Sunrise stripes on Hospital Hill, Zimbabwe

A rare combination of light and shade over a hillside in Mutare.

International Space Station over Tenerife

Plus a tajinaste rojo, a strange and very large plant endemic to the island of Tenerife.

Best Mars photos, May 2016

These past weeks have been a fabulous time to view Mars, which swept closest to Earth on May 30. Best photos from the EarthSky community!

Supernova erupts in M66

M66 is a galaxy 36 million light-years away in the direction to our constellation Leo. A star exploded there 36 million years ago ... and came into view in Earth's sky this weekend.

Saturn’s south polar vortex

A monstrous vortex sits at Saturn's south pole. It's not just beautiful. It also lets astronomers peer deep into Saturn's dense atmosphere.

Cloud-free Africa

The European Space Agency used 7,000 satellite images - acquired from late 2015 through early 2016 - to make this mosaic of Africa.

Spacecraft spies Saturn, Mars, Earth

Maybe you've seen Saturn and Mars close together in the sky recently? NASA's Stereo-A probe caught Saturn and Mars … with Earth in between.

Sunrays seen from Chile

Crepuscular rays, sometimes called sunrays, above the famous volcano Licancabur on the border between Chile and Bolivia.

Hubble spies a comet’s rotating jet

In March, Comet 252P/LINEAR passed exceedingly near the Earth. These images show the closest celestial object Hubble has observed, other than Earth's moon.

Mars oppositions 2010 – 2022

Here's why 2016 is an awesome year for Mars, and why 2018 will be even better.