APOD 4.8: The Sky from Mauna Kea

Looking out over the volcano Mauna Kea, we see a blanket of white clouds, and on the far left, glow from a Hawaiian city. The volcanic lava lights up orange from an erupting Kilauea, just left of the center. The summit of a more distant volcano, Mauna Loa, is visible in dark silhouette near the middle of the horizon. Green airglow is visible above the clouds caused by air molecules excited during the day. The Milky Way galaxy also extends up straight through the middle. 

APOD 4.7: An Unexpected Aurora over Norway

On February 8, 2014 in Norway, an astrophotagrapher and his brother were packing up their equipment after a disappointing night of looking for auroras, when suddenly the sky exploded with them. This auroral flare lasted only a few minutes. 

APOD 4.6: Space Station over Lunar Terminator

Positioned to the side of the moon is the International Space Station. This picture was taken in front of a partially lit moon last year in Madrid, Spain, with and exposure time of only 1/1000 of a second. The duration of the transit of the ISS across the entire Moon was about half a second. The station is located on the dark side of the day/night line of the Moon called the terminator. 

APOD 4.5: Total Solar Eclipse over Svalbard

This photo was taken in Svalbard, Norway, last month. In this image, the eclipse was captured every three minutes and then digitally merged with a foreground frame taken from the same location. As the Moon and the Sun move together, an increasing fraction of the Sun appears covered by the Moon. The next total eclipse of the Sun will occur in 2016 March and be visible from Southeast Asia. 

APOD 4.4: Venus in the West

Recently, Venus has been shining near the western horizon at sunset. When this picture was taken, it was especially close to the Pleiades star cluster, dominating the sky near the town of Lich in central Germany. Also known as the Seven Sister, the Pleiades cluster appears right above Venus in this picture. Near the left side tree branches appears bright star Aldebaren, the eye of Taurus the bull, and the Hyades star cluster. 

APOD 4.3: A Golden Gate Eclipse 

This is a panoramic view of the lunar eclipse in San Francisco on April 4th, over the Golden Gate Bridge.  The shortest lunar eclipse of the century, this eclipse was also the third in a string of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, a series known as a tetrad. The previous two were April 15 and October 18. The next and final eclipse will be on September 28, this 2014-2015 tetrad is one of the 8 total lunar eclipse tetrads in the 21st century. 

APOD 4.2: Diamond Rings and Bailey's Beads

The New Moon's silhouette at stages just before and after the three minute long total phase seems to sprout glistening diamonds and bright beads in this time lapse composite of the celestial event. The last and first glimpses of the solar disk with the lunar limb surrounded by the glow of the Sun's inner corona give the impression of the diamond ring in the sky.