APOD: 2023 January 22 Б In Green Company: Aurora over Norway
22.01.2023

Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display.

Aurora in Red and Yellow
10.04.2000

The past week brought some spectacular aurora to northern skies. These aurorae were caused by a large interplanetary shock wave that exploded from the Sun on April 4. When the shock wave reached the Earth on April 6, the resulting aurora could be seen in clear skies as far south as North Carolina.

In Green Company: Aurora over Norway
10.12.2017

Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display.

Clouds Near the Edge of Space
22.08.2012

Noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space. From about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface, the icy clouds can still reflect sunlight even though the Sun itself is below the horizon as seen from the ground.

Mont Blanc, Meteor, and Milky Way
15.09.2018

Snowy Mont Blanc is near the center of this atmospheric night skyscape. But high, thin clouds fogged the skies at the photographer's location, looking south toward Europe's highest peak from the southern Swiss Alps.

Alaskan Moondogs
21.03.2016

What's happened to the sky? Moonlight illuminates a snowy scene in this night land and skyscape made on 2013 January from Lower Miller Creek, Alaska, USA. Overexposed near the mountainous western horizon is the first quarter Moon itself, surrounded by an icy halo and flanked left and right by moondogs.

APOD: 2025 September 25 Б Saturn Opposite the Sun
25.09.2025

This year Saturn was at opposition on September 21, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. At its closest to Earth, Saturn was also at its brightest of the year, rising as the Sun set and shining above the horizon all night long among the fainter stars of the constellation Pisces.

Saturn at Opposition
29.05.2015

Telescopic observers on Earth have been treated to spectacular views of Saturn lately as the ringed planet reached its 2015 opposition on May 23 at 0200 UT. Of course opposition means opposite the Sun in Earth's sky. So near opposition Saturn is up all night, at its closest and brightest for the year.

Night Shinings
2.07.2008

In the early morning hours of June 30th, ghostly clouds hovered in the east in this view of near dawn skies over western France. The noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space, reflecting sunlight from about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface.

APOD: 2025 August 2 Б Fireflies, Meteors, and Milky Way
2.08.2025

Taken on July 29 and July 30, a registered and stacked series of exposures creates this dreamlike view of a northern summer night. Multiple firefly flashes streak across the foreground as the luminous Milky...