SUNSET: 
A Galactic Striptease
Astronomers have caught the spiral galaxy C153 performing an involuntary striptease act as it plunges through the heart of a massive galaxy cluster.
Dissecting a Microquasar
Astronomers are still trying to identify what powers a mysterious star system in Aquila.
Astro Image in the News:
A Taste of Things To Come
Spirit has taken the highest-resolution picture of Mars ever.
Moon Occults Mars
During the predawn hours of Thursday, July 17th, the waning gibbous Moon will cover Mars for skywatchers in southeastern Florida, the Caribbean, and parts of Central and South America.
Old Galaxies in the Young Universe
A survey of galaxies has found that not all star systems in the early universe were small.
Plotting Spirit's Course
NASA scientists are gathering vital information about Spirit's, surroundings before taking the Mars rover out for its first drive.
A Christmas Comet
Comet Kudo-Fujikawa is seen here in this CCD image taken on December 15, 2002 from Las Cruces, NM, about a day after its discovery.Courtesy Bert and Janet Stevens. Early on the morning of December 14, 2002, Japanese amateur Tetuo Kudo was searching the skies with his giant 20 x 120…
Astro News Briefs: December 15–21
Quadrantid meteor source found and new ways to teach astronomy.
A Naked-Eye Spot Returns
The immense sunspot group that on November 4th ejected the largest solar flare ever recorded has rotated around the Sun and is back for a second pass across the Earth-facing side of the solar disk.
More Solar Blasts
Two large sunspot groups, currently disappearing around the western limb of the Sun, spawned another round of powerful flares. The result could be one more fine display of the aurora.
Auroras Light Up the Sky
Many skywatchers who kept an aurora vigil during the morning hours of October 29, 2003, were richly rewarded by a spectacular display.
Solar Flare Spawns More Aurora
For the second time in two nights, an explosion on the Sun triggered a widespread display of the northern lights, this time during the evening of October 30, 2003.
2003: A Year of Triumph and Tragedy
The past 12 months brought with it a roller coaster of emotions in astronomy and space exploration.
Listening for Beagle 2's Call Home
Europe's Mars Express orbits the red planet, but the lander Beagle 2 remains silent.
Seeing the Universe Again for the First Time
Images coming from the newly named Spitzer Space Telescope are already wowing astronomers and the public alike.
A Frozen Eclipse
Though few people were fortunate enough to be in Antarctica to see it, the November 23rd total solar eclipse has been heralded as superb.
Astro Image in the News:
Marsbound
Beagle 2 successfully separates from Mars Express.
Spitzer's Future Legacies
This space art shows the Spitzer Space Telescope superimposed upon a 100-micron infrared sky.Courtesy NASA/JPL/Caltech. The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF) is unique in how NASA allocating its observing time. Each member of the Spitzer science team has a limited amount of "guaranteed" observing time — roughly 20 percent of…
The Asteroid and the Pea
Astronomers have directly detected a minute force that is slowly altering asteroid orbits.