Triple-Star System HD 188553This artist's animation shows the view from a hypothetical moon in orbit around the first known planet to reside in a tight-knit triple-star system. The gas giant planet, discovered using the Keck I telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii, zips around a single star that is orbited by a nearby pair of pir…
Thunderstorms seen from International Space StationA picturesque line of thunderstorms and numerous circular cloud patterns filled the view as the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 20 crew members looked out at the limb (blue line on the horizon) of the Earth. The region shown in the astronaut photograph (top image) includes an unstable, …
The Search for Another EarthThis artist’s impression shows the planet orbiting the Sun-like star HD 85512 in the southern constellation of Vela (The Sail). This planet is about 3.6 times as massive as the Earth and lies at the edge of the habitable zone around the star, where liquid water, and perhaps even life, could potentia…
Tornado under a Supercell in ColoradoSimla, Colorado, USAJune 4, 2015Image Credit & Copyright: Weather Studios…
Eta Carinae and the Keyhole NebulaEta Carinae and the Keyhole Nebula, part of the larger Carina Nebula, imaged with the ESO 3.6-metre telescope on La Silla.Image Credit: ESO…
The International Space Station seen from Space Shuttle DiscoveryThe International Space Station seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as it left the Space Station 11 June 2008. The 13-day STS-124 mission brought the Japanese Kibo laboaratory to the Space Station.Space Shuttle Discovery, Orbit of the EarthJune 11, 2008Image Credit: NASA…
Artist’s impression of bright exozodiacal lightBy using the full power of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer an international team of astronomers has discovered exozodiacal light close to the habitable zones around nine nearby stars. This light is starlight reflected from dust created as the result of collisions between asteroids, and the e…
Lenticular Galaxy PGC 10922The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this image of PGC 10922, an example of a lenticular galaxy — a galaxy type that lies on the border between ellipticals and spirals.Seen face-on, the image shows the disc and tightly-wound spiral structures of dark dust encircling the bright centre of …
Artist’s impression of the exoplanet seen from its moonThe diversity of exoplanets is large — more than 3500 planets outside the Solar System have been found to date, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed. Detection methods in this field are steadily and quickly increasing — meaning that many more exoplanets will undoubtedly be discovered in the m…
Supercell and Lightning over KansasLeoti, Kansas, USAMay 21, 2016Image Credit & Copyright: Max Conrad…
Supernova Remnant SN 1987AThree decades ago, a massive stellar explosion sent shockwaves not only through space but also through the astronomical community. SN 1987A was the closest observed supernova to Earth since the invention of the telescope and has become by far the best studied of all time, revolutionising our underst…
Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1fTRAPPIST-1f (also known as 2MASS J23062928-0502285 f) is an exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone around the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 40 light-years (12.1 parsecs) away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. The exoplanet was found by using the transit method, in w…
Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1eTRAPPIST-1e (also known as 2MASS J23062928-0502285 e) is an exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone around the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 approximately 40 light-years (12.1 parsecs) away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. The exoplanet was found by using the transi…
Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1dTRAPPIST-1d (also known as 2MASS J23062928-0502285 d) is an exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within or slightly outside the habitable zone around the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 approximately 40 light-years (12.1 parsecs) away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. The exoplanet was found…
Comparing the TRAPPIST-1 planetsA size comparison of the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system, lined up in order of increasing distance from their host star. The planetary surfaces are portrayed with an artist’s impression of their potential surface features, including water, ice, and atmospheres.Image Credit: NASA/R. Hurt/T. Pyle…
Comparison between the Sun and the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1This image shows the Sun and the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 to scale. The faint star has only 11% of the diameter of the Sun and is much redder in colour.Image Credit: ESO…
TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System: 3 Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single StarNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.The discovery sets a new reco…
TRAPPIST-1 Planetary SystemThis artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultra cool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. They are at the right distances from their star for liquid w…
Artist’s impression of the surface of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1fThis artist's concept allows us to imagine what it would be like to stand on the surface of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f, located in the TRAPPIST-1 system in the constellation Aquarius.Because this planet is thought to be tidally locked to its star, meaning the same face of the planet is always pointed…
Artist’s impression of view from planet in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary systemThis artist’s impression shows the view just above the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. They are at the right distances from their star for liq…
Artist’s impression of view from distant planet in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary systemThis artist’s impression shows the view just above the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. They are at the right distances from their star for liq…
Artist’s impression of view from one of the middle planets in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary systemThis artist’s impression shows the view just above the surface of one of the middle planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, with the glare of the host star illuminating the rocky surface. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same siz…
Earth and HTV-6 spacecraft seen from International Space StationThe Japanese HTV-6 cargo craft is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 after it was detached from the Harmony module of the International Space Station. Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA were at the controls of the robotic arm before com…
Exoplanet Kepler-452bThis artist's concept depicts one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-size world to be found in the habitable zone of star that is similar to our sun. The habitable zone is a region around a star where temperatures are right for water -- an essential ingredient for li…
Aurora over AlaskaThis image of a colorful aurora was taken in Delta Junction, Alaska in 2015. All auroras are created by energetic electrons, which rain down from Earth’s magnetic bubble and interact with particles in the upper atmosphere to create glowing lights that stretch across the sky.Delta Junction, Alaska, U…
Saturn's moon DioneWhen viewed from a distance with the sun directly behind Cassini, the larger, brighter craters really stand out on moons like Dione.Among these larger craters, some leave bright ray patterns across the moon, calling attention to their existence and to the violence of their creation.The rayed crater …
Hot-Lava World: Exoplanet 55 Cancri eThis illustration shows one possible scenario for the hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancri e, which is nearly two times as wide as Earth. New data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that the planet has extreme temperature swings from one side to the other – and a possible reason for this migh…
Fallstreak Hole Cloud over VictoriaVictoria, AustraliaNovember 3, 2014Image Credit & Copyright: David Barton…
Aurora seen from the International Space StationThe Expedition 32 crew onboard the International Space Station, flying an altitude of approximately 240 miles, recorded a series of images of Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, on July 15. NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, flight engineer, recorded the series of images from the Tranquility…
Spiral Galaxy ESO 121-6This thin, glittering streak of stars is the spiral galaxy ESO 121-6, which lies in the southern constellation of Pictor (The Painter's Easel). Viewed almost exactly side-on, the intricate structure of the swirling arms is hidden, but the full length of the galaxy can be seen — including the intense…
MarsAbout 1000 Viking Orbiter red- and violet-filter images have been processed to provide global color coverage of Mars at a scale of 1 km/pixel. Individual image frames acquired during a single spacecraft revolution were first processed through radiometric calibration, cosmetic cleanup, geometric cont…
Search for Exoplanets: Archean EarthWhen haze built up in the atmosphere of Archean Earth, the young planet might have looked like this artist's interpretation - a pale orange dot. A team led by Goddard scientists thinks the haze was self-limiting, cooling the surface by about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Kelvins) – not enough to cause r…
Supercell, Mammatus Clouds and Lightning over NebraskaBroken Bow, Nebraska, USAMay 26, 2013Image Credit & Copyright: Weather Studios…
Earth and Cygnus spacecraft seen from International Space StationThe first Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp. is photographed by an Expedition 37 crew member on the International Space Station during rendezvous and docking operations. The two spacecraft converged at 7:01 a.m. EDT on September 29, 2013.ISS, Orbit of the EarthSeptemb…
Hubble eXtreme Deep FieldLike photographers assembling a portfolio of their best shots, astronomers have assembled a new, improved portrait of our deepest-ever view of the Universe. Called the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photo was assembled by combining ten years of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations taken of …
