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Key Highlights
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant from 1054 AD with complex filaments and a central pulsar rotating 30 times per second. 1 post
NGC 1898 is a globular cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years away, with stars that may have formed in stages after galactic encounters. 1 post
Amateur astronomy in Florida captured a detailed image of the Crab Nebula using hydrogen emission data, revealing its 10-light-year span. 1 post
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Latest posts
An Artificial Comet
An Artificial Comet Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Chao Explanation: Yes, but can your comet tail do this? No, and what you are seeing is not the tail of a comet. The picture features a cleverly overlayed time-lapse sequence of a group of satellites orbiting Earth together in
M1: The Crab Nebula
M1: The Crab Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Chen Explanation: This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD, is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments are not only tremendously complex but app
NGC 1898: Globular Cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud
NGC 1898: Globular Cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Explanation: Jewels don't shine this bright -- only stars do. And almost every spot in this jewel-box of an image from the Hubble Space Telescope is a star. Now, some stars are more red than o
Apollo 17 s Moonship
Apollo 17's Moonship Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA, (Image Reprocessing: Andy Saunders) Explanation: Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger was designed for flight in the near vacuum of space. Digitally enhanced and reprocessed, this picture taken from
3I/ATLAS Flyby
3I/ATLAS Flyby Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett Explanation: Attention grabbing interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS made its not-so-close flyby of our fair planet on December 19 at a distance of 1.8 astronomical units. That's about 900 light-seconds. This deep exposure captures the c
Unicorn, Fox Fur and Christmas Tree
Unicorn, Fox Fur and Christmas Tree Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Kalika Explanation: A star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, this beautiful but complex arrangement of interstellar gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant in the faint but fanciful constellation Monocero
Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe
Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST; Dale Kocevski (Colby College) Explanation: What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the James Webb Space Teles
Red Sprites and Circular Elves Lightning over Italy
Red Sprites and Circular Elves Lightning over Italy Image Credit & Copyright: Valter Binotto Explanation: What's happening in the sky? Lightning. The most commonly seen type of lightning involves flashes of bright white light between clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, oth
Sunset Solstice over Stonehenge
Sunset Solstice over Stonehenge Image Credit & Copyright: English Heritage, Josh Dury Explanation: Yesterday the Sun reached its southernmost point in planet Earth's sky. Called a solstice, many cultures mark yesterday's date as a change of seasons -- from autumn to winter in Ear
Solstice on a Spinning Earth
Solstice on a Spinning Earth Image Credit: Meteosat 9, NASA, Earth Observatory, Robert Simmon Explanation: Can you tell that today is a solstice by the tilt of the Earth? Yes. At a solstice, the Earth's terminator -- the dividing line between night and day -- is tilted the most.
A Solstice Sun Tattoo
A Solstice Sun Tattoo Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Pace Explanation: The word solstice is from the Latin for Sun and to pause or stand still. And in the days surrounding a solstice the Sun's annual north-south drift in planet Earth's sky does slow down, pause, and then reverse d
Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus
Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus Image Credit & Copyright: Guy Bardon Explanation: When the Moon is at its first quarter phase, the Sun rises along the Montes Caucasus as seen from the lunar surface. The lunar mountain range casts the magnificent, spire-like shadows in this telesco
Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini
Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini Image Credit & Copyright: David Cruz Explanation: Jupiter, the Solar System's ruling gas giant, is the brightest celestial beacon at the center of this composite night skyscape. The scene was constructed by selecting the 40 exposures containing mete
W5: The Soul Nebula
W5: The Soul Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Jeffrey Horne Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, whom Greek mytholo
Andromeda and Sprites over Australia
Andromeda and Sprites over Australia Image Credit & Copyright: JJ Rao Explanation: What’s happening over that tree? Two very different things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older than humanity and will last billions of years into the future. Andromeda
Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains
Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains Image Credit & Copyright: Tomáš Slovinský Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is
Juno Flyby of Ganymede and Jupiter
Juno Flyby of Ganymede and Jupiter Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SWRI, MSSS; Animation: Koji Kuramura, Gerald Eichstädt, Mike Stetson; Music: Vangelis Explanation: What would it be like to fly over the largest moon in the Solar System? In 2021, the robotic Juno spacecra
Orion and the Ocean of Storms
Orion and the Ocean of Storms Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1 Explanation: On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth, te
Northern Fox Fires
Northern Fox Fires Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Lehtonen Explanation: In a Finnish myth, when an arctic fox runs so fast that its bushy tail brushes the mountains, flaming sparks are cast into the heavens creating the northern lights. In fact the Finnish word "revontulet", a na
Galaxies in the River
Galaxies in the River Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy engages in a sort of galactic cannibalism, absorbing small galaxies that are too close and are captured by the Milky Way's gravity. In fact, th
The Horsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: George Chatzifrantzis Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this dusty interstellar molecular cloud has by chance assumed an immediately recognizable shape. Fittingly known as The Horsehead Nebula, it lies some 1,500 li
The Heart of the Soul Nebula
The Heart of the Soul Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Nicola Bugin Explanation: This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the Soul Nebula. The dark and brooding dust clouds outlined by bright ridges of glowing gas are cataloged as IC 1871. About 25 light-years across, the telescopic
Flying Over the Earth at Night
Flying Over the Earth at Night Video Credit: Gateway to Astronaut Photography, NASA ; Compilation: David Peterson (YouTube); Music: Freedom Fighters (Two Steps from Hell) Explanation: Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night. Such visual spectacles occur
The Sun and Its Missing Colors
The Sun and Its Missing Colors Image Credit: Nigel Sharp (NSF), FTS, NSO, KPNO, AURA, NSF Explanation: It is still not known why the Sun's light is missing some colors. Here are all the visible colors of the Sun, produced by passing the Sun's light through a prism-like device.
Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater
Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater Image Credit: Apollo 17 Crew, NASA Explanation: Fifty three years ago, in December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon exploring the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited