Twilight

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day gathers two inner-system evening stars (Mercury and Venus) in the sky with our own Moon.

A Gathering of Galaxies

I'm not sure if a cluster of galaxies is known as a Grouping, but today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 247 and other galaxies that can be seen in the same field of view.

Neigh

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 2023, dusy molecular clouds in the constellation of Orion. It's often overlooked due to the proximity of one of amateur astronomy's elusive targets, the Horsehead (off camera in this case).

There's a Bathroom on the Right

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the "blue moon" (folks, it's really not that rare or spectacular...or particularly blue!) rising near a lonely tree.

Nice Background, Mars

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day has Mars transiting a particularly dull part of the sky.

Gear

Saddle bag of mouse traps. 55 gallon drum of wrestling-grade chocolate pudding. Mount Palomar Observatory spare lens.

Fragment

Around the skull-hive they hover, carrying nectar from dream flowers; nectar, to smear on the sleeper's tongue, to place in her eyes.

Cluster (No Eno)

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us galaxies clustering in Coma Berenices (which, along with the Leo Cluster, makes up the Coma Supercluster—it's galaxies all the way down). How many stars? How many planets? How many other forms of life in this small field?

Boom Today

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day focuses in on Nova Carinae 2018, a newly discovered "rapidly expanding" star. How bright will it become? Keep watching!

The RuneQuest Revival

It's coming! I can't wait!

But wait, there's more! You can now adventure on Glorantha using the 13th Age system as well!

And the HeroQuest Glorantha is growing as well!

Layers

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day focuses in on NGC 602, a star cluster near the Small Magellanic Cloud. What a view! Cluster, nebula and oh so many further galaxies!

Cosmic Jellies

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Sharpless 249 and the named Jellyfish Nebula. What other nautical wonders reside in the sky?

Spiral Dust

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a wonderful shot of NGC 253, a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Sculptor. Discovered by Caroline Herschel (and you should really look up her life!), NGC 253 contains a high concentration of dust and displays an "frantic" amount of star formation. Try hunting it up with your backyard telescope!

Deep Look

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a good demonstration of the strength of the camera vs. the strength of the eye. It's a familiar sight in the sky: Orion the Hunter. But, by allowing the camera time to gather light, we see beyond the eye and tease out some astounding detail. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide.

New York Does It Better

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Chicagohenge, the time when the city (the Earth) aligns so that it has the Sun "rise" (or "set") along the streets. Happy Equinox!

Sky Disk

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Nebra Sky Disk, a Bronze Age artifact that seems to depict the sky, including the Pleiades. "It's origin and purpose remain a mystery."

Two-Face

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing a full lunar rotation. The Moon keeps the same "face" to us due to the rate of rotation, so getting a view of the whole body requires the help of a spacecraft such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The First Messier

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the first entry in the famous catalog of Charles Messier, popularly known as the Crab Nebula.

Maybe If You Squint?

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of several separately catalogued nebula that, when combined, resemble a seagull and a duck. Can you see it? Maybe if I squint some more?

Cataloging the Galactic Zoo

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day focuses on humanity's need to make lists. Astronomers have long worked at cataloging the sky and here we see the initial efforts of Charles Messier (who was actually listing things that were not comets) to the New General Catalog and Index Catalog (J.L.E. Dreyer) and beyond.

What's Up?

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a handy chart showing sky events over the next few months. Get out and look up!

Mirrorverse

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes us around the plane of the Milky Way by combining images from the northern and southern hemispheres.

Flyover

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video from the International Space Station. Sunrise, sunset.

Interstellar War!

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is, alas, not sign of interstellar conflict. Herbig-Haro 24 in the Orion B molecular cloud complex displays opposing jets of gas from a newborn star in the nebula.

Lunar Rhythms

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us a full set of moon phases, with a bonus eclipse thrown in for good measure.

Horsehead Closeup

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) in the constellation of Orion.

Cyclones

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us one of the latest images from the Juno Orbiter—polar cyclones at Jupiter!

Arcs, Jets and Shocks

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a detailed look inside nebular complex NGC 1999. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide.

Glow

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a deep Milky Way band surrounded by glowing bands of sky. Amazing!

Deep Look

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the famous Hubble Deep Field. "Mouseover" the image in the link for not only an enlarged view but a musical accompaniment.

Layers

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows layers and layers across the sky: from furthest (Venus, then the Moon) to nearest (clouds and then birds).

Grooves and Rilles

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day was taken during the journey of Apollo 8 and shows features within craters in Mare Fecunditatis.

Whirling

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows densely-packed star trails over the skies of the Alborz Mountains.

Lunar Treasure

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a good example of why the "mundane" Moon is such a fascinating subject of observation by amateur astronomers. As the Moon waxes and wanes throughout the month, shadows grow and shrink, features change in appearance. Along the terminator, one can seek the peaks of mountains burst into light ahead of the line of dawn, or linger in light past the line of dusk.