700 Kilometers Below Comet Hartley 2
8.11.2010

What kind of comet is this? Last week, NASA's robotic EPOXI spacecraft whizzed past Comet 103P/Hartley, also known as Comet Hartley 2, and recorded images and data that are both strange and fascinating. EPOXI was near its closest approach -- about 700 kilometers away -- when it snapped the above picture.

Sunspot Group AR 2192 Crackles
22.10.2014

One of the largest sunspot groups in recent years is now crossing the Sun. Labelled Active Region 2192, it has already thrown a powerful solar flare and has the potential to produce more.

Kenya Morning Moon, Planets and Taurid
12.11.2015

On November 8, a waning crescent Moon joined the continuing parade of planets in Earth's morning skies. Captured here from Amboseli National Park, Kenya, even the overexposed moonlight can't washout brilliant Venus though, lined up near the ecliptic plane with faint Mars and bright Jupiter above.

An Artful Sky over Lofoten Islands
13.12.2022

Can the night sky be both art and science? If so, perhaps the featured image is an example. The digital panorama was composed of 10 landscape and 10 sky images all taken on the same night, from the same location, and with the same camera.

Comet LINEAR Breaks Up
31.07.2000

Unexpectedly, Comet LINEAR is breaking up. In retrospect, clues of its demise have been surfacing all month as the new comet has been approaching the Sun and brightening with dramatic flares. Above, the Hubble Space Telescope captured Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR early this month blowing off a large piece of its crust.

A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake
8.11.2015

This was a sky to show the kids. All in all, three children, three planets, the Moon, a star, an airplane and a mom were all captured in one image near Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA in early September of 2005.

Comet Hale Bopp Over the Superstition Mountains
9.09.1999

Four years ago, Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered out near Jupiter falling toward the inner Solar System. Two years ago, it provided spectacular pictures as it neared its closest approach to the Sun. Still today, spectacular pictures of the brightest comet of the 1990s are surfacing.

Equinox and Harvest Moon
24.09.2010

Did you enjoy the moonlight last night? The Full Moon closest to autumnal equinox and the beginning of Fall is traditionally known as the Harvest Moon, rising opposite the Sun and illuminating fields at harvest time after sunset. This year's northern hemisphere autumnal equinox occurred yesterday, September 23rd, at 03:09 Universal Time.

An Evening Sky Full of Planets
11.01.2025

Only Mercury is missing from a Solar System parade of planets in this early evening skyscape. Rising nearly opposite the Sun, bright Mars is at the far left. The other naked-eye planets Jupiter, Saturn...

Highlights of the North Autumn Sky
25.09.2018

What can you see in the night sky this season? The featured graphic gives a few highlights for Earth's northern hemisphere. Viewed as a clock face centered at the bottom, early (northern) autumn sky events fan out toward the left, while late autumn events are projected toward the right.