Barsoom
28.06.1997

"Yes, I have been to Barsoom again ..." begins John Carter in Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1913 science fiction classic "The Gods of Mars". In Burroughs' novels describing Carter's adventures on Mars, "Barsoom" is the local name for the red planet. Mars continues to inspire Earthdwellers' interests and imagination.

Lightning on Jupiter
12.05.1997

Does lightning occur only on Earth? Spacecraft in our Solar System have detected radio signals consistent with lightning on other planets, including Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In the above photograph, optical flashes from Jupiter were photographed recently by the Galileo orbiter. Each of the circled dots indicates lightning.

Shapley 1: An Annular Planetary Nebula
25.06.2000

What happens when a star runs out of nuclear fuel? The center condenses into a white dwarf while the outer atmospheric layers are expelled into space and appear as a planetary nebula. This particular planetary nebula, designated Shapley 1 after the famous astronomer Harlow Shapley, has a very apparent annular ring like structure.

Shapley 1: An Annular Planetary Nebula
14.02.1997

What happens when a star runs out of nuclear fuel? The center condenses into a white dwarf while the outer atmospheric layers are expelled into space and appear as a planetary nebula. This particular planetary nebula, designated Shapley 1 after the famous astronomer Harlow Shapley, has a very apparent annular ring like structure.

Twisting Meteor Train
26.11.1998

Blazing through the sky at 70 kilometers per second, 100 kilometers or so above planet Earth, many bright Leonid meteors left behind a persistent, smoke-like trail of glowing, hot, ionized gas. Twisting in high altitude winds, these trails or trains typically were visible for many minutes.

Look Up Together
23.04.2020

Watch this video. In only a minute or so you can explore the night skies around planet Earth through a compilation of stunning timelapse sequences. The presentation will take you to sites in the United States, Germany, Russia, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and China.

Northern Lights above Lofoten
15.06.2016

The Aurora Borealis or northern lights are familiar visitors to night skies above the village of Reine in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, planet Earth. In this scene, captured from a mountaintop camp site, the auroral curtains do seem to create an eerie tension with the coastal lights though.

Stars Trail over Ragusa
27.03.2020

In trying times, stars still trail in the night. Taken on March 14, this night skyscape was made by combining 230 exposures each 15 seconds long to follow the stars' circular paths. The camera was fixed to a tripod on an isolated terrace near the center of Ragusa, Italy, on the island of Sicily.

An Earth Ornament
24.12.1996

The Apollo 8 astronauts spent the 1968 Christmas Season in lunar orbit, returning with striking images of the Moon and Earth from space which inspired the world. While in lunar orbit...

Welcome Home Shannon Lucid
27.09.1996

Today is Shannon Lucid's first day on Planet Earth in six months. Her stay aboard Russia's Mir Space Station was of record length - the longest stay of any American in space ever.