Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
@backyardastroguy.bsky.social
🪐 NASA Solar System Ambassador
🔭 Amateur Astronomer
🚀 BackyardAstronomyGuy.com
📍Bethlehem, Pennsylvania USA
🔭 Amateur Astronomer
🚀 BackyardAstronomyGuy.com
📍Bethlehem, Pennsylvania USA
Pinned
Hello world. Just an amateur astronomer in love with the cosmos & a volunteer #NASA #JPL #SolarSystemAmbassador
BackyardAstronomyGuy.com
BackyardAstronomyGuy.com
During the Artemis I uncrewed test mission around the Moon in November 2022, I had a special message displayed in the Orion cockpit!
This message was shown at Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 02:09:35:21 (2 days, 9 hours, 35 minutes, 21 seconds), at a distance of 189,616 miles from Earth!
This message was shown at Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 02:09:35:21 (2 days, 9 hours, 35 minutes, 21 seconds), at a distance of 189,616 miles from Earth!
January 22, 2026 at 1:59 AM
During the Artemis I uncrewed test mission around the Moon in November 2022, I had a special message displayed in the Orion cockpit!
This message was shown at Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 02:09:35:21 (2 days, 9 hours, 35 minutes, 21 seconds), at a distance of 189,616 miles from Earth!
This message was shown at Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 02:09:35:21 (2 days, 9 hours, 35 minutes, 21 seconds), at a distance of 189,616 miles from Earth!
Cold 2-hour hike through Jacobsburg State Park today on my last day of vacation & playing around with my Canon USA R6 Mark III’s settings.
January 3, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Cold 2-hour hike through Jacobsburg State Park today on my last day of vacation & playing around with my Canon USA R6 Mark III’s settings.
This is still my best telescope photo of the International Space Station from April 2021, with NASA’s reference in next post of what was docked at that time.
🔭📷: 10” Dobsonian (manually tracked!) & Canon 60D
🔭📷: 10” Dobsonian (manually tracked!) & Canon 60D
December 30, 2025 at 2:51 AM
This is still my best telescope photo of the International Space Station from April 2021, with NASA’s reference in next post of what was docked at that time.
🔭📷: 10” Dobsonian (manually tracked!) & Canon 60D
🔭📷: 10” Dobsonian (manually tracked!) & Canon 60D
From NASA JPL: Make a 2026 Moon Phases Calendar, and follow the lunar cycle all year long!
🌖 All you need is a printer, scissors, tape, and a brass fastener: www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resource...
🌖 All you need is a printer, scissors, tape, and a brass fastener: www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resource...
December 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
From NASA JPL: Make a 2026 Moon Phases Calendar, and follow the lunar cycle all year long!
🌖 All you need is a printer, scissors, tape, and a brass fastener: www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resource...
🌖 All you need is a printer, scissors, tape, and a brass fastener: www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resource...
Tonight’s 7.5% illuminated waxing crescent Moon’s “Earthshine” was quite a view, which can only be seen a few days before and after the new Moon. Earthshine is Earth’s reflected sunlight on the Moon’s night side.
📷 @canonusa R6 Mark III, RF 24-240 lens @240 and cropped.
📷 @canonusa R6 Mark III, RF 24-240 lens @240 and cropped.
December 23, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Tonight’s 7.5% illuminated waxing crescent Moon’s “Earthshine” was quite a view, which can only be seen a few days before and after the new Moon. Earthshine is Earth’s reflected sunlight on the Moon’s night side.
📷 @canonusa R6 Mark III, RF 24-240 lens @240 and cropped.
📷 @canonusa R6 Mark III, RF 24-240 lens @240 and cropped.
Before sunrise, December 16, 2025. 🛩️🌘
📷 Canon R6 Mark III
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
📷 Canon R6 Mark III
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
December 16, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Before sunrise, December 16, 2025. 🛩️🌘
📷 Canon R6 Mark III
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
📷 Canon R6 Mark III
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Getting creative with the Full Moon and my new Canon R6 Mark III 📷. Which one do you like best?
December 5, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Getting creative with the Full Moon and my new Canon R6 Mark III 📷. Which one do you like best?
Caught a comet tonight! I stacked 75 images of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), using my Canon 60D/300mm lens. Wish I could do better! I aligned all the images on the comet nucleus, showing some movement relative to stars and a satellite?
October 19, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Caught a comet tonight! I stacked 75 images of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), using my Canon 60D/300mm lens. Wish I could do better! I aligned all the images on the comet nucleus, showing some movement relative to stars and a satellite?
I captured my first 22-degree solar halo with sun dogs!
📍Nazareth, Pennsylvania
September 30, 2025 at 5:30pm ET
📍Nazareth, Pennsylvania
September 30, 2025 at 5:30pm ET
September 30, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I captured my first 22-degree solar halo with sun dogs!
📍Nazareth, Pennsylvania
September 30, 2025 at 5:30pm ET
📍Nazareth, Pennsylvania
September 30, 2025 at 5:30pm ET
Finally freeing up laptop storage by deleting 10 years’ worth of “bad astronomy.” Thousands of giant .CR2 files of blurry stars, overexposed moons, and what I once swore was Saturn but was clearly just camera shake or bad focus. Hoping to make a new gallery at the end of it all!
September 30, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Finally freeing up laptop storage by deleting 10 years’ worth of “bad astronomy.” Thousands of giant .CR2 files of blurry stars, overexposed moons, and what I once swore was Saturn but was clearly just camera shake or bad focus. Hoping to make a new gallery at the end of it all!
🔭🪐 Saturn - September 19, 2025
September 20, 2025 at 3:35 AM
🔭🪐 Saturn - September 19, 2025
Reposted by Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
A satellite photo of a volcano taken from space FROM THE SIDE
Just spent some time digging through old Maxar/DigitalGlobe blogs to find a reference image and found this incredible capture of Mt Fuji. Incredible.
The satellite was only three degrees above the horizon when it captured this image.
blog.maxar.com/earth-intell...
The satellite was only three degrees above the horizon when it captured this image.
blog.maxar.com/earth-intell...
September 16, 2025 at 7:33 PM
A satellite photo of a volcano taken from space FROM THE SIDE
Send your name on NASA’s Artemis II Mission around the Moon, launching in 2026!
nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/
nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/
September 11, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Send your name on NASA’s Artemis II Mission around the Moon, launching in 2026!
nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/
nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/
Sun rising at 7:13am ET, with some sunspots visible! First two images taken with my iPhone 16 Pro in Raw Max @ 25x zoom, exposure -2.0 and brightness slider turned to lowest setting. Last image is current data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (different orientation than my pics)
September 6, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Sun rising at 7:13am ET, with some sunspots visible! First two images taken with my iPhone 16 Pro in Raw Max @ 25x zoom, exposure -2.0 and brightness slider turned to lowest setting. Last image is current data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (different orientation than my pics)
🛰️🌎 Space & Earth lovers: I highly recommend you download the free Sen app and view a 4K livestream of Earth or prerecorded videos of scenic locations around our planet, all from the Sen camera on the ISS!
📲 iOS: apps.apple.com/jm/app/sen/i...
📲 Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...
📲 iOS: apps.apple.com/jm/app/sen/i...
📲 Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...
August 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM
🛰️🌎 Space & Earth lovers: I highly recommend you download the free Sen app and view a 4K livestream of Earth or prerecorded videos of scenic locations around our planet, all from the Sen camera on the ISS!
📲 iOS: apps.apple.com/jm/app/sen/i...
📲 Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...
📲 iOS: apps.apple.com/jm/app/sen/i...
📲 Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...
🚀👨🚀👨🚀 On this day: July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission. The clearest photos of the Apollo 11 & 12 Lunar Descent Stages that were left on the surface from were taken in 2021 by the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO)…
July 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
🚀👨🚀👨🚀 On this day: July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission. The clearest photos of the Apollo 11 & 12 Lunar Descent Stages that were left on the surface from were taken in 2021 by the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO)…
Thank you NASA & JPL for my surprise mail this weekend! Being present for the 2024 total solar eclipse at Tupper Lake, NY was the astronomical highlight of my life. Check out my timelapse video of totality!
youtu.be/w3Tjr6xWgcA
youtu.be/w3Tjr6xWgcA
July 7, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Thank you NASA & JPL for my surprise mail this weekend! Being present for the 2024 total solar eclipse at Tupper Lake, NY was the astronomical highlight of my life. Check out my timelapse video of totality!
youtu.be/w3Tjr6xWgcA
youtu.be/w3Tjr6xWgcA
Reposted by Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
FACT THREAD on New Interstellar Object #A11pl3Z
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
July 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
FACT THREAD on New Interstellar Object #A11pl3Z
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
Reposted by Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
#NASARoman: NASA has successfully joined the sunshade to the Roman observatory’s ‘exoskeleton.’
The visor-like sunshade will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope: go.nasa.gov/4hQItFR
The visor-like sunshade will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope: go.nasa.gov/4hQItFR
February 12, 2025 at 3:47 PM
#NASARoman: NASA has successfully joined the sunshade to the Roman observatory’s ‘exoskeleton.’
The visor-like sunshade will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope: go.nasa.gov/4hQItFR
The visor-like sunshade will help prevent unwanted light from entering the telescope: go.nasa.gov/4hQItFR
Reposted by Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
Large white oval storm system with associated turbulent flows on Jupiter. Mid-northern latitudes.
Juno Perijove 65, Sept. 20, 2024.
flic.kr/p/2qLfcvy
Juno Perijove 65, Sept. 20, 2024.
flic.kr/p/2qLfcvy
February 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Large white oval storm system with associated turbulent flows on Jupiter. Mid-northern latitudes.
Juno Perijove 65, Sept. 20, 2024.
flic.kr/p/2qLfcvy
Juno Perijove 65, Sept. 20, 2024.
flic.kr/p/2qLfcvy
Reposted by Marty McGuire, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador
Jupiter’s North Equatorial Belt and areas north as seen by Juno during Perijove 69, January 28th.
flic.kr/p/2qJPSQQ
flic.kr/p/2qJPSQQ
February 4, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Jupiter’s North Equatorial Belt and areas north as seen by Juno during Perijove 69, January 28th.
flic.kr/p/2qJPSQQ
flic.kr/p/2qJPSQQ
Maybe, just maybe… everyone should stop getting so excited about SpaceX launches.
February 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Maybe, just maybe… everyone should stop getting so excited about SpaceX launches.