Space can be a wondrous place, and we've got the pictures to prove it! Take a look at our favorite space pictures here, and if you're wondering what happened to today in space history don't miss our On This Day in Space video show here!
That's no moon...
Wednesday, December 4, 2024: Well, yeah, it's definitely not a moon, but it does sort of looks like a half-assembled Death Star in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi", which is also not a moon. This is, in fact, the European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) under construction. The skeleton of one of ESO's flagship cosmic imager for the coming decades can be seen here coming together piece by piece in the mountains of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Once complete, ELT's enormous primary mirror will measure 128 feet (39 meters) across.
The cupola the keeps on giving
Tuesday, December 4, 2024: Few things beat the view of a good sunset, even when that view happens on repeat 16 times a day. Thanks to the altitude and inclination of the International Space Station's orbit, that's exactly how many sunsets astronauts living aboard the orbital lab get to experience. In this photo, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson peers out the station's cupola module as the sun sinks behind the shadowy face of Earth's night side. 262 miles below, the blue tint of the South Atlantic Ocean paints the faded arch of Earth's horizon with a soft glow, lit from the falling sun like Dyson's face as she stares at our home planet.
A stretch of Milky Way
Monday, December 2, 2024: Between these two blocky buildings, the arm of our Milky Way stretches into the night sky. This photo was taken from European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Very Large Telescope (VLT), high in the Chilean mountains. Pictured, the VLT's fourth Unit Telescope, stands like two pillars guiding the galaxy's arm.
Archives
Check out our Image of the Day Archives for more awesome photos.
Image of the Day 2020 Archive
Image of the Day 2019 Archive
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