It's not just families that are getting together this Thanksgiving week. The three brightest objects in the night sky — Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon — will crowd around each other for an unusual group shot. Look in the southwestern sky around twilight — no telescope or binoculars needed. The show will even be visible in cities if it's a clear night. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Ancient gravitational interactions with Venus and Jupiter could help explain some quirks about our moon's orbit. Scientists think Earth's only natural satellite was born when a rogue Mars-sized object struck a young and still molten Earth. The collision created a disk of debris around Earth that eventually coalesced to form our moon about 4.5 billion years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The most spectacular celestial sights over the next couple of weeks are reserved for the early morning sky. Two bright planets will converge, then be joined by the moon. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Venus and Jupiter have appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but tonight was the best night to see the "face" appear, astronomers said. picked by 2manyusernames 12 months ago

Most notable are recent smiley skies, captured over LA and Brisbane. I love the Brisbane photo... It’s said this three way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon only occurs every 200 years. I was just north of the equator, so I saw an upside down smiley face similar to this. I don’t know why LA got a happy face... probably because they’re goofy. :^) picked by meggysue 12 months ago

The plains of solidified lava that give the Moon its quirky human-like face as seen from Earth were created more than four billion years ago. The evidence comes from an unearthly silvery-grey stone that was blasted off from the face of the Moon, perhaps by an impacting asteroid, and was then captured by Earth's gravity, prompting it to fall to ground in Botswana. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The tentacled creature has developed what appears to be a smiley face, believed to be caused by an unusual alignment of skin pigments. This happy specimen, known as helicocranchia pfefferi to scientists, was caught during a deepwater plankton trawl in the Pacific Ocean between Los Angeles and Catalina. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Mars and Venus, those seemingly contrasting planets of self-help book fame, have more in common than you might think. Two nearly identical spacecraft around Mars and Venus have compared the two worlds' atmospheres and found them to be surprisingly similar. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Newfound glowing spots on Jupiter seem unexpectedly to come from electron beams whipping around the giant planet's volcanic moon Io. Io is the most volcanic body in the solar system, with its entire surface likely made up of lava from the moon's hundreds of volcanoes. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Jupiter is in the news again, this time because its "Baby Red Spot" - a storm less than a year old - appears to have been swallowed up by the massive storm known as the Great Red Spot. This is good occasion to share some of the best photographs of Jupiter and its larger system of rings and moons, as seen by various probes and telescopes over the past 30 years. picked by MissWinkle 1 year ago

Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon." picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active place known, and researchers are studying how gases from the moon escape and populate the space surrounding Jupiter. Io is providing insight into how the influence of Jupiter's gravity can heat the moon even though it's located far from the Sun. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft, launched from Earth just over a year ago, is heading for a close encounter with the giant planet Jupiter. "Jupiter's just a waypoint to take us to our ultimate destination, which is, of course, the planet Pluto."

The pass will provide the first close-up look at Jupiter and its moons since the Galileo mission, which reached the planetary system in 1995. picked by 2manyusernames 3 years ago

A strange spot emerged on Venus last week, and astronomers are not sure what caused it. They hope future observations will reveal whether volcanic activity, turbulence in the planet's atmosphere, or charged particles from the sun are to blame. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

In its relentless probing of Venus's atmosphere, ESA's Venus Express keeps revealing new details of the Venusian cloud system. Meteorology at Venus is a complex matter, scientists say. picked by robfouryqr 3 years ago

NASA is testing an underwater robot in one of Earth's deepest sinkholes in a first step toward searching for life on Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Venus is more Earth-like than previously thought-including lightning where theory held that none could exist. Venus is the world closest to Earth in terms of size, mass, distance and chemical makeup, but while Earth is a haven for life, Venus is typically described as hellish, with a crushing atmosphere holding choking clouds of sulfuric acid over a rocky desert surface hot enough to melt lead. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Bright hazes that mysteriously appear and then disappear on Venus in a matter of days have revealed a new dynamic feature of the planet's cloudy atmosphere that is unlike anything on Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Jupiter's atmosphere froths with violent winds and mega-storms as large as the entire Earth, but a recent spacecraft flyby captured the planet in an "unusually calm period," astronomers said. Calm on Jupiter, however, still makes terrestrial hurricanes look like breezes. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago