Journey of Venus

A composite image - made of photos acquired over 500 days - showing the waxing and waning of Venus, and the changing size of the planet's visible disk, as it orbits the sun one step inward from Earth.

Nishinoshima volcano belches ash and lava

A young volcanic island in the western Pacific Ocean has been going through a vigorous growth spurt since mid-June 2020.

Eclipse? What eclipse?

Even experienced observers say they couldn't discern the Earth's shadow on the moon during the partial penumbral eclipse of July 4-5, 2020.

Dusty sunrises and sunsets over U.S. South

See the layers of dust set against this South Carolina sunset? That dust came from Africa's Sahara Desert. It traveled across the Atlantic Ocean this month to cause dusty skies across the U.S. South and into Texas.

Epic graduation photo, Alberta, Canada

Spectacular mammatus clouds - and a rainbow - provide a backdrop for this beautiful and unusual graduation photo. Congratulations, Cheyann!

Imanda watching the eclipse

Imanda viewed the annular eclipse of June 21, 2020, as it developed over Syokimau, Kenya.

June’s old moon and Venus

Here are 2 beautiful images of the very old moon - a waning crescent seen in the east shortly before sunrise - near the brightest planet, Venus.

Forecast: Dust and sand from the Sahara

Masses of dusty air form over the Sahara Desert and move westward across the tropical North Atlantic frequently from spring to fall. A particularly large swath of dust is headed our way now. Watch for hazy skies in the Caribbean by this weekend, and possibly into the U.S. by next week.

The fire and the fireball

A bright meteor is called a fireball. This one creates a backdrop to clouds of smoke from an actual fire that - as of Saturday - had burned some 9,000 acres and was only 10% contained, according to Inciweb.

Despite the full moon, comet Lemmon!

This faint comet - Comet C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) - is headed toward its perihelion, or closest point to the sun, on June 18. It's currently visible from the Southern Hemisphere, via strong binoculars, with a dark sky.