Along the Western Veil
4.04.2014

Delicate in appearance, these filaments of shocked, glowing gas, draped in planet Earth's sky toward the constellation of Cygnus, make up the western part of the Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, an expanding cloud born of the death explosion of a massive star.

APOD: 2024 December 22 Б The Local Fluff
22.12.2024

The stars are not alone. In the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, about 10 percent of visible matter is in the form of gas called the interstellar medium (ISM). The ISM is not uniform and shows patchiness even near our Sun.

APOD: 2023 February 1 Б The Seventh World of Trappist 1
1.02.2023

Seven worlds orbit the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. A mere 40 light-years away, many of the exoplanets were discovered in 2016 using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) located in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and later confirmed with telescope including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Apollo 11: Descent to the Moon
17.07.2019

It had never been done before. But with the words "You're Go for landing", 50 years ago this Saturday, Apollo 11 astronauts Aldrin and Armstrong were cleared to make the first try.

Clusters, Hartley, and the Heart
14.10.2010

An alluring Comet Hartley 2 cruised through planet Earth's night sky on October 8, passing within about a Full Moon's width of the famous double star cluster in Perseus. The much anticipated...

Mir Over New Zealand
26.10.1996

The Russian space station Mir was photographed last month high above New Zealand. Before returning with record-breaking astronaut Shannon Lucid, the space shuttle Atlantis crew took this breathtaking view from the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis had just undocked from Mir and was preparing to return to Earth.

Leaving Vesta
19.09.2012

Next stop: Ceres. Last week the robotic Dawn spacecraft ended its year-long mission to asteroid Vesta, becoming the first spacecraft ever to visit this far off world located between Mars and Jupiter, in the Solar System's main asteroid belt.

Hartley 2 Star Cluster Tour
2.12.2010

Early in November, small but active Comet Hartley 2 (103/P Hartley) became the fifth comet imaged close-up by a spacecraft from planet Earth. Continuing its own tour of the solar system with a 6 year orbital period, Hartley 2 is now appearing in the nautical constellation Puppis.

Neptune: Once Around
14.07.2011

Neptune rotates once on its axis in about 16 hours. So, spaced about 4 hours apart these 4 images of the solar system's most distant gas giant cover one Neptune day. Recorded...

Almahata Sitta 15
28.03.2009

Small asteroid 2008 TC3 fell to Earth at dawn on October 7, 2008, tracking through the skies over the Nubian Desert in northern Sudan. That event was remarkable because it was the first time an asteroid was detected in space before crashing into planet Earth's atmosphere.