Saturn at Night
12.09.2006

This is what Saturn looks like at night. In contrast to the human-made lights that cause the nighttime side of Earth to glow faintly, Saturn's faint nighttime glow is primarily caused by sunlight reflecting off of its own majestic rings.

Comet SWAN Brightens
4.10.2006

A newly discovered comet has brightened enough to be visible this week with binoculars. The picturesque comet is already becoming a favored target for northern sky imagers. Pictured above just last week, Comet SWAN showed a bright blue-green coma and an impressive tail.

Southern Geminids
18.12.2009

At least 34 meteors are included in this composite image as they rain through Australian skies during the annual Geminid Meteor shower. Dust particles strung out along the orbit of extinct comet Phaethon vaporize when they plow through planet Earth's atmosphere causing the impressive display.

Comet Iwamoto Before Spiral Galaxy NGC 2903
19.02.2019

It isn't every night that a comet passes a galaxy. Last Thursday, though, binocular comet C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) moved nearly in front of a spiral galaxy of approximately the same brightness: NGC 2903. Comet Iwamoto was discovered late last year and orbits the Sun in a long ellipse.

Lalande 21185: The Nearest Planetary System?
19.10.1996

What's the closest extrasolar planetary system? It may well be planets of the dim red dwarf star cataloged as Lalande 21185 -- a mere 8 light years distant. This star is too faint to be seen by the naked eye and its planets have not been imaged directly.

Interplanetary Earth
12.10.2019

In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System, innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured...

3D Bennu
13.12.2018

Put on your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid 101955 Bennu. Shaped like a spinning top toy with boulders littering its rough surface, the tiny Solar System world is about 1 Empire State Building (less than 500 meters) across.

Saturn s Serpent Storm
17.03.2011

Late last year, a new, remarkably bright storm erupted in Saturn's northern hemisphere. Nicknamed "the Serpent Storm", the northern hemisphere disturbance is still going strong and now circles far around the planet. Offering...

Southern Saturn from Cassini
18.10.2004

What happens to Saturn's pervasive clouds at its South Pole? Visible in the above image of Saturn are bright bands, dark belts and a dark spot right over the South Pole. The above...

Moon Occults Venus
21.06.2020

It may look like Earthrise, but it's actually Venus-set. Just after sunrise two days ago, both the Moon and Venus also rose. But then the Moon overtook Venus. In the featured image sequence centered on the Moon, Venus is shown increasingly angularly close to the Moon.