Space and astronomy news
We can dream, right? … because we’d all love to have a space station on the Moon. But this is as close as we’re going to get for the foreseeable future, anyway. Juan Gonzalez-Alicea of Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe in Puerto Rico captured this great image of the International Space Station crossing in front …
Venus has now gone from being that bright “star” you’ve been seeing around sunset to later this month being the bright object you’ll see in the early morning pre-dawn hours. On January 11, Venus passed between Earth and the Sun in what is known as inferior conjunction. We challenged our readers to try and capture …
Continue reading “Astrophotos: Venus at Inferior Conjunction”
You might find yourself humming Paul Simon’s “Under African Skies” after seeing these stunning images! The World At Night photographer Babak Tafreshi has just returned from a trip to Kenya and has amassed a gorgeous collection of astrophotography showing Mt. Kilimanjaro by night (and some in the day, as well). Below you can see a …
Continue reading “Stunning Astrophotos: Kilimanjaro at Night”
2014 starts out with sunset view of a new Moon and a fading look at Venus, both captured together in this gorgeous image from astrophotographer Giuseppe Petricca. “A wonderful sunset conjunction this evening from Central Italy,” Giuseppe wrote via email. “The Moon and Venus were both crescent, in an awesome sight! Some clouds entered the …
Continue reading “Gorgeous Astrophoto: Twin Crescents of the Moon and Venus at Sunset”
In December, we challenged our readers to try and see Venus during the daytime. Sharin Ahmad from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia started off the new year by nailing this awesome picture of a crescent Venus at just after noon local time today (January 2, 2014). “The usual cloudy Kuala Lumpur sky is teasing me again, giving …
Continue reading “Astrophoto: Crescent Venus in the Afternoon”
A recent naked-eye visible nova that erupted the first week in December 2013 is still showing its stuff, and this new “hot off the press” image from Rolf Wahl Olsen in New Zealand reveals its unusual color. “I managed to grab a close-up of Nova Centauri 2013 with my new 12.5″ f/4 scope,” Rolf said …
Continue reading “Astrophoto: Nova Centauri 2013 Turns Pink”
A closeup of Comet Lovejoy reveals a little known secret! Thanks to astrophotographer Lee Jennings for his holiday handiwork! Best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Universe Today!
It’s always one of the most reliable of the annual meteor showers, however, this year the Geminids had to compete with a bright waxing gibbous Moon, which reached Full Moon status today, just 3 days after the shower’s peak over the weekend. But as always, our astrophotographer friends were out in force to try and …
Continue reading “Astrophotos: Geminid Meteor Shower Images from Around the World”
Sometimes, if you are lucky, dawn comes before the dawn. The zodiacal light – or false dawn, as it is sometimes called – is an ethereal light extending up from the horizon, sometimes seen about an hour before sunrise or an hour after sunset. At one time, it was thought this was an atmospheric phenomenon, …
Our pal Rob Sparks said he had always wanted to try creating a star trails picture and this is his first attempt. Very nice! Of course, he had a great view of the telescopes on Kitt Peak in Arizona as a stunning foreground, (the lights of Tucson are to the right) but had to deal …