#800 A Fleeting Eclipse August 27, 1997“A lunar eclipse can be viewed in a leisurely fashion. Visible to anyone on the night side of planet Earth (weather permitting), totality often lasts an hour or so

#793 Bright Meteor, Dark Sky August 20, 1997“Has Orion the Hunter acquired a new weapon? If you turn your head sideways (counterclockwise) you might notice the familiar constellation of Orion, particularly

#786 Resolving Mira August 13, 1997“Most stars appear only as points of light. Recently, Betelgeuse became the second star, after our Sun, to have it surface resolved. Now add Mira to the list. Mira A

#779 Hale-Bopp from Indian Cove August 06, 1997“Good cameras were able to obtain impressive photographs of Comet Hale-Bopp when at its brightest earlier this year. In the above photograph taken April 5th,

#771 Strange Rocks on Mars July 29, 1997“The rocks on Mars tell us stories about their past. To decipher these stories, a scientist must become a detective, searching for clues and fitting them with theories.

#764 A Presidential Panorama of Mars July 22, 1997“Scroll right to unfold the latest panorama of the surface of Mars. For best viewing, click and hold on the right arrow icon at the bottom of your browser

#757 Vega July 15, 1997“Vega is a bright blue star 25 light years away. Vega is the brightest star in the Summer Triangle, a group of stars easily visible summer evenings in the northern hemisphere. The

#747 Pathfinder on Mars July 05, 1997“Yesterday, July 4th, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft successfully bounced and came to rest on

#738 A Close Encounter of the Stellar Kind June 26, 1997“The unassuming star centered in this sky view will one day be our next door stellar neighbor. The faint 9th magnitude red dwarf currently 63 light-years

#728 APOD is Two Years Old Today June 16, 1997“The first Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) appeared two years ago today. Pictured above is a scene surrounding the creation of an early APOD, depicting

#720 M101: An Ultraviolet View Credit: June 08, 1997“This giant spiral galaxy, Messier 101 (M101), was photographed by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). UIT flew into orbit as part of the Astro

#710 Southern Neptune May 29, 1997“Neptune, the Solar System's outermost gas giant planet, is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth. Twelve years after a 1977 launch, Voyager 2 flew by Neptune and found

#702 GRB970508 Delivers Predicted Radio Emission May 21, 1997“New evidence bolsters once controversial claims that Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions ever found by humanity. Two weeks

#692 M42: A Mosaic of Orion's Great Nebula May 11, 1997“The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulae. Here, 15 pictures from the

#682 A Galactic Cloud of Antimatter Credit: May 01, 1997“The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is full of surprises. Its latest spectacular is a mysterious cloud glowing in gamma rays produced by annihilating

#672 Big Sky Comet Credit and Copyright: April 21, 1997“On April 17th, "Big Sky" country sure lived up to its name. The dark skies over the US states of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas were

#662 The Sun Puffs Credit: April 11, 1997“The Earth has once again endured a burst of particles from the Sun. The latest storm, which began Monday, was one of the best documented solar storms to date.

#653 A Complete Aurora Credit: April 02, 1997“Aurora frequently make complete rings around a pole of the Earth. This particular "crown", visible in orange near the top of this image, was taken

#643 A String Of Pearls Credit: March 23, 1997“Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, named after its co-discoverers, was often referred to as the "string of pearls" comet. It is famous for its unusual appearance

#634 Comet Hale-Bopp's Developing Tails Credit: March 14, 1997“Comet Hale-Bopp is living up to its expectations. Besides the brightness of its coma, a comet is typically remembered by the length of its