California nebula & Pleiades

How do violent stars affect their surroundings?

This festively colored skyscape was captured in the early morning hours of December 17, following Comet Wirtanen's closest approach to planet Earth. The comet was just visible to the eye.

There's even a California in space. Drifting through the Orion Arm of the spiral Milky Way Galaxy, this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline of California on the west coast of the United States.

Not the Hubble Space Telescope's latest view of a distant planetary nebula, this illuminated cloud of gas and dust dazzled even casual U.S. west coast skygazers on October 7.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch dazzled viewers along the U.S. west coast after sunset on October 7.

Sometimes even the dark dust of interstellar space has a serene beauty.

What's that rising from the clouds? The space shuttle.

Does an alignment like this occur only once in a blue moon?

The comet PanSTARRS also known as the blue comet (C/2016 R2) really is near the lower left edge of this stunning, wide field view recorded on January 13