Update from the Edge

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a "enhanced color" image of Pluto, courtesy of the ever-receding New Horizons vehicle (now ready to be targeted to it's next destination).

Collison Course

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Messier 31, the Great Andromeda Nebula. Mark your calendar for that future date when the Milky Way and the Andromeda Nebula collide (or not).

Spilled Ink

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows The Seagull Nebula, NGC 2327, near Sirius in Canis Major. Clouds glowing red thanks to atomic hydrogen, split by a dark river of cosmic ink leading to one bright star.

Embedded Shocks

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the echoes of supernova Puppis A, still blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium thousands of years after the actual event.

Have Spacesuit, Will Travel

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Large Cloud of Magellan, forever hidden (along with many other cosmic gems) from us poor northern sky dwellers. Robert A. Heinlein's Have Spacesuit, Will Travel introduced me to this object (along with getting me hooked on slide rules).

Asterism

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Collinder 399, The Coat Hanger. Is it an accidental pattern in the sky or an actual open cluster? ("Mouseover" the image to get a guide to the pattern.)

Dusting

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Perseid meteors falling over Mount Rainier, streaks caught during a time-lapse exposure.

Saturn and Beyond the Infinite

For more than a decade, the Cassini vehicle has been studying Saturn, the rings of Saturn and the many moons that circle that gas giant. The mission is winding towards a close (and no replacement vehicle is waiting in the wings, which is a shame) but still returning data and stunning views such as today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, this image of Dione, taking during Cassini's last planned flyby of that close-in body.

Fractured Lenses

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows multiple occurrences of a single galaxy that is being "lensed" by the affect of gravity on light emanating from that galaxy (in fact, it is postulated that 11 galaxies are being lensed here!).

Damn Tourists

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is another "selfie" taken by a tourist. Damn tourists.

Dancing at the Edge

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a view from the International Space Station, a snapshot of the stars, cities, the atmosphere and rarely-seen red sprites dancing above a thunderstorm.

Catalog Entry

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows one of astronomer Charles Messier's entries in his list of non-cometary objects. Once known as the "ferret of comets", Messier's comets have all been forgotten but his list of non-comets brings joy to amateurs around the world, especially during the time of the so-called "Messier Marathon".

Swanscape

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings a deep look in the star fields and star-forming regions of Cygnus the Swan.

Potential Sky Show

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day introduces us to Comet C/2013 (Catalina). Will this become our next great naked-eye comet? Stay tuned!

The Faint Fuzzy

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Messier 31, The Great Galaxy of Andromeda, rising over the Alps. Once upon a time I could easily detect M31 from my backyard. Thanks to encroaching light domes from New Brunswick and Princeton, as well as out of control lighting in parking lots and streets, I'm lucky if I see the stars these days.

Crab Canon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings Messier 1, the Crab Nebula, into full glory courtesy of this Hubble Space Telescope image.

Sunward

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us a view from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from the ESA's Rosetta probe. The comet is at it's closest approach to the sun (perihelion) and activity is picking up. What of Philae?

They All Fall Down

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in Texas (shame about those city-generated light domes!) with a sprinkling of comet debris.

The Hustler

Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey and...chess hustling?

Radiant Milky Way

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Perseid meteors falling under a Milky Way-drenched sky of Croatia in 2013.

Flash

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short sequence that caught an unexpected event: while imaging the Milky Way, an amateur astronomer luckily caught an falling meteor which disintegrated in his field of view.

Ring Around the Moon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a halo around the "blue Moon". Ah, the tropical skies of Antarctica!

Saggittarius Core View

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Messier 8, Messier 20 and NGC 6559 in the constellation of Sagittarius. The wonders of the summer night!

Clusters

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a "compact" (think of how much space is depicted here!) group of galaxies, HGC 87.

On the Road to Aelois Mons

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows MSL Curiosity's view on the road to Aeolis Mons.

Family Picture

Remember this picture? How about this picture (from several missions)? Or how about this? Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day might end up having similar impacts upon our collective consciousness.

Double Double

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of a pair of Plutonian images, slightly shifted. Combined (crossing your eyes, perhaps) you can see a stereo view of Pluto.

Echoes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day should be a Pink Floyd album cover.

The Place of Good Fishing

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Virgo (super!) Cluster of Galaxies. This is a excellent place to observe for amateurs using almost any decent telescope. "Mouseover" the image for a guide.

ARC Strike!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a rare proton arc over Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan (my first view of an aurora was in the Upper Peninsula region, but I never have seen anything like this!).

Stopover at Shorty

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Lunar Roving Vehicle carried on Apollo 17 parked at Shorty Crater in the Taurus-Littrow valley of our Moon. This week we're celebrating the anniversary of the first mission to carry the LRV, Apollo 15, which landed in a similarly striking region of the Moon.

Stacked and Stripped

By stacking multiple images (in multiple wavelengths of light) in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, ESO 137-001 (near the constellation of Triangulum Australe) reveals that it is being stripped of gas and dust as it speeds on its way.