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Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano
4.06.2018
These people are not in danger. What is coming down from the left is just the Moon, far in the distance. Luna appears so large here because she is being photographed through a telescopic lens.
Saturns Iapetus: Painted Moon
3.06.2018
What has happened to Saturn's moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as ice. The composition of the dark material is unknown, but infrared spectra indicate that it possibly contains some dark form of carbon.
Jupiter Season, Hawaiian Sky
2.06.2018
Volcanic activity on the Big Island of Hawaii has increased since this Hawaiian night skyscape was recorded earlier this year. Recent vents and lava flows are about 30 kilometers to the east, the direction...
Mars Approach
1.06.2018
Since the distance from Earth to Mars changes drastically as the planets orbit the Sun, Mars' appearance changes dramaticaly. Mars is bright now, and it's getting closer and brighter still as it orbits toward its 2018 opposition and closest approach to Earth in late July.
NGC 6744 Close Up
31.05.2018
Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way. It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo, its galactic disk tilted towards our line of sight.
The Case of the Backwards Orbiting Asteroid
30.05.2018
Why does asteroid 2015 BZ509 orbit the Sun the backwards? As shown in the featured animation, Jupiter's trojan asteroids orbit the Sun in two major groups -- one just ahead of Jupiter, and one just behind -- but all orbit the Sun in the same direction as Jupiter.
Aurora and Manicouagan Crater from the Space Station
29.05.2018
How many of these can you find in today's featured photograph: an aurora, airglow, one of the oldest impact craters on the Earth, snow and ice, stars, city lights, and part of the International Space Station? Most of these can be identified by their distinctive colors.
Seven Dusty Sisters
28.05.2018
Is this really the famous Pleaides star cluster? Known for its iconic blue stars, the Pleaides is shown here in infrared light where the surrounding dust outshines the stars. Here three infrared colors have been mapped into visual colors (R=24, G=12, B=4.6 microns).
Coronal Rain on the Sun
27.05.2018
Does it rain on the Sun? Yes, although what falls is not water but extremely hot plasma. An example occurred in mid-July 2012 after an eruption on the Sun that produced both a Coronal Mass Ejection and a moderate solar flare. What was more unusual, however, was what happened next.
Titan: Moon over Saturn
26.05.2018
Like Earth's moon, Saturn's largest moon Titan is locked in synchronous rotation. This mosiac of images recorded by the Cassini spacecraft in May of 2012 show's its anti-Saturn side, the side always facing away from the ringed gas giant.
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