image of the day

Latest about image of the day

A series of golden lines converging to one point in a starry night in the center of the image

Lasers target the Tarantula Nebula with 'artificial stars' | Space photo of the day for Nov. 19, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Very Large Telescope's interferometer targeted four lasers toward the Tarantula Nebula to create an artificial star.

Astronomy
The focus of the image is a portion of LDN 1641, an interstellar nebula in the constellation of Orion. In this view, a deep-black background is sprinkled with a multitude of dots (stars) of different sizes and shades of bright white. Across the sea of stars, a web of fuzzy tendrils and ribbons in varying shades of orange and brown rises from the bottom of the image towards the top-right like thin coils of smoke.

Euclid space telescope sees gorgeous cosmic cloud | Space photo of the day for Nov. 18, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This image shows Euclid's capability to explore both our cosmic neighborhood and the deep universe beyond.

Astronomy
A bright orange and pink and purple map showing various temperatures corresponding to various colors over an image of Hurricane Melissa with Cuba and Florida labeled

Satellite captures destructive power of Hurricane Melissa | Space photo of the day for Nov. 17, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The image shows the difference in temperature between the top of a hurricane and the bottom.

Earth
A grayscale map of the US and Canada showing lights where auroras occurred, with a giant light ribbon at the top over Canada.

NOAA satellite sees glowing auroras from orbit | Space photo of the day for Nov. 14, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

A powerful geomagnetic storm created a series of brilliant auroras recently for observers across North America.

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Stargazing
A large white rocket blasts off a launch pad with a tail of fire and smoke behind it

Europe's Ariane 6 rocket blasts off | Space photo of the day for Nov. 13, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The launch helped strengthen Europe's ambitions in climate monitoring, disaster response and maritime security.

Launches & Spacecraft
A series of white streaks move in a circular fashion in a green night sky all over the lit up dome of an observatory at the bottom right of the image.

Star and satellite streaks in a green night sky | Space photo of the day for Nov. 12, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The dome of the Gemini North telescope can be seen on top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, with shimmering star trails and satellite streaks arcing overhead.

Astronomy
A white streak of a comet's tail can be seen in the center of the image as it streaks diagonally from top right to lower left between the dark silhouette of rocks blocking part of the starry night sky

Comet Lemmon lights up the sky over Spain | Space photo of the day for Nov. 11, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This image captures Comet Lemmon in dramatic fashion, its bright coma and faint tail arcing across the starfield.

Comets
An image from space showing a gray plume of smoke drifting over brown and snowy mountains

Volcano belches ash over Chile | Space photo of the day for Nov. 10, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission captured a plume of ash over the Planchón-Peteroa volcanic complex.

Earth
A rocket blazes up into a night time sky with glowing orange clouds of smoke illuminated by the tail of the rocket in the night

SpaceX's fiery Falcon 9 comes in for a landing | Space photo of the day for Nov. 7, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Bandwagon-4 rideshare mission, which launched on Nov. 2, sent 18 payloads to orbit and, like most SpaceX launches, featured a rocket landing.

Launches & Spacecraft
A glowing yellow moon is seen in a deep blue night sky with a red ridge of rock in front

The moon looks set to roll down a ridge | Space photo of the day for Nov. 6, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

In Cerro Pachón, a full moon lights up the desert night sky and shows its many features.

The moon
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