#stellarsnap — Public Fediverse posts

Faint blue arcs stretch across the sky near Andromeda. But they aren’t part of that galaxy.

SDSO 1 is now recognized as a Ghost Planetary Nebula, a newly defined class. It belongs to our own Milky Way.

Discovered by amateurs. Confirmed with 550 hours of data.

📅 Aug 4, 2025
📷 Patrick Ogle et al.
#SDSO1 #PlanetaryNebula #Andromeda #DeepSky #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

What if time moved slower… just because of where you are?

Earth vs. near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole.

This is real. This is relativity.

Try it yourself: https://stellarsnap.space

#TimeDilation #GeneralRelativity #BlackHole #Astronomy #StellarSnap

📸 Globular Cluster Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri, or NGC 5139, is the largest and brightest globular cluster in the Milky Way. Located 15,000 light-years away, it holds about 10 million stars — some older than the Sun.

Its mixed stellar ages and compositions hint that it may be the remnant core of a dwarf galaxy.

📷 Data: SkyFlux Team
🛠️ Processing: Leo Shatz

#OmegaCentauri #GlobularCluster #NGC5139 #Astronomy #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Titan Shadow Transit

Every 15 years, Saturn’s rings appear edge-on from Earth. The view may be narrow, but it reveals rare transits of Saturn’s moons and their shadows.

In this image from July 18, Titan crosses Saturn’s face, casting a dark round shadow on its cloud tops.

📷 Volodymyr Andrienko

#Titan #Saturn #ShadowTransit #Astronomy #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #NightSky #PlanetaryAlignment

📸 Messier 6 – The Butterfly Cluster

A cluster of about 100 young stars spreads its wings in Scorpius. Known as the Butterfly Cluster, Messier 6 glows with brilliant blue stars and one striking orange giant: BM Scorpii.
It spans 25 light-years near the heart of the Milky Way.

📷 Xinran Li / NASA APOD
#Messier6 #ButterflyCluster #Astrophotography #Space #Scorpius #StarCluster #StellarSnap

📸 The Rosette Nebula from DECam
A cosmic bloom in Monoceros. This glowing nebula spans 100 light-years and cradles young stars in its heart. Captured in vivid detail by DECam in Chile.

📅 APOD – July 16, 2025
📷 Credit: CTIO, NOIRLab, DOE, NSF, AURA

#APOD #NASA #RosetteNebula #NGC2237 #DECam #NOIRLab #CTIO #Nebulae #StarFormation #Monoceros #Astrophotography #Astronomy #Space #StellarNursery #EmissionNebula #DeepSky #Telescope #CosmicBloom #Stars #Universe #StellarSnap

📸 NGC 2685: The Helix Galaxy
This rare polar ring galaxy has stars, gas, and dust orbiting in a tilted ring around a flat disk. Likely formed by capturing material from another galaxy, it remains stable and mysterious. Also known as Arp 336.

📅 APOD – July 14, 2025
📷 Credit: Stefan Thrun

#NASA #APOD #NGC2685 #HelixGalaxy #PolarRingGalaxy #Galaxy #Astronomy #Space #Cosmos #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #GalaxyLovers #DeepSky #UrsaMajor #StarGazing #Universe #Science

📸 Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
Why is this nebula shaped like an ant? Mz3 is formed by gas expelled from a dying star. It might be shaped by a close companion star or powerful magnetic fields. The central star is similar to our Sun, offering a glimpse at our solar system's future.

📅 APOD – July 13, 2025
📷 Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team

#APOD #NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #PlanetaryNebula #Mz3 #AntNebula #Space #Stars #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
Also known as the Rotten Fish Nebula, LDN 1251 is a dark molecular cloud where stars are forming. It lies about 1,000 light-years away in Cepheus and spans over 25 light-years.

📅 APOD – July 10, 2025
📷 Credit: Cristiano Gualco

#APOD #NASA #LDN1251 #RottenFishNebula #DarkNebula #StarFormation #Cepheus #MilkyWay #Astrophotography #StellarNursery #Nebula #Stargazing #Astronomy #Cosmos #StellarSnap

📸 A Beautiful Trifid
Red emission. Blue reflection. Dark dust. The Trifid Nebula (M20) in Sagittarius blends all three. Star formation shapes its glowing clouds, while dark lanes split the red core into three parts. A cosmic gem, 5,000 light-years away.

📅 APOD – July 9, 2025
📷 Credit: Alessandro Cipolat Bares

#APOD #TrifidNebula #M20 #NASA #Nebula #Sagittarius #EmissionNebula #ReflectionNebula #DarkNebula #StarFormation #Astrophotography #Space #Cosmos #Astronomy #DeepSky #StellarSnap

📸 Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
This elusive nebula glows in blue from oxygen atoms and may lie 2,300 light-years away inside Sh2-129. Powered by a triple star system, its outflows span 50+ light-years. A true deep sky giant.

📅 APOD – July 5, 2025
📷 Credit: Massimo Di Fusco

#APOD #NASA #Astronomy #Ou4 #SquidNebula #Sh2129 #DeepSky #Stars #Nebula #Space #NightSky #Astrophotography #HR8119 #TripleStarSystem #Cosmos #Science #Stargazing #MilkyWay #Universe #StellarSnap

📸 NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
This deep-sky image shows two cosmic neighbors in Cepheus: open star cluster NGC 6939 at 5,600 light-years and spiral galaxy NGC 6946, The Fireworks Galaxy, at 22 million light-years. Over 68 hours of exposure reveal stunning detail and faint dust lanes.

📅 July 4, 2025
📷 Alberto Pisabarro / https://www.loscoloresinvisibles.com/en
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space

#APOD #NGC6946 #FireworksGalaxy #NGC6939 #Cepheus #SpiralGalaxy #OpenCluster #DeepSky #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #NightSky

📸 Nova V462 Lupi Now Visible
A rare celestial event is underway in the southern sky. Nova Lupi 2025 is a thermonuclear explosion on a white dwarf, discovered mid-June and now visible with binoculars. Even more rare: Nova Velorum 2025 is visible too, making two simultaneous novas!

📅 July 3, 2025
📷 Credit: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT)

#APOD #Nova #V462Lupi #NovaVelorum #MilkyWay #Lupus #Vela #Stargazing #BinocularView #NightSky #SpaceEvent #Astronomy #Astrophotography #SpaceScience #StellarSnap

📸 Milky Way Through Otago Spires
The glowing core of our galaxy rises between two spires in Otago, New Zealand. Seen in early June skies, the Milky Way arcs upward after sunset, revealing billions of stars. A moment of perfect timing and planning.
📅 July 2, 2025
📷 Kavan Chay
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space

#APOD #MilkyWay #Astrophotography #Stars #Otago #NewZealand #Galaxy #NightSky #Astronomy #Space #Cosmos #SkyView #StellarSnap

📸 NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
This deep image reveals a tidal stream of stars, the remains of a smaller galaxy torn apart by NGC 4651. The stream extends nearly 100,000 light-years above the main spiral disk.

📅 June 30, 2025
📷 Rabeea Alkuwari & Anas Almajed
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space

#APOD #Astronomy #NGC4651 #UmbrellaGalaxy #Space #Galaxy #TidalStream #ComaBerenices #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #DeepSky #Cosmos

📸 Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
Dark streaks on pinkish dunes near Mars' North Pole resemble trees, but they're actually sand slides exposed as CO₂ frost melts in spring. Captured by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s MRO.
📅 June 29, 2025
📷 NASA, HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona)
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Mars #HiRISE #MRO #NASA #MartianGeology #SandDunes #PlanetaryScience #RedPlanet #SpaceScience #StellarSnap

📸 Lunar Farside
From lunar orbit, we can view the Moon's rugged farside. This sharp mosaic, made from over 15,000 images by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, reveals a surface very different from the smooth nearside.
📅 June 28, 2025
📷 NASA / GSFC / ASU / LRO
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #LunarFarside #Moon #LRO #LunarReconnaissanceOrbiter #NASA #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #LunarScience #PlanetaryScience #MoonCrust #NoDarkMaria

📸 Messier 109
Barred spiral galaxy M109 lies just beneath the Big Dipper in Ursa Major. Though small in our sky, it spans 120,000 light-years across at a distance of 60 million light-years. This view also shows possible satellite galaxies UGC 6969, UGC 6940, and UGC 6923.
📅 June 27, 2025
📷 Robert Eder
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Messier109 #M109 #NGC3992 #BarredSpiral #UrsaMajor #GalaxyCluster #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #DeepSky #SatelliteGalaxies

📸 The Seagull Nebula
Shaped like a bird in flight, the Seagull Nebula spans over 200 light-years near Sirius in Canis Major. IC 2177 forms the head, while surrounding clouds glow with hydrogen gas. A bluish arc is a bow shock from the runaway star FN Canis Majoris.
📅 June 26, 2025
📷 Timothy Martin
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #CanisMajor #Nebula #BowShock #FNCanisMajoris #StarFormation #DeepSky #MilkyWay #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #NightSky #EmissionNebula

📸 Rubin’s First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape
This wide-field view from the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory spans over 4 degrees in Sagittarius. It captures the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and Trifid Nebula (M20), two iconic regions of star formation in the Milky Way.
📅 June 25, 2025
📷 NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #RubinObservatory #Sagittarius #Nebulae #LagoonNebula #TrifidNebula #MilkyWay #WideField #DeepSky #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #CosmicClouds

Ever wondered how time slows near a black hole?
Compare how time flows near stars, planets & black holes interactively.
Try it now: https://stellarsnap.space/time-dilation

#TimeDilation #Relativity #BlackHoles #Physics #Astronomy #Science #Astrophysics #Einstein #SpaceTime #GeneralRelativity #SpecialRelativity #Cosmos #SpacetimeCurvature #Gravity #SpaceTools #StellarSnap

📸 In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61
M61 (NGC 4303) is a barred spiral galaxy 55 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster. Its bright center contains a supermassive black hole surrounded by a smaller spiral of star-forming gas — like a galaxy within a galaxy.
📅 June 24, 2025
📷 Robert Gendler, NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #M61 #NGC4303 #SpiralGalaxy #BarredSpiral #BlackHole #Galaxies #Astrophotography #StellarSnap #NASA #ESA #Hubble

📸 Two Worlds, Two Analemmas
An analemma shows the Sun’s position at the same time each day over a year. Earth’s forms a figure-8. Mars, with a more eccentric orbit, creates a teardrop shape. The images were taken from Earth (2011–2012) and by the Opportunity rover on Mars (2006–2008).
📅 June 21, 2025
📷 Tunc Tezel, NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/TAMU
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Analemma #Earth #Mars #Solstice #PlanetaryScience #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Two Worlds, Two Analemmas
An analemma shows the Sun’s position at the same time each day over a year. Earth’s forms a figure-8. Mars, with a more eccentric orbit, creates a teardrop shape. The images were taken from Earth (2011–2012) and by the Opportunity rover on Mars (2006–2008).
📅 June 21, 2025
📷 Tunc Tezel, NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/TAMU
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Analemma #Earth #Mars #Solstice #PlanetaryScience #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Two Worlds, Two Analemmas
An analemma shows the Sun’s position at the same time each day over a year. Earth’s forms a figure-8. Mars, with a more eccentric orbit, creates a teardrop shape. The images were taken from Earth (2011–2012) and by the Opportunity rover on Mars (2006–2008).
📅 June 21, 2025
📷 Tunc Tezel, NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/TAMU
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Analemma #Earth #Mars #Solstice #PlanetaryScience #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Two Worlds, Two Analemmas
An analemma shows the Sun’s position at the same time each day over a year. Earth’s forms a figure-8. Mars, with a more eccentric orbit, creates a teardrop shape. The images were taken from Earth (2011–2012) and by the Opportunity rover on Mars (2006–2008).
📅 June 21, 2025
📷 Tunc Tezel, NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/TAMU
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #Analemma #Earth #Mars #Solstice #PlanetaryScience #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
Spiral galaxy NGC 3521 lies 35 million light-years away in Leo. It features dusty, uneven spiral arms, star-forming regions, and young blue stars. Surrounding it are faint, bubble-like shells — likely tidal debris from past galaxy mergers.
📅 June 19, 2025
📷 Vikas Chander
🔗 stellarsnap.space
#APOD #NGC3521 #SpiralGalaxy #Leo #TidalDebris #DeepSky #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Space Station Silhouette on the Moon
The ISS was captured in silhouette as it briefly transited a gibbous Moon in 2019. Taken from Palo Alto, CA with an exposure of 1/667s, the full transit lasted just half a second. Look closely to see the station’s solar panels and trusses. Tycho crater is visible at lower left.
📅 June 18, 2025
📷 Eric Holland
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #ISS #Moon #Astrophotography #Transit #Silhouette #Tycho #StellarSnap

📸 Rosette Nebula Deep Field
The real Rosette Nebula lies in the lower right, glowing blue and white in this wide deep-field image. It’s linked by golden filaments to other nebulae in the region. At the center is cluster NGC 2244, whose stars shape the nebula’s form. Found in Monoceros, it's 5,000 light-years away.
📅 June 17, 2025
📷 Toni Fabiani Méndez
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #RosetteNebula #NGC2244 #Nebula #Astrophotography #DeepSky #StellarSnap #Monoceros

📸 Meteors and Satellite Trails over the Limay River
Above Argentina’s Limay River, the Milky Way glows at left while Starlink satellites streak across the right. Two bright meteors from the Eta Aquariids flash through the scene. Venus gleams near the horizon. All captured in a composite from May 4.
📅 June 14, 2025
📷 Martín Moliné
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #MilkyWay #Starlink #Meteors #EtaAquariids #Venus #Astrophotography #StellarSnap

📸 Solar Eclipse
On April 20, 2023, a rare hybrid solar eclipse was seen from the Indian Ocean. Fred Espenak (1953–2025), the legendary "Mr. Eclipse," captured this stunning composite of 11 exposures showing the solar corona in rich detail. His legacy lives on in every eclipse image we admire.
📅 June 12, 2025
📷 Fred Espenak
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #SolarEclipse #FredEspenak #HybridEclipse #Astrophotography #EclipseChaser #StellarSnap

📸 25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
Many of the brightest stars have names passed down through ancient cultures. This image shows 25 of them in true color with their IAU-recognized names. From Sirius (“the scorcher”) to Antares (“rival to Mars”), each star tells a story.
📅 June 11, 2025
📷 Tragoolchitr Jittasaiyapan
🔗 https://stellarsnap.space
#APOD #BrightestStars #Astronomy #StellarSnap #IAU #CulturalAstronomy

📸 Between Scylla and Charybdis
Amateur astronomers discovered a faint supernova remnant in Cepheus, now named Scylla. Glowing with red hydrogen and blue oxygen, it’s a rare find. But that’s not all — they also spotted a new planetary nebula candidate nearby, named Charybdis.
📅 June 9, 2025
📷 NASA APOD
🔗 stellarsnap.space
#APOD #NASA #Scylla #Charybdis #Astrophotography #Space #SpaceDiscovery #StellarSnap

📸 Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Ancient Supernova
About 7,000 years ago, a star exploded in the Milky Way, creating the Veil Nebula. Once as bright as a crescent Moon, it now appears as delicate filaments of gas in the constellation Cygnus. This image from Kuwait in 2024 shows hydrogen in red and oxygen in blue.
📷 Abdullah Alharbi / NASA APOD
#VeilNebula #SupernovaRemnant #APOD #CygnusLoop #Astrophotography #Space #StellarSnap

Binary Star System
Most stars in the universe come in pairs. In a binary system, two stars orbit a common center of mass. Some, like V664 Cas, evolve into spectacular sights. This red giant and white dwarf orbit every 0.58 days, creating the planetary nebula HFG1 and a glowing arc-shaped shockwave.
📷 Julien Cadena & Mickael Coulon
🔗 stellarsnap.space
#BinaryStars #PlanetaryNebula #HFG1 #Astronomy #StellarSnap #Space

📸 Mars in the Loop
Between Sep 2024 and May 2025, Mars traced a retrograde loop through Gemini and Cancer. This apparent reversal happens when Earth, moving faster in its orbit, overtakes Mars. Around Dec 8, Mars seemed to pause near the star cluster M44, drifted westward, then returned by May. At its closest on Jan 16, it was just 96 million km away.
🔗 apod.nasa.gov
📷 Tunc Tezel / NASA APOD
#APOD #Mars #Retrograde #Astronomy #NightSky #stellarsnap