Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Pictured above are not aurora but nearby light pillars, a local phenomenon that can appear as a distant one. ... Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. ... The Flaming Star Nebula from CFHT . ... Inside the Eagle Nebula . ... A closer look at the Eagle Nebula, however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. ...