Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
Browse the NASA APOD archive without needing the exact date first. Filter by media type and keep moving deeper into older images and videos.
Europa Full Face
Explanation : What mysteries might be solved by peering into this crystal ball? This crystal ball is quite unusual because it is actually a moon of Jupiter , the crystals are…
Fractal Interstellar Dust Up-Close
Explanation : Our universe is a very dusty place. Dust usually shows its presence by blocking out light emitted from stars or nebula behind it, sometimes creating the illusion of…
Unusual M82: The Cigar Galaxy
Explanation : Something strange happened to this galaxy, but what? M82 is a nearby galaxy in the group of galaxies dominated by itself, M81 , and NGC 3077 . M82 is thought by some…
A Quasar in the Gamma-Ray Sky
Explanation : The bright object in the center of the false color image above is quasar 3C279 viewed in gamma-rays , photons with more than 40 million times the energy of visible…
The Leonid Meteor Shower (Tonight)
Explanation : Tonight thousands of icy rocks will hurl toward Earth in a fascinating display of light called the Leonid Meteor Shower . There is little danger - few will reach the…
Searching For Solar Systems
Explanation : Observational astronomy has recently provided evidence of the existence of massive Jupiter-sized planets orbiting distant suns, protoplanetary disks of gas and dust…
Supernova Remnant and Neutron Star
Explanation : A massive star ends life as a supernova, blasting its outer layers back to interstellar space. The spectacular death explosion is initiated by the collapse of what…
Seven Jets from Comet Hale-Bopp
Explanation : Comet Hale-Bopp is turning out to be quite unusual. One reason is the great amount of jet activity at such a large distance from the Sun . In the above false-color…
Comet Hale-Bopp Passes M14
Explanation : Comet Hale-Bopp continues its slow trek across the night sky, and can now be seen superposed near the bright globular cluster M14 . Will Comet Hale-Bopp become as…
NGC 4755: A Jewel Box of Stars
Explanation : The great variety of star colors in this open cluster underlie it's name: The Jewel Box. The bright central star Kappa Crucis is red, in contrast to the many blue…
Columbia Launches
Explanation : Rocket engines blazing, the Space Shuttle Columbia arcs into Florida's morning sky after lifting off from pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center . Seen here in January of…
Surveyor Hops
Explanation : This panorama of the cratered lunar surface was constructed from images returned by the US Surveyor 6 lander. Surveyor 6 was not the first spacecraft to accomplish a…
A Solar Corona Ejection
Explanation : The Sun would not be a nice place to spend the summer. One reason, besides the extreme heat, is that explosions are common there . In the above picture, magnetic…
Fields of Minerals on Ganymede
Explanation : What treasures lie on the surface of Ganymede ? Last week, NASA released a map of Jupiter's largest moon made by the Galileo Orbiter highlighting ice and minerals…
Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4881 in Coma
Explanation : Elliptical galaxies are unlike spiral galaxies and hence unlike our own Milky Way Galaxy . The giant elliptical galaxy named NGC 4881 on the upper left lies at the…
The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
Explanation : Almost every object in the above photograph is a galaxy. The Coma Cluster of Galaxies pictured is one of the densest clusters known - it contains thousands of…
The Martian Spring
Explanation : As spring comes to the northern latitudes of Mars , increased solar heating brings warmth and a change in the weather. The winds produced by the large temperature…
Surveyor Night Launch
Explanation : In early November of 1967, a dramatic night launch of an Atlas Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral lofted the successful Surveyor 6 spacecraft toward the Moon. The…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 253 Almost Sideways
Explanation : NGC 253 is a normal spiral galaxy seen here almost sideways. It is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies , the nearest group to our own Local Group of…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 3628 Edge On
Explanation : This is what a spiral galaxy looks like sideways. This view of NGC 3628 nearly resembles our own Milky Way Galaxy , which is also known to be a spiral . The dark…
The Barren Moon
Explanation : The above photo , taken as the Apollo 17 astronauts orbited the Moon in 1972, depicts the stark lunar surface around the Eratosthenes and Copernicus craters. Many…
Grand Design Spiral Galaxy NGC 2997
Explanation : NGC 2997 is a grand design spiral galaxy. Its small nucleus and sprawling spiral arms give it a type “Sc” designation. NGC 2997 is speeding away from us at about…
Io Full Face
Explanation : Io is a colorful place. The closest large moon of Jupiter , Io is the most volcanic moon in the Solar System with its surface being completely buried in volcanic…
The Weather on Neptune
Explanation : Today's weather on Neptune will be typical. Highs in the upper atmosphere will be about -150 Centigrade , with winds ranging about 900 miles per hour near the…
Viewing discoveries from 20 November 1996 through 28 October 1996.