Russ McKinney

The Moon over Pike Road. Taken 10:45PM on 5-2-26. It's nearly full (97.7% Illuminated). We're headed toward a new Moon in 2 weeks. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

The Pleiades (M45) shine in the constellation Taurus. They’re 440 light years away and those bright blue stars are moving through clouds of cosmic dust, lighting the dust up -just like a car’s headlights illuminate fog. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

Captured this morning: Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS).That long tail is an ion tail,stretching millions of miles across space.The comet is visible with binoculars before sunrise. In a few weeks, it'll shift to the evening sky, becoming visible just after sunset. @spann

Winter nebula season is over; galaxy season has begun! This is the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), located about 23 million light-years away. The small companion galaxy is interacting with M51,causing star formation and stretching material between the two galaxies. @spann @JoshWeather

We've got a beautiful waxing crescent phase Moon smiling down on us in Alabama this evening... @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

This is a little late, but this is a timelapse of the lunar eclipse on March 3rd. This was taken with a small telescope that tracks the Moon automatically. As the Earth's shadow moves across the Moon, I boosted the camera's exposure to keep it visible. @spann @JoshWeather

Total Lunar Eclipse March 2026. 11 images combined to show the full progression of Earth’s shadow crossing the Moon with totality at the center. That red color? It’s every sunrise and sunset on Earth bending through our atmosphere and lighting the Moon. @spann @JoshWeather

Tonight's Moon, as seen from Pike Road. It's in it's waxing gibbous phase. Get outside early Tuesday morning (around 4am-5:30am) and look to the west. You'll be able to catch a full lunar eclipse! Set your alarm to see the blood Moon! @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

Orion isn’t just three belt stars. From left to right, you see: 🔥 Flame Nebula 🐎 Horsehead 🏃 Running Man 💥 The Orion Nebula (M42) This is a stellar nursery 1,300+ lightyears away, where new suns are forming right now. Zoom in and look! @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

The Sun has been active in the past day. I shot these photos of the sun today. The large sunspot group is AR4366 and the entire Earth could easily fit inside those spots. Multiple solar flares have popped off from AR4366 in the past 12 hours. @spann @JoshWeather

Tonight's Moon is beautiful! Look carefully at this Moon this evening. The brightest object next to the Moon isn't a star. It's the planet Jupiter! If you've got some binoculars, look at Jupiter. You should be able to see Jupiter's Moons. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

Last night was brutally cold,but also crystal clear. These conditions allow for some really great lunar photography sessions. This is last night’s Moon in a waxing gibbous phase. We’ll have a full Moon in just a few days, on February 1st. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

The Moon over Pike Road, Alabama. It's in its waning gibbous phase this evening. Get outside and take a look! @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

Astronomers are brilliant scientists, but sometimes they also give space objects some pretty funny names! This is NGC 2174, AKA the Monkey Head Nebula. Our brains are wired to see familiar shapes in the stars, so once you see the monkey, you can’t unsee it. @spann @JoshWeather

The first full Moon of 2026! This evening, the Moon is 99% illuminated. We'll have a new Moon on January 18th. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

As this year comes to a close, our celestial neighbor shines on, quiet and unchanged. Long before we were here and long after we’re gone, the Moon will keep rising and reflecting the light of the Sun back to Earth. Here’s to another year of looking up. @spann @JoshWeather

We’ve got a beautiful Moon over Alabama this evening. It’s in its first quarter phase and it’s 52% illuminated. We’ll have our first full Moon of 2026 on January 3rd! @JoshWeather @spann @EricSnitilWx @amanduh_curran

Tonight, as families gather in warm living rooms and around candlelit tables, the crescent Moon rises over us all. No matter where you celebrate Christmas, we all share the same Moon, the same sky, and the same sense of connection. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

This is the Elephant Trunk Nebula, an area of dense gas and dust inside the constellation Cepheus. Radiation from nearby massive stars sculpts these dust-filled areas, compressing material that may eventually form new stars. @spann @JoshWeather @amanduh_curran

Orion is a favorite constellation for many stargazers. Visible on winter evenings, it rises in the southeast and is easy to spot by the 3 bright stars of Orion’s Belt. This area is home to some of the nearest stellar nurseries in our galaxy.Zoom in and look! @spann @JoshWeather