... The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky. ... A Dark and Stormy Night . ... But on August 29th the red planet Mars, near it's closest approach to Earth in almost 60,000 years, shone brightly in the sky against a background of stars in the constellation Aquarius. ... Vivid auroral displays were triggered by a cloud of high energy particles from the Sun that collided with planet Earth's magnetosphere yesterday, October 29, at about 06:30 Universal Time. ...