Alessandra Cailotto took this photo of flowers peeking through the snow in northern Italy on May 7. She wrote, “Spring vs winter: 1-0.”

The spacecraft for NASA’s next Mars mission – Mars 2020 – is really beginning to take shape now. Here’s the complete cruise stage, suspended in a cleanroom at JPL. It’ll power and guide the spacecraft on its 7-month voyage to Mars.

Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, caught this photo of a waxing moon, setting, with what’s called a Golden Handle (the curved feature at top right, jutting up along the line between light and dark on the moon).

The International Space Station passing over Rome’s city lights on April 30, 2019.

When dense rain showers are falling into a rainbow, you might see one or more dark spokes centered on the point exactly opposite the sun. These are called rainbow spokes, or rainbow wheels.

Eta Aquariid meteors and the Milky Way over Mount Bromo.

Developing storm in the sky over Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

This volcanic crater in Nevada – called Lunar Crater – was used to train Apollo astronauts in 1972.

Liz Dunster caught a photo of an airplane glory during a flight over North Carolina. Karthik Easvur caught a glory over India and provided a video!

Casual observers rarely see a moon within 24 hours of new moon. But observers who have the right conditions, and are watching carefully – and those using telescopes or binoculars – can see much younger moons.

Photographer Lynton Brown captured this magnificent storm cloud over Horsham, Australia, in the late afternoon of May 1.

The moon is sweeping past the planets Venus and Mercury in the morning sky now.

Maureen Allen captured the Milky Way and Jupiter over Lake Rousseau in Dunnellon, Florida, early in the morning of April 28, 2019.

The Milky Way is coming back into view for another observing season. Australia has a wonderful vantage point for it!

Uluru – also known as Ayers Rock – in Northern Territory, Australia, on April 19, 2019.

The moon passed Jupiter (and Saturn) this week.

Who saw Lyrid meteors this week? Chuck Mason captured this image on April 20. He said, “Lucky enough to have caught a Lyrid Meteor over the Dallas Divide, Ridgway, Colorado.”

Yosemite Valley in California is home to most of the park’s famous waterfalls. This photographer caught the valley at dusk.