APOD: 2026 June 9 Б Thors Helmet
9.06.2026

Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across.

Asteroid 2002 NY40
17.08.2002

Asteroid 2002 NY40 will fly by planet Earth early in the morning August 18 Universal Time (late in the evening August 17 Eastern Daylight Time). Approaching to within about 530,000 kilometers or 1.3 times the Earth-Moon distance 2002 NY40 will definitely not be close enough to pose any danger of collision.

An Extreme UltraViolet View of the Comet
30.03.1996

As the Sun floods Comet Hyakutake with ultraviolet light gases in the coma scatter the radiation and fluoresce making the comet a bright source in the ultraviolet sky. The above image made using data...

Hyakutake, Big Dipper, and Observatory Dome
1.04.1996

In one of the more spectacular pictures yet taken, Comet Hyakutake is shown here on March 26 high in the dark Missouri sky. In the foreground is Elmcrest Observatory complete with a dim red light glowing inside the dome.

Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth
30.05.2012

What's that dark spot on planet Earth? It's the shadow of the Moon. The above image of Earth was taken last week by MTSAT during an annular eclipse of the Sun. The dark spot appears quite unusual as clouds are white and the oceans are blue in this color corrected image.

Reflection Nebula vdB1
26.10.2012

Every book has a first page and every catalog a first entry. And so this lovely blue cosmic cloud begins the van den Bergh Catalog (vdB) of stars surrounded by reflection nebulae. Interstellar dust...

Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
19.05.2015

Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel box of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with over 150 other globular star clusters.

The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble
8.02.2017

The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface...

Halo of the Cat s Eye
20.10.2018

Not a Falcon 9 rocket launch after sunset, the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky. Its haunting symmetries are seen in the very...

The Spider Nebula in Infrared
4.09.2019

Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga). The spider-shaped gas cloud on the left is actually an emission nebula labelled...