Month: November 2015
A Sudden Jet on Comet 67P
There she blows! A dramatic demonstration of how short-lived some comet jets can be was documented in late July by the robotic Rosetta spacecraft orbiting the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The featured animation depicts changes in the rotating comet with...
A Blazing Fireball between the Orion Nebula and Rigel
What’s happening to that meteor? A few days ago, a bright fireball was photographed from the Alps mountain range in Switzerland as it blazed across the sky. The fireball, likely from the Taurids meteor shower, was notable not only for...
Leonids Over Monument Valley
There was a shower over Monument Valley — but not water. Meteors. Next Leonids meteor shower The featured image — actually a composite of six exposures of about 30 seconds each — was taken in 2001, a year when there...
Wright Mons on Pluto
Long shadows are cast by a low Sun across this rugged looking terrain. Captured by New Horizons, the scene is found just south of the southern tip Sputnik Planum, the informally named smooth, bright heart region of Pluto. Centered is...
The Tadpoles of IC 410
This telescopic close-up shows off the otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410. It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond of gas and dust below and right of center, the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground...
Great Nebula in Orion M42
Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the most famous nebulas in the sky. The star forming region’s glowing gas clouds and hot young stars are on the right in this sharp and colorful...
Enceldus — Saturn’s Icy moon
A few days ago images returned from the NASA spacecraft Cassini. Cassini came within 50 km of the moons service to return this wonderful photo, but it’s not finished just yet. In another month (and a bit) it will run...