Wow! Look at this. The Very Large Telescope in Chile captured this image of a baby planet, WISPIT 2b, located about 430 light-years away. The image shows the young planet shaping its star’s protoplanetary disk, the flattened disk of gas and dust around the star. As WISPIT 2b forms, it clears a path in the disk. In other words, you’re seeing planet formation in action! Image via ESO.Originally published by ESO on August 26, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Here’s how it all began, with the moon poised above Jupiter, Venus and Mercury in a line (the plane of the solar system). The moon moved past these planets over several mornings over the past week. Roberto Burkle shared this image he captured from Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on August 19, 2025. The bright stars Castor and Pollux, in the constellation Gemini, are nearby. So is the star Procyon, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. Thank you,...| EarthSky
EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd will be sharing photos of the planets, and some meteors, and talking about them on our regular livestream on Tuesday, August 12. The video drops at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC). Watch in the player above, or on YouTube. Enjoy these images! And thank to all who submitted photos! We wish we could post them all here! See lots more images on our community page.| EarthSky
On July 23, 2025, NASA and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics unveiled these stunning new images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The new Chandra images include distant galaxies and star factories. Image via X-ray: NASA/ CXC/ SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Infrared: NSF/ NOAO/ KPNO; Image Processing: NASA/ CXC/ SAO/ L. Frattare/ J. Major/ J. Schmidt/ N. Wolk/ K. Arcand.New Chandra images!| EarthSky
This is Biomass’ view of a forest in Bolivia. Colors represent distinct characteristics of the landscape. In this case, green denotes rainforest, red shows forested floodplains and wetlands, purple is grasslands, while black represents rivers and lakes. See more images from the Biomass mission below. Image via ESA.| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Amy Moberly encountered this storm cloud in Reva, South Dakota, on June 20, 2025. Amy wrote: “Captured this striking supercell in rural South Dakota. Magnificent!” Thank you, Amy. These distinctive looking clouds have earned the nickname mothership.Mothership over South Dakota| EarthSky
Astronomers spotted a ‘new star’ – or a nova – in the southern constellation Lupus the Wolf on June 12. It was below the limit for viewing with the unaided eye when first spotted. Now it has brightened! It’s been visible (barely) to the eye for some days, and an easy target for binoculars. What makes a nova? EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd and veteran stargazer Bob King have details. Watch in the player above or on YouTube.| EarthSky
View larger. | This is the Sculptor galaxy, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. It’s one of the nearest massive star-forming galaxies to our Milky Way galaxy. ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile captured this image with its Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument. This is the most detailed 1,000-color image of a galaxy yet. Image via ESO/ E. Congiu et al.1,000-color image of the Sculptor galaxy| EarthSky
On special dates throughout 2025, Saturn’s large moon Titan has been casting its shadow on Saturn’s cloudtops. Some in the EarthSky community have captured these remarkable events, which happen only about every 15 years. EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd – and our friend Bob King, aka AstroBob – explain and show pictures. Watch in the player above or here.| EarthSky
View larger. | Astronaut Don Pettit captured this stunning image from the International Space Station on January 29, 2025. That’s Earth on the right and our Milky Way galaxy in the distance. Image via NASA/ Don Pettit.Milky Way and Earth| EarthSky
The Hughes fire ignited northwest of Los Angeles yesterday morning, January 22, and has spread across more than 10,000 acres. Image via Cal Fire.A new wildfire has erupted in Los Angeles County, just weeks after the region suffered the most destructive fires in its history. The Hughes fire ignited about 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Los Angeles yesterday morning, January 22, and quickly spread over more than 10,000 acres. By yesterday evening, more than 50,000 people were under evacuation ord...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Newport, Oregon, captured this view of the Orion Nebula on October 2, 2024. The Orion Nebula is a region of star birth visible to the unaided eye just below the 3 stars of Orion’s Belt. Outstanding work. Thank you, Jeremy! See more deep-sky photos from October below.Stunning deep-sky photos from our community| EarthSky
Spend Christmas with Comet A3 thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project. Watch live as the comet departs our neighborhood. Image via Virtual Telescope Project.The 2025 EarthSky Lunar Calendar is now available! A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar. Get yours today!| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Mattituck, New York, captured the Shark Nebula in Cepheus on September 2, 2024. Steven wrote: “The brighter portion of the shark (though still very faint) is Lynds’ Bright Nebula and the dark head (or eye) of the shark is Lynds’ Dark Nebula. The 2 blue-white areas are reflection nebulae. They’re about 1,000 light-years distant. Also in the image (but not remotely close) are several galaxies around 100 million light-years away.”...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Catherine Hyde in Shandon, California, captured IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, on August 3, 2024. Catherine wrote: “This is the Heart Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. I took images from 9:30 at night until almost 5:00 in the morning.” An outstanding image. Thank you, Catherine! See more deep-sky photos from August below.Stunning deep-sky photos from our community| EarthSky
View larger. | The European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft captured this new image of Mars on July 13, 2024. Andrea Luck processed it. The dark object hovering above Mars (center top of this image) is its larger moon, Phobos. The dark orange protrusion near the limb (edge) – in about the 4 o’clock position – is our solar system’s largest volcano, Olympus Mons. Plus, look closely at the Martian limb (edge) itself in this new Mars image. You can see wisps of Mars’ thin atmos...| EarthSky
What an amazing week it’s been! The beloved Perseid meteor shower peaked on the mornings of August 12 and 13, 2024. At the same time, Earth was hit by a coronal mass ejection from the sun, causing geomagnetic storming up to G4 (severe) levels … providing magnificent displays of auroras! Thanks to all who contributed to EarthSky community photos!| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ernest Jacobs in Eden, New York, captured the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae in the constellation Sagittarius on July 8, 2024. Ernest wrote: “We are looking directly into the heart of the Milky Way. The Lagoon is visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky locations. You can find it about 5 degrees above the spot of the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius.” Thank you, Ernest! See more deep-sky photos from July below.Stunning deep-sky photos from our community| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Gene Hettel from Norwalk, Ohio, took this photo of the moon and Jupiter on daylight on July 31, 2024. Thank you, Gene!The last week of July has been a busy place in the eastern, predawn sky! The waning moon has been passing near planets, stars and star clusters in the morning sky. Jupiter is by far the brightest object you will see there, after the moon. The photos have been pouring in to EarthSky Community Photos. Here are some favorites.| EarthSky
View larger. | Meet the Penguin and the Egg, 2 galaxies locked in a gravitational embrace. The Penguin is a spiral galaxy undergoing distortion due to its close interactions with the elliptical Egg galaxy. Arp 142 is another name for this galactic duo. Image via Webb/ NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI.The Penguin and the Egg| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Makrem Larnaout in Tunis, Tunisia, captured the Crescent Nebula in the constellation Cygnus on June 6, 2024. Makrem wrote: “The image shows the gas clouds in red thanks to the hydrogen-alpha filter, highlighting the complex structure of the nebula. At center, you can admire the Crescent Nebula, formed by the powerful stellar winds of a dying Wolf-Rayet star. I am thrilled to share this interstellar journey with you!” Outstanding image. Thank you, Makre...| EarthSky
