Restored: First Image of the Earth from the MoonCredit:NASA/LOIRPExplanation:Pictured above is the first image ever taken of the Earth from the Moon. The image was taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1 and heralded by then-journalists as the Image of the Century. It was taken about two years before the Apollo 8 crew snapped its more famous color cousin. Recently, modern technology has allowed the recov...

Anticrepuscular Rays Over ColoradoCredit & Copyright:John BrittonExplanation:What's happening over the horizon? Although the scene may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than a setting Sun and some well placed clouds. Pictured above are anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing common crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours though ...

Fomalhaut bCredit: NASA, ESA, P. Kalas, J. Graham, E. Chiang, E. Kite (Univ. California, Berkeley),M. Clampin (NASA/Goddard), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore NL),K. Stapelfeldt, J. Krist (NASA/JPL)Explanation:Fomalhaut (sounds like "foam-a-lot") is a bright, young, star, a short 25 light-years from planet Earth in the direction of the constellation Piscis Austrinus. In this sharp composite from ...

Phoenix and the Holy CowImage Credit:Marco Di Lorenzo, Kenneth Kremer,Phoenix Mission, NASA, JPL, UA, Max Planck Inst., SpaceflightExplanation:The northern Martian summer is waning. As predicted, a decline in daylight hours, deteriorating weather, and dust storms are preventing solar arrays on the Phoenix Mars Lander from providing power. Phoenix's last signal was received on November 2, its succe...

Our Galaxy's Central Molecular ZoneCredit:A. Ginsburg (U. Colorado - Boulder) et al., BGPS Team, GLIMPSE II TeamExplanation:The central region of our Milky Way Galaxy is a mysterious and complex place. Pictured here in radio and infrared light, the galaxy's central square degree is highlighted in fine detail. The region is known as the Central Molecular Zone. While much of the extended emission is...

On the Trail of 2008 TC3Credit:Mohamed Elhassan Abdelatif Mahir (Noub NGO), Dr. Muawia H. Shaddad (Univ. Khartoum),Dr. Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute/NASA Ames)Explanation:On October 7, the early dawn over northern Sudan revealed this twisted, high altitude trail. Captured in a video frame, the long-lasting persistent train is from the impact of a small asteroid cataloged as 2008 TC3. That event...

A Sharper View of a Hazy GiantCredit:ESO, F.Marchis, M.Wong (UC Berkeley, SETI); E.Marchetti, P.Amico, S.Tordo (ESO)Explanation:This dramatic image of Jupiter is touted as the sharpest picture of the entire gas giant ever taken from the ground. The picture was made using a prototype instrument known as MAD (Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator) mounted on one of the European Southern Obser...

The Double Ring Galaxies of Arp 147 from HubbleCredit:M Livio et al. (STScI), ESA, NASAExplanation:How could a galaxy become shaped like a ring? Even more strange: how could two? The rim of the blue galaxy pictured on the right shows an immense ring-like structure 30,000 light years in diameter composed of newly formed, extremely bright, massive stars. This blue galaxy is part of the interacting g...

Spicules: Jets on the SunCredit:SST, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, LMSALExplanation:Imagine a pipe as wide as a state and as long as half the Earth. Now imagine that this pipe is filled with hot gas moving 50,000 kilometers per hour. Further imagine that this pipe is not made of metal but a transparent magnetic field. You are envisioning just one of thousands of young spicules on the active S...

A Witch by StarlightCredit & Copyright:Star Shadows Remote Observatory(Steve Mazlin, Jack Harvey, Rick Gilbert, Teri Smoot, Daniel Verschatse)Explanation:By starlight this eerie visage shines in the dark, a crooked profile evoking its popular name, the Witch Head Nebula. In fact, this entrancing telescopic portrait gives the impression the witch has fixed her gaze on Orion's bright supergiant star...

Mirach's GhostCredit & Copyright:Anthony Ayiomamitis (TWAN)Explanation:As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that scary. In fact, Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly along the line-of-sight to Mirach, a bright star. Centered in this star field, Mirach is also called Beta Andromedae. About 200 light-years distant, Mirach...

Beneath the South Pole of SaturnCredit:Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASAExplanation:What clouds lurk beneath Saturn's unusual South Pole? To help find out, the robotic Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn imaged the nether region of the gigantic ringed orb in infrared light. There thick clouds appear dark as they mask much of the infrared light emitted from warmer regions below, wh...

NGC 602 and BeyondCredit:NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA) - ESA/Hubble CollaborationExplanation:Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region. Fantastic ridges and swept ...

Great Orion NebulaeCredit & Copyright:Tony HallasExplanation:The Great Nebula in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the most famous nebulae in the sky. The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot young stars are on the right in this sharp and colorful two frame mosaic that includes the smaller nebula M43 near center and dusty, bluish reflection nebulae NGC 1977 and friends on the left. L...

A Dark Pulsar in CTA 1Credit:NASA, S. Pineault (DRAO)Explanation:Where's the pulsar? Previously, the nebula CTA 1 showed an expanding supernova remnant, a jet, and a point source expected to be a pulsar -- a rotating neutron star producing pulses at radio energies. But no radio pulses were detected. Now NASA's recently deployed Fermi Space Telescope has solved the mystery with some of its initial ...

In the Center of the Lagoon NebulaCredit:A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA), NASAExplanation:The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible on the upper left, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. The tremendously bright nearby star, Hershel 36, lights the a...

An Extraordinary VoyageCredit:Jesse Carpenter, Bill Moede, Peter Jenniskens (NASA Ames Research Center)Explanation:Nineteenth century science fiction author Jules Verne wrote visionary works about Extraordinary Voyages including tales of space flight and the story of a journey From the Earth to the Moon. Fittingly, the European Space Agency's newly developed Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a rob...

Camera OrionCredit & Copyright:John GauvreauExplanation:Orion, the Hunter, is one of the most easily recognizable constellations in planet Earth's night sky. But Orion's stars and nebulas don't look quite as colorful to the eye as they do in this lovely camera image, taken early last month at the Black Forest Star Party from Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania, USA. In this single exposure, ...

Cassini Passes Through Ice Plumes of EnceladusCredit:Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASAExplanation:What telling impurities taint the ice plumes of Enceladus? To help answer this question, the robotic Cassini spacecraft dove last week to within 30 kilometers of Saturn's ice-plume emitting moon. At this closest-ever approach, Cassini attempted to sniff and obtain chemical data on particles ej...

Bright BolideCredit & Copyright:Howard Edin (Oklahoma City Astronomy Club)Explanation:On September 30, a spectacular bolide or fireball meteor surprised a group of amateur astronomers enjoying dark night skies over the Oklahoma panhandle's Black Mesa State Park in the Midwestern US. Flashing past familiar constellations Taurus (top) and Orion, the extremely bright meteor was captured by a hillside...

Massive Stars in NGC 6357Credit & Copyright:Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory)Explanation:Massive stars lie within NGC 6357, an expansive emission nebula complex some 8,000 light-years away in the tail of the constellation Scorpius. In fact, positioned just below center in this close-up view of NGC 6357, star cluster Pismis 24 includes some of the most massive stars known in the galaxy, stars...

Dust Mountains in the Carina NebulaCredit:NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA);Acknowledgement:N. Smith et al. (JHU)Explanation:Bright young stars sometimes sculpt picturesque dust mountains soon after being born. Created quite by accident, the energetic light and winds from these massive newborn stars burn away accumulations of dark dust and cool gas in a slow but persistent manner. Such is th...

Earth at NightCredit:C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/NGDC, DMSP Digital ArchiveExplanation:This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, ...

Young Suns of NGC 7129Credit & Copyright:Bob and Janice Fera (Fera Photography)Explanation:Young suns still liewithin dusty NGC 7129, some 3,000 light-years away toward the royal constellation Cepheus. While these stars are at a relatively tender age, only about a million years old, it is likely that our own Sun formed in a similar stellar nursery some five billion years ago. Most noticeable in th...

The First Rocket Launch from Cape CanaveralCredit:GRIN, NASAExplanation:A new chapter in space flight began on 1950 July with the launch of the first rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida: the Bumper V-2. Shown above, the Bumper V-2 was an ambitious two-stage rocket program that topped a V-2 missile base with a WAC Corporal rocket. The upper stage was able to reach then-record altitudes of almost 40...