The Clipper and the Comet
17.10.2024

NASA's Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean world beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload fairing atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this photo, taken at Kennedy Space Center the day before the mission's successful October 14 launch.

APOD: 2024 October 15 Б Animation: Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Tails Prediction
15.10.2024

How bright and strange will the tails of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS become? The comet has brightened dramatically over the few weeks as it passed its closest to the Sun and, just three days ago, passed its closest to the Earth.

APOD: 2024 October 14 Б Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Over the Lincoln Memorial
14.10.2024

Go outside at sunset tonight and see a comet! C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanБATLAS) has become visible in the early evening sky in northern locations to the unaided eye. To see the comet, look west through a sky with a low horizon.

Meteor, Comet, and Seagull (Nebula)
21.10.2018

A meteor, a comet, and a photogenic nebula have all been captured in this single image. The closest and most fleeting is the streaking meteor on the upper right -- it was visible for less than a second.

Comet Leonard Before Star Cluster M3
12.12.2021

Comet Leonard is now visible to the unaided eye -- but just barely. Passing nearest to the Earth today, the comet is best seen this week soon after sunset, toward the west, low on the horizon.

Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons Brooks
16.02.2024

Heading for its next perihelion passage on April 21, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small telescopes. But the bluish...

APOD: 2023 September 9 Б Comet Nishimura Grows
9.09.2023

Comet Nishimura is growing. More precisely, the tails C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) are growing as it nears the Sun. Discovered only last month, the comet is already near naked eye brightness as it now moves inside the Earth's orbit.

APOD: 2023 September 11 Б Beautiful Comet Nishimura
11.09.2023

This scene would be beautiful even without the comet. By itself, the sunrise sky is an elegant deep blue on high, with faint white stars peeking through, while near the horizon is a pleasing tan.

APOD: 2024 November 27 Б The Meteor and the Comet
27.11.2024

How different are these two streaks? The streak on the upper right is Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas showing an impressive dust tail. The comet is a large and dirty iceberg that entered the inner Solar System and is shedding gas and dust as it is warmed by the Sun's light.

APOD: 2025 December 30 Б An Artificial Comet
30.12.2025

Yes, but can your comet tail do this? No, and what you are seeing is not the tail of a comet. The picture features a cleverly overlayed time-lapse sequence of a group of satellites orbiting Earth together in June.