A Grapefruit in Space

A Grapefruit in Space

Credit: David Saint-Jacques/CSA/Twitter

A fresh grapefruit floats in microgravity at the International Space Station in this photo taken by Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. "Enjoying the last few fresh items until the next resupply spacecraft," Saint-Jacques tweeted yesterday from the orbiting laboratory. The next cargo shipment is scheduled to launch in March on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, so he and his Expedition 58 crewmates will have to wait a few weeks before more fresh fruit arrives.

Storms on Jupiter

Storms on Jupiter

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Three big storms churn through Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using data the spacecraft collected during a close flyby of the planet on Dec. 21, 2018.

Future Home of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Future Home of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Credit: P. Horálek/ESO/CTAO

Stars and galaxies twinkle above Chile's Atacama Desert while a satellite flare zips across the night sky in this image by Petr Horálek, a photo ambassador for the European Southern Observatory. The empty landscape below has been selected to be the future site for part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, an international project that will search the cosmos for gamma radiation using an array of 99 telescopes located in both the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere.

The Triangulum Galaxy

The Triangulum Galaxy

Credit: NASA/ESA/M. Durbin/J. Dalcanton/B. F. Williams

Behold: the sharpest view of the Triangulum Galaxy ever! This composite image combines 54 frames captured by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Also known as Messier 33, the Triangulum Galaxy is located about 3 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Triangulum.

Cerro Paranal Panorama

Cerro Paranal Panorama

Credit: Miguel Claro

Taken from Cerro Paranal, a mountain in Chile's Atacama Desert that is home to the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), an almost 360-degree panoramic view shows several interesting objects of the night sky. The Milky Way's galactic arm is setting behind the horizon while the zodiacal light — sunlight reflected off interstellar dust — lights up the sky behind the Antu telescope, one of the four units that comprise the VLT. Read the full story!

Lego LUVOIR

Lego LUVOIR

Credit: Space.com

A Lego model of NASA's Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR), a proposed mission that could one day succeed the James Webb Space Telescope, appeared at the 233rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). LUVOIR is one of four big astrophysics missions that NASA is thinking about launching in the mid-2030s. Read the full story!

A Lunar Landscape

A Lunar Landscape

Credit: CASC/China Ministry of Defense

China made history earlier this month with the first successful soft landing on the far side of the moon — and now, the mission has sent back an incredible panorama view of its work site. This view of its surroundings in Von Karman crater shows its rover Yutu-2 nearby. The China National Space Agency unveiled the image on Jan. 10, 2019. Read the full story!

SpaceX Lifts Off

SpaceX Lifts Off

Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the final 10 Iridium Next communications satellites for a new constellation launches from Space Launch Complex 4E of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 11, 2019. Read the full story here!

The Cow

The Cow

Credit: R. Margutti/W.M. Keck Observatory

Astronomers may have just witnessed the first few moments of a black hole's existence. A weirdly bright and brief blast dubbed "The Cow," which researchers discovered using a pair of survey telescopes in Hawaii, was likely generated by a newborn black hole or superdense stellar corpse called a neutron star, a new study reports. Read the full story here!

Mini Rover on Display

Mini Rover on Display

Credit: VCG/VCG via Getty

China became the first nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon when its Chang'e-4 mission touched down at the Von Kármán Crater on Jan. 2, 2019. The China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) has given the Maisto Tech toy company exclusive rights to create toy versions of the Chang’e-4 mission components, including the Yutu-2 lunar rover, that can move around and light up. Read the full story!