2019 October 16 BHB2007: A Baby Binary Star in Formation Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), F. O. Alves et al. Explanation: How do binary stars form? To help find out, ESO’s Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) recently captured one of the highest resolution images yet taken of a binary star […]
2019 October 15 The Galaxy Above Image Credit & Copyright: Rodrigo Guerra Explanation: Have you contemplated your home galaxy lately? If your sky looked like this, perhaps you’d contemplate it more often! The featured picture is actually a composite of two images taken last month from the
2019 October 14 Andromeda before Photoshop Image Credit: Kees Scherer Explanation: What does the Andromeda galaxy really look like? The featured image shows how our Milky Way Galaxy’s closest major galactic neighbor really appears in a long exposure through Earth’s busy skies and with a
2019 October 13 A Stellar Jewel Box: Open Cluster NGC 290 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Acknowledgement: E. Olzewski (U. Arizona) Explanation: Jewels don’t shine this bright — only stars do. Like gems in a jewel box, though, the stars of open cluster NGC 290 glitter in a beautiful dis
2019 October 12 Interplanetary Earth Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA/JHU Applied Physics Lab/Carnegie Inst. Washington Explanation: In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System, innermost planet Mer
2019 October 11 Planet Earth at Blue Hour Image Credit & Copyright: Matthias Ciprian Explanation: Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always look forward to the blue hour. That’s the transition in twilight, just before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the hor
2019 October 10 Mid-Air Meteor and Milky Way Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Wagner Explanation: On September 24, a late evening commercial flight from Singapore to Australia offered stratospheric views of the southern hemisphere’s night sky, if you chose a window seat. In fact, a well-plan
2019 October 9 NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl Explanation: Is this galaxy jumping through a giant ring of stars? Probably not. Although the precise dynamics behind the featured image is yet unclear, wha
2019 October 8 Sprite Lightning in HD Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Vetter (TWAN) Explanation: This phenomenon occurs in the sky over our heads, not the sea. It is a type of lightning known as red sprite, and rarely has it ever been photographed in this detail. Even though sprites have been
2019 October 7 Io Eclipse Shadow on Jupiter from Juno Image Credit & License: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing: Kevin M. Gill Explanation: What’s that dark spot on Jupiter? It’s the shadow of Jupiter’s most volcanic moon Io. Since Jupiter shines predominantly by reflecte
