The Magellanic Stream
26.08.1998

Spanning the sky behind the majestic Clouds of Magellan is an unusual stream of gas: the Magellanic Stream. The origin of this gas might hold a clue to origin and fate of our Milky Way's most famous satellite galaxies: the LMC and the SMC.

Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System
27.11.2016

Could you survive a jump off the tallest cliff in the Solar System? Quite possibly. Verona Rupes on Uranus' moon Miranda is estimated to be 20 kilometers deep -- ten times the depth of the Earth's Grand Canyon.

Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System
29.11.2020

Could you survive a jump off the tallest cliff in the Solar System? Quite possibly. Verona Rupes on Uranus' moon Miranda is estimated to be 20 kilometers deep -- ten times the depth of the Earth's Grand Canyon.

Orion's Horsehead Nebula
27.08.2000

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the black indentation to the red emission nebula seen just to the right of center of the above photograph. The bright star near the center is located in the belt of the familiar constellation of Orion.

M64: The Sleeping Beauty Galaxy
12.06.2011

The Sleeping Beauty galaxy may appear peaceful at first sight but it is actually tossing and turning. In an unexpected twist, recent observations have shown that the gas in the outer regions of this photogenic spiral is rotating in the opposite direction from all of the stars!

Analemma Over Ancient Nemea
21.06.2004

An anelemma is that figure-8 curve that you get when you mark the position of the Sun at the same time each day throughout planet Earth's year. Above, 44 separate exposures (plus...

The Analemma and the Temple of Olympian Zeus
23.12.2006

An analemma is that figure-8 curve you get when you mark the position of the Sun at the same time each day throughout planet Earth's year. Above, 47 separate exposures (plus one foreground...

Olympus Mons on Mars: The Largest Volcano
15.09.1997

The largest volcano in the Solar System is on Mars. Olympus Mons rises 24 kilometers high and measures 550 km across. By comparison, Earth's largest volcano, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, rises 9 km high and measures 120 km across.

First US Spacewalk
4.06.2005

In 1965, forty years ago on June 3rd, astronaut Edward White made the first U.S. spacewalk. Tethered to his Gemini IV capsule, White is pictured above holding a compressed gas "zip gun" for maneuvers in his right hand.

The Big Dipper Cluster
17.03.2006

A well-known asterism in northern skies, The Big Dipper is easy to recognize even when viewed upside down. Part of the larger constellation of Ursa Major, the bright dipper stars above are named (left to right along the dipper) Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar/Alcor, and Alkaid.