Southern Sky at 38,000 Feet
30.01.2021

Celestial sights of the southern sky shine above a cloudy planet Earth in this gorgeous night sky view. The scene was captured from an airliner's flight deck at 38,000 feet on a steady westbound ride to Lima, Peru.

A Whale of an Aurora over Swedish Forest
22.03.2022

What's that in the sky? An aurora. A large coronal mass ejection occurred on our Sun earlier this month, throwing a cloud of fast-moving electrons, protons, and ions toward the Earth. Part...

APOD: 2024 March 11 Б A Full Plankton Moon
11.03.2024

What glows in the night? This night featured a combination of usual and unusual glows. Perhaps the most usual glow was from the Moon, a potentially familiar object. The full Moon's nearly vertical descent results from the observer being near Earth's equator.

APOD: 2025 November 10 Б Micro Moon vs Super Moon
10.11.2025

What was so super about Wednesday's supermoon? Last week, a full moon occurred that appeared slightly larger and brighter than usual. The reason is that the Moon's fully illuminated phase occurred within a short time from perigee - when the Moon was its closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit.

APOD: 2026 February 17 Б Tails of Comet Wierzchoе
17.02.2026

Some comets are regular guests of our solar neighborhood; others come by only once, never to return. We wonБt have another chance to see Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoе), which is currently making its way through the inner Solar System. The hyperbolic orbit of this comet indicates that it will likely become an interstellar traveler.

Cassinis Last Ring Portrait at Saturn
26.09.2017

How should Cassini say farewell to Saturn? Three days before plunging into Saturn's sunny side, the robotic Cassini spacecraft swooped far behind Saturn's night side with cameras blazing. Thirty-six of these images...

Matterhorn, Moon, and Meteor
24.01.2019

Fans of planet Earth probably recognize the Matterhorn in the foreground of this night skyscape. Famed in mountaineering history, the 4,478 meter Alpine mountain stands next to the totally eclipsed Moon. In spite...

Boulders on Bennu
24.05.2019

An abundance of boulders litters the surface asteroid 101955 Bennu in this dramatic close-up from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Taken on March 28 from a distance of just 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) the field of view is about 50 meters across while the light colored boulder at top right is 4.8 meters tall.

APOD: 2023 October 4 Б IC 2118: The Witch Head Nebula
4.10.2023

Does this nebula look like the head of a witch? The nebula is known popularly as the Witch Head Nebula because, it is said, the nebula's shape resembles a Halloween-style caricature of a witch's head. Exactly how, though, can be a topic of imaginative speculation.

S is for Sun
21.03.2002

Taken yesterday from the SOHO spacecraft, this false-color image shows the active Sun near the March Equinox, the beginning of Fall in the south and Spring in the northern hemisphere. Recorded in a band...