The ethereal strides of the Running Man Nebula come into view in this stunning night sky photo. [Full Story]
A NASA spacecraft has captured its first photos of comet ISON, an icy wanderer that some scientists say could dazzle as a "comet of the century" when it swings through the inner solar system later this year. [Full Story]
Where most spiral galaxies have two twisting arms, a neighbor of the Milky Way is a four-armed monster. A new photo snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope, combined with observations by amateur astronomers, reveals these arms in stunning detail. [Full Story]
Eye-popping new images from a telescope in Chile reveal a new look at the Seagull Nebula soaring through a cosmic unicorn in the night sky. [Full Story]
New Zealand stargazer John Drummond captured this image of comet Pan-STARRS on Jan. 23, 2013. The comet may become visible to the naked eye in March 2013. [Full Photo Gallery]
At 2:26 p.m. EST (1926 GMT) on Feb. 15, the asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly within 17,200 miles (27,680 kilo- meters) of Earth. This is lower than the communications satellites that orbit 22,000 miles (35,800 km) above the equator. [Full Story]
The payload faring containing the Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM spacecraft is lifted to the top of Space Launch Complex-3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base where it will be hoisted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V for launch. Image released Jan. 25, 2013. [Full Photo Gallery]
On the night of Feb. 4, 2013, NASA Goddard scientists watched a lighted wind-weighting balloon launch to measure the winds and see if conditions were acceptable for a sounding rocket launch in Poker Flats, Alaska. [Full Photo Gallery]
Sky watcher Brian Drourr sent in his composite image of star trails and an auroral display seen over northern Vermont. He says he captured the aurora and 200+ stacked images of the star trails "this past summer" at Sand Bar State Park in northern VT. [See More Images]
Astrophotographer Daniel McVey sent in a photo of stars and planet Jupiter over White River National Forest in Summit County, Colorado. L to R: Canis Major, the Orion constellation, Aldebaran (in the constellation of Taurus), planet Jupiter and The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters). Photo released Feb. 5, 2013. [See More Images]
NGC 411, seen here, looks like a globular cluster, but appearances may deceive the viewer. Astronomers classify NGC 411 as an open cluster. Stars in open clusters drift apart over time, whereas globular clusters have remained intact over 10 billion years. NGC 411, a relative newcomer, has not been around even a tenth of this age. [See More Images]
