A dazzling display of "shooting stars" kicked off the 2012 skywatching season early Wednesday (Jan. 4), thrilling amateur astronomers around the world with views of the Quadrantid meteor shower. [Full Story]
Spectacular new images of a gigantic crater on the moon have been captured recently by a low-skimming NASA satellite, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. [Full Story]
Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the largest cluster of galaxies ever seen, a massive galactic conglomeration called "El Gordo" located about 7 billion light-years from Earth. [Full Story]
Messier 82 (M 82), also known as the Cigar Galaxy, looks very different in this new Hubble image, the most detailed view ever of the core of this galaxy. Previous images show a galaxy ablaze with stars. This image looks quite unlike them, dominated instead by glowing gas and dust. Filters transparent only to the wavelengths emitted by specific chemical elements isolated the light from glowing gas clouds, while blocking out much of the starlight. Thus the stars appear faint in this image, and the dust lanes are sharply silhouetted against the brightly glowing gas clouds. The starburst galaxy lies about 12 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). [See all daily space photos]
Bubbles full of stars are now shedding light on how our sun and its siblings might have formed, a new study reveals. [Full Story]
NASA's newest Earth-watching satellite has sent back a breathtaking image of our "Blue Marble" that offers a taste of the orbiting observatory's vast capabilities. [Full Story]
A massive solar flare — the strongest one so far this year — erupted today (Jan. 27) from the same active region of the sun that triggered a raging solar tempest earlier this week. [Full Story]
NASA's newest Earth-watching satellite is beaming back spectacular views of our home planet – huge mosaics of many images stitched together at the highest-resolution yet obtained. But there's a bit of science mojo at work to create the stunning photos. [Full Story]
A remarkable nighttime panorama taken from the International Space Station captured a dazzling cobweb of city lights as the orbiting complex flew roughly 240 miles (386 kilometers) overhead. [Full Story]
A fluke of astrophysics has revealed what scientists are calling the brightest galaxy ever seen through a cosmic "zoom lens," NASA officials say.
The distant galaxy is 10 billion light-years from Earth and was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope using a so-called gravitational lens created by a massive cluster of closer galaxies located about 5 billion light-years away. The distant galaxy is three times brighter than any other seen through a gravity lens, researchers said. The photo was released on Feb. 2 and posted on Feb. 6. [Full story]
The most detailed image yet of the well-known Carina nebula was caught by a European telescope, unveiling previously hidden features of an exquisite star nursery.
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) spied the cosmic landscape of gas, dust and young stars in the majestic Carina nebula, which is located about 7,500 light-years away from Earth. The lively star nursery lies deep in the heart of the southern Milky Way, in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). The image was released Feb. 8. [Full Story]
Skywatcher Tamas Ladanyi of The World At Night (TWAN) captured this image of the eclipsed sun glowing above Kab Mountain in Hungary on Jan. 4, 2011. This image was posted on Feb. 15, 2012. [Full Story]
Craters appear well defined on icy Rhea in front of the hazy orb of larger Titan in this view of the two Saturn moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft snapped the photo on Dec. 10, 2011. This photo was posted on Feb. 16, 2012. [Full Story]
A NASA spacecraft has captured stunning footage of Tuesday's (Feb. 21) partial solar eclipse, which left our star looking briefly like a huge celestial Pac-Man.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was watching Tuesday morning when the new moon crossed part of the sun's face in a partial eclipse that was visible only from space. SDO snapped a video and photos of the solar eclipse from its lofty perch 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth. [Full Story]
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, seated right, and Sen. John Glenn address questions from the press during a briefing at Ohio State University as John Glenn's wife Annie Glenn, seated in red, looks on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Glenn's historic flight. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth. [Full Photo Gallery]
The brightest planets in the night sky wowed skywatchers around the world this weekend, with a dazzling crescent moon completing the scene. See photos of the celestial sight. [Full Story]
Though dark matter is invisible, photos of galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing hint at its nature. [Full Story]
A dust devil tears across the surface of Mars in a dazzling new photo from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [Full Story]
This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun as it appeared in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths on March 5, 2012 just after a major solar flare. [More Images]
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel mission provides a new view of Orion Nebula. The infrared observations of both spacecraft combine to show fledgling stars hidden in the gas and clouds. Image released on Feb. 29, 2012. [More Images]
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera snapped its best look yet of the Apollo 11 landing site. The photo, which was released on March 7, even shows remnants of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic first steps on the moon. [Full Story]
ESO's VISTA telescope has created the widest deep view of the sky ever made using infrared light. The new picture of an unremarkable patch of sky comes from the UltraVISTA survey and reveals more than 200 000 galaxies. [Full Story]
Researchers have completed the most detailed geophysical map of Jupiter's moon Io ever devised. [Full Story]
Skywatchers around the globe have jumped into action to catch a fleeting glimpse of a new star explosion, a supernova to be exact, that erupted into view recently in a nearby galaxy. [Full Story]
A new photo shows one billion of the Milky Way's stars at once. [Full Story]
Astronauts on the International Space Station have the ultimate 24/7 view of planet Earth, and the photo album to prove it: The shutterbug astronauts recently snapped the millionth photo from the orbiting lab. [Full Story]
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured an extraordinary photo of an unmanned European cargo ship as it docked to the orbiting outpost last week. [Full Story]
The Hubble Space Telescope has found a UFO, but this one is filled with stars instead of little green men. [Full Story]
Astronomers have caught the first views of auroras on the planet Uranus from a telescope near Earth, revealing tantalizing views of the tilted giant planet's hard-to-catch light shows. [Full Story]
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies into the sunrise above Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2012. The ferry flight, destined for Washington, D.C., marked the final departure for Discovery from its home for three decades. [More Images]
Several million stars are vying for attention in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a raucous stellar breeding ground in 30 Doradus, located in the heart of the Tarantula nebula. [Full Story]
This amazing panorama depicts the site of ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, in the Chilean Andes. When ALMA is complete, it will have 54 of the 12-meter-diameter dishes shown. Above the array, the arc of the Milky Way glistens while the moon bathes the scene in an eerie light. ESO Photo Ambassador Stéphane Guisard took the shot, released April 23, 2012. Click the picture to see a larger version of the astounding image. [More amazing daily space photos]
Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), is seen as it flies near the Empire State Building, Friday, April 27, 2012, in New York. Enterprise, NASA's prototype shuttle, arrived in New York to join the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's space collection. [Full Photo Gallery]
The supermoon of 2012 rises over Entiat, Wash., in this photo by skywatcher Tim McCord snapped on May 5, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
NASA's Cassini spacecraft took some spectacular photos of the Saturn moons Dione and Enceladus earlier this week. [Full Story]
A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. The stars are some of the oldest in the universe. [Full Story]
Cassini spacecraft swung by Saturn’s moon Janus on March 27, 2012. Deep shadows darken some of the moon’s large craters. The spacecraft got this shot at a distance of approximately 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) from Janus. Intriguingly, another moon of Saturn, Epimetheus, orbits close to Janus, and the two moons periodically change orbits, so that one becomes closer to Saturn, while the other floats further away. [More Images]
Think of it as an amped up version of the iconic "Blue Marble" image. A new photo of Earth from space highlights the striking beauty and intensely rich colors of our home planet. [Full Story]
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken May 17, 2012. [Get More Images]
The Dragon capsule is attached to the International Space Station on May 25, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
Skywatcher Charles Medendorp took this photo of the annular eclipse at the Very Large Array outside Socorro, New Mexico, on May 20, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
A magnificent sun rises alongside the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy, with the massive sunspot AR 1476 in clear view. [Full Story]
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has snapped a shot of a so-called coronal hole on the sun that looks a lot like Big Bird. [Full Story]
On June 5-6 2012, SDO collected images of the rarest predictable solar event--the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart which are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. [Full Photo Gallery]
Photographing Tuesday's historic Venus transit of the sun is special enough on its own, but one space photographer managed to get NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in the frame as well. [Full Story]
The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a spectacular new image of two galaxies that look like they're slamming into each other, but in reality something just as rare is happening, scientists say.
In an amazing chance photograph, the Hubble Space Telescope snapped a view of two galaxies lining up, one behind the other, as viewed from the space telescope's vantage point. The image offers a rare view of the overlapping galaxies, which are collectively known as NGC 3314, Hubble scientists said in a statement. [Full Story]
A new galaxy has taken the title of most distant known, according to scientists from the Subaru and Keck Telescopes.
The galaxy, called SXDF-NB1006-2, lies a whopping 12.91 billion light-years from Earth. Since its light has taken that long to reach us, we are seeing it as it was less than a billion years after the Big Bang created the universe. So SXDF-NB1006-2 was likely among the first galaxies ever made. Full Story]
A massive asteroid that zipped by Earth a week ago is actually twice as large as scientists originally thought, according to astronomers who studied the behemoth space rock as it flew past, well beyond the orbit of the moon. [Full Story]
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launches on the Shenzhou 9 mission, China's first manned space docking flight and first flight of a female astronaut, on June 16, 2012 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. [Full Launch Photo Gallery]
NASA's Aqua satellite caught an arresting image of a rainbow-like optical phenomenon called a glory over the Pacific Ocean on June 20. [Full Story]
A recent photo taken of Centaurus A by the European Southern Observatory's ALMA radio telescope in Chile offers a clear view through the dust towards the galaxy's luminous center. [Full Story and Video]
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of the sun during an M6.1 solar flare that peaked early in the morning on July 5. Active region 1515, where the flare originated, has now spit out 12 medium strength, or M-class, flares since July 3. [Full Story]
A gigantic full moon looms over Paris in this spectacular night sky view. [Full Story]
Mysterious red sprites appear when electrical discharges take place about 50 miles (80 kilometers) up in the atmosphere during thunderstorms. The short-lived flashes only last a few milliseconds and can extend vertically 20 to 30 kilometers. Since the crimson apparitions manifest above thunderstorms, observers on the ground usually cannot see them. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, on the other hand, have no such obstructions blocking their view. The red sprite seen here (above the bright lightning spot at right) was captured as the ISS was travelling over Myanmar (Burma) into Malaysia on April 30, 2012. [More Amazing Daily Space Photos]
The dazzling rings of Saturn are taking center stage in amazing new pictures snapped by NASA's Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting the planet. [Full Story]
Shimmering auroras in the night sky are amazing to behold, but nothing prepared NASA astronaut Joe Acaba for seeing the celestial lights dance over Earth from space. [Full Story]
Venus makes its rare transit across a melting sun in this amazing image captured at sunset by a veteran photographer. [Full Story]
None of the billions of people expected to watch the 2012 London Olympics will get a view of London quite like this one, which was captured by the Suomi NPP satellite on the night of March 27, 2012. [Full Story]
After seven cold nights, an exhausted astrophotographer captured this beautiful photo of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. [Full Story]
Studying Saturn's moon, Iapetus, scientists found landslides that traveled as far as fifty miles. These long-ranging debris fields could provide clues to similar occurrences back on Earth. [Full Story]
Soaring thousands of light years from Earth, the Eagle nebula appears in beautiful display in this night sky photo. [Full Story]
NASA’s Curiosity rover snapped its first color photo of the north wall and rim of Gale Crater using its Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. [Full Story]
Veteran astrophotographer Roberto Porto snapped this spectacular view of a Perseid meteor over Mount Tiede National Park in the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa on Aug. 11, 2012 during the peak of the 2012 Perseid meteor shower. The Milky Way and rock arch Zapata de la Reina (Queen's Shoe) are visible. [Full Photo Gallery]
Shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour paused briefly for nose-to-nose photos as they were moved between the Vehicle Assembly Building and orbiter processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center. [Full Story]
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this close-up of the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula. The bright wispy structures signal an environment rich in ionized hydrogen gas. In reality these appear red, but the various and filters and exposures of this image make the gas appear green. These regions contain recently formed stars emitting powerful ultraviolet radiation ionizing the gas around them. [See more images.]
A gigantic plasma loop protrudes from the sun in this magnificent amateur astronomy image. Astrophotographer J. P. Brahic captured this photo from France on July 19, 2012. [Full Story]
Two new videos let viewers relive the Mars rover Curiosity’s daring Red Planet landing on Aug. 5, 2012. [Full Story]
The entire sky as mapped by WISE at infrared wavelengths is shown here, with an artist's concept of the WISE satellite superimposed. Image released August 29, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
The first photos are starting to appear from today's (Aug. 31) blue moon, the last such sight until 2015. [Full Photo Gallery]
NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity is taking its first tentative drives across the Martian surface and leaving tracks that have been spotted all the way from space in a spectacular photo snapped by an orbiting spacecraft. [Full Story]
Skywatchers around the world were wowed by the northern lights show produced by a recent solar storm. [Full Story]
Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, speaks during a memorial service celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong at the Washington National Cathedral, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died Saturday, Aug. 25. He was 82. [Full Photo Gallery]
An apparent impact on Jupiter early Monday (Sept. 10) created a fireball on the planet so large and bright that amateur astronomers on Earth spotted the flash. [Full Story]
Photographer Sam Veta snapped this photo of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour flying over the iconic Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory during its arrival in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2012, to be placed on public display at the California Science Center. [Full Photo Gallery]
The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a gorgeous photo of a faraway spiral galaxy, confirming that it is indeed churning out new stars at a rapid rate. [Full Story]
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the farthest-ever view of the universe, a photo that reveals thousands of galaxies billions of light-years away. [Full Story]
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is enjoying some nice, warm weather on the Red Planet — and spring hasn't even come to its landing site yet. [Full Story]
A layer of Venus’ atmosphere may be cold enough for carbon dioxide snow, scientists say. [Full Story]
An impact basin spotted on Mercury with two smaller craters above it looks remarkably like Sesame Street's Cookie Monster — at least to the eyes of scientists working on NASA's Messenger mission to the planet. [Full Story]
Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is illuminated by a Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off on Oct. 7, 2012 carrying a Dragon capsule to orbit. [Full Photo Gallery]
After flying to an altitude of 128,100 feet (39,045 meters) in a helium-filled balloon over Roswell, New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner begins his record-breaking jump from the edge of space, Oct. 14, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
The California Science Center tweeted this picture of retired shuttle Endeavour rolling east through the streets of Los Angeles early on the morning of October 14, 2012. They wrote: “Thru Arlington, into the sunrise http://ow.ly/i/11pGt“. [Full Photo Gallery]
A stunning new image from space shows superstorm Sandy, now a post-tropical cyclone, still churning over the eastern United States on Tuesday (Oct. 30). [Full Story]
Photographer Josh Knutson saw a rare double green flash during sunset off the California coast. [Full Story]
A jaw-dropping picture of the planet Saturn was recently released by NASA's Cassini probe orbiting the ringed giant. [Full Story]
An oddball eliptical galaxy is hiding an inner spiral, scientists find. [Full Story]
A total solar eclipse was visible from the northern tip of Australia on Nov. 13, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
Supernova remnant W44 glows in space, seen here as the vast purple sphere on the left side of this image. W44 measures about 100 light-years across. This new image combines data from ESA's Herschel and XMM-Newton space observatories. [See more images.]
The sun unleashed a monster eruption of super-hot plasma Friday (Nov. 16) in back-to-back solar storms captured on camera by a NASA spacecraft. [Full Story]
New photos of the baked planet Mercury, the closest world to our sun, have revealed odd formations that look uncannily like cosmic pies, evidence of potential "ghost" craters hidden underground, scientists say. [Full Story]
The moon dipped through only part of Earth's shadow Wednesday (Nov. 28) in a penumbral lunar eclipse. See stargazers' photos of the minor lunar eclipse. [Full Story]
An amazing new photo from NASA's Cassini probe orbiting Saturn has sighted a monster storm raging on the ringed planet's north pole. [Full Story]
NASA released a slew of images showing what Earth looks like from space at night. [Full Story]
The most distant X-ray jet ever observed has been discovered some 12.4 billion light years from Earth, giving astronomers a peek at the life of giant black holes not long after the Big Bang. [Full Story]
Mars Science Laboratory systems engineer Bobak Ferdowsi at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen reacting after the Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars on Aug. 5, 2012 (PDT; Aug. 6 EDT).
A European spacecraft orbiting Mars has snapped wintry-looking pictures of a mountain range on the Red Planet's southern highlands, where ridges and crater floors are dusted with carbon dioxide frost. [Full Story]
The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog has seven candidate planets listed so far, and the pace of discovery is increasing, says its founder. [Full Story]
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to snap a set of 55 high-resolution images on Oct. 31, 2012. Researchers stitched the pictures together to create this full-color self-portrait.
Members of the media photograph the Soyuz rocket as it launches with Expedition 33/34 crew members on Oct. 23, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captured this photo of the X-class solar flare unleashed from the sun, Oct. 22, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]
