Ringside
21.10.2005

Orbiting in the plane of Saturn's rings, Dione and the other icy saturnian moons have a perpetual ringside view of the gorgeous gas giant planet. Of course, while passing through the ring plane the Cassini spacecraft also shares their stunning perspective.

Countryside Mars and Milky Way
9.06.2018

Mars shines brightly now in planet Earth's sky. Seen with a yellowish hue it rises over the hills and far away in this serene night skyscape, a countryside panorama recorded last month from Parque Nacional de Cabaneros in Spain. The Milky Way too extends above the distant hills into a starry sky.

Jupiter, Saturn and Messier 45
22.03.2001

Brilliant Venus falls out of the evening sky as March ends, but Jupiter and Saturn remain well up above the western horizon. Jupiter blazes forth above and to the left of a slightly fainter Saturn in this telephoto picture taken on January 19th.

Closer To Beta Pic
22.01.1998

What did our Solar System look like as the planets were forming? Since the 1980s, astronomers have been pointing toward Beta Pictoris, a young, sun-like star a mere 50 light-years distant, as a likely example. Beta Pic is surrounded by a disk of dust which we view nearly edge-on.

Mercury and the Da Vinci Glow
10.07.2021

On July 8th early morning risers saw Mercury near an old Moon low on the eastern horizon. On that date bright planet, faint glow of lunar night side, and sunlit crescent were captured in this predawn skyscape from Tenerife's Teide National Park in the Canary Islands.

A Mars Glint
8.06.1998

If aligned just right, even a planet can produce a glint. The above combined pictures of Mars make the red planet appear unusually elongated - Mars is really almost spherical. However, these pictures were taken when the Sun was nearly directly behind the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft.

Lightning on Earth
17.07.2000

Nobody knows what causes lightning. It is known that charges slowly separate in some clouds causing rapid electrical discharges (lightning), but how electrical charges get separated in clouds remains a topic of much research.

Rosetta and Comet Outbound
28.11.2015

Not a bright comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko now sweeps slowly through planet Earth's predawn skies near the line-up of planets along the ecliptic. Still, this composite of telescopic images follows the comet's progress as it moves away from the Sun beyond the orbit of Mars, from late September (left) through late November (far right).

Fireworks vs Supermoon
6.07.2023

On July 4, an almost Full Moon rose in planet Earth's evening skies. Also known as a Buck Moon, the full lunar phase (full on July 3 at 11:39 UTC) was near perigee, the closest point in the Moon's almost monthly orbit around planet Earth.

ISON, Mars, Regulus
17.10.2013

In order top to bottom this celestial snapshot features Comet ISON, planet Mars, and Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo, in the same frame. The scene spans about 2 degrees near the eastern horizon in early morning skies of October 15.