Here is the list for all the astronomy pictures from 2022 just in case I forgot to post some, or you missed seeing any of them.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 31: Moon over Makemake
2022 December 30: Mars and the Star Clusters
2022 December 29: Horsehead and Flame
2022 December 28: Messier 88
2022 December 27: A Full Circle Rainbow over Norway
2022 December 26: NGC 6164: Dragon’s Egg Nebula and Halo
2022 December 25: Geminids and the Mittens
2022 December 24: Comet 2022 E3 ZTF
2022 December 23: Cassini Looks Out from Saturn
2022 December 22: NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
2022 December 21: Sun Halo at Sixty-three Degrees North
2022 December 20: Thor’s Helmet
2022 December 19: The Tadpole Nebula in Gas and Dust
2022 December 18: The 25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
2022 December 17: Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph
2022 December 16: The Geminid
2022 December 15: Full Moon, Full Mars
2022 December 14: Lunar Dust and Duct Tape
2022 December 13: An Artful Sky over Lofoten Islands
2022 December 12: An Unusual Globule in IC 1396
2022 December 11: Io in True Color
2022 December 10: America and the Sea of Serenity
2022 December 09: Mars Rises above the Lunar Limb
2022 December 08: Orion and the Ocean of Storms
2022 December 07: NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
2022 December 06: M16: A Star Forming Pillar from Webb
2022 December 05: Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
2022 December 04: Video: Powers of Ten
2022 December 03: Stereo Mars near Opposition
2022 December 02: Merging Galaxy Pair IIZw096
2022 December 01: Artemis 1: Flight Day 13
2022 November 30: The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
2022 November 29: The Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant
2022 November 28: Leonid Meteors Through Orion
2022 November 27: Supernumerary Rainbows over New Jersey
2022 November 26: Saturn at Night
2022 November 25: NGC 6744: Extragalactic Close Up
2022 November 24: Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
2022 November 23: Earthset from Orion
2022 November 22: A Double Star Cluster in Perseus
2022 November 21: The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble
2022 November 20: Airglow Ripples over Tibet
2022 November 19: Artemis 1 Moonshot
2022 November 18: The Protostar within L1527
2022 November 17: Planet Earth from Orion
2022 November 16: In the Arms of NGC 1097
2022 November 15: Wolf’s Cave Nebula
2022 November 14: NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula
2022 November 13: Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert
2022 November 12: Eclipse in the City
2022 November 11: Blood Moon, Ice Giant
2022 November 10: Total Lunar Eclipse
2022 November 09: The Asymmetric Nebula Surrounding Wolf Rayet Star 18
2022 November 08: Galaxies: Wilds Triplet from Hubble
2022 November 07: A Total Lunar Eclipse Over Tajikistan
2022 November 06: Dark Ball in Inverted Starfield
2022 November 05: Lunar Eclipse at the South Pole
2022 November 04: InSight’s Final Selfie
2022 November 03: M33: The Triangulum Galaxy
2022 November 02: A Partial Eclipse of an Active Sun
2022 November 01: NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula
2022 October 31: LDN 43: The Cosmic Bat Nebula
2022 October 30: Night on a Spooky Planet
2022 October 29: LDN 673: Dark Clouds in Aquila
2022 October 28: Seven Years of Halley Dust
2022 October 27: Sunset, Moonset, Taj Mahal
2022 October 26: Cocoon Nebula Wide Field
2022 October 25: Jupiter Rotates as Moons Orbit
2022 October 24: Clouds Around Galaxy Andromeda
2022 October 23: Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Australian Pinnacles
2022 October 22: NGC 1499: The California Nebula
2022 October 21: Andromeda in Southern Skies
2022 October 20: Pillars of Creation
2022 October 19: A Galaxy Beyond Stars, Gas, Dust
2022 October 18: Milky Way Auroral Flower
2022 October 17: X-Ray Rings Around a Gamma Ray Burst
2022 October 16: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
2022 October 15: GRB 221009A
2022 October 14: The Falcon and the Hunter’s Moon
2022 October 13: Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb
2022 October 12: Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
2022 October 11: Stars, Dust, Pillars, and Jets in the Pelican Nebula
2022 October 10: A Double Lunar Analemma over Turkey
2022 October 09: Auroras over Northern Canada
2022 October 08: Two Comets in Southern Skies
2022 October 07: In Ganymede’s Shadow
2022 October 06: NGC 4631: The Whale Galaxy
2022 October 05: Expanding Plume from DARTs Impact
2022 October 04: Star Forming Eagle Nebula without Stars
2022 October 03: Jupiter’s Europa from Spacecraft Juno
2022 October 02: Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002
2022 October 01: Lunation Matrix
2022 September 30: Equinox Sunrise Around the World
2022 September 29: DART Asteroid Impact from Space
2022 September 28: A Furious Sky over Mount Shasta
2022 September 27: DART: Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos
2022 September 26: All the Water on Planet Earth
2022 September 25: The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
2022 September 24: September Sunrise Shadows
2022 September 23: Ringed Ice Giant Neptune
2022 September 22: NGC 7331 Close Up
2022 September 21: The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
2022 September 20: Star Forming Region NGC 3582 without Stars
2022 September 19: Star Trails and Lightning over the Pyrenees
2022 September 18: Analemma over the Callanish Stones
2022 September 17: Perseverance in Jezero Crater s Delta
2022 September 16: The Tarantula Zone
2022 September 15: Harvest Moon over Sicily
2022 September 14: Waves of the Great Lacerta Nebula
2022 September 13: A Long Snaking Filament on the Sun
2022 September 12: Red Sprite Lightning over the Czech Republic
2022 September 11: Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
2022 September 10: Galaxy by the Lake
2022 September 09: Interstellar Voyager
2022 September 08: North America and the Pelican
2022 September 07: Tarantula Stars R136 from Webb
2022 September 06: An Iridescent Pileus Cloud over China
2022 September 05: Carina Cliffs from the Webb Space Telescope
2022 September 04: Sea and Sky Glows over the Oregon Coast
2022 September 03: Sun and Moon and ISS
2022 September 02: M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
2022 September 01: The Tulip and Cygnus X-1
2022 August 31: Siccar Point on Mars
2022 August 30: Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
2022 August 29: The Horsehead Nebula Region without Stars
2022 August 28: Perijove 11: Passing Jupiter
2022 August 27: IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
2022 August 26: Little Planet South Pole
2022 August 25: Tiangong Space Station Transits the Moon
2022 August 24: The Cartwheel Galaxy from Webb
2022 August 23: Meteor and Milky Way over the Mediterranean
2022 August 22: Earth’s Recent Climate Spiral
2022 August 21: The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula
2022 August 20: Stardust and Comet Tails
2022 August 19: Saturn: 1993-2022
2022 August 18: Full Moon Perseids
2022 August 17: Stargate Milky Way
2022 August 16: A Meteor Wind over Tunisia
2022 August 15: The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation
2022 August 14: 4000 Exoplanets
2022 August 13: Herschel Crater on Mimas
2022 August 12: Portrait of the Eagle Nebula
2022 August 11: Perseids and MAGIC
2022 August 10: Dust Clouds of the Pacman Nebula
2022 August 09: Leaving Earth
2022 August 08: The Lagoon Nebula without Stars
2022 August 07: Meteor before Galaxy
2022 August 06: Stereo Phobos
2022 August 05: A Beautiful Trifid
2022 August 04: M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
2022 August 03: Halo of the Cat’s Eye
2022 August 02: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn
2022 August 01: Mountains of Dust in the Carina Nebula
2022 July 31: Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble
2022 July 30: The Eagle Rises
2022 July 29: SOFIA s Southern Lights
2022 July 28: North Celestial Tree
2022 July 27: Crepuscular Moon Rays over Denmark
2022 July 26: Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
2022 July 25: Find the New Moon
2022 July 24: Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
2022 July 23: Apollo 11 Landing Panorama
2022 July 22: Spiral Galaxy M74: A Sharper View
2022 July 21: Messier 10 and Comet
2022 July 20: Jupiter and Ring in Infrared from Webb
2022 July 19: Pleiades over Half Dome
2022 July 18: Stephans Quintet from Webb, Hubble, and Subaru
2022 July 17: Europa and Jupiter from Voyager 1
2022 July 16: Tycho and Clavius at Dawn
2022 July 15: Lubovna Full Moon
2022 July 14: Webb’s Southern Ring Nebula
2022 July 13: Webb’s First Deep Field
2022 July 12: Noctilucent Clouds over Paris
2022 July 11: Andromeda over the Sahara Desert
2022 July 10: In the Center of the Cat’s Eye Nebula
2022 July 09: Saturn and ISS
2022 July 08: Roots on a Rotating Planet
2022 July 07: The NGC 6914 Complex
2022 July 06: Milky Way Motion in 3D from Gaia
2022 July 05: A Molten Galaxy Einstein Ring Galaxy
2022 July 04: Strawberry Supermoon Over Devil’s Saddle
2022 July 03: Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars
2022 July 02: Solargraphic Analemmas
2022 July 01: The Solar System’s Planet Trails
2022 June 30: Comet C 2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)
2022 June 29: Solar System Family Portrait
2022 June 28: Mercury from Passing BepiColombo
2022 June 27: The Gum Nebula over Snowy Mountains
2022 June 26: Light Echoes from V838 Mon
2022 June 25: Planets of the Solar System
2022 June 24: Filaprom on the Western Limb
2022 June 23: Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744
2022 June 22: Supernova Remnant: The Veil Nebula
2022 June 21: Analemma over Taipei
2022 June 20: Rock Fingers on Mars
2022 June 19: Game: Super Planet Crash
2022 June 18: The Gamma Cygni Nebula
2022 June 17: Good Morning Planets from Chile
2022 June 16: Strawberry Supermoon from China
2022 June 15: In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster
2022 June 14: Satellites Behind Pinnacles
2022 June 13: M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy from Hubble
2022 June 12: Find the Man in the Moon
2022 June 11: The Road and the Milky Way
2022 June 10: Arp 286: Trio in Virgo
2022 June 09: Cosmic Clouds in Cygnus
2022 June 08: Ship Tracks over the Pacific Ocean
2022 June 07: NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
2022 June 06: Milky Way Galaxy Doomed: Collision with Andromeda Pending
2022 June 05: Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75
2022 June 04: Tau Herculids from Space
2022 June 03: A 10,000 Kilometer Galactic Bridge
2022 June 02: Lunar Occultation of Venus
2022 June 01: Tau Herculid Meteors over Kitt Peak Telescopes
2022 May 31: Rocket Transits Rippling Sun
2022 May 30: Red Crepuscular Rays from an Eclipse
2022 May 29: Simulation TNG50: A Galaxy Cluster Forms
2022 May 28: RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
2022 May 27: Titan: Moon over Saturn
2022 May 26: NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
2022 May 25: The Lively Center of the Lagoon Nebula
2022 May 24: A Deep Sky Behind an Eclipsed Moon
2022 May 23: The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda
2022 May 22: A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun
2022 May 21: Planetary Nebula Abell 7
2022 May 20: A View from Earth’s Shadow
2022 May 19: A Digital Lunar Eclipse
2022 May 18: A Jewel on the Flower Moon
2022 May 17: NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
2022 May 16: Milky Way over French Alp Hoodoos
2022 May 15: Colors of the Moon
2022 May 14: Ice Halos by Moonlight
2022 May 13: The Milky Way’s Black Hole
2022 May 12: Young Stars of NGC 346
2022 May 11: Gravity’s Grin
2022 May 10: NGC 6334: The Cats Paw Nebula
2022 May 09: A Martian Eclipse: Phobos Crosses the Sun
2022 May 08: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings
2022 May 07: Firefall by Moonlight
2022 May 06: NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles
2022 May 05: NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
2022 May 04: Planets Over Egyptian Pyramid
2022 May 03: Mercury’s Sodium Tail
2022 May 02: Partial Solar Eclipse over Argentina
2022 May 01: First Horizon Scale Image of a Black Hole
2022 April 30: M44: The Beehive Cluster
2022 April 29: Portrait of NGC 3628
2022 April 28: Lyrid of the Lake
2022 April 27: Moon Shadow on Jupiter
2022 April 26: Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House
2022 April 25: The Great Nebula in Carina
2022 April 24: Split the Universe
2022 April 23: Messier 104
2022 April 22: Planet Earth at Twilight
2022 April 21: Apollo 16 Moon Panorama
2022 April 20: Planet Line over New York Bridge
2022 April 19: Stars and Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula
2022 April 18: Stars and Planets over Portugal
2022 April 17: Shuttle Over Earth
2022 April 16: Orion Pines
2022 April 15: The Gator Back Rocks of Mars
2022 April 14: Messier 96
2022 April 13: Milky Way over Devils Tower
2022 April 12: N11: Star Clouds of the LMC
2022 April 11: A Space Station Crosses a Busy Sun
2022 April 10: Shadows at the Moons South Pole
2022 April 09: Mars-Saturn Conjunction
2022 April 08: Hale-Bopp: The Great Comet of 1997
2022 April 07: Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
2022 April 06: Earendel: A Star in the Early Universe
2022 April 05: Seven Sisters versus California
2022 April 04: A Vortex Aurora over Iceland
2022 April 03: CMB Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe
2022 April 02: Nova Scotia Northern Lights
2022 April 01: Leaning Tower, Active Sun
2022 March 31: Exploring the Antennae
2022 March 30: Animation: Odd Radio Circles
2022 March 29: Venus and Mars: Passing in the Night
2022 March 28: Gems of a Maldivean Night
2022 March 27: Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight
2022 March 26: Pluto at Night
2022 March 25: The Medusa Nebula
2022 March 24: Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries
2022 March 23: The Bubble Nebula from Hubble
2022 March 22: A Whale of an Aurora over Swedish Forest
2022 March 21: The Sky in 2021
2022 March 20: A Picturesque Equinox Sunset
2022 March 19: 2MASS J17554042 6551277
2022 March 18: A Filament in Monoceros
2022 March 17: Centaurus A
2022 March 16: The Observable Universe
2022 March 15: A Road to the Stars
2022 March 14: Star Formation in the Eagle Nebula
2022 March 13: Colorful Airglow Bands Surround Milky Way
2022 March 12: Point Reyes Milky Way
2022 March 11: When Rainbows Smile
2022 March 10: Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
2022 March 09: A Flower Shaped Rock on Mars
2022 March 08: Moon in Inverted Colors
2022 March 07: A Lion in Orion
2022 March 06: Venus and the Triply Ultraviolet Sun
2022 March 05: Interstellar Comet 2I Borisov
2022 March 04: The Multiwavelength Crab
2022 March 03: Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
2022 March 02: Record Prominence Imaged by Solar Orbiter
2022 March 01: Dueling Bands in the Night
2022 February 28: Direct Projection: The Moon in My Hands
2022 February 27: Earthrise 1: Historic Image Remastered
2022 February 26: Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945
2022 February 25: Perseverance Sol 354
2022 February 24: Beautiful Albireo AB
2022 February 23: Orion over Green Bank
2022 February 22: Illustration: An Early Quasar
2022 February 21: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217
2022 February 20: Aurora Over White Dome Geyser
2022 February 19: Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
2022 February 18: Three Clusters in Puppis
2022 February 17: Chamaeleon I Molecular Cloud
2022 February 16: Eiffel Tower Prominence on the Sun
2022 February 15: Terminator Moon
2022 February 14: In the Heart of the Heart Nebula
2022 February 13: Earth at Night
2022 February 12: Aurora by Moonlight
2022 February 11: IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
2022 February 10: T Tauri and Hind’s Variable Nebula
2022 February 09: Eta Car: 3D Model of the Most Dangerous Star Known
2022 February 08: Aurora and Light Pillars over Norway
2022 February 07: NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
2022 February 06: Blue Marble Earth
2022 February 05: Symbiotic R Aquarii
2022 February 04: Moons at Twilight
2022 February 03: Embraced by Sunlight
2022 February 02: The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT
2022 February 01: Moon Phases 2022
2022 January 31: Carina Nebula North
2022 January 30: A Solar Prominence from SOHO
2022 January 29: The Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
2022 January 28: Western Moon, Eastern Sea
2022 January 27: South of Orion
2022 January 26: Stars, Dust, and Gas Near Antares
2022 January 25: Video: Comet Leonard over One Hour
2022 January 24: Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula
2022 January 23: Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows
2022 January 22: The Full Moon and the Dancer
2022 January 21: Young Star Jet MHO 2147
2022 January 20: NGC 7822 in Cepheus
2022 January 19: M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
2022 January 18: From Orion to the Southern Cross
2022 January 17: Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
2022 January 16: A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset
2022 January 15: Galileo’s Europa
2022 January 14: NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Spiral Galaxy
2022 January 13: Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
2022 January 12: Comet Leonard Closeup from Australia
2022 January 11: Orions Belt Region in Gas and Dust
2022 January 10: Comet Leonards Tail Wag
2022 January 09: Hubbles Jupiter and the Shrinking Great Red Spot
2022 January 08: Quadrantids of the North
2022 January 07: Ecstatic Solar Eclipse
2022 January 06: The Last Days of Venus as the Evening Star
2022 January 05: A Year of Sunrises
2022 January 04: Moons Beyond Rings at Saturn
2022 January 03: Comet Leonards Long Tail
2022 January 02: Quadruple Lunar Halo Over Winter Road
2022 January 01: The Full Moon of 2021

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Click on the hyper link for each day you would like to see.

2022 December 25: Geminids and the Mittens
2022 December 24: Comet 2022 E3 ZTF
2022 December 23: Cassini Looks Out from Saturn
2022 December 22: NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
2022 December 21: Sun Halo at Sixty-three Degrees North
2022 December 20: Thor’s Helmet
2022 December 19: The Tadpole Nebula in Gas and Dust

(Today starts the weekly pictures for the Astronomy Picture of the Day. We will continue posting this weekly. Just click on the hyperlink next to the date for the pictures you want to see.)

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 18: The 25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
2022 December 17: Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph
2022 December 16: The Geminid
2022 December 15: Full Moon, Full Mars
2022 December 14: Lunar Dust and Duct Tape
2022 December 13: An Artful Sky over Lofoten Islands

Starting next Sunday, DCEMBER 25 the Astronomy Picture of the Day is only going to be posted every Sunday for the entire last week of Pictures.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 12

An Unusual Globule in IC 1396

Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

Explanation: Is there a monster in IC 1396? Known to some as the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, parts of gas and dust clouds of this star formation region may appear to take on foreboding forms, some nearly human. The only real monster here, however, is a bright young star too far from Earth to hurt us. Energetic light from this star is eating away the dust of the dark cometary globule near the top of the featured image. Jets and winds of particles emitted from this star are also pushing away ambient gas and dust. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a much larger region on the sky than shown here, with an apparent width of more than 10 full moons.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 10

America and the Sea of Serenity

Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Patrick Vantuyne

Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo view of another world. Fifty years ago the scene was recorded by Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan on December 11, 1972, one orbit before descending to land on the Moon. The stereo anaglyph was assembled from two photographs (AS17-147-22465, AS17-147-22466) captured from his vantage point on board the Lunar Module Challenger as he and Dr. Harrison Schmitt flew over Apollo 17’s landing site in the Taurus-Littrow Valley. The broad, sunlit face of the mountain dubbed South Massif rises near the center of the frame, above the dark floor of Taurus-Littrow to its left. Piloted by Ron Evans, the Command Module America is visible in orbit in the foreground against the South Massif’s peak. Beyond the mountains, toward the lunar limb, lies the Moon’s Mare Serenitatis.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 9

Mars Rises above the Lunar Limb

Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

Explanation: On the night of December 7 Mars wandered near the Full Moon. In fact the Red Planet was occulted, passing behind the Moon, when viewed from locations across Europe and North America. About an hour after disappearing behind the lunar disk Mars reappears in this stack of sharp video frames captured from San Diego, planet Earth. With the Moon in the foreground Mars was a mere 82 million kilometers distant, near its own opposition. Full Moon and full Mars were bright enough provide the spectacular image with no exposure adjustments necessary. In the image Mars appears to rise just over ancient, dark-floored, lunar crater Abel very close to the southeastern edge of the Moon’s near side. Humboldt is the large impact crater to its north (left).

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 8

Orion and the Ocean of Storms

Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

Explanation: A camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view on December 5 as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Below one of Orion’s extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon’s lava-flooded maria. The lunar terminator, shadow line between lunar night and day, runs along the left of the frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge, just right of the solar array wing. Kepler’s bright rays extend to the north and west, reaching the dark-floored Marius. Of course the Orion spacecraft is now headed toward a December 11 splashdown in planet Earth’s water-flooded Pacific Ocean.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 7

NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright: Tommaso Stella

Explanation: A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, toward the constellation Aquarius, a sun-like star is dying. The dying star’s last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary Nebula, typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. Combining narrow band image data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in blue-green hues, it shows tantalizing details of the Helix, including its bright inner region about 3 light-years across. The white dot at the Helix’s center is this Planetary Nebula’s hot, central star. A simple looking nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 6

M16: A Star Forming Pillar from Webb

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan Özsaraç

Explanation: What’s happening inside this interstellar mountain? Stars are forming. The mountain is actually a column of gas and dust in the picturesque Eagle Nebula (M16). A pillar like this is so low in density that you could easily fly though it — it only appears solid because of its high dust content and great depth. The glowing areas are lit internally by newly formed stars. These areas shine in red and infrared light because blue light is scattered away by intervening interstellar dust. The featured image was captured recently in near-infrared light in unprecedented detail by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched late last year. Energetic light, abrasive winds, and final supernovas from these young stars will slowly destroy this stellar birth column over the next 100,000 years.

Astrophysicists: Browse 2,900+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library

You can use these hyperlinks to view each day’s pictures

2022 December 05: Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
2022 December 04: Video: Powers of Ten
2022 December 03: Stereo Mars near Opposition
2022 December 02: Merging Galaxy Pair IIZw096
2022 December 01: Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 December 2

Merging Galaxy Pair IIZw096

Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans

Explanation: Bright at infrared wavelengths, this merging galaxy pair is some 500 million light-years away toward the constellation Delphinus. The cosmic mashup is seen against a background of even more distant galaxies, and occasional spiky foreground stars. But the galaxy merger itself spans about 100,000 light-years in this deep James Webb Space Telescope image. The image data is from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). Their combined, sharp infrared view follows galactic scale restructuring in the dusty merger’s wild jumble of intense star forming regions and distorted spiral arms

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 November 30

The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty

Image Credit & Copyright: Anthony Quintile

Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about four full moons across nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy in the royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region’s massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish emission region Sharpless (Sh) 155 is at the center of the frame, also known as the Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave’s bright walls of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young stars around it. Dusty reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 to the right, and dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound on the interstellar canvas. Astronomical explorations have revealed other dramatic signs of star formation, including the bright reddish fleck of Herbig-Haro (HH) 168. Below and right of center, the Herbig-Haro object emission is generated by energetic jets from a newborn star.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 November 29

The Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant

Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Lima

Explanation: Because the Gum Nebula is the closest supernova remnant, it is actually hard to see. Spanning 40 degrees across the sky, the nebula appears so large and faint that it is easily lost in the din of a bright and complex background. The Gum Nebula is highlighted nicely in red emission toward the right of the featured wide-angle, single-image photograph taken in late May. Also visible in the frame are the Atacama Desert in Chile in the foreground, the Carina Nebula in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy running diagonally down from the upper left, and the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy. The Gum Nebula is so close that we are much nearer the front edge than the back edge, each measuring 450 and 1500 light years respectively. The complicated nebula lies in the direction of the constellations of Puppis and Vela. Oddly, much remains unknown about the Gum Nebula, including the timing and even number of supernova explosions that formed it.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 November 27

Supernumerary Rainbows over New Jersey

Image Credit & Copyright: John Entwistle

Explanation: Yes, but can your rainbow do this? After the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed over the Jersey Shore, New Jersey, USA in 2018, the Sun came out in one direction but something quite unusual appeared in the opposite direction: a hall of rainbows. Over the course of a next half hour, to the delight of the photographer and his daughter, vibrant supernumerary rainbows faded in and out, with at least five captured in this featured single shot. Supernumerary rainbows only form when falling water droplets are all nearly the same size and typically less than a millimeter across. Then, sunlight will not only reflect from inside the raindrops, but interfere, a wave phenomenon similar to ripples on a pond when a stone is thrown in. In fact, supernumerary rainbows can only be explained with waves, and their noted existence in the early 1800s was considered early evidence of light’s wave nature.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)