Lunations
12.09.2018

Our Moon's appearance changes nightly. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the half illuminated by the Sun first becomes increasingly visible, then decreasingly visible. The featured video animates images taken by NASA's Moon-orbiting Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to show all 12 lunations that appear this year, 2018.

Apollo 12 Visits Surveyor 3
22.10.2018

Apollo 12 was the second mission to land humans on the Moon. The landing site was picked to be near the location of Surveyor 3, a robot spacecraft that had landed on the Moon three years earlier.

Opposite the Setting Sun
3.05.2018

On April 30, a Full Moon rose opposite the setting Sun. Its yellowish moonglow silhouettes a low tree-lined ridge along Lewis Mountain in this northeastern Alabama skyscape. Sharing the telephoto field-of-view opposite the Sun are Earth's grey shadow, the pinkish Belt of Venus, and bright planet Jupiter.

Marius Hills: Holes in the Moon
25.10.2017

Could humans live beneath the surface of the Moon? This intriguing possibility was bolstered in 2009 when Japan's Moon-orbiting SELENE spacecraft imaged a curious hole beneath the Marius Hills region on the Moon, possibly a skylight to an underground lava tube.

Earth and Moon
4.12.2017

On rare occasions, the Earth and Moon are photographed together. One of most spectacular times this occurred was 25 years ago this month when the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft zoomed past our home planetary system. Then, robotic Galileo watched from about 15-times the Earth-Moon separation as our only natural satellite glided past our home world.

A Horizon with Blue and Red
5.12.2017

What's happening on the horizon? The horizon itself, past a spinach field in Guatemala, shows not only trees but a large volcano: the VolcАn de Fuego (Volcano of Fire). The red glow at the top of the volcano is hot lava.

Moon in the Hyades
20.04.2018

Have you seen the Moon lately? On April 18, its waxing sunlit crescent moved through planet Earth's night across a background of stars in the Hyades. Anchored by bright star Aldebaran, the nearby, V-shaped star cluster and complete lunar orb appear in this telephoto image.

Strawberry Moon over the Temple of Poseidon
18.06.2019

Did you see the full moon last night? If not, tonight's nearly full moon should be almost as good. Because full moons are opposite the Sun, they are visible in the sky when the Sun is not -- which should be nearly all night long tonight, clouds permitting.

Moon and Planets at Twilight
28.11.2019

This week's ongoing conjunction of Venus and Jupiter may have whetted your appetite for skygazing. Tonight is the main course though. On November 28, a young crescent Moon will join them posing next to the two bright planets above the western horizon at twilight.

Tranquility Base Panorama
19.07.2019

On July 20, 1969 the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle safely touched down on the Moon. It landed near the southwestern corner of the Moon's Mare Tranquillitatis at a landing site dubbed Tranquility Base. This panoramic view of Tranquility Base was constructed from the historic photos taken from the lunar surface.