8 Beautiful GIFs Of Space

Now you can pretend you’re flying through these nebulae and star clusters.

Anna North 2 months ago 213 responses

Solar Flare Bursts Into Fiery Rain Over The Sun Captured On Video

That globe of hot plasma could swallow the Earth whole. No big deal.

Donna Dickens 2 months ago 2 responses

The Real Reason Asteroids Exist

Courtesy of Neil deGrasse Tyson. We have to get off this rock, or we will die.

Donna Dickens 3 months ago 30 responses

Stunning Photo Reveals Saturn Is A Glittery Gem

That is one fine looking gas giant. Using filters for the infrared, red, and violet spectrums, the mosaic was taken from a mere 500,000 miles away.

Donna Dickens 5 months ago 55 responses

This Is The Largest, Most Detailed Photo Of The Galaxy, Ever

It’s a great big universe, and we’re all really puny. VISTA put together this staggering nine gigapixel photo with 84 million stars and counting.

Donna Dickens 6 months ago 95 responses

14 Of The Year’s Most Amazing Space Photos

Whoa. The Royal Observatory has released its annual astronomy photography awards. Here are some of the amazing honorees.

Jessica Testa 8 months ago 112 responses

The Future Of Earth Put Into Perspective

To paraphrase Stephen Hawking, “We have to get off this rock, or we will die.” We’ve got approximately 3.5 billion years left so let’s speed this along.

Donna Dickens 9 months ago 54 responses

10 Lovely Photos From The Perseid Meteor Shower

Just because it happens every August doesn’t mean it gets old. We’ve been admiring the debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet for over 2000 years.

Donna Dickens 9 months ago 81 responses

A Convincing Argument To Ditch The Word "Planet"

Pluto is not the first celestial body to get recategorized. CGP Grey show us how the definition of “planet” has always been pretty sketchy.

Donna Dickens 11 months ago 5 responses

Japan And Russia Reveal Plan To Build Permanent Moon Bases on tecca.com ›

Is the space race heating back up? The United States still has to choose between building a moon base and sending astronauts to asteroid.

Tecca a year ago respond

Star Trek’s Enterprise Ship Could Be Built Soon on tecca.com ›

And it’d only take one trillion dollars. Whether you’re a Trekkie or not, you have to admit that there’s some sense of wonder to exploring the stars and trying to find life on distant planets.

Tecca a year ago respond

Leap Year Explained

Hey, who put an extra day in my February? Silly universe, why don’t you adhere to the mathematics of man?

Donna Dickens a year ago 77 responses

A Red Aurora Australis In Australia

Unlike the green and blue auroras, these are very rare. There were two of them on the south coast of Australia on January 16 and 22.

BurnRed a year ago 62 responses

The Earth-Sized Tornado Moving Across The Sun At 300,000 Miles Per Hour

And you thought “Twister” was bad! Last week, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captured these stunning images of magnetically captured plasma moving like a tornado across the sun’s surface. But even more stunning than this video of the solar tornado are its statistics: it’s estimated to be about as large as Earth itself, with wind gusts approaching 300,000 mph and a temperature of 15,000 degrees fahrenheit. Uh… wow.

Matt Cherette a year ago 105 responses

These Are Not Planets

Can you guess of what these photos are? I couldn’t. Check them out and then see below for the answer.

Matt Cherette a year ago 91 responses

What’s With Saturn’s Hexagonal Jetstream? on gammasquad.uproxx.com ›

It’s like the planet is crying out for us to STOP with all the “Put A Ring On It” jokes. Or it just hate physics.

GammaSquad a year ago respond

A Happy Thought

Following the shortest day of the year, at 12:03am this morning the Sun was at its greatest distance from the celestial equator marking the solstice and the beginning of winter. Although the days are short, there is good news!

sly a year ago 26 responses

Meet The New Possibly Earthlike Planet: Kepler-22b on theatlanticwire.com ›

Now we just have to figure out how to get there and subjugate the natives. It’s several times larger than Earth and 600 light years away, but it is also said to be 72 degrees.

theatlanticwire.com a year ago respond

Topographic Map Of The Moon on neatorama.com ›

The moon confirmed to not be made of cheese. The most detailed moon map yet has been constructed from images by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

Neatorama a year ago 2 responses

Dancing Cloud Phenomenon

This is some X-Files stuff, this is. Scientists are uncertain the exact cause, but the leading hypothesis is that ice-crystals in the Earth’s atmosphere and electric discharges from thunderclouds create these strange jumping clouds.

Donna Dickens a year ago 53 responses

The Moon Looks Like A Pancake

Earth’s atmosphere is really slimming this season. Snapped from the International Space Station in 2010, this photo shows the illusion of a “flat moon” as viewed through the thickest part of the atmosphere.

Donna Dickens a year ago 1 response

15 Stunning Photographs Of Space

Herein, some of the best entries, runners-up, and winners in the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Who knew the moon had colors? You can see a full slideshow of the winners here.

Jack Shepherd a year ago 35 responses

What If Planets Orbited Earth?

When Jupiter comes up on the horizon, I’ll admit to feeling claustrophobic. This great visual experiment helps put planetary size into perspective.

Donna Dickens a year ago 98 responses

Breathtaking Time Lapse Of Australian Night Sky

Suddenly all that money I spent on fireworks to scare the neighbor cat seems paltry in comparison. Living in a place where the stars are barely visible, seeing these many at once makes me feel kind of dizzy. Watch Video ›

Donna Dickens a year ago 70 responses

Sexy Sagan

The Tumblr Can’t You Read has created a meme called Sexy Sagan, transforming Carl Sagan quotes into a cosmos of corny astronomical pick up lines. Girl, how about you and I make like Jodie Foster and engage in some Contact? View List ›

Gavon Laessig 2 years ago 82 responses

It’s Right Behind You! on gammasquad.uproxx.com ›

Quick, turn around!

GammaSquad 2 years ago respond

New Solar System Discovered

European astronomers on Tuesday said they had found a distant star orbited by at least five planets in the biggest discovery of so-called exoplanets since the first was logged 15 years ago. The star is similar to our sun and its planetary lineup has an intriguing parallel with own solar system, although no clue has so far been found to suggest it could be a home from home, they said. View Image ›

Digg Top Links 2 years ago respond

Comet Lulin

Check the east/southeast sky tonight around 9 to catch a glimpse of this wee, green comet. It’s a mere 30 million miles from Earth, but you’ll still need binoculars at the very least to see it. Read More ›

Scott Lamb 4 years ago respond