The Red Rectangle
1.11.1995

The unusual geometry of this stellar nebula creates somewhat of a mystery. At the nebula's center is a young binary star system that probably created the nebula, but how? This type of nebula shows a "bipolar flow" which carries a significant amount of mass away from the central stars.

Wild Duck Open Cluster M11
15.01.1996

Many stars like our Sun were formed in open clusters. The above open cluster, M11, contains thousands of stars and is just over three thousand light years distant. The stars in this cluster all formed together about 150 million years ago. The many bright stars in the cluster appear blue.

Galaxy Dwingeloo 1 Emerges
28.02.1997

Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. But if you look closely at the center of the above photograph, you will see a whole spiral galaxy behind the field of stars.

Hale-Bopp Brightest Comet This Century
24.03.1997

A comet as bright as Comet Hale-Bopp is very rare indeed. No comet has emitted or reflected this much light since possibly the Great Comet of 1811. However, since Comet Hale-Bopp is across the inner Solar System from us, it does not appear as bright as Comet West did in 1975.

Friday the Moon Smiled
17.11.2017

Friday, an old Moon smiled for early morning risers. Its waning sunlit crescent is captured in this atmospheric scene from clear skies near Bursa, Turkey, planet Earth. In the subtle twilight hues nearby celestial lights are Jupiter (top) and Venus shining close to the eastern horizon.

The Sun Also Rises
16.11.1995

Sunrise seen from low Earth orbit by the shuttle astronauts can be very dramatic indeed (and the authors apologize to Hemingway for using his title!). In this breathtaking view, the Sun is just visible...

Eagle Eggs in M16
27.02.1998

Star forming regions known as "EGGs" are uncovered at the end of this giant pillar of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula (M16). EGGs, short for evaporating gaseous globules, are dense regions of mostly molecular hydrogen gas that fragment and gravitationally collapse to form stars.

Opportunity on Mars
26.01.2004

You've just woken up in a small crater on Mars. The surrounding landscape is barren, strange, and alien. You've never been on this world before. You transmit pictures that are instantly rebroadcast all over your home world. You are the eyes for billions of people. You seek adventure.

Discovery s Dawn
9.04.2010

On April 5, visitors to Kennedy Space Center saw these colorful clouds, twisting and drifting through dawn skies. Of course, the clouds were rocket engine plumes from the predawn launch of the space shuttle Discovery on the STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.

Strawberry Sun
29.08.2013

This striking, otherworldy scene really is a view from planet Earth. The ochre sky and strawberry red sun were photographed on August 22nd near the small village of Strawberry, California, USA. Found along Highway...