APOD: 2023 July 12 Б Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398
12.07.2023

Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center? Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center, and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out.

APOD: 2023 September 11 Б Beautiful Comet Nishimura
11.09.2023

This scene would be beautiful even without the comet. By itself, the sunrise sky is an elegant deep blue on high, with faint white stars peeking through, while near the horizon is a pleasing tan.

APOD: 2023 December 17 Б Geminids over Chinas Nianhu Lake
17.12.2023

Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward Gemini.

APOD: 2024 March 5 Б NGC 2170: Angel Nebula Abstract Art
5.03.2024

Is this a painting or a photograph? In this celestial abstract art composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines just above the image center. Reflecting...

The Solar Corona Unwrapped
5.04.2024

Changes in the alluring solar corona are detailed in this creative composite image mapping the dynamic outer atmosphere of the Sun during two separate total solar eclipses. Unwrapped from the complete circle...

APOD: 2024 April 28 Б Rings Around the Ring Nebula
28.04.2024

The Ring Nebula (M57) is more complicated than it appears through a small telescope. The easily visible central ring is about one light-year across, but this remarkably deep exposure - a collaborative effort combining data from three different large telescopes - explores the looping filaments of glowing gas extending much farther from the nebula's central star.

APOD: 2024 October 22 Б M16: Pillars of Star Creation
22.10.2024

These dark pillars may look destructive, but they are creating stars. This pillar-capturing picture of the Eagle Nebula combines visible light exposures taken with the Hubble Space Telescope with infrared images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope to highlight evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of molecular hydrogen gas and dust.

APOD: 2025 June 30 Б NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
30.06.2025

It's raining stars. What appears to be a giant cosmic umbrella is now known to be a tidal stream of stars stripped from a small satellite galaxy. The main galaxy, spiral galaxy...

APOD: 2026 June 19 Б Starry Night II
19.06.2026

Does this scene look familiar? It is a modern recreation of the famous painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Both the image and the painting depict a tall tree on the left...

Miranda, Chevron, and Alonso
16.02.2002

Miranda is a bizarre world which surely had a tempestuous past. The innermost of the larger Uranian moons, Miranda is almost 300 miles in diameter and was discovered on today's date in 1948 by American planetary astronomer Gerard Kuiper.