Pluto Flyover from New Horizons
31.07.2017

What if you could fly over Pluto -- what might you see? The New Horizons spacecraft did just this in 2015 July as it shot past the distant world at a speed of about 80,000 kilometers per hour.

A Hale Bopp Holiday
25.12.1997

Seen from the Pik Terskol Observatory in the northern Caucasus mountains, comet Hale-Bopp and the bright stars of the constellation Perseus hang above the snowy, moon-lit landscape. Although it reminds Northern Hemisphere dwellers of an idyllic Winter scene, this picture was actually recorded in the spring - on April 13th of this year.

The Case of the Missing Aurora
21.10.1998

Sometimes, near midnight, auroras suddenly stop. Nobody knows why. This nightside gap in aurora was confirmed recently by D. Chua (U. Washington) and colleagues in data from the Ultraviolet Imager onboard the Polar spacecraft.

Callisto in True Color
11.05.1998

Callisto's surface has many stories to tell. The most distant of Jupiter's Galilean Moons, Callisto shows the highest density of impact craters in the Solar System, but harbors no volcanoes or even any large mountains. Callisto's surface is laced with cracks and craters from

Where People Live on Planet Earth
5.03.2003

Where do people live on Planet Earth? Although people inhabit every continent, the highest population densities occur in Asia. Sparsely inhabited regions occur on virtually every continent, however, including the Sahara Desert in Africa...

Europa: Ancient Water World
5.09.1995

Beneath the cold icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa are probably the only oceans of water in our Solar System outside of Earth. These oceans, possibly 50 kilometers deep, might also be the most likely local place to find extra-terrestrial life.

Moonset Eclipse
1.02.2018

Near the closest point in its orbit, the second Full Moon of the month occurred on January 31. So did the first Total Lunar Eclipse of 2018, as the Moon slid through planet Earth's shadow.

Auroral Corona Over Norway
1.02.2009

Higher than highest communications tower, higher than highest mountain, higher than highest airplane, lies the realm of the aurora. Auroras rarely reach below 60 kilometers, and can range up to 1000 kilometers. Aurora light results from energetic electrons and protons striking molecules in the Earth's atmosphere.

Pillar at Sunset
6.03.2010

Reddened light from the setting Sun illuminates the cloud banks hugging this snowy, rugged terrain. Inspiring a moment of quiet contemplation, the sunset scene included a remarkable pillar of light that seemed to connect the clouds in the sky with the mountains below.

Nacreous Clouds over Sweden
10.01.2020

Vivid and lustrous, wafting iridescent waves of color filled this mountain and skyscape near Tanndalen, Sweden on January 3. Known as nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds, they are rare. This northern winter season they have been making unforgettable appearances at high latitudes, though.