Sprite Lightning in HD
8.10.2019

This phenomenon occurs in the sky over our heads, not the sea. It is a type of lightning known as red sprite, and rarely has it ever been photographed in this detail. Even though sprites have been recorded for over 30 years, their root cause remains unknown. Some thunderstorms have them, but most don't.

Naked Eye Comet ZTF
21.01.2023

Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) is no longer too dim to require a telescope for viewing. By January 19, it could just be seen with the naked eye in this rural sky with little light pollution from a location about 20 kilometers from Salamanca, Spain.

APOD: 2023 December 4 Б Plane Crossing Crescent Moon
4.12.2023

No, the Moon is not a bow, and no, it did not shoot out a plane like an arrow. What is pictured is a chance superposition. The plane's contrail would normally appear white...

APOD: 2024 August 20 Б Supermoon Beyond the Temple of Poseidon
20.08.2024

A supermoon occurred yesterday. And tonight's moon should also look impressive. Supermoons appear slightly larger and brighter than most full moons because they reach their full phase when slightly nearer to the Earth -- closer than 90 percent of all full moons.

Disorder in Stephan's Quintet
10.01.1998

What are five closely grouped galaxies doing in this image? The grouping is commonly known as Stephan's Quintet. Four of the galaxies show essentially the same redshift suggesting that they are at the same distance from us.

A Wind From The Sun
17.02.1997

A wind from the Sun blows through our Solar System. The behaviour of comet tails as they flapped and waved in this interplanetary breeze gave astronomers the first hint of its existence. Streaming outward...

The Sun Changes
13.04.1998

Our Sun changes every day. This recent picture was taken in a very specific red color called Hydrogen-Alpha. Dark spots that might appear on the image are usually sunspots, dark magnetic depressions that are slightly cooler than the rest of the Sun's surface.

Bright Comet SOHO
21.05.1998

Discovered this month with an orbiting solar observatory, bright Comet SOHO has now emerged from the Sun's glare. This telephoto picture of the new naked-eye comet was taken by astrophotographer Michael Horn after sunset in the western twilight above Lake Samsonvale, Brisbane, Australia on May 18. The comet is seen in the constellation Orion.

A Western Sky at Twilight
1.05.2004

On April 23rd, the Moon along with planets Saturn, Mars, and Venus (and planet Earth of course ...) were all visible in the west at twilight, captured here from a site near Saylorvillle Lake north of Des Moines, Iowa, USA.

What the Hubble Saw
25.11.2004

In this striking 41 inch by 38 inch quilt, astronomy enthusiast Judy Ross has interpreted some of the Hubble Space Telescope's best galactic and extragalactic vistas. Featured in past APODs, clockwise from...