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ScienceQuiet 5d · day 11

NASA's APOD series features rare Jupiter moon occultation and Halloween sky sights

NASA's daily astronomy feature captures a rare mutual occultation of Ganymede and Io, occurring once every six years.

newest coverage 4d agosummary written 8d ago28 pieces31 likes & upvotes2 comments NewswiresMastodonHacker News

What to know

  • A rare mutual occultation of Jupiter's moons Ganymede and Io occurred on October 20, 2026—an event that happens only once every six years when Jupiter reaches its equinox.
  • NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day featured the occultation in a published video on October 28, explaining that such events require a precise edge-on view of the moons' orbits from Earth.
  • Jupiter orbits with 115 known moons, the second-most in the Solar System after Saturn's 293 moons.

“Jupiter is one of the least lonely planets in the Solar System, at least when it comes to natural satellites. 115 moons have been discovered orbiting Jupiter so far!”

NASA APOD · NASA Science ↗

NASA Publisher of Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA's APOD series features rare Jupiter moon occultation and Halloween sky sights
science.nasa.gov

How it unfolded 4 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 3 pieces in 3h at Oct 31, 11 PM; 28 pieces over 12 days (14 articles · 14 posts) Oct 27, 11 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Oct 28, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 28, 5 AM — quietOct 28, 8 AM — quietOct 28, 11 AM — quietOct 28, 2 PM — quietOct 28, 5 PM — quietOct 28, 8 PM — quietOct 28, 11 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Oct 29, 2 AM — quietOct 29, 5 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 29, 8 AM — quietOct 29, 11 AM — quietOct 29, 2 PM — quietOct 29, 5 PM — quietOct 29, 8 PM — quietOct 29, 11 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Oct 30, 2 AM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Oct 30, 5 AM — quietOct 30, 8 AM — quietOct 30, 11 AM — quietOct 30, 2 PM — quietOct 30, 5 PM — quietOct 30, 8 PM — quietOct 30, 11 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Oct 31, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 31, 5 AM — quietOct 31, 8 AM — quietOct 31, 11 AM — quietOct 31, 2 PM — quietOct 31, 5 PM — quietOct 31, 8 PM — quietOct 31, 11 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Newswires 2, Mastodon 1Nov 1, 1 AM — quietNov 1, 4 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 1, 7 AM — quietNov 1, 10 AM — quietNov 1, 1 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Hacker News 1, Mastodon 1Nov 1, 4 PM — quietNov 1, 7 PM — quietNov 1, 10 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Newswires 2, Mastodon 1Nov 2, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 2, 4 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Nov 2, 7 AM — quietNov 2, 10 AM — quietNov 2, 1 PM — quietNov 2, 4 PM — quietNov 2, 7 PM — quietNov 2, 10 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Nov 3, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 3, 4 AM — quietNov 3, 7 AM — quietNov 3, 10 AM — quietNov 3, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 3, 4 PM — quietNov 3, 7 PM — quietNov 3, 10 PM — quietNov 4, 1 AM — quietNov 4, 4 AM — quietNov 4, 7 AM — quietNov 4, 10 AM — quietNov 4, 1 PM — quietNov 4, 4 PM — quietNov 4, 7 PM — quietNov 4, 10 PM — quietNov 5, 1 AM — quietNov 5, 4 AM — quietNov 5, 7 AM — quietNov 5, 10 AM — quietNov 5, 1 PM — quietNov 5, 4 PM — quietNov 5, 7 PM — quietNov 5, 10 PM — quietNov 6, 1 AM — quietNov 6, 4 AM — quietNov 6, 7 AM — quietNov 6, 10 AM — quietNov 6, 1 PM — quietNov 6, 4 PM — quietNov 6, 7 PM — quietNov 6, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quiet 1234
Oct 28Oct 29Oct 30Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6now · 10:53 AM ET
  1. 4

    APOD presents Halloween-themed celestial image

    NASA's feature for Halloween showed a night sky or planetary scene with a spooky theme for the seasonal occasion.

    1. 2 outlets APOD: 2026 October 31 – Night on a Spooky Planet

      first by NASA breaking, 8d ago · also NASA

    • mkwadee@mastodon.org.uk

      # APOD : 2026 November 3 - # CometPanSTARRs and Rainbow # Meteor - # NASA # Science https:// science.nasa.gov/image-article /apod-2026-november-3-comet-panstarrs-and-rainbow-meteor/ # Comet

      mkwadee@mastodon.org.ukMastodon5d ago9▲view on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 6 posts in this stretch
    • mkwadee@mastodon.org.uk

      # APOD : 2026 November 1 – # Colours of the # Moon - # NASA # Science # Astronomy # Picture of the Day https:// science.nasa.gov/image-article /apod-2026-november-1-colors-of-the-moon/

      mkwadee@mastodon.org.ukMastodon7d ago6▲view on Mastodon ↗
    • us@pubeurope.com

      https://www. europesays.com/us/1155607/ APOD: 2026 October 31 – Night on a Spooky Planet # APOD # Science # Space # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US

      us@pubeurope.comMastodon8d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. 3

    APOD highlights nebula in Cepheus Flare region

    NASA's astronomy feature presented an image of the Cepheus Flare nebula, featured with a seasonal Halloween theme.

    1. 2 outlets APOD: 2026 October 30 – Haunting the Cepheus Flare

      first by NASA breaking, 9d ago · also NASA

    • mkwadee@mastodon.org.uk

      # APOD : 2026 October 30 – Haunting the # CepheusFlare - # NASA # Science # Astronomy # Picture of the Day https:// science.nasa.gov/image-article /apod-2026-october-30-haunting-the-cepheus-flare/ # Nebula

      mkwadee@mastodon.org.ukMastodon9d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
    • us@pubeurope.com

      https://www. europesays.com/us/1153327/ APOD: 2026 October 30 – Haunting the Cepheus Flare # APOD # Science # Space # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US

      us@pubeurope.comMastodon9d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  3. 2

    APOD features Venus's horn phase

    NASA's daily feature shifted to show Venus displaying a crescent or horn-like phase, a phenomenon visible from Earth.

    1. 2 outlets APOD: 29 October 2026 – The Horns of Venus

      first by NASA breaking, 10d ago · also NASA

  4. 1

    NASA publishes video of the Ganymede-Io occultation

    NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day released a video capturing the mutual occultation that occurred on October 20, explaining that Jupiter has 115 discovered moons and highlighting the rarity of witnessing such lunar alignments.

    1. 2 outlets APOD: 2026 October 28 – The Mutual Occultation of Ganymede and Io

      first by NASA breaking, 11d ago · also NASA

  5. background

    Ganymede and Io undergo mutual occultation in Jupiter's sky — Two of Jupiter's Galilean moons met in the sky, with Ganymede briefly blocking Io from view. Ganymede also cast its shadow on Jupiter's right side. This rare event occurs only once every six years when Jupiter reaches its equinox and appears less tilted, allowing Earth an edge-on view of the moons' orbits.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets APOD: 2026 November 1 – Colors of the Moon

    first by NASA breaking, 7d ago · also NASA

    2 more headlines

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