APOD: 2025 July 27 Б Lightning over the Volcano of Water
26.07.2025

Have you ever watched a lightning storm in awe? You're not alone. Details of what causes lightning are still being researched, but it is known that inside some clouds, internal updrafts cause collisions between ice and snow that slowly separate charges between cloud tops and bottoms.

APOD: 2006 September 26- Mars Express: Return to Cydonia
26.09.2006

The unusual stone mesas of the Cydonia region on Mars are quite striking in appearance. Last week, the Mars Express project released a new close-up image of a portion of the Cydonia region on Mars. This new image, taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft now orbiting Mars, shows an area about 90 kilometers wide.

APOD: 2023 January 2 Б After Sunset Planet Parade
1.01.2023

Look up tonight and see a whole bunch of planets. Just after sunset, looking west, planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will all be simultaneously visible. Listed west to east, this planetary lineup will have Venus nearest the horizon, but setting shortly after the Sun.

APOD: 2023 March 14 Б W5: The Soul Nebula
13.03.2023

Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, whom Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled lands surrounding the upper Nile river.

APOD: 2023 March 20 Б M1: The Expanding Crab Nebula
19.03.2023

Are your eyes good enough to see the Crab Nebula expand? The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first on Charles Messier's famous list of things which are not comets. In fact...

APOD: 2023 June 19 Б The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula
18.06.2023

The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A tremendously bright nearby star, Herschel 36, lights the area.

APOD: 2024 August 19 Б IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
18.08.2024

Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide. Soaring high in northern summer night skies, it's located some 4,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).

APOD: 2025 February 25 Б M41: The Little Beehive Star Cluster
24.02.2025

Why are there so many bright blue stars? Stars are usually born in clusters, and the brightest and most massive of these stars typically glow blue. Less-bright, non-blue stars like our Sun surely also exist in this M41 star cluster but are harder to see. A few bright orange-appearing red giant stars are visible.

APOD: 2025 August 3 Б Milky Way and Exploding Meteor
2.08.2025

In about a week the Perseid Meteor Shower will reach its maximum. Grains of icy rock will streak across the sky as they evaporate during entry into Earth's atmosphere. These grains were shed from Comet Swift-Tuttle.

APOD: 2026 March 14 Б A Year for K2-315b
13.03.2026

Want to visit a planet that has 3.14 days in a year? Then plan a trip to K2-315b, an earth-sized planet orbiting around a cool, red, M dwarf star about once every 3.14 days.