Free Falling

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Astronaut Bruce McCandless II testing the Manned Maneuvering Unit during a mission of Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. The closest we came to a Robert McCall orbital work site?

Dream Mighty Things

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a color anaglyph of the Apollo 17 Lunar Module and Lunar Roving Vehicle in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon. Yes, once we visited other worlds.

Reds and Blues

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Messier 78 in the constellation of Orion. Embedded within are hot young stars, clusters of matter that may become stars and even a separate variable nebula. A nice place for even modest "amateur" instruments to explore this time of the year.

Star Stuff

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows recycling on the cosmic scale.

Horsehead Closeup

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a closeup look at the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation of Orion. This is one of the hardest backyard objects for me, requiring both dark and clear skies plus a special filter in order to help highlight the object.

Grand Spiral

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a detailed look at NGC 1232 in the constellation of Antlia.

Green Flash

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a spectacular green-tinted Geminid over the Arctic skies of Russia. Beware the Cometeers!

Beautiful Plumage

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the wonderful plume left by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from the USAF's Vandenberg launch site in California.

The Children of Phaethon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Earth-crossing asteroid Phaethon and the traces of two Geminid meteors. It's generally thought that the Geminids are debris from and about that asteroid.

High Radiant

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a time lapse showing the Geminids. Notice how they all seem to come from a central point (the radiant)? In this case, the radiant is centered about the constellation of Gemini, giving the shower it's name. Where do "showers" come from? Asteroids and comets that cross the orbit of the Earth.

Superimposition

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the solstice Sun against the background of the winter Milky Way.

Microcleansing

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing how one washes one's hair in microgravity. Personal hygiene is complicated in that environment (and leads to wider issues from plumbing to supplies to recycling). Something mundane can have wide-ranging implications for an extended mission (long term stays on the Moon or a journey to Mars).

Polar Spiral

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a view generated from images provided by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (still going!) and ESA's Mars Express. "Dry ice" (frozen carbon dioxide) and "water ice" (what you are more

Earthlike is not Earth

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows (hypothetical) images of the Kepler-90 planetary system compared to (actual) images of our system. How "earthlike" are any of the bodies in the Kepler-90 system? Could any support life?

Far Einstein

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows gravitational lensing (an "Einstein Cross") spotted in a spiral galaxy.

Cold Shower

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings another image of the Geminid meteor shower. The Canadian Rockies are the scene where four infalling Geminids were captured in rapid succession.

By Gemini!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a winter falling of Geminids over MUSER, a radio telescope located in Inner Mongolia, China.

Space Skimmer

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video taken from the JunoCam and other instruments on the Juno spacecraft currently surveying Jupiter. What a view!

Falling Falling

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a meteor storm over the skies of Mongolia. Up and down mix as the falling stars are reflected back from a lake surface.

The Milky Way's Attic

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows some of the sights you can see on clear nights this winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Close Approach to the Iron World

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video made up of images from the Mercury MESSENGER vehicle. What would a flyover of the iron planet be like?

Put It on the Bucket List

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows auroral activity over Norway. Zounds!

Subtle Mixes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows dusty nebula covering eight degrees of the sky. Protostars, molecules of all sorts and sheer beauty all in one.

Perigee Moon

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the December "super moon" over the Alpine Mountains.

2017 Shadows

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us lunar and solar eclipses of the year. There was more than that "Great American"!

Active Pillar

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Herbig-Haro 666, a young (and energetic star) surrounded by dust pillar.

Earth and Sky

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us a halo around the Moon and Saturn in the Sky. Below Saturn? Oh, just a volcano.

New Sun

How to approach Gene Wolfe's (possibly) best-known work, The Book of the New Sun? Matt Keeley has some suggestions. How to approach Gene Wolfe? (Time to roll out this classic by Neil Gaiman.)

(And take a look at these other entries on Tor Dot Com by Matthew Keeley and Theresa DeLucci.)

Lunar Cycle

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video taken by the Galileo vehicle on one of its gravity-assist passages past Earth on the way to Jupiter. The video shows the Moon's journey around our Earth.

On the Rise

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video that shows the full Moon rising over New Zealand at Mount Victoria.

Stereo Messier

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a stereo image of the Messier craters as imaged by Apollo 11. Get out your classic red/blue glasses to make the image "pop"!

Fish and Continent

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day covers two emission nebula: The North American Nebula (NGC 7000) and The Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). The collected regions of gas and dust cover over 150 light years (6 degrees) of the sky.