High Resolution Eclipse

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a combination of over 70 images of the 2017 total solar eclipse. What a view of the corona!

The Call of the Journey

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video showing our possible journey through our Solar System.

The Mountain and the Magellans

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a volcanic mountain in Chile flanked by the Milky Way's two Magellanic Clouds (satellite galaxies to our own spiral galaxy).

The Galactic Data Dump

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a photograph representing data on 1.7 billion stars. The ESA's Gaia satellite has been making measurements and has accumulated so much data that it is being released in order to take care of the wider scientific resources of those trained—but also to enable citizen-scientists to work with the data as well.

Coming down the road: an even bigger data dump!

Blizzard

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of a very rarely caught snow event. It's a view from the ESA's Rosetta vehicle of "snow" around Comet 67P, Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Click on the image in the link to see a short loop of the snowfall.

Shrinkage

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a detailed view (courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope, long may it operate!) of Jupiter. What's that blemish on the face? It's the Great Red Spot, a massive storm system that has been observed for 150 years. Alas, of late, the Great Red Spot has faded and shrunk and seems to be going away. As you can see from the image, it is not the only storm that you can see when observing Jupiter (and maybe one of them would grow), but the loss of the GRS would be a sad thing for all of us who have observed it.

One of my most intense times observing as an amateur was a night when the atmosphere on our planet coincided with a observation of Jupiter that included the GRS transiting the face of Jupiter with bonus appearances of both moons and moon shadows across the face. I watched, fascinated, and then wondered why I was so cold and my legs were so stiff. It turned out that I had spent most of a cold January night outside, watching the skies.

Cosmic Strings

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an interactive look at data collected by the Cassini Orbiter during the epic exploration of the mini planetary system that is Saturn. "Mouseover" the image in the link to "play" the rings (!).

More of an Autumn

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day peeks with the infrared end of the spectrum at the Horsehead Nebula (IC 4592) in the constellation of Orion. The normally blue-tinted nebula takes on distinctly "warmer Fall" colors as a result.

Falling Water

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day captures a Lyrid meteor falling through the summer constellations during a snowy late spring night. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a constellation guide.

Throttling Up

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station earlier in the week. The launch was to deliver the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) into space to begin checkout and movement to science operations.

In the Horns of the Bull

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day puts the waxing crescent in the "v" of the Hyades cluster, part of the horns of Taurus. Click on the APOD link for a constellation guide.

Red Bubble

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a detailed look at NGC 7635, The Bubble Nebula. Wisps of red and white against a red-black background. Imagine cruising the interstellar void and chancing upon such a sight!

The Arch and the Trees

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day has the arch of the Milky Way stretched over the dunes of Deadvlei in Namibia. Dessicated trees from a wetter time show themselves between the sand and the stars.

Eye in the Sky

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a Hubble Space Telescope look at Messier 57, The Ring Nebula (found in the constellation of Lyra. Visible even in small telescopes (the view is enhanced with a special filter), along with others such as the Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27), it is a favorite target of mine.

Flyover

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video that takes data from the Juno orbiter and postulates what a flyover of Jupiter's pole would look like in infrared.

Phoenix

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Space Shuttle Endeavour rising from the clouds during it's final ascent in 2011. Dream mighty things, earthers, dream mighty things.

Flying Over Mars

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is the view from 250 kilometers up courtesy of the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Shadows and peaks, seasonal frost and so much to explore.

Face Forward

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows spiral galaxy NGC 3344 in the constellation of Leo Minor. The Hubble Space Telescope provides a deep look from core to arms.

Towards the Center

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows you my early morning view as I walk our (still new) dog, Mr. Jasper. Saturn and Mars are passing through the densest part of the night sky, the region of Sagittarius (with a view towards the galactic center). Also visible is one of the real treasures in a region full of treasures, Messier 22, a globular cluster.

Whether it is with a low-power, rich-field telescope or "just" a pair of binoculars, this region of the sky is worth exploring. A higher power telescope will bring out details of the planets passing through (even a modest scope will bring a view of the rings of Saturn that will take your breathe away), but a low power view can bring you hours of delight.

Lucky Strike

Does today's Astronomy Picture of the Day show us the furthest star ever detected? Thanks to gravitational lensing, the Hubble Space Telescope (still ticking along!) may have spotted a supergiant 100 times further away than any previously detected star.

Note the dates: first image on the right, 2011. Second image on the right, 2016. Astronomers are swimming in data. Perhaps this is another case where "citizen science" as well as AI would be of assistance?

The Dragon Awakes

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows auroral activity in the skies of Norway. You've heard of an aurora named Steve? How about an aurora that is a dragon?

Filaments and Traceries

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a short video from our solar weather satellite: the Solar Dynamics Observatory observes a delicate filament from our home star.

Clean Sweep

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 6960, more popularly known as the Witch's Broom Nebula. This nebula is part of the much larger Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant that provides many nooks and crannies such as this for astronomers to seek out.

Jovian Swirls

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a JunoCam image that has been processed to make it more "artlike". With or without enhancement, the images coming from the Juno orbiter are pretty amazing.

Find the Face

What is it about us that makes us want to humanize cosmic objects? I don't know about you, but today's Astronomy Picture of the Day had a human touch for me. Do you see it?

Classic Spiral

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows NGC 289 in the constellation of Sculptor. Larger than our home galaxy, NGC 289 is nicely placed to show us from the trailing wisps of the arms to the heart of the core.

5,000 Sols and Climbing

Pictured in the current Astronomy Picture of the Day is Intrepid Crater on Mars. This was imaged in 2010 by Mars Rover Opportunity. Originally planned as a 90 day mission, Opportunity recently passed 5,000 (!!!) days of operations on Mars.

Five thousand days into a ninety day mission. What an achievement!

Click on that image in the link. It's worth a long look.

The Seven Dwarves

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Seven Strong Men in the Ural Mountains. However, if you look at what lies beyond, the Seven Strong Men are actually seven very small men compared to the rest of the universe.

Saturn

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us another Cassini Orbiter classic of Saturn.

Bringing the Light

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the Moon. Seemingly literally.