The densely packed globular cluster NGC 6325 glistens in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. via NASA https://ift.tt/Rd6Mq38

A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own Milky Way. Its bright core and majestic spiral arms lend the galaxy […]

U.S. Senate Members Meet the Crew of Artemis II via NASA https://ift.tt/LNEwSP9

Made with narrowband filters, this cosmic snapshot covers a field of view about the size of the full Moon within the boundaries of the constellation Cygnus. It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region’s interstellar clouds of gas and […]

Laguna San Rafael National Park, photographed on May 9, 2023 as the space station orbited 268 miles above Chile. via NASA https://ift.tt/PauwrfK

Why would a small part of the Sun appear slightly dark? Visible is a close-up picture of sunspots, depressions on the Sun’s surface that are slightly cooler and less bright than the rest of the Sun. The Sun’s complex magnetic field creates these cool regions by inhibiting hot material from entering the spots. Sunspots can […]

The waxing gibbous Moon stands out against the stark darkness of space on May 3, 2023. via NASA https://ift.tt/yz4MXsd

Most photographs don’t adequately portray the magnificence of the Sun’s corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar eclipse is unparalleled. The human eye can adapt to see coronal features and extent that average cameras usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age. The featured image digitally combined short and long exposures taken in […]

Maestro Piotr Gajewski conducts the National Philharmonic in the world premiere performance of Henry Dehlinger’s “Cosmic Cycles,” in this photo from Thursday, May 11, 2023, as an enhanced color image of Jupiter is displayed above. via NASA https://ift.tt/Kg5187T

From afar, the whole thing looks like an eagle. A closer look at the Eagle Nebula, however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this window, a brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of stars is being formed. In this cavity, […]