A Gemini Sky
9.09.2003

Where will Gemini take us tonight? It is dusk and Gemini North, one of the largest telescopes on planet Earth, prepares to peer into the distant universe. Gemini's flexible 8.1-mirror has taken...

Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
20.11.2019

It's easy to get lost following the intricate looping filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the Spaghetti Nebula.

Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
9.12.2020

It's easy to get lost following the intricate looping filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the Spaghetti Nebula.

Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
12.01.2022

It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping, twisting filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the Spaghetti Nebula.

APOD: 2024 January 29 Б The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
28.01.2024

The well-known Pleiades star cluster is slowly destroying part of a passing cloud of gas and dust. The Pleiades is the brightest open cluster of stars on Earth's sky and can be seen from almost any northerly location with the unaided eye.

APOD: 2026 March 11 Б CG 4: The Globule and the Galaxy
10.03.2026

Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting galaxy? Thankfully, that is not the case. The red БmonsterБ shown in the featured image is Cometary Globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in the Constellation Puppis.

Geminid Meteors over Chile
7.12.2019

Are meteors streaming out from a point in the sky? Yes, in a way. When the Earth crosses a stream of Sun-orbiting meteors, these meteors appear to come from the direction of the stream -- with the directional point called the radiant.

Star Clusters Young and Old
10.09.2006

Many stars form in clusters. Galactic or open star clusters are relatively young swarms of bright stars born together near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Separated by about a degree...

Stars and Dust in Corona Australis
11.01.2020

Cosmic dust clouds and young, energetic stars inhabit this telescopic vista, less than 500 light-years away toward the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. The dust clouds effectively block light from more distant background stars in the Milky Way.

Encke and the Tadpoles
26.10.2023

History's second known periodic comet is Comet Encke (2P/Encke). As it swings through the inner Solar System, Encke's orbit takes it from an aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun, inside the orbit of Jupiter to a perihelion just inside the orbit of Mercury.