Astrophotography duo Bob and Janice Fera snapped this photo of the Cone and Foxfur nebulas, which are part of a larger system called NGC 2264 located in the Monoceros constellation about 2,600 light-years away from Earth.
The Ring Nebula in Lyra lies 2.300 light years from Earth. It is estimated to have been expanding for about 1600 years.
The whirlpool galaxy, also called Messier 51 (M51), is located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. Charles Messier discovered the brighter galaxy NGC 5194 in 1773 and his friend Pierre Mechain found the secondary nebula, NGC 5195, in 1781.
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457) is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars—about 100 billion of them could be similar to our sun.
Skywatchers shoot this remarkable image of Earth’s gibbous moon captured in the hands of an observer holding tissue paper in Casa del Romano, Italy, August 18, 2011.
NGC 896 Emission Nebula in constellation Cassiopeia is located some 7500 light-years from Earth in the Heart Nebula. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
The bubble nebula is located 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.
This stunning image give us a close-up look at an active region on the sun. The photo was taken in February combining multiple exposures to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
This heavenly view of the Milky Way was taken in the South Pacific paradise of Mangaia, the most southerly of the Cook Islands. This image was chosen as one of the winners of the National Maritime Museum's Astrophotographer of the Year 2011 Contest.
Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system; with four large moons and many smaller moons it forms a kind of miniature solar system. The massive planet will be in opposition to the sun this weekend.
Skywatcher Tunc Tezel took this image of the night sky atop La Palma in the Canary Islands on a night with no moon and at a time when the milky way would not create much skyglow. Multiple exposures are taken to create enough light.
Skywatcher Amir H. Abolfath captured this photo of the setting sun over the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The green flash above the sun lasts for mere seconds making it often difficult to observe.
Skywatcher Per-Magnus Heden wondered if the Vikings gazed at the same starry sky, which includes the constellation Orion at bottom, when he took this photo in Feb. 2011.
Skywatcher Kwon, O Chul of The World At Night (TWAN), shot this image of the Northern Lights at Yellowknife in northern Canada.
Skywatcher Aleksandr Yuferev captured the first partial solar eclipse of the year through smoke from a chimney in Russia. The eclipse was visible from Europe to North Africa, Middle East and central Asia.
The photographer was in a dark Alpine forest near Tyrol, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of Innsbruck. Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
Lunar and solar halos are caused when light passes through ice crystals formed in clouds through the sky.
Skywatcher Yuichi Takasaki took this photo of deep violet hues in an auroral display. Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
The region lies near the southern end of Taurus located on the border of the constellations of Taurus and Perseus more than 400 light-years away. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
Hungarian Skywatcher Tamas Ladanyi of The World At Night (TWAN) took this stunning photo of the smallest full moon of 2011, which occurred Oct. 11.
Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
More than 30 images were taken to make this composite photo of the sun's movement across the sky in 2011. The images shows what scientists call the analemma, the movement of the sun in the sky over the course of a year. The background image was also taken separately without a solar filter.
Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
Pleiades Star Cluster: Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
Jupiter and the Milky Way can be seen in astrophotographer P-M Hedén’s tranquil photo taken near the Dal River in Sweden on September 2011.
Bill Snyder snapped this image of the tadpoles of nebula IC 410 from his home observatory in Connellsville Pa., on Jan. 15, 2012. The tadpoles in this photo are around 10 light-years long and are potential sites of star formation.
Recent headliner Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy cruises above a pre-dawn sky in Tasmania on Dec. 2011.
The moon and Venus are in conjunction in this image taken at Gobustan National Park in Azerbaijan, on Feb. 25, 2012.
Comet Garradd passed within half a degree of M92 as it sailed through the Hercules constellation in this image by astrophotographer Bill Snyder on Feb. 3, 2012.
Jupiter, the moon and Venus align over Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary on March 26, 2012.
IC405, also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, shines in this skywatching photo.
Venus and Jupiter appear in conjunction over the western horizon of Quetta, Pakistan.
Star trails glow over ancient petroglyphs in this skywatching photo.
Astrophotographer Amir H. Abolfath snapped this view of the total lunar eclipse of Dec. 10, 2011 from an observing spot in the Zagros mountains of Iran. Abolfath is a photographer with the skywatching imagery group The World At Night (TWAN).
Multiple exposures are made to collect enough light for an image that would otherwise not be evident to the eye.
Skywatcher Shawn Malone sent in this photo of the Milky Way taken during the weekend of April 28-29, 2012, from the shore of Lake Superior. She writes: "The Milky Way was eye poppingly bright."
