“Something Out of Science Fiction”: A Ghostly Green Star Has Been Revealed for the First Time
White dwarfs can glow in a surprising range of colors, including one documented for the first time in new research demonstrating how these dead stars can defy their namesake
A recent paper published in RAS Techniques and Instruments describes the first known white dwarf that would appear green to the human eye, along with an assortment of similar stars in other colors.
Generally, cooler stars appear reddish or orange, transitioning toward white and eventually blue as their temperatures increase. However, the new research reveals a much broader range of colors that can occur among these small, dense stellar remnants.
These dense objects are the remnants of once Sun-like stars that burned out long ago. Despite being relatively small and technically “dead,” they can remain extremely hot. As a result, many glow in the white-to-blue portion of the visible spectrum, hence their name.
The new research, however, reveals that their colors can also include green, pink, cyan, yellow, and purple, offering a surprising variety of hues that would become apparent if we could observe these distant objects more closely.
“Most stars, including most white dwarfs, behave like ‘perfect radiators,’ so their colour is set almost entirely by temperature. But nobody had really looked into what else might be possible for white dwarfs,” said Dr Mark Hollands, Warwick Prize Fellow in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group, University of Warwick, who led the work. “It turns out these incredibly dense stars can produce colours nobody expected, and some of them genuinely surprised me.”
The unusually dense atmospheres of white dwarfs play an important role in determining their colors. Under these extreme conditions, elements such as carbon, calcium, and sodium can interact with helium-rich plasma, absorbing specific wavelengths of light in ways that would not occur in the less dense atmospheres of Sun-like stars. As certain wavelengths are absorbed, the star’s apparent color shifts, much as though a filter had been placed over its light.
Pink or purple hues can result from carbon-rich atmospheres, while yellow colors may arise from elements deposited by asteroids and comets. In relatively cool white dwarfs, interactions involving hydrogen and helium can also produce a cyan appearance.
The first identified green white dwarf, WD J1330+6435, has an atmospheric temperature of approximately 4,000°C. Its unusual coloration results from a combination of calcium, lithium, and sodium, likely originating from rocky material drawn in from its planetary system.
“The traces of sodium in the atmosphere of this white dwarf absorb the orange part of the spectrum, leaving behind a ghostly green glow,” Dr. Hollands said. “Imagine standing on a planet and looking up at a green star. It feels like something out of science fiction.”
This remarkable assortment of colors isn’t commonly visible in our night sky, since most white dwarfs are too distant and faint for their colors to be readily distinguished by the human eye.
Instead, astronomers use spectroscopy to separate starlight into its component wavelengths, revealing information about a star’s temperature, composition, and other physical properties. For the new research, the team processed these measurements using a model that simulates human color vision, allowing them to determine how the stars would actually appear to an observer.
Despite the intriguing findings, the familiar white coloration remains far more common. Of the 151 white dwarfs examined within approximately 65 light-years of Earth, only five displayed unusual colors.
“One in thirty might not sound like a huge fraction, but across the entire population of white dwarfs in the Universe, that is still a lot of oddly coloured stars out there,” Professor Boris Gänsicke, Department of Physics, University of Warwick, concluded. “Yet if we take the median across a representative population of white dwarfs, we found that the average white dwarf really is white.”
The paper, “Any Colour You Like: The Diverse Chromaticities of White Dwarfs,” appeared in RAS Techniques and Instruments on October 14, 2026.
Astronaut Who Walked on the Moon Says UFOs Are Actually DemonsApollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke believes UFOs are demonic, citing scripture and a breakfast conversation he considers divine confirmation.
Do Animals Sense UFOs Before Humans? Strange Encounters Suggest They Might
Dogs suddenly panic. Horses rear in terror. Cattle scatter without warning. Then, moments later, a mysterious object appears in the sky.
Throughout the history of UFO research, witnesses have reported unusual animal behavior occurring before or during encounters with unidentified flying objects. While most investigations focus on the appearance, movement, and technology of these mysterious craft, another potentially important clue is often overlooked: the reactions of animals.
In a recent discussion, UFO researcher Richard Dolan explored several historical cases involving dogs, horses, cattle, and other animals that reportedly reacted to UFOs before their human companions even noticed anything unusual.
Could animals be detecting sounds beyond human hearing? Are they sensitive to electromagnetic disturbances? Or might something even stranger be involved?
Let’s examine the reported encounters and the possible explanations.
On May 20, 1965, six members of the McDonald family reportedly witnessed a strange object hovering over their property in Leroy Township, Ohio.
According to the account, a silvery-white disc approximately the size of a car passed close to their rooftop. The object featured circular openings along its body and produced a low buzzing or purring sound.
But the family’s animals reacted dramatically.
Their dog fled into a nearby field, while their horse reared and ran around its tether in apparent panic. One witness described the horse’s ears as pinned backward and its eyes as wild.
What made the incident particularly unusual was that both animals were accustomed to aircraft. The family lived beneath flight paths serving nearby airports.
Neighbors also reportedly experienced television and radio interference around the time of the sighting.
The incident was documented by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), an organization that investigated UFO reports during the twentieth century.
The combination of animal distress, unusual aerial activity, and reported electronic interference raises an interesting question: were the animals reacting to something humans could not fully perceive?
One of the most intriguing historical reports occurred on October 30, 1969, at the Waipukurau Aerodrome in New Zealand.
Security officer John Cudby was patrolling the airfield with his German Shepherd at approximately 3:10 a.m. when he noticed strange lights reflected in a glass door.
Turning around, he reportedly observed a metallic, saucer-shaped object hovering near a hangar.
The object was described as approximately 60 feet wide and 12 feet high, with red and green lights and a turret-like structure on top.
It also produced a low mechanical sound.
Cudby’s normally obedient dog became extremely agitated, barking, growling, circling, and ignoring commands.
As the object’s sound increased in intensity, the dog’s behavior reportedly became even more erratic.
When Cudby directed his searchlight toward the object, its underside appeared to brighten. The craft then tilted and accelerated away.
The dog’s agitation was so severe that Cudby reportedly had to lift it into his vehicle afterward.
Cudby suggested that the object might have emitted a high-frequency sound beyond human hearing.
If accurate, this encounter could support the possibility that animals perceive acoustic signals associated with unusual aerial phenomena that humans cannot hear.
On September 30, 1980, farm caretaker George Blackwell reported an extraordinary encounter near Rosedale, Victoria, Australia.
At approximately 1:00 a.m., Blackwell awoke to a strange mechanical whistling sound.
Outside, cattle were bellowing and a horse was reportedly running in panic.
Blackwell went to investigate and observed a domed object hovering near an open water tank.
The object reportedly measured approximately 25 to 28 feet across and displayed white, orange, and blue illumination.
According to his account, it eventually landed nearby.
During the encounter, the sound intensified into what Blackwell described as a mechanical scream. A dark, tube-like structure appeared around the object’s lower section.
A loud bang followed, and the object lifted off, producing a blast of hot air.
Afterward, Blackwell discovered that the water tank was empty, with mud forming a cone-shaped deposit at its center.
Investigators later examined reported physical traces associated with the incident.
Although the account does not establish what the object was, the reported animal behavior is notable because the livestock appeared disturbed before Blackwell went outside to investigate.
On September 29, 1995, a Danish motorist named Klaus Lund reportedly experienced an unusual event while driving with his black Labrador.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., the dog suddenly became agitated.
It began barking and clawing at the vehicle’s door.
Shortly afterward, the car reportedly experienced a series of electrical malfunctions.
The windshield wipers activated unexpectedly, dashboard instruments behaved erratically, the headlights failed, and the engine stopped.
A powerful blue-white light then appeared above the vehicle.
The incident was reportedly investigated by the Danish UFO organization SUFOI.
What makes this case especially interesting is the apparent sequence of events.
The dog reacted before the driver noticed the unusual light or the vehicle’s reported electrical problems.
Could the animal have detected an electromagnetic disturbance? Was an ultrasonic sound involved?
The available testimony cannot establish a cause, but the reported timing makes the case relevant to research into animal reactions during UFO sightings.
Another unusual encounter was reported in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, on July 28, 2014.
At approximately 1:00 a.m., a woman stepped outside with her dog.
Her dog suddenly ran away, while a neighbor’s dog began whimpering inside its enclosure.
Looking upward, the woman reportedly noticed a silvery-blue disc hovering just above a nearby rooftop.
She estimated that the object measured approximately 20 to 25 feet across.
Unlike conventional metallic UFO descriptions, she characterized its appearance as something resembling energy.
Within seconds, the object disappeared.
The witness also reported experiencing a brief sensation of warmth passing through her body.
Moments later, she reportedly observed the object again, this time farther away and at a higher altitude.
The account was published as MUFON case 58468.
The dogs’ behavior is particularly interesting because both animals reportedly reacted before the witness became aware of the object.
However, the report alone cannot determine whether the object caused their reactions.
On September 18, 2018, a woman in Romulus, Michigan, was reportedly awakened around 1:00 a.m. by her crying dog.
Believing the animal needed to go outside, she took it outdoors.
There, she heard a strange metallic clanging sound resembling heavy chains striking one another.
She then noticed an unusual triangular object moving slowly above her home.
The object reportedly featured two sharply defined rectangular lights and two red lights.
Meanwhile, her dog backed against the garage, whining and barking in apparent fear.
The witness described the object as moving only slightly faster than walking speed.
The case raises a question that appears repeatedly in UFO reports: how many unusual aerial events might go unnoticed if animals did not alert their owners?
One of the most plausible explanations for these reports involves differences between human and animal hearing.
Dogs can detect higher-frequency sounds than humans, while cats can hear frequencies higher still.
Horses and cattle also have hearing abilities that differ from our own.
This means an object that appears silent to a human observer could theoretically produce sounds detectable by nearby animals.
A high-frequency mechanical whine, for example, might cause a dog to become distressed even if its owner hears nothing.
UFO researcher James McCampbell explored this possibility in his 1973 book Ufology.
He examined approximately 200 reports involving animals and proposed several potential explanations for their reactions, including unusual sounds and electromagnetic emissions.
In 1976, researcher Harold Heaton also examined a catalog of 232 UFO reports involving animal behavior.
His analysis suggested that dogs, horses, and cattle dominated the reported encounters.
Later, researcher Joan Woodward examined 104 selected UFO sightings involving animal responses in a study discussed in the MUFON UFO Journal beginning in October 2005.
She found possible associations between reported sounds and particular animal reactions.
These historical studies provide interesting starting points, but they do not demonstrate that unidentified craft emit ultrasonic frequencies.
Another hypothesis involves electromagnetic disturbances.
Some UFO reports include claims of malfunctioning radios, disrupted television reception, stalled engines, or unusual electrical behavior.
Researchers have questioned whether electromagnetic emissions might also influence animals.
McCampbell proposed that microwave emissions could potentially affect the nervous system, producing sensations of fear or interfering with movement.
One relevant scientific phenomenon is the microwave auditory effect, in which certain pulsed microwave exposures can produce perceived sounds through physical interactions with tissue.
However, the existence of this effect does not establish that it explains any UFO encounter.
No verified measurements from the incidents discussed here demonstrate that such emissions were present.
Nevertheless, electromagnetic monitoring could be valuable in future investigations involving unusual animal behavior and unidentified aerial objects.
Richard Dolan also explored a more speculative possibility: animal consciousness.
Animals sometimes appear to anticipate events before humans notice obvious signals.
Dogs may become excited before their owners return home, while cats sometimes hide before a trip to the veterinarian.
Researcher Rupert Sheldrake investigated claims that certain dogs could anticipate their owners’ return even when arrival times were unpredictable.
One of his best-known studies involved a dog named Jaytee, whose waiting behavior was filmed while its owner was away.
Sheldrake interpreted the results as possible evidence of an unusual connection between animals and humans.
However, the interpretation remains scientifically controversial, and telepathy has not been established as an explanation for such behavior.
Dolan raises an intriguing question: if animals can detect subtle signals associated with familiar humans, might they also respond to unfamiliar presences?
There is currently no reliable scientific evidence that animals telepathically detect UFOs or extraterrestrial intelligence.
Still, the question illustrates how UFO research sometimes intersects with broader debates about animal perception and consciousness.
Most reported UFO-related animal reactions involve terrestrial species.
However, Dolan also mentioned an unusual account involving dolphins.
Researcher and dolphin enthusiast Joan Ocean described an experience in Hawaii in which dolphins allegedly guided her toward enormous glowing spheres underwater.
She claimed that dolphin sounds were audible inside the spheres but not outside them.
The account is unusual, but the nature of the glowing objects remains unknown.
There is no verified evidence that they were extraterrestrial craft or even related to the UFO phenomenon.
Nevertheless, reports involving marine animals raise interesting questions about whether unusual underwater phenomena could influence animal behavior.
Animal reactions can provide useful contextual information during investigations, especially when they occur before human witnesses notice something unusual.
However, several important limitations must be considered.
Animals can react to many ordinary stimuli, including:
Additionally, most historical UFO cases rely on witness testimony rather than controlled measurements.
An animal becoming frightened during a reported UFO sighting does not independently establish that an extraordinary craft was present.
To investigate these reports scientifically, researchers would benefit from synchronized video recordings, environmental sound measurements, electromagnetic monitoring, veterinary observations, and comparisons with periods when no unusual objects are reported.
Such evidence could help distinguish ordinary environmental triggers from genuinely unexplained events.
The history of UFO sightings contains numerous accounts of animals reacting strangely before or during encounters with unidentified objects.
From frightened horses in Ohio to agitated dogs in New Zealand, Denmark, and Michigan, these reports suggest a recurring theme worth examining.
The most straightforward possibilities involve sensory abilities that differ from those of humans, particularly hearing and sensitivity to subtle environmental changes.
More speculative ideas involving electromagnetic effects or unusual forms of awareness remain unproven.
The central mystery is not whether animals possess senses different from ours—they clearly do. The unanswered question is whether those abilities have ever allowed them to detect a genuinely unexplained aerial phenomenon before humans noticed it.
For now, the historical accounts offer intriguing testimony rather than conclusive scientific evidence.
But if future UFO investigations systematically document animal behavior alongside physical measurements, our four-legged companions might help researchers understand what witnesses are actually experiencing.
Giant Red Sprite illuminates the night sky above Montemaggiore
Meet Britain's 'Space Binman'! Giant robotic claw will hunt down defunct spacecraft and drag them to a fiery death in Earth's atmosphereSay cheese! NASA reveals stunning image of giant ‘cosmic smile’ created by warped spacetime
NASA has revealed a stunning image of a giant 'cosmic smile' created by the warping of spacetime.
This bizarre portrait was captured by NASA and the European Space Agency using the Hubble Space Telescope.
It shows the galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849, located 4.5 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.
Strangely, you can clearly make out two glowing orange eyes, a white button nose, and a broad sparkling smile stretching across a vast expanse of space.
NASA explains: 'In the case of this "happy face", the two eyes are very bright galaxies, and the misleading smile lines are actually arcs caused by an effect known as strong gravitational lensing.'
Galaxy clusters are some of the most massive objects in the universe, containing hundreds of individual galaxies, and exert such a powerful gravitational pull that it warps spacetime around them.
This effect, originally predicted by Albert Einstein, means that light from distant objects bends as it passes through an optical lens.
In some rare cases, that creates a brilliant circle known as an Einstein Ring that can look just like a glowing celestial grin.
NASA has revealed a stunning image of a giant 'cosmic smile' created by the warping of spacetime
According to Einstein's theory of relativity, objects with enough mass can warp and stretch the fabric of spacetime around them – like a bowling ball on a trampoline.
When light enters these warped regions, it follows the curve of spacetime so that it appears to bend.
While this happens on a small scale around smaller objects like planets and suns, the more massive the object, the more dramatically light is bent.
Around some of the most massive objects in the universe, that effect is so strong it can be seen through our telescopes as gravitational lensing.
Einstein rings, like the one that makes this cosmic smile, are a special case of gravitational lensing produced when a distant light source is perfectly aligned with a powerful gravitational lens and the observer.
This precise alignment allows the light to bend symmetrically around the massive source of gravity to appear as a ring-like structure.
Gravitational lensing doesn't always produce such perfect illusions, and the results vary depending on how the object, lens, and observer line up.
Just like glasses lenses, strong gravitational fields can warp or magnify passing light, even producing multiple images of a single object.
The gravitational pull of extremely massive objects, such as galaxy clusters like MACS0416 (pictured), warps and stretches spacetime around them
Bent spacetime causes light to curve around massive objects, sometimes producing multiple distorted images of a distant object. In this image, the light of a distant supernova has been split into four images, in an effect known as an Einstein Cross
In 2014, for example, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to look at the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.6+2223, located about five billion light-years from Earth.
With the additional mass of a huge galaxy embedded in the cluster, light coming from an exploding star known as Supernova Refsdal, about 9.3 billion light-years away, was warped and stretched.
Gravitational lensing created four identical copies of the supernova arranged around the galaxy, creating a structure known as an Einstein Cross.
Rings and lensing effects like these were critical in proving that Einstein's theories about spacetime were actually correct.
However, they are now helping astronomers to probe the most distant reaches of the universe.
One possibility astronomers are now exploring is using gravitational lensing to measure the mass of stars.
If they know where a distant bright object should appear, astronomers can look past the edge of a star and measure how much the light is being bent.
Scientists use gravitational lensing to look at light from extremely distant objects, such as Earendel (pictured), the most distant star ever observed at 12.9 billion light-years from Earth
This method was first used in 2023 to measure the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf, revealing that it was 56 per cent as large as our sun.
Because gravitational lensing can amplify light from distant objects, it also allows space telescopes to see much further than they normally would be capable of.
In 2022, scientists used Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope to peer through a gravitational lens at a single star located 12.9 billion light-years away.
Known as Earendel, this is the most distant single star ever observed, and its light started travelling towards Earth when the universe was less than one billion years old.
Albert Einstein
In 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers - known as the theory of special relativity.
This groundbreaking work introduced a new framework for all of physics, and proposed new concepts of space and time.
He then spent 10 years trying to include acceleration in the theory, finally publishing his theory of general relativity in 1915.
This determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity.
At its simplest, it can be thought of as a giant rubber sheet with a bowling ball in the centre.
Pictured is the original historical documents related to Einstein's prediction of the existence of gravitational waves, shown at the Hebrew university in Jerusalem
As the ball warps the sheet, a planet bends the fabric of space-time, creating the force that we feel as gravity.
Any object that comes near to the body falls towards it because of the effect.
Einstein predicted that if two massive bodies came together it would create such a huge ripple in space time that it should be detectable on Earth.
It was most recently demonstrated in the hit film film Interstellar.
In a segment that saw the crew visit a planet which fell within the gravitational grasp of a huge black hole, the event caused time to slow down massively.
Crew members on the planet barely aged while those on the ship were decades older on their return.
Wetenschappers constateren een onverwachte verschuiving van de magnetische noordpool
Scientists say ancient black holes could hold the key to a hidden FIFTH dimension beyond our universe
Black holes are already some of the strangest objects in the universe, but scientists now say they could unlock an even more bizarre part of the cosmos.
A group of leading physicists say that ancient black holes could hold the key to a hidden fifth dimension, beyond our material universe.
In addition to the four familiar dimensions - height, width, depth, and time - scientists say that our universe might have a 'dark dimension'.
While this extra plane of reality is hidden from us, researchers say that tiny black holes left over from shortly after the Big Bang might be able to reach it.
Since these ultra-dense remnants, known as primordial black holes, are so small, their gravity could bleed through into the dark dimension.
That means hunting for primordial black holes could reveal some of the fundamental secrets of spacetime itself.
Scientists say that tiny primordial black holes (artist's impression) left over from shortly after the Big Bang could hold the key to a hidden 'dark dimension'
The world we see and interact with exists within the four dimensions of spacetime, but some physicists believe the universe might be more complex.
To try and understand this, imagine drawing a person on a piece of paper.
From that figure's perspective, their entire universe has just three dimensions: length, width, and time.
Since they can't peel themselves off the flat page and take a look around, they can't move through the extra dimension of height, and it would be really hard for them to imagine how anyone could.
According to some theories, our universe is a bit like this: a four-dimensional sheet embedded within a bigger, five-dimensional cosmos.
Scientists call the 4D universe, which contains everything we can see, the 'brane', while the fifth-dimensional background is called the 'bulk'.
To make things even stranger, scientists say that this dimension is tiny, just a micron wide in our four dimensions - about one tenth the length of a red blood cell.
There isn't direct evidence that we are in a 'dark dimension' universe, but lots of theoretical physics concerning electromagnetism and gravity work better if the mathematics has an extra dimension.
However, things get weirder still when you throw tiny but enormously powerful sources of gravity, like primordial black holes, into the mix.
Normal black holes form when enormous stars, tens to hundreds of times the mass of our sun, run out of fuel and collapse, leaving behind an ultra-dense core of matter.
Primordial black holes, on the other hand, were formed by an entirely different process altogether.
Scientists believe that gravity from primordial black holes could bleed out of our four-dimensional reality into a hidden fifth dimension
Some scientists think these black holes formed directly from the swirling soup of rapidly cooling matter that made up the universe shortly after the Big Bang.
Although primordial black holes haven't been directly observed, it's theorised that they could form part of the mass of dark matter - the invisible substance that makes up 27 per cent of the universe.
In their new paper, published in the journal Physical Review D, researchers from Lehman College in the US wanted to see what would happen to these black holes in a universe that had a fifth dimension.
Specifically, they wanted to answer the question of whether they would become four-dimensional or five-dimensional objects.
To do this, they calculated how big primordial black holes would become based on two theories about how they formed.
In the first scenario, these tiny black holes formed out of 'overdensities' of matter in the early universe that collapsed under their own weight as the cosmos cooled.
According to their calculations, these black holes were starting out behaving like four-dimensional objects.
However, because they would be so small, their four-dimensional configuration would soon become unstable, and they would collapse into a five-dimensional object.
In the second scenario, primordial black holes formed out of hypothetical structures known as cosmic strings.
According to some theories, these are ultra-thin one-dimensional 'scars' in the fabric of spacetime left over from the birth of the universe.
Primordial black holes may have formed directly out of matter in the early universe (illustrated). If so, they would be so small that they would have become five-dimensional by now
Scientists also think that primordial black holes could have formed out of 'cosmic strings'. These small black holes would also be five-dimension according to the researchers' calculations. Pictured: A simulation of cosmic strings in the universe
These flaws might have formed when spacetime underwent dramatic phase transitions as it cooled, similar to how cracks form in ice as water transitions from liquid to solid.
If loops of cosmic strings came together, they could have collapsed directly into black holes long before stars or other structures in the universe had a chance to form.
However, the researchers' calculations show that primordial black holes formed in this way would also be five-dimensional right from the start.
That means, if our universe does have a dark dimension, any primordial black holes that exist are so small that they will always be five-dimensional.
While that sounds far-fetched and highly theoretical, it does actually have observable consequences for the nature of the universe.
For example, the researchers point out that five-dimensional black holes would evaporate more slowly than their conventional four-dimensional counterparts.
According to their calculations, primordial black holes created by collapsing cosmic strings could have lifespans equivalent to the 13.8 billion-year age of the universe.
That means these black holes could still be around us today, whizzing about above our heads and, eventually, vanishing in puffs of particles.
The researchers even go so far as to suggest that this theory could explain the 'ghost particle' that slammed into the KM3NeT detector, located deep under the Mediterranean Sea, in 2023.
If a five-dimensional primordial black hole finally evaporated, it could trigger the release of such an energetic particle from an otherwise quiet patch of sky.
However, that suggestion goes well beyond what is currently provable with direct observation.
But it does offer a tantalising hint of what black holes might reveal about our universe, if there really is a dark dimension lurking just out of sight.
'Swamp-like colors' on the moon: New NASA report reveals strange sights from Artemis II mission — Space photo of the week
Astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission saw surprising "jaundiced yellow" and "swampy green" colors on the moon during their close lunar flyby, a new report reveals.
What color is the moon? Ask an Earthling, and you'll get a predictably monochromatic answer: white or gray.
But ask the four crewmembers of NASA's Artemis II mission — who spent nearly seven hours circling the moon from just 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) from the lunar surface this April — and you'll wonder if they're talking about the same dusty satellite we can see from Earth.
Yellow, brown, green, blue and tan features fan across vast volcanic plains and lurk at the edges of ominous craters, according to the crew's in-the-moment observations, which were shared this week in NASA's Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report. The 130-page document catalogs everything crewmembers Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen saw during their historic close flyby of the moon on April 6, drawing from 814 gigabytes of photo, video and audio recordings taken from the Orion crew capsule.
This rainbow of lunar color represents distinct geological features that could inform future missions on where to land and where to explore as the world's space agencies race to set up a permanent presence on the moon.
One spot that particularly enthralled the astronauts (and is featured in the image above) is the Aristarchus Plateau — a broad, elevated region on the northwestern edge of the moon's nearside. The region hosts one of the moon's densest collections of ancient volcanic features, including swaths of dark lava deposits and colorful volcanic glasses.
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Koch, mission specialist for Artemis II, was shocked to see distinct yellow shades in the region; she likened the plateau to "a yellow snow-capped mountain," with sunlight-reflecting craters providing the bright "snow." She went on to call the region "a jaundiced cheek of the Moon."
"There are so many colors now," Glover, Artemis II's pilot, added while photographing the area. "There's also a green. I see brown, especially Aristarchus and north toward the north pole. … It kind of flows down from the north in brown streaks."
According to the report authors, these colorful hues "could be associated with orange (titanium-rich) and green (magnesium-rich) glass beads respectively," similar to volcanic glass beads collected by the Apollo 15 and 17 missions on separate parts of the moon.
Another colorful patch of the lunar surface that caught the crew's attention was Orientale Basin — a huge, young and multiringed impact crater that's about three times as wide as Massachusetts, according to NASA. Straddling the moon's near and far sides, this massive bull's-eye is rarely visible from Earth, but it dominated the crewmembers' field of view as they orbited around the side of the moon.
"It has just created chaos across that entire area," Wiseman, commander for the mission, said at the time.
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This photo, taken by the Orion capsule's external cameras, shows the lunar terminator, where the dayside bleeds into the nightside. Orientale Basin is the large bull's-eye-like feature near the bottom right of the moon.
(Image credit: NASA)
When flying over this sprawling basin, the crew noted gray, brown, tan and green below. The largest, outermost ring in the basin contained "almost swamp-like colors," Koch reported, while Glover spotted what looked like "dusted peaks" and "white on the very edges of [the mountains], the spines, the ridgebacks." Chains of craters parading away from the impact site looked "like bubbles rising from a team of scuba divers below," Koch added.
While these may sound like off-the-cuff observations, the Artemis II crew spent more than two years training to study and describe the moon's geology. Their regimen included visiting craters on Earth, taking lessons individually and in classrooms, conducting simulated flybys and, according to the report, bringing "self-selected reference materials" into the Orion capsule to read on the way to the moon.
Thanks to this training, the crew's observations provided a wealth of scientific information that no autonomous camera or orbiter could, the report said.
"The Artemis II mission demonstrated the exceptional value of human observation and cognition as scientific assets in planetary exploration," the report authors concluded. "Unlike cameras, which capture isolated moments and often narrow subsets of a scene, human observers continuously interpret their surroundings, integrating realtime visual perception with contextual understanding."
Or, to put that in Glover's more relatable words to mission control, "It's quite a wicked view.
Why Was the Outer Space Treaty Necessary?
Exactly 59 years ago, a document entered into force that continues to govern human activities beyond Earth. Under its provisions, no country may claim sovereignty over the Moon; the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit is prohibited; and any damage caused by a satellite falling within another country’s territory must be compensated for by the state that launched it.
Signing of the Outer Space Treaty on January 27, 1967.
Credit: CORBIS.
Source: Getty Images
A nuclear bomb has previously been detonated in space. The most powerful such explosion occurred in the summer of 1962, when no regulations governing outer space were yet in place.
On July 9, the United States launched a missile carrying a thermonuclear warhead from Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The 1.4-megaton charge — equivalent to 1.4 million metric tons of TNT — detonated at an altitude of approximately 400 km. The test was designated Starfish Prime.
The charged particles released by the explosion were trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. For several years, they orbited the planet, forming an artificial radiation belt. Each satellite passing through this region was exposed to an additional dose of radiation that its electronics and solar panels could not withstand. Within a few months, at least six satellites had failed. One of them was Telstar, the first commercial television relay satellite, which was launched into orbit the day after Starfish Prime.
An artificial aurora lasting approximately seven minutes following the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test on July 9, 1962.By that time, both the United States and the Soviet Union had already developed missiles capable of carrying a warhead beyond the atmosphere. One test demonstrated the vulnerability of near-Earth space; an actual conflict in orbit could have rendered it unusable for years. In October 1963, the UN General Assembly called on states not to deploy nuclear weapons in orbit.
The agreement that emerged from this concern bears a lengthy official title but is widely known as the Outer Space Treaty. It was opened for signature on January 27, 1967, simultaneously in Washington, London, and Moscow, and entered into force on October 10 of that year. The provisions governing the Moon were established nearly two years before the Apollo 11 astronauts set foot on its surface. Today, more than 110 countries, including Ukraine, are parties to the treaty.
Seventeen concise articles establish several fundamental principles. All countries may explore outer space, and every nation should share in its benefits. The treaty designates astronauts as envoys of humanity and requires every state to assist them in the event of an accident. Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction may not be placed in orbit or deployed beyond Earth. The Moon and other celestial bodies may be used solely for peaceful purposes; the establishment of military bases and fortifications, as well as the conduct of military maneuvers, is prohibited.
The first publicly released image of the debris cloud from the “Kosmos-1408” satellite, captured on November 15, 2021, shortly after its destruction by a Russian anti-satellite missile. The image was taken with a wide-angle telescope near Ouarzazate, Morocco.
Credit: Kem Ki. Source: Numerica Corporation
This has led to the widespread belief that the treaty has completely demilitarized space. In reality, it prohibits only weapons of mass destruction and makes no mention of conventional weapons or military satellites. The launch of ballistic missiles is also permitted, as they leave the atmosphere only briefly and do not remain in orbit. When Russia destroyed its own malfunctioning satellite, “Kosmos-1408,” with a strike from Earth in November 2021, it did not formally violate any provisions of the treaty. However, more than 1,500 trackable pieces of debris ended up near the orbit of the International Space Station, forcing its crew to take shelter in the docked spacecraft.
When the Apollo 11 astronauts planted the United States flag on the Moon’s surface in July 1969, the Moon did not thereby become American territory. The treaty expressly prohibits any state from claiming extraterrestrial space or a celestial body as its own. Such areas may not be appropriated through a declaration of sovereignty, use, or actual occupation.
Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin salutes the U.S. flag at the landing site, known as Tranquility Base, on July 20, 1969. The lunar module is visible on the left.
Credit: NASA
This provision also renders the “certificates” for plots on the Moon — which are sold online — meaningless. Sellers argue that the treaty applies only to governments and makes no reference to private individuals. However, no country recognizes such plots as property belonging to anyone; without that recognition, a stamped piece of paper has no legal force.
A substantially more complex issue concerns what may be extracted from the Moon. The treaty does not regulate the extraction of water, metals, or regolith — that is, the loose layer of dust and debris covering the surface. Proponents of mining argue that the same reasoning applies as it does on the high seas. Waters beyond the territorial waters controlled by individual countries are commonly regarded as neutral. They belong to no one; however, fish caught there become the property of the fisher.
The United Nations sought to address this issue as early as 1979 by adopting the Moon Treaty. The treaty designates the resources of Earth’s natural satellite as the common heritage of humanity, meaning that they may be extracted only in accordance with international rules. None of the leading spacefaring nations, including Ukraine, has acceded to the treaty.
Today, the “fisherman’s logic” is enshrined in the Artemis Accords, a set of non-binding principles proposed by the United States in 2020 in conjunction with its program to return humans to the Moon. Signatories agree that resources on any celestial body may be harvested, provided that doing so does not violate the Outer Space Treaty, and that such activities do not constitute an appropriation of territory. Separately, the agreements provide for the open publication of scientific data, assistance to astronauts in the event of an accident, the protection of historic sites such as the Apollo landing sites, and the safe removal of space debris.
Flags of the countries that, as of September 2026, have joined the Artemis Accords, a set of nonbinding principles for the exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies proposed by the United States in 2020.
Credit: NASA
As of the end of September 2026, 76 countries had signed the agreement. Ukraine was the ninth country to join, in November 2020. Critics argue that the right to extract resources violates the prohibition on appropriation and primarily benefits the United States and commercial companies.
Unlike the provisions concerning resources, this treaty provision has long been established in practice. Each country must supervise all space activities conducted by its citizens and companies. Accordingly, a private firm may not launch a spacecraft into orbit without government authorization and oversight. Damage caused by a space object is compensated by the so-called launching state — that is, the country that carried out or commissioned the launch, or provided its territory for the launch. Therefore, Ukraine will be responsible for the Ukrainian satellite, together with the country from which the rocket was launched.
This principle was put to the test in the winter of 1978. The Soviet reconnaissance satellite “Kosmos-954” was equipped with radar for tracking ships. Because its solar panels could not provide sufficient power, a nuclear reactor containing approximately 50 kg of highly enriched uranium operated aboard the satellite. Following a malfunction, the satellite fell out of orbit and crashed on January 24 in the uninhabited northern part of Canada, near Great Slave Lake. Radioactive debris was scattered across a strip approximately 600 km long — roughly the straight-line distance from Kyiv to Uzhhorod.
The team from the joint Canadian-American Operation Morning Light, which searched for radioactive debris from the Soviet satellite “Kosmos-954” in northern Canada in 1978.
Credit: Operation Morning Light / Imperative Productions. Source: CBC
Canada invoiced the USSR for more than 6 million Canadian dollars to cover the costs of searching and cleaning up the area. Moscow paid half of this amount (3 million) in 1981 but never formally acknowledged liability. This remains the only instance in which a state has filed a claim under the 1972 Special Convention, which elaborates on the treaty’s provisions concerning compensation for damage.
Another provision of the treaty addresses the contamination of other worlds. Countries must conduct the exploration of celestial bodies in a manner that avoids introducing bacteria and prevents harmful changes on Earth resulting from substances brought back from other worlds. Accordingly, Mars rovers are assembled in specialized clean rooms, and certain components are heated before launch to destroy any living organisms on their surfaces.
High Bay 1 Clean Room at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, NASA JPL, Pasadena.
Photo: NASA, JPL-Caltech
The objective is straightforward: if microorganisms are discovered on Mars or elsewhere, scientists must be able to determine with certainty that they were not transported there from Earth.
This requirement was most fully fulfilled at the conclusion of two missions to the giant planets. The Galileo spacecraft, which had been studying Jupiter since 1995, was deliberately directed into the planet’s atmosphere in September 2003. This measure eliminated the risk that it might one day collide with Europa, an icy moon. Beneath its surface, there is likely an ocean of liquid water in which life could theoretically exist.
The Galileo spacecraft near Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, beneath whose surface a liquid-water ocean is likely to exist.
Artist’s concept. Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Michigan
Fourteen years later, the same procedure was carried out with the Cassini spacecraft. During the mission, researchers discovered that jets of water were erupting from a subsurface ocean beneath the icy surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. Had Cassini run out of fuel, it would have become impossible to control, potentially resulting in a collision with Enceladus or neighboring Titan. Accordingly, on September 15, 2017, the spacecraft was directed into Saturn’s atmosphere, where it burned up.
An illustration depicting NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during one of its numerous flybys of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.The treaty was drafted when only the USSR, the United States, and France possessed their own space-launch vehicles. Today, thousands of satellites orbit Earth, a substantial proportion of which were launched by private companies, and dozens of countries are planning lunar missions. The text makes no direct reference to resource extraction, space debris, or collisions involving a country’s own spacecraft.
These gaps are being addressed through separate agreements, around which two major coalitions have already formed. Seventy-six countries have joined the Artemis Accords, while China and Russia are developing their own proposal for an international research station on the Moon. Disputes over the rights to extracted resources are likely to become a practical concern as soon as the first minerals are mined there.