Nova Scotia Northern Lights
2.04.2022

This almost otherworldly display of northern lights was captured in clear skies during the early hours of March 31 from 44 degrees north latitude, planet Earth. In a five second exposure the scene looks north from Martinique Beach Provincial Park in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Jets from Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
2.02.2015

Where do comet tails come from? Although it is common knowledge that comet tails and comas originate from comet nuclei, exactly how that happens is an active topic of research. One of the best...

Aurora over Icelandic Glacier
9.03.2015

Several key conditions came together to create this award-winning shot. These included a dark night, few clouds, an epic auroral display, and a body of water that was both calm enough and unfrozen enough to show reflected stars.

Solar Magnetic Bananas
29.06.1998

Is that our Sun? The unusual banana-shaped loops shown above are actually part of a computer-generated snap-shot of our Sun's magnetic field. This animated frame was constructed using data from the ground-based U.S. Solar Vector Magnetograph and the space-based Japanese X-Ray Telescope Yohkoh.

Spot The Planet
10.12.1999

OK, it's a picture of the Sun (duh!), but can you spot the planet? Of course, most of the spots you've spotted are sunspots, as large or larger than planet Earth itself.

Northern Lights, West Virginia
12.10.2024

A gravel country lane gently winds through this colorful rural night skyscape. Captured from Monroe County in southern West Virginia on the evening of October 10, the starry sky above is a familiar sight. Shimmering curtains of aurora borealis or northern lights definitely do not make regular appearances here, though.

Io: The Fissure King?
29.11.1996

Is Io the solar system's Fissure King? Well, probably not ... but it is the most active volcanic moon. Active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io were a surprise discovery of the Voyager missions of the late 1970s.

A Leonid Meteor Over Sweden
21.11.2006

This past weekend, small remnant bits of a distant comet lit up the skies over much of planet Earth. Incoming reports, however, have this year's Leonid meteor shower as less active than Leonid meteor showers a few years ago.

Blue Sun Bursting
20.05.2013

Our Sun is not a giant blueberry. Our Sun can be made to appear similar to the diminutive fruit, however, by imaging it in a specific color of extreme violet light called CaK that is emitted by the very slight abundance of ionized Calcium in the Sun's atmosphere, and then false color-inverting the image.

Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini
18.12.2025

Jupiter, the Solar System's ruling gas giant, is the brightest celestial beacon at the center of this composite night skyscape. The scene was constructed by selecting the 40 exposures containing meteors from about...