Fermi Science Playoffs
8.06.2018

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched into orbit on June 11th, 2008. Its instruments detect gamma-rays -- light that is thousands to hundreds of billions of times more energetic than what we see with our eyes.

NGC 6744: Extragalactic Close Up
25.11.2022

Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across. That's larger than the Milky Way. It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo, with its galactic disk tilted towards our line of sight.

APOD: 2025 August 18 Б NGC 1309: A Useful Spiral Galaxy
18.08.2025

This galaxy is not only pretty -- it's useful. A gorgeous spiral some 100 million light-years distant, NGC 1309 lies on the banks of the constellation of the River (Eridanus). NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy.

APOD: 2026 March 29 Б A Message from Earth
29.03.2026

What are these Earthlings trying to tell us? The featured message was broadcast from Earth towards the globular star cluster M13 in 1974. During the dedication of an upgrade to the Arecibo Observatory - then the largest single radio telescope in the world - a string of 1's and 0's representing the diagram was sent.

NGC 3293: A Bright Young Star Cluster
6.04.2015

Hot blue stars shine brightly in this beautiful, recently formed galactic or "open" star cluster. Open cluster NGC 3293 is located in the constellation Carina, lies at a distance of about 8000 light years, and has a particularly high abundance of these young bright stars.

Zooming in on Star Cluster Terzan 5
24.03.2019

Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way. Back in the old days, back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed our Galaxy. Today, there are less than 200 left. Over the eons, many globular clusters were destroyed by repeated fateful encounters with each other or the Galactic center.

The Comet and the Fireball
20.12.2021

This picture was supposed to feature a comet. Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were being captured: Comet Leonard. But the universe had other plans. Within a fraction of a second, a meteor so bright it could be called a fireball streaked through just below the comet.

APOD: 2025 December 2 Б M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
2.12.2025

What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At that estimated distance, this gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand light-years across.

NGC 1818: A Young Globular Cluster
17.01.1999

Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way. Back in the old days, back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed our Galaxy. Today, there are perhaps 200 left. Many globular clusters were destroyed over the eons by repeated fateful encounters with each other or the Galactic center.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 253
21.01.1999

A camera with over 67 million pixels (digital picture elements) was used to record this stunning image of spiral galaxy NGC 253. Known as the Wide Field Imager (WFI), the camera is the latest instrument to be installed at the European Southern Observatory's 2.2 meter telescope in La Silla, Chile.