Comet McNaught Over Chile
27.01.2013

Comet McNaught of 2007 has been, so far, the most photogenic comet of our time. After making quite a show in the northern hemisphere in early 2007 January, the comet moved south and developed a long and unusual dust tail that dazzled southern hemisphere observers. In this image, Comet McNaught was captured above Santiago, Chile.

Quarter Moons
21.10.2023

Half way between New Moon and Full Moon is the Moon's first quarter phase. That's a quarter of the way around its moonthly orbit. At the first quarter phase, half the Moon's visible side is illuminated by sunlight.

APOD: 2026 April 21 Б Three Sky Arches over Snowy Alps
21.04.2026

Why are there three arches across the sky instead of two? Last month, after being dropped off by a helicopter at a high mountain peak in the Alps near the Swiss Italian border, an adventurous astrophotographer expected two arches of our Milky Way galaxy to be visible during the night.

IRAS 05437 2502: An Enigmatic Star Cloud from Hubble
9.08.2010

What's lighting up nebula IRAS 05437+2502? No one is sure. Particularly enigmatic is the bright upside-down V that defines the upper edge of this floating mountain of interstellar dust, visible near the image center.

Planet Earth at Blue Hour
11.10.2019

Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always look forward to the blue hour. That's the transition in twilight, just before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon but land and sky are still suffused with beautiful bluish hues of light.

All of Mars
26.06.2001

From pole to pole, from east to west, this is all of Mars. The above picture was digitally reconstructed from over 200 million laser altimeter measurements taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

Comet McNaught Over Catalonia
15.01.2007

This past weekend Comet McNaught peaked at a brightness that surpassed even Venus. Fascinated sky enthusiasts in the Earth's northern hemisphere were treated to an instantly visible comet head and a faint elongated tail near sunrise and sunset.

APOD: 2026 April 20 Б Comet R3 PanSTARRS over a Himalayan Valley
20.04.2026

The best way to see comet R3 PanSTARRSБs long tail is with a camera. This week, the recently brightened comet appears in northern skies to the east just before dawn, but is only barely visible to the unaided eye.

Blue Marble 2000
20.04.2000

This newly released digital portrait of our planet is reminiscent of the Apollo-era pictures of the "big blue marble" Earth from space. To create it, researchers at Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory...

Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
17.03.1997

Comet Hale-Bopp is now much brighter than any surrounding stars. It can be seen even over bright city lights. Out away from city lights, however, it is putting on quite a spectacular show. Here Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed last week above Val Parola Pass in the Dolomite mountains surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.