Sky and Planets
9.03.2000

On February 10th, an evocative evening sky above Rocklin, California, USA inspired astrophotographer Steve Sumner to record this remarkable sight - five planets and the Moon. Near its first quarter phase, the bright Moon...

A Conjunction of Crescents
7.02.2025

A waxing crescent Moon and a waning crescent Venus are found at opposite corners of this twilight telephoto field of view. The close conjunction of the two brightest celestial beacons in planet Earth's western evening sky was captured on February 1 from Rosario, Argentina.

Venus Just After Sunset
20.10.2010

Is that Venus or an airplane? A common ponderable for sky enthusiasts is deciding if that bright spot near the horizon is the planet Venus. Usually, an airplane will show itself by moving significantly in a few moments. Venus will set only slowly as the Earth turns.

Embraced by Sunlight
2.02.2022

Even though Venus (left) was the brightest planet in the sky it was less than 1/30th the apparent size of the Moon on January 29. But as both rose before the Sun they shared a crescent phase.

Young Moon Meets Evening Star
1.12.2011

Now appearing as planet Earth's evening star, brilliant Venus shines in western skies at twilight. Standing above a rugged horizon and warm sunset colors, the twilight's celestial beacon was joined last Saturday by a Moon 35 hours young in this gorgeous skyscape.

APOD: 2024 September 23 Б Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Approaches
22.09.2024

What will happen as this already bright comet approaches? Optimistic predictions have Comet C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanБATLAS) briefly becoming easily visible to the unaided eye -- although the future brightness of comets are notoriously hard to predict, and this comet may even break up in warming sunlight.

Star Cluster Dreams
13.04.2006

Located some 7,000 light-years away toward the constellation Perseus, this pair of open or galactic star clusters really is visible to the unaided eye and was cataloged in 130 BC by Greek astronomer Hipparchus.

Stars and Mars
10.05.2008

Wandering through the evening sky, on May 4th planet Mars stood in line with Castor and Pollux, the two bright stars of the constellation Gemini. In this time exposure of the celestial alignment, Mars...

Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Flys Away
18.10.2024

These six panels follow daily apparitions of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as it moved away from our fair planet during the past week. The images were taken with the same camera and lens at the indicated dates and locations from California, planet Earth.

Comet Ikeya Zhang over Tenerife
25.03.2002

Comet Ikeya-Zhang has become bright enough to stand out in the night sky. Discovered February 1, the comet has now just rounded the Sun and has likely attained its peak brightness. The comet appears...