Leonids Over Ayers Rock
30.10.2002

Will this year's Leonid meteor shower be as good as last year's? No one knows for sure. Possibly, however, in the waning nighttime hours of November 18 and lasting throughout much of November 19, sky gazers across the globe may get their last chance ever to see a meteor storm.

A Dark Winter Sky over MonfragЭe National Park in Spain
14.03.2017

You, too, can see a night sky like this. That is because MonfragЭe National Park in Spain, where this composite image was created, has recently had its night sky officially protected from potential future light pollution.

Orion Nebula: The 2MASS View
12.06.1998

Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula. The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away.

Lunar Transit from STEREO
3.03.2007

A million miles from planet Earth, last weekend the STEREO B spacecraft found itself in the shadow of the Moon. So, looking toward the Sun, extreme ultraviolet cameras onboard STEREO B were able to record a stunning movie of a lunar transit (aka solar eclipse), as the Moon tracked across the solar disk.

Analemma of the Moon
7.05.2020

An analemma is that figure-8 curve you get when you mark the position of the Sun at the same time each day for one year. But the trick to imaging an analemma of the Moon is to wait bit longer.

APOD: 2023 August 28 Б Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
28.08.2023

Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281 and you might miss the stars of open cluster IC 1590. Formed within the nebula, that cluster's young, massive stars ultimately power the pervasive nebular glow.

A Spectre in the Eastern Veil
29.10.2014

Frightening forms and scary faces are a mark of the Halloween season. They also haunt this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star.

IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus
20.07.2017

Stunning emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus. Energized by the bright central star seen here, this star forming region sprawls across hundreds of light-years, spanning over three degrees on the sky while nearly 3,000 light-years from planet Earth.

Portrait of NGC 281
27.11.2014

Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281 and you might miss the stars of open cluster IC 1590. But, formed within the nebula, that cluster's young, massive stars ultimately power the pervasive nebular glow.

APOD: 2025 June 20 Б Major Lunar Standstill 2024 2025
20.06.2025

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, planet Earth lies on the horizon. in this stack of panoramic composite images. In a monthly time series arranged vertically top to bottom the ambitious photographic project follows the annual north-south swing of sunrise points, from June solstice to December solstice and back again.