Orion Nebula and molecular gas clouds

Image of the Orion Nebula, shot on a cold night in Georgia, by Dave Woolsteen.

Largest, closest, highest sun

As seen from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 4, Earth reached its closest point to the sun just 40 minutes before the sun reached its highest daily position in Rio`s sky ...

Bokeh effect in Orion

Notice the colors of Orion's stars in this photo that's slightly out-of-focus. Chirag Upreti wrote: "This is a 'bokeh effect,' and turns out it works really well on celestial bodies!"

Light pillars over Sun Valley, Idaho

Ice crystals in the air create these beautiful, upward shafts of light.

See it! Moon sweeps past Venus and Mars

As 2017 opens, the young moon is sweeping past dazzling Venus in the west after sunset. Mars is there, too, and, for those with optical aid, Neptune! Photos here.

Geese flying along anticrepuscular rays

Elusive anticrepuscular rays converge towards a point on the sky opposite the sun. Karl Diefenderfer caught them as 2016 came to a close, as a flock of geese was passing by.

Top gallery of 2016: Eclipse over Indonesia

Looking forward to 2017's total solar eclipse over North America? Then you'll enjoy these photos of the total solar eclipse over Indonesia in March 2016. They were the most-viewed images at EarthSky over this past year.

A Sirius culmination

Photo by Project Nightflight during a culmination of the sky's brightest star, Sirius, above the volcanos of La Palma in the Canary Islands.

A binocular comet

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova on December 22, 2016.

Venus and a cloud shadow

Another sunset spectacle from Peter Lowenstein's hilltop perch above Mutare, Zimbabwe.

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