You are here

History

Resources

Pluto February 19, 2016

Earth’s Moon February 19, 2016
Venus

Venus February 10, 2016

Ongoing Explorations March 3, 2014
Virgo, the virgin

Virgo October 4, 2011
Aquarius

Aquarius October 4, 2011
Cancer, the Crab

Cancer, the Crab October 4, 2011
Libra, the Scales

Libra, the Scales October 4, 2011
Pisces, the fish

Pisces, the Fish October 4, 2011
Aries, the ram

Aries, the Ram October 4, 2011

The Solar System: Home Sweet Home August 12, 2010

Facts and Figures June 10, 2010

Astronomers and Observatories June 10, 2010

Remnants from the Beginning June 10, 2010

Realm of the Giants June 10, 2010

Exploring Our Own Back Yard June 10, 2010

Places to Go, Stars to See June 3, 2010
Gemini, the Twins

Gemini, the Twins May 25, 2010
Taurus, the Bull

Taurus, the Bull May 25, 2010
Sagittarius, the Archer

Sagittarius, the Archer May 25, 2010
Ursa Major, the Great Bear

Ursa Major, the Great Bear May 25, 2010
Artist's concept of a possible Neptune-mass planet orbiting Rho 1 Cancri.

Finding Earth-Like Planets May 21, 2010
Rings encircle a young planet in this artist's concept.

Exoplanets May 21, 2010

Equipment Tips May 14, 2010

Pick a Good Viewing Spot May 14, 2010

What to Look For May 14, 2010

Become a Stargazer April 14, 2010

Explorations in 2009 January 7, 2009

Explorations of Minor Bodies July 7, 2008

Explorations of Outer Planets July 7, 2008

Explorations of the Inner Solar System July 7, 2008
A giant plume of hot gas explodes from the Sun's surface. Giant bubbles of hot g

Our Star, the Sun June 8, 2006

Radio Programs

Leap Day Leaping with the seasons February 29, 2016

Mars on Earth Getting ready for Mars February 27, 2016

More Plutonium Powering up trips to deep space February 25, 2016

New Names New names for a family of planets February 19, 2016

Arrow of Time Going forward in time February 16, 2016

Moon and Companions Two planets without moons February 5, 2016

Moon and Venus A “liquid” atmosphere for Venus February 4, 2016

Luna 9 The first soft landing on the Moon February 3, 2016

The Whole Gang The worlds of the solar system February 1, 2016

Moon and Spica Filling a lunar “ocean” January 29, 2016

Auriga The charioteer’s bright shoulders January 24, 2016

Zapped! Zapped by the Sun — twice January 18, 2016

Moon and Companions Building a mound on the Moon — after this. January 6, 2016

Moon and Venus Dropping in on a nasty planet January 5, 2016

Tau Ceti Visiting a dusty star system — after this. January 4, 2016

Moon and Mars Lighting up the waning Moon — after this. January 2, 2016

Featured Images

Backlit view of Pluto landscape from New Horizons

Hazy Skies September 22, 2015
Artist's concept of a young Jupiter-like planet

Young Giant August 27, 2015
New Horizons view of young mountains on Pluto

Ice Mountains July 15, 2015
July 12 views of Charon and Pluto from New Horizons

Hours Away July 13, 2015
New Horizons view of Pluto and Charon, July 1, 2015

Best Shot July 7, 2015
Encounter between Venus and Jupiter, July 2015

Planetary Headlights July 2, 2015
Views of the Venus-Jupiter evening encounter, June 26-July 4, 2015

Brilliant Encounter June 26, 2015
Artist's concept of a moons orbiting a Jupiter-like exoplanet

Worlds of Worlds June 9, 2015

Stepping Out June 3, 2015
The western evening sky of May 22, 2015

Crowded Skies May 22, 2015

Ringfest May 20, 2015
Image of a powerful solar flare on March 11, 2015

Solar Flare March 12, 2015
Artist's concept of Solar Max in orbit

Sun Watcher February 14, 2015
A brilliant aurora from the International Space Station

Fiery Sky January 21, 2015
Composite image of the Sun

Hot Sun December 24, 2014

Double Dribble November 20, 2014
View of a newly forming planetary system around the young star HL Tauri

Planet Tracks November 6, 2014
Postcard of the historic Elgin Watch Company Observatory in Illinois

Star Time October 25, 2014

Through the Glow September 16, 2014
Ranger 7 images of the Moon, July 31, 1964

Success at Last July 31, 2014
Artist's concept of Solar Orbiter

Feeling the Heat July 4, 2014
Three solar flares in early June 2014

Solar Fireworks June 12, 2014
Venus, Mercury, and the earthshine-illuminated crescent Moon

Lighting the Shadows May 30, 2014
Otto Struve, first director of McDonald Observatory

First Director May 8, 2014
Autographs from the dedication of McDonald Observatory

Who's Who May 7, 2014
Construction of McDonald Observatory's 82-inch telescope, ca. 1934

Celebrating May 6, 2014
Participants in the McDonald Observatory dedication, May 5, 1939

Getting Started May 5, 2014
Diagram showing the layouts of several exoplanet systems

Going Farther April 30, 2014
Artist's concept of a range of recently discovered exoplanets

Planet Hunting April 28, 2014
Views from the 1964 World's Fair

Space Fair April 22, 2014
Artist's concept of a solar sail

Sailing Along April 3, 2014
Mariner 10 at Mercury

First Encounter March 29, 2014
Venus Express movie showing south polar vortex

Double Vortex March 27, 2014
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter view on lunar north polar regions

Top o' the Moon March 19, 2014
China's Yutu rover on the Moon in an artist's concept

Lunar Returns December 14, 2013
Superman's back story may have been inspired by an exploding star

Exploding Stars December 14, 2013
Annie Jump Cannon

Astronomical Pioneer December 10, 2013
Female "computers" at Harvard College Observatory

Data Processing Center December 9, 2013
The life and times of William Herschel

Stellar Musician November 14, 2013
Artist's concept of extrasolar planet Kepler 78b, an Earth-sized world

Hot Rock October 31, 2013
Artist's concept of planet HAT-P7b

Hot Spot August 16, 2013
Eastern dawn sky, early August 2013

Morning Jam August 2, 2013
One of the first images from IRIS, a new Sun-watching satellite

First Sunlight July 31, 2013
Space-faring spider Arabella spins her first web in orbit, 1973

Spiders in Space July 29, 2013
Artist's concept of a blue exoplanet

Blue-Hot Planet July 13, 2013
Planetary conjunction, May 2013

Evening Traffic Jam May 25, 2013
Skylab in orbit

First Space Station May 14, 2013
The starry ceiling of Grand Central Terminal

Grand Sky February 2, 2013
Soyuz spacecraft approaches space station with Moon in background

Ready for Arrival December 31, 2012
Artist's concept of the Sun's structure

Powerhouse December 17, 2012
Gravitational map of the Moon compiled by the GRAIL mission

Lunar Attraction December 15, 2012
Artist's concept of Mariner 2 flying past Venus, December 14, 1962

First Encounter December 13, 2012
Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan drives his lunar rover

End of the Road December 10, 2012
Nighttime view of the southeastern U.S. from the International Space Station

Blue Night November 5, 2012
Moon, Jupiter, and Taurus, October 4-5, 2012

Bull Rush October 4, 2012
Venus-Regulus encounter in the pre-dawn sky, October 2-4, 2012

Morning Mashup October 1, 2012
First-quarter Moon

Moonwatch September 22, 2012
Andromeda and the Milky Way head for a galactic pile-up

Collision Course September 12, 2012
Artist's concept of the Gamma Cephei star system

Stellar Geometry September 4, 2012
About one hour after sunset, late August and early September

Red Rivals August 29, 2012
Neil Armstrong aboard the lunar module Eagle, July 21, 1969

Leading the Way August 26, 2012
A flare on the surface of the star HD 189733 blasts away the atmosphere of an or

Zapped! June 29, 2012
Moon and Companions, June 2012

Moon and Company June 25, 2012
Apollo 17 at the rim of Shorty Crater, December 1972

Back to the Moon(rocks) June 11, 2012
An ultraviolet camera gazes skyward from the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission

Looking Up April 23, 2012
Apollo 16 lunar module, Orion, on the Moon's Plains of Descartes

Almost Home April 21, 2012
Space shuttle Discovery flies above Washington, DC, April 17, 2012

Last Stop April 19, 2012
Artist's concept of the Kepler-35 system, with a giant planet orbiting two stars

Seeing Double April 4, 2012
A powerful solar flare erupts on March 6, 2012

Stormy Skies March 8, 2012
Mars is at opposition in early March 2012, shining brightest for the year

Mighty Mars March 3, 2012
Voyager mission enhanced-color image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Planetary Impressionism February 26, 2012
John Glenn enters his Mercury capsule (right), and launches on February 20, 1962

Up, Up, and Away! February 20, 2012
Dark lunar features are named seas or oceans

Split Personality February 9, 2012
A January 23, 2012 solar flare

Restless Sun January 30, 2012
Endeavour Crater, winter home of the Opportunity Mars rover

Winter Wonderland January 26, 2012
M1, the Crab Nebula, in a Hubble Space Telescope image

Crab Nebula January 6, 2012
The Moon and Hyades, night of January 5, 2012

Staring at the Bull January 5, 2012
Phoenix and Grus in the southern sky, late November evening

Rare Birds November 28, 2011
2011 image of the Apollo 12 landing site, from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Still Standing September 9, 2011
Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin is home to the world's largest refractor

Still Going August 18, 2011
Atlantis launches on the final space shuttle mission, July 8, 2011

Last Call July 8, 2011
Alan Shepard enters his capsule, then launches aboard Freedom 7, May 5, 1961

A-OK Flight May 5, 2011
Moon and planets in the dawn sky, April 30/May 1, 2011

Dawn Encounter April 29, 2011
Launches of Vostok 1, STS-1 (space shuttle Columbia)

Double Date April 12, 2011
Streamers of dust partially obscure the "seven sisters," members of the Pleiades

Veiled Sisters April 6, 2011
Mercury and Jupiter passing in the evening sky

Just Passing By March 13, 2011
Sky view from space shuttle Discovery, February 2011

Nice View March 2, 2011
Space shuttle Discovery launch, February 24, 2011

Last Show February 25, 2011
Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard poses with the American flag on the Moon

Long Journey February 6, 2011
Lunar crater gouged by Apollo 14 booster rocket

A Big Whack February 4, 2011
Earth is in the middle of the Sun's habitable zone

In the Zone January 18, 2011
The Sun as seen from space

Close to the Sun January 3, 2011
Western sky a couple of hours after sunset in late December

Happy Holidays! December 25, 2010
Eruption of gas from the surface of the Sun

Sun Power December 22, 2010
Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki at Venus

Venusian Dawn December 6, 2010
China Clipper Sails the Pacific Ocean

Night Over Water November 22, 2010
Lunokhod image of its tracks on the lunar surface

Found It! November 15, 2010
Luna 16 diagram

To the Moon and Back September 24, 2010
MIT professor Dava Newman models a new type of space suit

Dressed for Success (in Space) September 15, 2010
Two planets and a star team up with the crescent Moon in the western evening sky

Moon and Companions September 10, 2010
Evaporating planet around the star HD209458

Puffy Planet August 26, 2010

Western Lineup June 27, 2010