Close Passage
The planets Venus and Jupiter, which are the two brightest objects in the night sky other than the Moon, will…
Ready to Expand
The Moon backlights the IceCube neutrino observatory at the south pole. The observatory uses special detectors buried deep in the…
A Burst of Stars
A burst of stars forms Messier 79, a globular cluster in Lepus, the hare. The cluster, which is about 42,000…
Gobs of Planets
This artist's concept shows the Trappist-1 star system. It consists of a red dwarf star, which is much smaller, cooler,…
On the Edge
Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt walks near the rim of Shorty Crater during one of the missions three moonwalks. Schmitt…
Cargo Mission
NASA has devised a new plan for bringing samples of Mars to Earth for detailed analysis. A spacecraft (lower right)…
Rocket Clouds
High-altitude clouds shine at nightfall above Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in this 2011 image. Known as noctilucent ("night-shining") clouds, they're caused…
Sparse Cluster
Although it is sparsely populated, the star cluster Messier 39 sparkles in this ground-based image. The cluster, which is near…
Listening for a Planet
This artist's concept depicts the star Gliese 1151 and its possible companion planet. The interaction between the star and planet…
Bright and Dark
Bright clouds of gas intermingle with dark clouds of dust in this image of IC 5146, the Cocoon Nebula. Both…