Behind Betelgeuse
What’s behind Betelgeuse? One of the brighter and more unusual stars in the sky, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse can be found in the direction of famous constellation Orion. Betelgeuse, however, is actually well in front of many of the...
The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble
What’s happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown, was likely a normal spiral galaxy — spinning, creating stars — and minding its own business. But...
Full Flower Moonrise
Rising as the Sun set, the Moon was bright and full in planet Earth skies on May 7 and known to some as a Flower Moon. Near the horizon it does seem to take on rose pink hues of reddened...
Long Tailed Comet SWAN
Blowing in the solar wind the spectacular ion tail of Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) extends far across this 10 degree wide telephoto field of view. Captured on May 2 its greenish coma was about 6 light-minutes from Earth. The pretty...
LDN 1471: A Windblown Star Cavity
What is the cause of this unusual parabolic structure? This illuminated cavity, known as LDN 1471, was created by a newly forming star, seen as the bright source at the peak of the parabola. This protostar is experiencing a stellar...
Carina in Perspective
You need to be in the south, looking south, to see such a sky. And only then if you’re lucky. Just above the picturesque tree is the impressive Carina Nebula, one of the few nebulas in the sky that is...
Earth Flyby of BepiColombo
What it would look like to approach planet Earth? Such an event was recorded visually in great detail by ESA’s and JAXA’s robotic BepiColombo spacecraft last month as it swung back past Earth on its journey in to the planet...
A Message from Earth
What are these Earthlings trying to tell us? The featured message was broadcast from Earth towards the globular star cluster M13 in 1974. During the dedication of the Arecibo Observatory – still one of the largest single radio telescopes in...
Radio, The Big Ear, and the WOW Signal
Since the early days of radio and television we have been freely broadcasting signals into space. For some time now, we have been listening too. A large radio telescope at Ohio State University known as affectionately The Big Ear was...
A View Toward M106
Big, bright, beautiful spiral, Messier 106 dominates this cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide telescopic field of view looks toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near the handle of the Big Dipper. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 is...