Night Sky

67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

A periodic comet orbited and landed on by ESA's Rosetta mission.

Andromeda (constellation)

Antlia

The constellation Antlia (Antliae) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Apus

The constellation Apus (Apodis) — 13 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Aquarius

A large equatorial constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations, lying along the zodiac.

Aquila

Aquila is a constellation on the celestial equator, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Ara

The constellation Ara (Arae) — 18 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Aries

Aries is a mid-sized zodiacal constellation representing the ram, with Hamal as its brightest star.

Auriga

Auriga is a northern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Boötes

Boötes is a northern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Borrelly

Periodic comet — 19P/Borrelly.

Caelum

The constellation Caelum (Caeli) — 4 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Camelopardalis

The constellation Camelopardalis (Camelopardalis) — 45 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Cancer

A faint northern zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Canes Venatici

The constellation Canes Venatici (Canum Venaticorum) — 16 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Canis Major

Canis Minor

Canis Minor is a small constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Capricornus

Capricornus is a faint zodiacal constellation traditionally represented as a sea goat.

Carina

Carina is a southern constellation representing the keel of the ship Argo, home to the bright star Canopus.

Cassiopeia (constellation)

Centaurus

Centaurus is a bright southern constellation depicting a centaur and containing several of the sky's most luminous stars.

Cepheus

The constellation Cepheus (Cephei) — 48 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Cetus

A large constellation in the southern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations, often called the Whale or Sea Monster.

Chamaeleon

The constellation Chamaeleon (Chamaeleontis) — 13 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Circinus

The constellation Circinus (Circini) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Columba

The constellation Columba (Columbae) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Coma Berenices

The constellation Coma Berenices (Comae Berenices) — 24 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Comet Hale–Bopp

A long-period comet that was widely visible to the naked eye in 1997.

Comet Hyakutake

A comet that passed very close to Earth in 1996.

Comet NEOWISE

A long-period comet discovered in 2020 that became a bright naked-eye object in the Northern Hemisphere sky.

Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9

A comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in 1994.

Comet Swift–Tuttle

A periodic comet (109P/Swift–Tuttle) that is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower.

Corona Australis

The constellation Corona Australis (Coronae Australis) — 21 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Corona Borealis

The constellation Corona Borealis (Coronae Borealis) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Corvus

The constellation Corvus (Corvi) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Crater

The constellation Crater (Crateris) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Crux

Crux, the Southern Cross, is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations and a prominent southern-sky asterism.

Cygnus

Cygnus is a northern constellation lying along the plane of the Milky Way, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Delphinus

The constellation Delphinus (Delphini) — 12 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Dorado

The constellation Dorado (Doradus) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Draco

The constellation Draco (Draconis) — 79 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Encke

The comet with the shortest known orbital period (about 3.3 years) and the parent of the Taurid meteor stream.

Equuleus

The constellation Equuleus (Equulei) — 6 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Eridanus

Eridanus is a long southern constellation representing a celestial river, terminating at the bright star Achernar.

Fornax

The constellation Fornax (Fornacis) — 12 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Gemini

Gemini is a zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Geminids

A reliable December meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Gemini.

Giacobini–Zinner

A Jupiter-family comet, parent of the Draconid meteor shower, and the first comet ever visited by a spacecraft — NASA's ICE probe flew through its tail in 1985.

Grigg–Skjellerup

A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.

Grus

The constellation Grus (Gruis) — 22 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Halley's Comet

A short-period comet (1P/Halley) that returns to the inner Solar System roughly every 76 years.

Hartley 2

A small, hyperactive Jupiter-family comet flown past by NASA's EPOXI mission (the repurposed Deep Impact spacecraft) in 2010.

Hercules

The constellation Hercules (Herculis) — 77 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Horologium

The constellation Horologium (Horologii) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Hydra

The constellation Hydra (Hydrae) — 71 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Hydrus

The constellation Hydrus (Hydri) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Ikeya–Seki

One of the brightest comets of the past thousand years — a Kreutz sungrazer that became visible in daylight near the Sun in October 1965.

Indus

The constellation Indus (Indi) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Lacerta

The constellation Lacerta (Lacertae) — 21 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Leo

Leo is a zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Leo Minor

The constellation Leo Minor (Leonis Minoris) — 14 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Leonids

A November meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Leo, associated with comet Tempel–Tuttle.

Lepus

The constellation Lepus (Leporis) — 26 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Libra

A southern zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Lovejoy

A Kreutz sungrazing comet that unexpectedly survived a passage through the Sun's corona in December 2011, emerging to display a bright tail.

Lupus

The constellation Lupus (Lupi) — 48 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Lynx

The constellation Lynx (Lyncis) — 29 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Lyra

McNaught

The 'Great Comet of 2007', the brightest comet in decades, whose vast fanned dust tail was a spectacular sight from the Southern Hemisphere.

Mensa

The constellation Mensa (Mensae) — 7 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Microscopium

The constellation Microscopium (Microscopii) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Monoceros

The constellation Monoceros (Monocerotis) — 37 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Musca

The constellation Musca (Muscae) — 18 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Norma

The constellation Norma (Normae) — 14 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Octans

The constellation Octans (Octantis) — 17 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus is a large equatorial constellation depicting a man holding a serpent, straddling the celestial equator.

Orion

Orionids

An October meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Orion, produced by debris from Halley's Comet.

Pavo

The constellation Pavo (Pavonis) — 28 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Pegasus

A northern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations, recognizable by the Great Square asterism.

Perseids

A prominent summer meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Perseus, produced by debris from comet Swift–Tuttle.

Perseus (constellation)

Phoenix

The constellation Phoenix (Phoenicis) — 26 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Pictor

The constellation Pictor (Pictoris) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Pisces

The constellation Pisces (Piscium) — 50 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Piscis Austrinus

Piscis Austrinus is a southern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Puppis

The constellation Puppis (Puppis) — 89 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Pyxis

The constellation Pyxis (Pyxidis) — 12 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Quadrantids

An early-January meteor shower known for a short, sharp peak of activity.

Reticulum

The constellation Reticulum (Reticuli) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Sagitta

The constellation Sagitta (Sagittae) — 8 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Sagittarius

The constellation Sagittarius (Sagittarii) — 69 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Schwassmann–Wachmann 3

A Jupiter-family comet that began fragmenting in 1995 and has since broken into dozens of pieces — a rare chance to watch a comet disintegrate over successive returns.

Scorpius

Scorpius is a zodiacal constellation of the southern sky, recognized as one of the 88 modern constellations.

Sculptor

The constellation Sculptor (Sculptoris) — 17 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Scutum

The constellation Scutum (Scuti) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Serpens

The constellation Serpens (Serpentis) — 37 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Sextans

The constellation Sextans (Sextantis) — 6 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Siding Spring

A long-period comet that made an exceptionally close pass of Mars in October 2014, observed up close by the fleet of Mars orbiters and rovers.

Taurids

An extended autumn meteor shower with a radiant in the constellation Taurus, associated with Comet Encke.

Taurus

Taurus is a large zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Telescopium

The constellation Telescopium (Telescopii) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Tempel 1

Periodic comet — 9P/Tempel.

Tempel–Tuttle

The parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower, whose 33-year returns produce the periodic Leonid storms.

Thatcher

A long-period comet on a roughly 415-year orbit, the parent body of the Lyrid meteor shower seen each April.

Triangulum

The constellation Triangulum (Trianguli) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Triangulum Australe

The constellation Triangulum Australe (Trianguli Australis) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Tucana

The constellation Tucana (Tucanae) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Ursa Major

Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is a large northern constellation containing the seven stars of the Big Dipper asterism.

Ursa Minor

Vela

The constellation Vela (Velorum) — 75 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Virgo

Virgo is the second-largest constellation and a zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.

Volans

The constellation Volans (Volantis) — 14 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Vulpecula

The constellation Vulpecula (Vulpeculae) — 25 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

Wild 2

Periodic comet — 81P/Wild.