After sunset on October 3, some of the Solar System's largest moons stood low along the western horizon with the largest planet.

Some night skies are serene and passive -- others shimmer and flash. The later, in the form of auroras and meteors, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on 2009 December 13.

Last Sunday when the Moon was young its sunlit crescent hung low near the western horizon at sunset.

A more creative search by a group of amateur astronomers in the Ehime Prefecture of Shikoku Island, Japan has found lunar L-O-V-E.

It was one of the most powerful solar flares in recorded history. Occurring in 2003 and seen across the electromagnetic spectrum, the Sun briefly became over 100 times brighter in X-rays than normal.

The striking X in this lunarscape is easily visible in binoculars or a small telescope, but not too many have seen it. The catch is, this lunar X is fleeting and only apparent in the hours before the Moon's first quarter phase

47% illuminated 7 day old

شرکت در مسابقه 2012 National Geographic Photo Contest