Comet PanSTARRS and the Helix Nebula
5.06.2016

It's rare that such different objects are imaged so close together. Such an occasion is occurring now, though, and was captured two days ago in combined parallel exposures from the Canary Islands of Spain.

Find the Man in the Moon
12.06.2022

Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface...

APOD: 2023 February 27 Б Zodiacal Ray with Venus and Jupiter
27.02.2023

What's causing that unusual ray of light extending from the horizon? Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently after sunset or before sunrise and is called zodiacal light.

Find the Man in the Moon
1.02.2016

Have you ever seen the Man on the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface...

A Massive Star in NGC 6357
21.11.2010

For reasons unknown, NGC 6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered. One such massive star, near the center of NGC 6357, is framed above carving out its own interstellar castle with its energetic light from surrounding gas and dust.

A Massive Star in NGC 6357
22.10.2013

For reasons unknown, NGC 6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered. One such massive star, near the center of NGC 6357, is framed above carving out its own interstellar castle with its energetic light from surrounding gas and dust.

APOD: 2024 September 15 Б Find the Man in the Moon
15.09.2024

Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface...

A Leonids Meteor Storm in 1999
24.11.1999

The 1999 Leonids meteor shower was not equally good for everybody. Only observers in Europe and the Middle East with clear skies near 2 am (UTC) on 1999 November 18 saw rates shoot up to a meteor every few seconds.

Mercury on the Horizon
27.01.2008

Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? Because Mercury orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible low on the horizon for only a short while after sunset.

Cap Cloud over the Sierra Nevadas
26.11.2013

One might say this was a bell weather day for the Sierra Nevada mountains. In January, just as the Sun was setting above the district of AlbayzМn in Grenada, Spain, a huge cloud appeared as a bell capping the Veleta peak.