The Cosmic Atlas

4.37 light-yearsLearn more

Alpha Centauri A

Nearly identical to our Sun and our closest Sun-like neighbor — the most likely destination for humanity's first interstellar voyage.

2.537 million light-yearsLearn more

Andromeda Galaxy

Our nearest large galactic neighbor is on a collision course with the Milky Way — the merger begins in 4.5 billion years.

550 light-yearsLearn more

Antares

The 'rival of Mars' is a red supergiant 700× the Sun's diameter — its outer envelope would extend past Mars' orbit.

Asteroid

Bennu

A 500 m rubble-pile asteroid with a 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth in 2182 — OSIRIS-REx returned samples in 2023.

100–321 million kmLearn more

700 light-yearsLearn more

Betelgeuse

A red supergiant so massive it would engulf Jupiter's orbit if placed where the Sun is.

3,800 light-yearsLearn more

Butterfly Nebula

Gas expelled by a dying star at 950,000 km/h forms two-light-year wings — as hot as the Sun's core.

Callisto

The most heavily cratered body in the Solar System — its ancient surface has been unchanged for 4 billion years.

7,500 light-yearsLearn more

Carina Nebula

One of the largest nebulae — 300× bigger than Orion, home to Eta Carinae which may explode at any time.

Retired (Saturn, 2017)Learn more

Cassini

Spent 13 years orbiting Saturn — discovered Enceladus' geysers, Titan's methane seas, and Saturn's hexagonal polar storm.

13.7 million light-yearsLearn more

Centaurus A

The closest radio galaxy to Earth — its central black hole fires relativistic jets visible across the full electromagnetic spectrum.

263–413 million kmLearn more

Ceres

The largest object in the asteroid belt may contain more fresh water than all of Earth's oceans.

Moonof Pluto

Charon

So large relative to Pluto that both bodies orbit a point in space between them — a true binary dwarf system.

5.9 billion km (avg)Learn more

11.7 million light-yearsLearn more

Cigar Galaxy

A starburst galaxy forming stars 10× faster than the Milky Way — superwind blows glowing gas thousands of light-years out.

6,500 light-yearsLearn more

Crab Nebula

Remnant of a supernova witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD — its pulsar still spins 30 times per second.

Moonof Mars

Deimos

Mars' tiny outer moon is barely 12 km wide — from the Martian surface it looks like a faint bright star.

225 million km (avg)Learn more

2,600 light-yearsLearn more

Deneb

Deneb may be 200,000× brighter than the Sun — its exact distance remains uncertain, making it the most luminous star in the Northern Cross.

7,000 light-yearsLearn more

Eagle Nebula

Home to the Pillars of Creation — towering columns of dust sculpted by radiation from newborn stars.

1.2 billion km (avg)Learn more

Earth

The only known harbor of life in the cosmos — a pale blue dot adrift in the indifferent vastness of space.

0 kmLearn more

Moonof Saturn

Enceladus

Geysers of liquid water erupt from its south pole — Cassini flew through them and detected organic compounds.

14.6 billion km (avg)Learn more

Eris

Discovery of this Pluto-sized world in 2005 triggered the great planet debate that demoted Pluto.

Europa

A global subsurface ocean beneath its icy shell may hold more water than all Earth's oceans — and possibly life.

Ganymede

The largest moon in the Solar System — bigger than Mercury and the only moon with its own magnetic field.

0.6–35 AU (varies)Learn more

Comet

Halley's Comet

The most famous comet returns every 75–76 years — records of its appearance stretch back to 240 BC.

6.4 billion km (avg)Learn more

Haumea

Haumea spins so fast (one rotation every 4 hours) that centrifugal force has squashed it into a rugby-ball shape.

Exoplanetof HD 209458

HD 209458 b

The first exoplanet with a detected atmosphere — nicknamed 'Osiris' for its evaporating hydrogen tail streaming into space.

159 light-yearsLearn more

650 light-yearsLearn more

Helix Nebula

The closest planetary nebula to Earth — nicknamed the 'Eye of God', it's a dying Sun-like star's last gasp.

547 km (low Earth orbit)Learn more

Hubble Space Telescope

30+ years of discoveries: the universe's expansion rate, dark energy evidence, deep field views of the earliest galaxies.

Io

The most volcanically active body in the Solar System — over 400 active volcanoes constantly resurface it.

1.5 million km (L2 orbit)Learn more

James Webb Space Telescope

The most powerful space telescope ever built — its infrared eyes see the first galaxies formed 13.6 billion years ago.

588–968 million kmLearn more

Jupiter

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a storm that has raged for 350+ years and is wider than Earth.

Exoplanetof Kepler-22

Kepler-22b

The first confirmed exoplanet in a Sun-like star's habitable zone — 2.4× Earth's radius, possibly an ocean world.

620 light-yearsLearn more

6.8 billion km (avg)Learn more

Makemake

Named after the Rapa Nui god of humanity — one of the brightest Kuiper Belt objects with no detectable atmosphere.

77–222 million kmLearn more

Mercury

A day on Mercury lasts longer than its year — 59 Earth days to rotate but only 88 days to orbit the Sun.

Moonof Uranus

Miranda

Miranda has the tallest known cliffs in the Solar System — Verona Rupes rises 20 km from the valley floor.

2.7 billion km (avg)Learn more

4.3–4.7 billion kmLearn more

Neptune

Neptune hosts the fastest winds in the Solar System — 2,100 km/h, despite being the farthest planet.

New Horizons

The first spacecraft to visit Pluto — its 2015 flyby revealed an unexpectedly complex world with nitrogen glaciers.

7.6 billion kmLearn more

1,344 light-yearsLearn more

Orion Nebula

A stellar nursery visible to the naked eye — over 3,000 stars are forming inside it right now.

225 million km (Mars)Learn more

Perseverance

Searching Jezero Crater for ancient microbial biosignatures and caching rocks for humanity's first Mars sample return.

Moonof Mars

Phobos

Mars' inner moon orbits so fast (7.7 hours) it rises in the west and sets in the east — and is slowly falling.

225 million km (avg)Learn more

6,500 light-yearsLearn more

Pillars of Creation

These iconic 5-light-year-tall dust columns are stellar nurseries — and are slowly being eroded by radiation.

5.9 billion km (avg)Learn more

Pluto

Once the ninth planet, Pluto hides water-ice mountains and Tombaugh Regio — a heart-shaped nitrogen glacier.

433 light-yearsLearn more

Polaris

The North Star is actually a triple star system, and will remain our pole star for another 26,000 years.

Exoplanetof Proxima Centauri

Proxima b

The nearest exoplanet to Earth — in the habitable zone of our closest stellar neighbor, 4.24 light-years away.

4.24 light-yearsLearn more

4.24 light-yearsLearn more

Proxima Centauri

Our nearest stellar neighbor — a red dwarf hosting the nearest known exoplanet, Proxima b.

860 light-yearsLearn more

Rigel

Orion's blue supergiant shines 120,000× brighter than the Sun — a future supernova visible in daylight.

1.2–1.67 billion kmLearn more

Saturn

Saturn's rings span 282,000 km yet are only 10–100 metres thick — a razor's edge of ice and rock.

8.6 light-yearsLearn more

Sirius

The brightest star in the night sky is a binary — Sirius A orbited by a white dwarf companion.

29.35 million light-yearsLearn more

Sombrero Galaxy

Its dark dust lane and bulging nucleus give it a perfect sombrero profile — the central black hole is 1 billion solar masses.

Moonof Saturn

Titan

The only moon with a dense atmosphere — methane rains down, pools into lakes, and flows through river channels.

1.2 billion km (avg)Learn more

Moonof Uranus

Titania

Uranus' largest moon has giant rift canyons hundreds of kilometers long — scars from ancient internal stretching.

2.7 billion km (avg)Learn more

Exoplanetof TRAPPIST-1

TRAPPIST-1e

One of seven Earth-sized planets around an ultracool red dwarf — sits squarely in the habitable zone and is a prime JWST target.

39 light-yearsLearn more

2.73 million light-yearsLearn more

Triangulum Galaxy

The third-largest member of the Local Group — barely visible to the naked eye under perfectly dark skies.

Moonof Neptune

Triton

Triton orbits Neptune backwards and is spiraling inward — in 3.6 billion years it will be torn apart into rings.

4.3 billion km (avg)Learn more

2.57–3.15 billion kmLearn more

Uranus

Uranus rolls on its side — its axis tilted 98° means its poles get more sunlight than its equator.

Vega

Vega defined the magnitude scale for stellar brightness — and in 12,000 years it will become Earth's new North Star.

25 light-yearsLearn more

38–261 million kmLearn more

Venus

The hottest planet despite not being closest to the Sun — its runaway CO₂ greenhouse locks in 465°C heat.

Asteroid

Vesta

Dawn's exploration revealed Vesta has a canyon three times the depth of the Grand Canyon circling its equator.

177–550 million kmLearn more

23.9 billion km (and counting)Learn more

Voyager 1

The most distant human-made object — now in interstellar space, transmitting data on a power supply losing 4W per year.

19.9 billion km (and counting)Learn more

Voyager 2

The only spacecraft to visit all four outer planets — its 1989 Neptune flyby revealed Triton's geysers.

3,900 light-yearsLearn more

VY Canis Majoris

One of the largest known stars — light takes 8 hours to travel around its equator.