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Classic Cosmos NGC 206 is a large stellar association in the Andromeda galaxy, M31, about 2.5 million light-years away. Its bright, blue stars indicate its youth: the youngest massive stars are less than

A spacecraft selfie, taken at a comet. This is Rosetta, just 16 km from comet 67P and 472 million km from home. It was the last shot from Philae's camera before Philae dropped off to try the first ever

Classic Cosmos Our nearest big galaxy, the way the south sees it. From the Southern Hemisphere, Andromeda never climbs high. In spring it only just clears the northern horizon. That's exactly what Lucy

Classic Cosmos How many moons can you count in this one? Five. Our Moon in the foreground and Jupiter's four big ones lined up behind it. Ganymede, Io, Callisto and Europa all bigger or almost as big as

Meteor Borealis Date: 2024-08-16 A single exposure made with a camera pointed almost due north on August 12 recorded this bright Perseid meteor in the night sky west of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The

Late Night Vallentuna Date: 2024-08-15 Bright Mars and even brighter Jupiter are in close conjunction just above the pine trees in this post-midnight skyscape from Vallentuna, Sweden. Taken on August 12

NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula Date: 2024-07-25 These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris Nebula, NGC 7023 is not the

Exaggerated Moon Date: 2024-07-24 Our Moon doesn't really have craters this big. Earth's Moon, Luna, also doesn't naturally show this spikey texture, and its colors are more subtle. But this digital creation

King of Wings Hoodoo under the Milky Way Date: 2024-07-21 This rock structure is not only surreal -- it's real. Perhaps the reason it's not more famous is that it is smaller than one might guess: the capstone

Villarrica Volcano Against the Sky Villarrica Volcano Against the Sky Date: 2024-07-17 When Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, swings his blacksmith's hammer, the sky is lit on fire. A recent eruption of Chile's

The Tadpole Galaxy from Hubble Date: 2024-07-15 Why does this galaxy have such a long tail? In this stunning vista, based on image data from the Hubble Legacy Archive, distant galaxies form a dramatic

Meteor Misses Galaxy Date: 2024-07-14 The galaxy was never in danger. For one thing, the Triangulum galaxy (M33), pictured, is much bigger than the tiny grain of rock at the head of the meteor. For another,

Solar System Family Portrait Date: 2024-07-13 In 1990, cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back to make this first ever Solar System family portrait. The complete

Jones-Emberson 1 Date: 2024-07-12 Planetary nebula Jones-Emberson 1 is the death shroud of a dying Sun-like star. It lies some 1,600 light-years from Earth toward the sharp-eyed constellation Lynx. About

Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Date: 2024-07-11 Globular star cluster Omega Centauri packs about 10 million stars much older than the Sun into a volume some 150 light-years in diameter. Also known as

A Sagittarius Triplet Date: 2024-07-10 These three bright nebulae are often featured on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th

Noctilucent Clouds over Florida Date: 2024-07-09 These clouds are doubly unusual. First, they are rare noctilucent clouds, meaning that they are visible at night -- but only just before sunrise or just

Exoplanet Zoo: Other Stars Date: 2024-07-08 Do other stars have planets like our Sun? Surely they do, and evidence includes slight star wobbles created by the gravity of orbiting exoplanets and slight

Iridescent Clouds over Sweden Date: 2024-07-07 Why are these clouds multi-colored? A relatively rare phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colors vividly -- or even a whole spectrum

NGC 7789: Caroline's Rose Date: 2024-07-06 Found among the rich starfields of the Milky Way, star cluster NGC 7789 lies about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. A late 18th century