Centered in this colorful cosmic canvas, NGC 2626 is a beautiful, bright, blue reflection nebula in the southern Milky Way. Next to an obscuring dust cloud and surrounded by reddish hydrogen emission from large H II region RCW 27 it lies within a complex of dusty molecular clouds known as the Vela Molecular Ridge. NGC […]

This Jan. 10, 2013, composite image of the giant barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 combines visible light images from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope with far-ultraviolet data from NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and infrared data acquired by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. via NASA https://ift.tt/19gtZHo

Stars trace concentric arcs around the North Celestial Pole in this three hour long night sky composite, recorded with a digital camera fixed to a tripod on January 31, near Àger, Lleida, Spain. On that date Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was near its northernmost declination in planet Earth’s sky. That put the comet about 10 degrees from Earth’s North Celestial Pole making the comet’s position circumpolar, always above the horizon, from all locations on planet Earth at more than 10 degrees northern latitude. In the startrail image, the extension of Earth’s axis of rotation into space is at the left. North star Polaris traces the short, bright, concentric arc less than a degree from the North Celestial Pole. The trail of Comet ZTF is indicated at the right, its apparent motion mostly reflecting Earth’s rotation like the stars. But heading for its closest approach to planet Earth on February 1, the comet is also moving significantly with respect to the background stars. The diffuse greenish trail of Comet ZTF is an almost concentric arc mingled with startrails as it sweeps through the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis.

The waxing gibbous Moon stands out in this Jan. 2, 2023, image from the International Space Station as it orbited 269 miles above the southern Indian Ocean.

The 1970s are sometimes ignored by astronomers, like this beautiful grouping of reflection nebulae in Orion – NGC 1977, NGC 1975, and NGC 1973 – usually overlooked in favor of the substantial glow from the nearby stellar nursery better known as the Orion Nebula. Found along Orion’s sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula […]

In 2016, seven rocky, potentially habitable exoplanets were discovered orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. Located only 40 light-years away, these planets are prime candidates for future telescopic explorations of their atmospheres. Join us as we explore the tantalizing possibilities of these distant worlds.

In this photo from Oct. 14, 2008, a great blue heron stands watch among a pond of water lilies on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. via NASA https://ift.tt/E9J635g

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), now visiting the inner Solar System, has been showing an uncommonly distinctive antitail. Its closest approach to the Sun and Earth are now passed and the giant dirty snowball is visible all night long from northern latitudes.

Spectacular eruptions of the Villarrica volcano in Chile have been captured from the International Space Station. The gases come from a series of minor explosions called Strombolian eruptions that have been ongoing since October 2022.

Explore the ancient survivors of the Milky Way with this Hubble Space Telescope view of 13-billion year old NGC 6355, a globular cluster currently passing near the Milky Way’s center. Concentrated toward the image center, the globular cluster stars are highlighted by bright blue stars, while most other stars in the frame are dimmer, redder