See a giant ‘ghost particle’ detector and more — October’s best science images

The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.

By Emma Stoye and Helena Kudiabor

31 October 2024

Hunting ghosts. Engineers have nearly finished building the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in China. The detector is a massive underground sphere designed to capture neutrinos — enigmatic subatomic particles also known as ‘ghost particles’ — coming from nearby nuclear power plants, as well as from outer space. It will help researchers to better understand the properties of these particles, such as how different types of neutrino differ by mass. The observatory has been under construction since 2015, and is due to start operating next year.

Jin Liwang/Xinhua/eyevine

Arctic voyages. Researchers are preparing to launch the Tara Polar Station — a floating research facility that will enable long-term expeditions to the Arctic. It will hopefully improve scientists’ understanding of how rising global temperatures are affecting the region’s ecosystems. The vessel is due to set sail from Cherbourg, France, in 2026, and will bring together researchers from various disciplines for ten consecutive two-year missions. It was designed not only to be environmentally friendly, but also to withstand winter temperatures that can reach as low as −45 °C.

Lou Benoist/AFP/Getty

NASA, ESA, M. Stute, M. Karovska, D. de Martin & M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble), N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble). This video has no sound.

NASA, ESA, M. Stute, M. Karovska, D. de Martin & M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble), N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble). This video has no sound.

Evolution of a star. This time-lapse video, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope across several observations between 2014 and 2023, shows how one of the most unique stars in the Milky Way has changed over time. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star — a system of two stars that orbit around each other. R Aquarii’s primary star is a red giant — about 400 times larger than the Sun — in the later stages of its life. Orbiting the giant is a white dwarf, which has burnt up almost all of its fuel. As you watch how R Aquarii has evolved over time, look out for the changing brightness at its centre. This is caused by temperature changes in the red giant, which cause it to pulsate.

Przemyslaw Jakubczyk/Nikon Comedy Wildlife

Przemyslaw Jakubczyk/Nikon Comedy Wildlife

Thrill of the chase. “Every annoyed and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting for bald eagles,” suggests photographer Przemysław Jakubczyk, whose shot of a bream appearing to chase the bird through the sky above Szczecin Lagoon in Poland is a finalist in this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. The contest showcases some of nature’s most hilarious scenes. It was founded in 2015 and aims to promote conservation by combining humour with epic wildlife photography.

Josh Dury

Josh Dury

Island eclipse. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, saw its first annular solar eclipse in 236 years on 2 October. Sometimes referred to as a ‘ring of fire’ eclipse, an annular eclipse happens when the Moon is too far away from Earth to completely block out the Sun. Instead, the Sun is seen as a bright ring around the Moon. This eclipse could also be seen in southern Chile and Argentina, but viewers in Rapa Nui had the best vantage point. This image was created by astrophotographer Josh Dury, who blended 21 shots of the seven-minute eclipse.

NASA/SDO. This video has no sound.

NASA/SDO. This video has no sound.

Solar power. Scientists have confirmed that the Sun has entered its solar maximum, the apex of the 11-year solar cycle when the Sun’s magnetic field weakens as its poles prepare to flip. During a solar maximum ­— seen on the right side of this video — there is more activity on the surface than during a solar minimum (left), captured by NASA in 2019. Solar storms have led to the apparance of colourful auroras at much lower latitudes than usual over the past few months, and the maximum is expected to continue for at least another year.

Cannabis close-up. This microscopy image of a cannabis leaf took third place at the Nikon Small World photography awards.

The purple, bead-like structures are trichomes ­— tiny glands that coat the leaves.

They contain cannabinoids, including the psychoactive and medicinal compounds for which the plant is known.

Chris Romaine/Kandid Kush/Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition

Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty

Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty

Comet of the century. Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) enters the inner Solar System only every 80,000 years, so its recent appearance was an extraordinary event — the last time it was visible from Earth it might well have been witnessed by Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). Here, it streaks across the sky over Joshua Tree National Park in California. Comets are mixtures of dust, ice and small rocky particles that move around the Sun in an elongated orbit, as escaping material forms a characteristic ‘tail’.

Pinhole eye. This foreboding satellite image shows Hurricane Milton gathering strength as it prepares to make landfall in Florida. It was captured by external cameras on the International Space Station, and scientists were quick to draw attention to the hurricane’s tiny eye. The eye is the calmest point of a storm, and ‘pinhole’ eyes, which have a diameter of less than 16 kilometres, indicate very fast, highly dangerous winds. Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, as a category 3 hurricane on 9 October, less than two weeks after the same area was battered by Hurricane Helene.

CSU/CIRA & NOAA

Demolition squad. Photographer Ingo Arndt captured red wood ants (Formica rufa) dismembering a dead blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus) — a task that left him ‘full of ant’ after lying down next to the ants’ nest. The ants get most of their nutrition from honeydew secreted by aphids, but they occasionally consume other insects for protein — often ones much larger than themselves. The shot was a winner of the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.

The moment this jaguar (Panthera onca) delivered a skull-crushing bite to an unsuspecting yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) was captured perfectly by travel photographer Ian Ford in the Pantanal wetlands of South America. The shot was a highly commended entry in this year’s competition.

Another highly commended photo shows a shark picking at the last pieces of flesh on a whale carcass in Australia’s Ningaloo Reef. It was taken by underwater photographer Daniel Browne.

In a less sinister underwater shot, Jason Galley photographed a manatee mother and calf in the beautifully clear waters of Crystal River on the west coast of Florida. Thanks to community efforts to improve the water quality, more manatees (Trichechus sp.) were recorded in the river in the winter of 2022–23 than ever before.