Astronomers have confirmed that ASASSN-24fw dimmed by an extraordinary 97% over a period of more than nine months, starting in late 2024 making it one of the longest and deepest stellar eclipses ever recorded. The star, located in the Monoceros constellation, was monitored through sky surveys that track brightness changes in stars over time. The data clearly shows a prolonged and structured drop in light, far beyond what a normal planet could cause. Scientists say the most likely explanation is a massive ringed object passing in front of the star either a brown dwarf or a super Jupiter–type planet. Unlike typical transits that last hours or days, this event stretched across months, pointing to something enormous in size. The ring system itself is estimated to span about 16 million miles (25 million km), making it one of the largest ever inferred. As different parts of the rings moved across the star, they created layered dimming patterns, which allowed astronomers to study the...
For the first time in over 50 years, humans have returned to deep space and this time, they went beyond anything seen before, flying directly over the far side of the Moon during NASA’s Artemis II mission. The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history, reaching over 252,000 miles away, surpassing the Apollo-era record and entering a region of space no crew has experienced in decades.
As the spacecraft swung behind the Moon, something dramatic happened complete silence. Communication with Earth was lost for about 40 minutes, not due to failure, but because the Moon itself blocked all signals, plunging the crew into total isolation on the far side, often called the “dark side,” not because it lacks sunlight, but because it is permanently hidden from Earth.
What the astronauts saw during that flyby is now becoming one of the most talked-about moments in modern space exploration. The far side of the Moon appeared rugged, alien, and heavily cratered, completely different from the smoother near side humans are familiar with. Under full sunlight, the surface revealed bright impact craters, deep basins, and complex terrain that looked nothing like the Moon seen from Earth.
During the flyby, the crew passed roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface, capturing detailed images and observing regions that have rarely been seen directly by human eyes.
Some of these areas, including massive structures like the Orientale Basin, were visible in ways never experienced before by astronauts, offering a new perspective on how violent impacts shaped the Moon billions of years ago.
The mission wasn’t just about visuals. Astronauts also observed meteor impacts flashing across the Moon’s surface in real time, giving scientists valuable data about how often space debris hits the lunar surface something critical for future Moon bases and long-term human presence.
At one point, the crew even experienced a solar eclipse from space, with the Moon blocking the Sun while Earth appeared in the distance a rare alignment that only astronauts on this trajectory could witness.
The trajectory itself was carefully designed as a “free-return path,” meaning the spacecraft used the Moon’s gravity to slingshot around it and head back to Earth without needing major propulsion, a technique originally used during the Apollo missions but now executed with modern systems.
What makes this mission even more important is what it represents. Artemis II is not a landing mission it is a test flight designed to prove that humans can safely travel to deep space again. The data collected during this flyby will directly shape future missions, including Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time since 1972.
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