M78: Reflecting Blue in a Sea of RedIn the vast Orion Molecular Cloud complex, several bright blue nebulas are particularly apparent. Pictured here in the center are two of the most prominent reflection nebulas – dust clouds lit by the reflecting light of bright embedded stars. The more famous nebula is M78, in the image center, cataloged over…Read More

Orion’s Treasures over Snowy MountainsRising over a frozen valley in the Tatra Mountains, the familiar stars and nebulas of Orion dominate this wide-field nightscape. The featured deep photo was taken in southern Poland’s highest mountain range last month, where dark skies and alpine terrain combined to reveal both Earth’s rugged beauty and the…Read More

NGC 55: A Galaxy of NebulasCan you see nebulas in other galaxies? Yes, some nebulas shine brightly enough — if you know how to look. Clouds of hydrogen and oxygen emit light at very specific colors, and by isolating them, astronomers and astrophotographers can reveal structures that would otherwise be too faint to notice. This deep, 50-hour…Read More

Phobos: Doomed Moon of MarsThis moon is doomed. Mars, the red planet named for the Roman god of war, has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose names are derived from the Greek for Fear and Panic. These Martian moons may well be captured asteroids originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps from even more distant…Read More