C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) 2024-10-23, Clearest Photo Ever Taken Of A Comet!

And congrats to Mercury for being Tumblr's least favorite planet!

This one was expected, I love Mercury but it just looks (and is tbh) a little boring. Still a cool planet, love the craters!!

Hilariously funny that the guy known for wandering off without warning to look at birds was allowed to do this

Science Services’ Science Program series booklet Moon. Nelson Doubleday - 1967.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2025 January 28

Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay

A foreground grass field is shown below a distant field of stars. On the grass field are some trees. Dwarfing the trees, in the sky, is a comet with a long tail.

Image Credit & Copyright: Mauricio Salazar

Explanation: Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a small moon. When nearing the Sun, however, this nucleus can eject dust and gas and leave a thin tail that can spread to an enormous length -- even greater than the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Pictured, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sports a tail of sunlight-reflecting dust and glowing gas that spans several times the apparent size of a full moon, appearing even larger on long duration camera images than to the unaided eye. The featured image shows impressive Comet ATLAS over trees and a grass field in Sierras de Mahoma, San Jose, Uruguay about a week ago. After being prominent in the sunset skies of Earth's southern hemisphere, Comet G3 ATLAS is now fading as it moves away from the Sun, making its impressive tails increasingly hard to see.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)

NASA Official: Amber Straughn

A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,

NASA Science Activation

& Michigan Tech. U.

Like images of broken light, Webb captured these carbon-rich dust shells around a binary star system. Drifting swiftly outwards, they are seeding their surroundings with carbon - one way elements spread across the universe.

go.nasa.gov/4ahBqmX

first ᵏⁱᵗᵗʸ in outer space ♡

The North American Nebulae

NGC 1999

NGC 1999 is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion.

It is notable for its striking appearance, which includes a dark patch that resembles a hole in the surrounding gas and dust.

This dark region is often referred to as the "hole" in NGC 1999, and it is thought to be a result of the absorption of light by the dust in the nebula.

Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll

Visible vs Infrared These are the "Pillars of Creation" seen by Hubble, in visible light (on the left) and in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope, on the right!