Mercury Meets Crescent Venus
29.05.2020

That's not a bright star and crescent Moon caught between branches of a eucalyptus tree. It's Venus in a crescent phase and Mercury. Near the western horizon after sunset, the two inner planets closely shared this telescopic field of view on May 22, seen from a balcony in Civitavecchia, Italy.

Lunar Nearside
3.03.2011

About 1,300 images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft's wide angle camera were used to compose this spectacular view of a familiar face - the lunar nearside. But why is there a lunar nearside? The Moon rotates on its axis and orbits the Earth at the same rate, about once every 28 days.

APOD: 2025 July 20 Б Lunar Nearside
20.07.2025

About 1,300 images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft's wide angle camera were used to compose this spectacular view of a familiar face - the lunar nearside. But why is there a lunar nearside? The Moon rotates on its axis and orbits the Earth at the same rate, about once every 28 days.

Labtayt Sulci on Saturns Enceladus
22.12.2008

Do some surface features on Enceladus roll like a conveyor belt? A leading interpretation of recent images taken of Saturn's most explosive moon indicate that they do. This form of asymmetric tectonic activity...

The Last Days of Venus as the Evening Star
5.10.2018

That's not a young crescent Moon poised above the hills along the western horizon at sunset. It's Venus in a crescent phase. About 54 million kilometers away and less than 20 percent illuminated, it was captured by telescope and camera on September 30 near Bacau, Romania.

Global Ocean Suspected on Saturns Enceladus
20.09.2015

Do some surface features on Enceladus roll like a conveyor belt? A leading interpretation of images taken of Saturn's most explosive moon indicate that they do. This form of asymmetric tectonic activity, very...

A Total Solar Eclipse over Turkey
4.04.2006

Some views of last week's total eclipse of the Sun were better than others. One spectacular view occurred over Adrasan (near Antalya), Turkey and was captured there by industrious astrophotographer Stefan Seip. The above digital mosaic caught the Moon in several stages as it moved between the Earth and the Sun.

Plutos Newly Discovered Moons Receive Names
8.07.2013

Pluto's newly discovered moons now have names. Known previously as P4 and P5, the International Astronomical Union has now given the fourth and fifth discovered moons of Pluto the names Kerberos and Styx.

Eclipsing the Rings
16.03.2007

The March 3rd total lunar eclipse was widely viewed by denizens of planet Earth. But only a day before, well placed observers could also watch a lunar occultation of Saturn as the planet passed behind the nearly Full Moon.

Descent to Titan
14.01.2005

Today's descent to the surface of Titan by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe is the most distant landing ever attempted by a spacecraft from Earth. At 10:13 UT (5:13am...