NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans
28.01.2026

Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern constellation of the flying fish, (Piscis) Volans. Located about 50 million light-years away, the galaxy's two spiral arms extending from a pronounced central...

APOD: 2026 February 2 Б Orion: The Running Man Nebula
1.02.2026

What part of Orion is this? Just north of the famous Orion Nebula is a picturesque star forming region in Orion's Sword that contains a lot of intricate dust -- some of which appears blue because it reflects the light of bright embedded stars.

APOD: 2026 March 21 Б Galaxies in the River: NGC 1300 and NGC 1297
20.03.2026

Spiral NGC 1300 and elliptical NGC 1297 are galaxies that lie on the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus (The River). At 70 million light-years distant or more, both are members of the Eridanus Galaxy Cluster.

APOD: 2026 July 11 Б Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
10.07.2026

Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy.

M57: The Ring Nebula
16.07.2000

Except for the rings of Saturn, The Ring Nebula (M57) is probably the most famous celestial band. This planetary nebula's simple, graceful appearance is thought to be due to perspective -- our view from planet Earth looking straight into what is actually a barrel-shaped cloud of gas shrugged off by a dying central star.

C 2001 A2 (LINEAR): Comet
5.07.2001

Comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) has crossed the celestial equator and is heading north. Outward bound, this primordial piece of the solar system is still just visible to the unaided eye and can now be sighted by northern hemisphere skygazers as it moves through the constellation Pisces.

Quadrantids: Meteors in Perspective
25.01.1996

Meteor showers are caused by streams of solid particles, dust size and larger, moving as a group through space. In many cases, the orbits of these meteor streams can be identified with the dust tails of comets.

Too Close to a Black Hole
4.01.1997

What would you see if you went right up to a black hole? Above are two computer generated pictures highlighting how strange things would look. On the left is a normal star field containing the constellation Orion. Notice the three stars of nearly equal brightness that make up Orion's Belt.

The Great Nebula in Orion
3.07.1995

The Great Nebula in Orion, M42, can be found on the night sky just below and to the left of the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion. This nebula is one of the closest stellar nurseries - where young stars are being formed even now.

The Ring
6.01.1999

Except for the Rings of Saturn, The Ring Nebula (M57) is probably the most famous celestial band. This planetary nebula's simple, graceful appearance is thought to be due to perspective -- our view from planet Earth looking straight into what is actually a barrel-shaped cloud of gas shrugged off by a dying central star.