Image of the Day Archives
For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.
Perfect Timing
Tuesday, November 1, 2016: Astrophotographer Brian Ottum was outside testing out his telescope and camera equipment to prepare for next summer's total solar eclipse when he spotted an airplane heading straight for the moon. With no time to switch his camera settings to turn off the two-second delay timer, Ottum said he "estimated the plane’s speed, held [his] breath and pressed the shutter." — Hanneke Weitering
Saturn Viewed From Above
Wednesday, November 2, 2016: Saturn shows off its strange six-sided polar vortex, distinct ring system and a deceptively smooth surface in this newly released photo taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter on July 16. Serene as it may look, Saturn is actually an extremely windy and occasionally stormy place. — Hanneke Weitering
James Webb Space Telescope Is Complete
Thursday, November 3, 2016: NASA unveiled its newly completed James Webb Space Telescope yesterday after more than 20 years of construction. The telescope is the largest ever built, with its shiny, golden mirror assembly spanning 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter. Webb will be launched into orbit in 2018, when it will replace the aging Hubble Telescope and capture new images of the cosmos. — Hanneke Weitering
Colles Nili on Mars
Friday, November 4, 2016: This beautifully detailed photo shows the Colles Nili region on Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter took the photo with its High Resolution Stereo Camera on May 4, 2016. Colles Nili is a long strip of elevated mounds that forms a geological boundary between the northern lowlands and southern highlands on Mars. — Hanneke Weitering
Hubble Surveys the Toucan
Monday, November 7, 2016: The Hubble Space Telescope spied this star cluster, named NGC 299, in the southern constellation of Toucana (The Toucan), about 200,000 light-years away. It also lies within the Small Magellanic cloud, a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. The telescope created this image with its Advanced Camera for Surveys. — Hanneke Weitering
Saturn's Spectacular Rings
Tuesday, November 8, 2016: NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this incredible close-up of Saturn's rings from a distance of about 283,000 miles (456,000 kilometers) on Sept. 24, 2016. The image reveals small, detailed ringlets that disappear when viewed from afar. — Hanneke Weitering
A Taurid Meteor
Wednesday, November 9, 2016: Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this photo of a Taurid meteor over Assateague Island National Seashore along the eastern shore of Maryland around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5th. The Taurid meteor shower will be visible through late November. — Hanneke Weitering
Recovering Orion
Thursday, November 10, 2016: U.S. Navy divers test out recovery procedures for NASA's Orion crew module in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 30. The capsule is designed to carry humans into lunar orbit and to an asteroid in the 2020s, and it will splash into the ocean upon returning to Earth. — Hanneke Weitering
50 Years Since Gemini 12
Friday, November 11, 2016: Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Gemini 12. On this day in 1966, NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell blasted off atop a Titan II rocket to go demonstrate that astronauts could work outside of a spacecraft in orbit. It was the tenth and last manned mission of the Project Gemini. — Hanneke Weitering
A Hungry Galaxy
Monday, November 14, 2016: Meet NGC 1222, a "lenticular," or lens-shaped galaxy that is currently in the process of gobbling up two nearby dwarf galaxies. The newly acquired gas and dust in NGC 1222 has caused a wave of new star births that's lighting up the galaxy. This photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3. — Hanneke Weitering
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
