Space Store

Tonight marks the #WinterSolstice in the Northern Hemisphere ❄️ Officially arriving at 3:27am UTC, we will experience the longest night of the year here in the UK. Plenty of time to stargaze and look out for #Jupiter near the Moon, as well as the #Ursidmeteorshower at its peak!

#SpaceFactFriday The Geminids meteor shower is in its peak over the next week or so. If you have clear skies, have a look, as it is also the only meteor shower that produces multi-coloured streams of light. They are plenty (up to120 can be seen per hour) and fast (21 mi/hr)!

#WebbWednesday Well, take a look at the center of the Milky Way! It ain't no chocolate bar 🍫 but an absolutely gorgeous, star-studded area that scientists will be using to study star formation.🌟 📷: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia)

We're closed today but will reopen for an epic weekend of holiday shopping! Come round and see us at the festive Covered Market! And drop off gifts for children in need for @play2give's Christmas appeal 🚀

#HubbleSunday This stunning image shows a dark nebula whose light is blocked by the dust of massive stars being formed. A protostellar jet streams out of the nebula creating a light show that is perhaps more awesome than a firework display! 🎆 📷: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Fedriani,Tan

#SpaceFactFriday After a few delays, #SpaceX #Starship is now hoping to launch Saturday at 13:00 GMT. 🚀 If it flies, the plan is for the booster to land off the Gulf of Mexico, and the second stage rocket will #splashdown off the coast of #Kauai. 🏝️ 📷: SpaceX

Targeting Friday, November 17 for Starship’s second flight test. A two-hour launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT → spacex.com/launches

The #Taurids #meteorshower is at its peak in the next 2 days. If the clouds part for us here in the UK, you may be able to see some of the show 🌟 The nice thing is not having to stay up too late, but the rain could block our view. Give it a go and see what yo see! 🔭

#SpaceFactFriday The purple ribbon phenomenon has been identified as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (#STEVE). It appears aurora-like and has been seen in northern skies. So many have questioned what it is, physicists gave it a name! 📷: Krista Trinder

#HubbleSunday This beauty is MACS J0416.1-2403, a galaxy cluster that illustrates a "gravitational lens," a natural occurrence where gravity allows magnification and distortion of light so that we can see far beyond the reach of a normal telescope! 📷:NASA, ESA, and L. Infante

#SpaceFactFriday This week, NASA astronauts Loral O'Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli performed the 4th all-female #spacewalk in history. They were able to spend nearly 7 hours on maintenance outside the @iss and accomplished their assigned tasks. This was the first EVA for both! 📷: NASA

'Tis the season for #Sleigh2Give with @Play2Give! Space Store is happy to serve as a donation collection spot for new, unwrapped toys for children in need 🧸🪀🚀 Starting this week, we'll have a donation box in our Oxford store. Purchase new toys at our shop & donate on the spot!

#HubbleSunday NGC 4676, also known as 'The Mice,' was captured by Hubble some 20 years ago. Two galaxies that will someday merge into one giant one, for now, resemble two mice with long, thin tails of gas and stardust trailing behind.🌟 📷:NASA/ESAFord,Illingworth,Clampin,Hartig

Tonight! Here in the UK and across Europe, Asia, Africa and western Australia, we will be able to witness a #partiallunareclipse of the Hunter's Moon 🌕 Hopefully the clouds and rain won't be too much of a hindrance to the view. Look up! 🔭

#HubbleMonday returns with Westerlund 2, a cluster of 3,000 stars. This giant star cluster is about 2 million years old and is home to some our galaxy's brightest and hottest stars. We will gladly observe them from here, with Hubble's help! 🥵 📷:NASA, ESA, A. Nota (ESA/STScI)

Tomorrow at 8:35 EDT, NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara will step outside the @iss for her 1st #spacewalk, alongside ESA's Andreas Mogensen. They will be collecting microorganism samples and performing maintenance outside the Quest airlock. You can watch live on NASA TV! 📷: NASA

#HubbleMonday! It's been a busy few days for us gearing up for Space Activity Days 👨‍🚀 One more week to go 🌟 But we didn't want to forget to post a beautiful image for you to enjoy. This is NGC 1087 in the constellation Cetus, a barred spiral galaxy! 📷:NASA,ESA, R.Chandar,J. Lee

NASA & Arizona State Univ are gearing up for a big launch tomorrow, as they will send the Falcon Heavy rocket into space for a mission that will span the next 8 yrs 🚀 The target is the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter, to explore the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. 📷: NASA

Happy #HubbleSunday! This is 100 million-year-old globular 🌟 cluster NGC 1850 is found in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Let's stop right there. One hundred million years old?!? Looking spectacular for its age! ☄️ 📷: NASA, ESA and G. Gilmore

#HubbleMonday! Here we have the beautiful nebula Westerhout 5. The red color is a type of light emission known as H-alpha emission. This occurs when a very energetic electron within a hydrogen atom loses a set amount of its energy, releasing red light. 📷: ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai