL;DR
JWST has directly imaged a candidate fifth planet in the iconic HR 8799 system, potentially the innermost world ever found there, while Chandra has unveiled a brand-new class of mysterious X-ray objects in other galaxies that may solve two open astrophysics questions at once.
A busy stretch ahead: six launches on the manifest in the next three weeks, high-energy electrons still elevated at GOES-19, and a classified SpaceX mission already in flight today.
🚀 LAUNCHES
ALREADY FLOWN: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 lifted off today at 15:42 UTC carrying USSF-153, a classified U.S. Space Force mission possibly involving Starshield-bus satellites in LEO; stage drop zones matched prior Starlink Group 15 profiles. [1]
UPCOMING: LandSpace Zhuque-2E Block 2 is go for launch on September 15 at 06:25 UTC, likely carrying a batch of SpaceSail LEO communications satellites, payload details still TBD. [2]
UPCOMING: Orienspace Technology's Gravity-1 rocket is also go for launch on September 15 at 21:55 UTC, payload details TBD. [3]
UPCOMING: Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1b will launch Progress MS-35 (96P) cargo resupply to the ISS on September 16 at 13:33 UTC. [4]
UPCOMING: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 carrying USSF-259, another classified U.S. Space Force mission, is go for launch on September 16 at 01:00 UTC. [5]
ON THE HORIZON: NASA's Crew-13 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS is currently scheduled for September 30, the thirteenth operational crewed flight under the Commercial Crew Program; launch date still to be confirmed. [6]
🔭 DISCOVERIES
WEBB FINDS POSSIBLE FIFTH PLANET AT HR 8799: JWST's NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometer detected a candidate innermost planet in the HR 8799 system, sitting just above 3-sigma confidence at a contrast of roughly 2x10^-4 in the F380M filter at a projected separation of about 150 milliarcseconds. [7]
CHANDRA REVEALS MYSTERIOUS NEW X-RAY CLASS: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has identified a new class of objects in other galaxies behaving unlike anything previously catalogued, with astronomers suggesting they may simultaneously address two long-standing astrophysical puzzles. [8] [9]
WEBB STUDIES DYING STAR NEAR SAGITTARIUS A*: An August 11, 2026 JWST image captured IRS 3, a star near end of life located in the dense stellar field around the Galactic center; mid-infrared data revealed clear signatures of oxygen-rich silicate dust. [10]
TODAY'S APOD: NASA featured LDN 1295, nicknamed the Giraffe Nebula, as the Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 10, 2026.
JWST DISCOVERS 27 ULTRA-FAINT TNOs: A JWST NIRCam shift-and-stack survey using machine learning to filter false positives has produced a definitive detection of 27 trans-Neptunian objects, enabling the first robust luminosity function at the ultra-faint end.
INTERSTELLAR COMET 3I/ATLAS CHEMICAL FINGERPRINT: ESO's Very Large Telescope obtained the first compositional measurements of 3I/ATLAS, the brightest interstellar object ever observed, finding chemical fingerprints suggesting it is older than the Sun and formed outside the solar system.
🛰️ MISSIONS
EXPEDITION 75 ABOARD THE ISS: On September 9 the crew conducted vein scans, ultra-hot physics experiments, and Earth observation sessions, while also swapping out spacesuit components and servicing life-support gear.
ARTEMIS II CREW VISITS MARSHALL: NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman alongside CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen visited Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville on September 1, 2026, engaging with the workforce ahead of their crewed lunar flyby mission.
HAYABUSA2 FLYBYS ASTEROID TORIFUNE: JAXA's Hayabusa2 successfully conducted a flyby of asteroid Torifune, with close-approach imagery confirmed in July 2026.
EARTHCARE HAKURYU ENTERS OPERATIONS AT ECMWF: JAXA's EarthCARE satellite Hakuryu, a joint ESA-JAXA Earth-observation mission, has transitioned to full operational data use at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
NASA ADDS TERRAN R TO LAUNCH SERVICES ROSTER: NASA has formally added Relativity Space's Terran R rocket to its NLS II Launch Services contract via the on-ramp provision, making the vehicle eligible for future NASA missions.
ESA HERA MASCOT NAMING CONTEST: ESA's Hera planetary-defense mission is asking the public to name its cartoon dinosaur mascot, with the winner invited to attend a November event; the dino theme reflects that dinosaurs lacked a space agency but humans do.
NASA-IBM LUNAR AI FOUNDATION MODEL LAUNCHED: NASA and IBM Research have released the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, described as among the first open-source AI models dedicated to analyzing the Moon's surface, in collaboration with several academic institutions.
☀️ SPACE WEATHER
ELEVATED HIGH-ENERGY ELECTRONS TODAY: GOES-19 recorded 2 MeV integral electron flux exceeding 1,000 pfu as of 13:04 UTC today, September 10, with yesterday's maximum also at 1,037 pfu; this is a NOAA ALTEF3 alert level.
PRIOR GEOMAGNETIC WATCH CANCELLED: A G2 geomagnetic storm watch issued September 8 was formally cancelled on September 9 at 21:01 UTC, with conditions falling below G1 threshold for September 8 through 10.
NOTE ON OLDER ALERTS: Several G1 alerts from mid-August and an M6.9 solar flare from Region 4513 on August 25 (NOAA R2 Moderate radio blackout scale) are in the dataset but have passed; no active geomagnetic storm warnings are currently in effect as of this edition.
📄 RESEARCH
CANDIDATE FIFTH PLANET AT HR 8799 (arXiv 2609.10507): JWST NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometry detected a faint point source consistent with a previously unknown innermost giant planet in the HR 8799 directly imaged system, at roughly 16 AU projected separation; if confirmed, it would be the fifth directly imaged planet in this benchmark system. [7]
DUST ENRICHMENT TRANSITION AT REDSHIFT 8.9 (arXiv 2609.10290): A new theoretical study finds evidence for a cosmological transition in how dust forms in galaxies, with a sharp break in galaxy dust masses near z~8.9 suggesting that below this redshift interstellar grain growth takes over from supernova stardust as the dominant source, reshaping early galaxy evolution.
JWST MAPS SMALLEST KNOWN TNOs (arXiv 2609.09008 and 2609.09044): Two complementary JWST-plus-HST studies measured optical-to-near-infrared colors of trans-Neptunian objects smaller than 40 km and built the first definitive luminosity function for 27 ultra-faint TNOs using NIRCam, providing new constraints on the ancient planetesimal population beyond Neptune.
INTERSTELLAR DUST SEEDS EXOPLANET CLOUDS (arXiv 2609.08960): A new model proposes that interplanetary dust particles ablating in exoplanet upper atmospheres could seed silicate cloud formation, mirroring the process that creates noctilucent clouds on Earth; Earth receives roughly 100 tonnes of such dust per day, and the effect may be widespread in exoplanetary systems.
MACHINE LEARNING FOR NEXT-GEN OBSERVATORIES (arXiv 2609.10109): A review paper argues that the Square Kilometre Array and Vera C. Rubin Observatory will generate data volumes too large for traditional analysis, and surveys the machine-learning methods already proven at scale to automate classification, source finding, and anomaly detection across these future datasets.
LITTLE RED DOTS EXTENDED TO INTERMEDIATE REDSHIFTS (arXiv 2609.10319): Using the VIPERS spectroscopic survey, researchers have identified Little Red Dot candidates at intermediate redshifts for the first time, bridging the gap between the high-z JWST population and the local universe and beginning to constrain how these compact, V-shaped-SED objects with broad emission lines evolve across cosmic time.
End of today's SPACE PULSE. Back tomorrow at 22:00 UTC.
📎 Sources
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-153 — Launch Library 2
- Zhuque-2E Block 2 | Unknown Payload — Launch Library 2
- Gravity-1 | Unknown Payload — Launch Library 2
- Soyuz 2.1b | Progress MS-35 (96P) — Launch Library 2
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-259 — Launch Library 2
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13 — Launch Library 2
- A Candidate Innermost Fifth Planet In the HR 8799 System Revea… — arXiv astro-ph
- NASA’s Chandra Unveils Mysterious X-Ray Objects — NASA News Releases
- NASA’s Chandra Unveils Mysterious X-Ray Objects — NASA Science
- Dust and Water in Sagittarius A* — NASA News Releases
Curated from official sources — NASA/ESA/JAXA/ESO/NOAA/arXiv/Launch Library. Informational only.
Serial 20260910-22-v77 · 2026-09-10 22:01 UTC · pulse.uzylab.com