Rocket Trails in the Milky Way
29.03.2012

On March 27, five sounding rockets leapt into early morning skies from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Part of the Anomalous Transport Rocket EXperiment (ATREX), begining at 4:58 am EDT the rockets launched consecutively at 80 second intervals.

Orion in Depth
19.09.2020

Orion is a familiar constellation. The apparent positions of its stars in two dimensions create a well-known pattern on the bowl of planet Earth's night sky. Orion may not look quite so familiar in this 3D view though.

The Small Cloud of Magellan
5.01.2021

What is the Small Magellanic Cloud? It has turned out to be a galaxy. People who have wondered about this little fuzzy patch in the southern sky included Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan...

Stargate Milky Way
17.08.2022

There is a huge gate of stars in the sky, and you pass through it twice a day. The stargate is actually our Milky Way Galaxy, and it is the spin of the Earth that appears to propel you through it.

APOD: 2024 September 30 Б Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS over Mexico
30.09.2024

The new comet has passed its closest to the Sun and is now moving closer to the Earth. C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanБATLAS) is currently moving out from inside the orbit of Venus and on track to pass its nearest to the Earth in about two weeks.

SWAN, Swan, Eagle
23.10.2025

Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) sports a greenish coma and fainter tail, seen against congeries of stars and dusty interstellar clouds in this 7 degree wide telescopic field of view from October 17. On that...

Mystery Over Australia
22.02.2007

Place your cursor on this stunning view of dark skies over western Australia to highlight wonders of the southern Milky Way -- including the famous Southern Cross, the dark Coal Sack Nebula, and bright reddish emission regions surrounding massive star Eta Carinae.

Shuttle and Meteor
14.08.2009

This early morning skyscape was captured last week on August 4th, looking northeast across calm waters in the Turn Basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. In a striking contrast in motion, the space...

Earth Rotating Under Very Large Telescopes
1.06.2011

Why is the Earth moving in the above video? Most time lapse videos of the night sky show the stars and sky moving above a steady Earth. Here, however, the frames have been digitally rotated so that it is the stars that stay (approximately) steady, and the Earth that moves beneath them.

Mars Opposition
27.07.2018

Look opposite the Sun in the sky tonight and you'll see Mars at its brightest. Also within days of its closest approach Mars rises at sunset, near its brightest and best for telescopic observers too, except for the dust storm still blanketing the Red Planet.