Bright Spokes
Bright “spokes” radiate through Saturn’s rings in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. The most likely explanation is that the…
Fuzzy Pinwheel
M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, whirls through space like a big fuzzy pinwheel. Stellar nurseries (reddish blobs) line the galaxy’s spiral…
Bright Meteor
The Leonid meteor shower is at its best in mid-November, in the hours between midnight and dawn. If meteor watchers…
First View
Edwin Hubble takes a peek through the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in California, which took its first look…
Moonwatching
Visitors to Arches National Park watch a full Moon climb skyward. October 28 is designated as Observe the Moon Night,…
Squashed Planet
The planet Saturn looks noticeably squashed in this Hubble Space Telescope image. The planet’s fast rotation causes it to bulge…
Distant Rings
Small moons orbit within the faint rings of the planet Uranus, as shown in this diagram. The rings form several…
Sniffing Venusian Air
A Soviet stamp commemorates the flight of Venera 4, which parachuted through the atmosphere of Venus in October 1967. It…
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Surprising Monster
The giant galaxy UGC 1382, which is in the constellation Cetus, the sea monster, is a bit of a surprise.…
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Bright Visitor
A brilliant meteor streaked across part of the United States on the evening of October 9, 1992, with a small…