A Solar Corona Ejection
8.11.1996

The Sun would not be a nice place to spend the summer. One reason, besides the extreme heat, is that explosions are common there. In the above picture, magnetic fields buckle releasing previously constrained hot material from the upper atmosphere of the Sun.

Happy Face Crater on Mars
15.03.1999

Even Mars can put on a happy face. The Martian crater Galle has internal markings reminiscent of a smiley face symbol. Such markings were originally discovered in the late 1970s in pictures taken by the Viking Orbiter. A large meteor impacted the Martian surface to form the crater.

Stereo Phobos
20.11.2004

Get out your red/blue glasses and float next to Phobos, grooved moon of Mars! Also featured in yesterday's episode, the image data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and was recorded at a distance of about 200 kilometers.

Earth's Richat Structure
5.01.1998

What on Earth is that? The Richat Structure in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania is easily visible from space because it is nearly 50 kilometers across. Once thought to be an impact crater, the Richat Structure's flat middle and lack of shock-altered rock indicates otherwise.

The Far Side
14.09.1995

This historic picture was humanity's first glimpse of the far side of the Moon. It was taken by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 in October of 1959. Luna 3 followed closely...

Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus
19.12.2025

When the Moon is at its first quarter phase, the Sun rises along the Montes Caucasus as seen from the lunar surface. The lunar mountain range casts the magnificent, spire-like shadows in this telescopic view from planet Earth, looking along the lunar terminator or the boundary between lunar night and day.

Endurance Crater on Mars
10.05.2004

Scroll right to see the inside of Endurance Crater, the large impact feature now being investigated by the Opportunity rover rolling across Mars. The crater's walls show areas of light rock that might hold clues about the ancient watery past of this Martian region.

Aurora Australis
4.07.2015

Not fireworks, these intense shimmering lights still danced across Earth's night skies late last month, seen here above the planet's geographic south pole. The stunning auroral displays were triggered as a coronal mass ejection blasted from the Sun days earlier impacted the magnetosphere, beginning a widespread geomagnetic storm.

Lunar Farside from Apollo 13
7.07.1995

In April of 1970, after an explosion damaged their spacecraft, the Apollo 13 astronauts were forced to abandon their plans to make the third manned lunar landing. Still, while coasting around the moon in their desperate attempt to return to earth they were able to photograph the moon's far side.

Jupiter's Rings
2.08.1995

Astronomers using NASA's Voyager spacecraft to search for a ring system around Jupiter discovered these faint rings in 1979. Unlike Saturn's bright rings which are composed of chunks of rock and ice, Jupiter's rings appear to consist of fine particles of dust.