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.
M39: Open Cluster in Cygnus
Lying just at the limit of human perception is a picturesque starfield containing one of the larger open clusters on the northern sky. Spanning an angle larger than the Moon ,…
A Prominent Solar Prominence from SOHO
One of the most spectacular solar sights is a prominence. A solar prominence is a cloud of solar gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field . Last month, NASA's…
NASA's X-43A Scramjet Sets Air Speed Record
Using oxygen from the air itself, a NASA experimental jet propelled itself past Mach 7 in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The small automated X-43A Hyper-X…
Stars and the Bubble Nebula
Seemingly adrift in a cosmic sea of stars and gas, this delicate, floating apparition is cataloged as NGC 7635 -- The Bubble Nebula . In this wide-angle view, the Bubble nebula…
Mir Dreams
This dream -like image of Mir was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission. Sporting…
Moon and Planets Sky
Look up into the sky tonight and without a telescope or binoculars you might have a view like this one of Moon, planets and stars. The lovely photo was taken on March 23rd, and…
An Orion of a Different Color
Look up into the sky tonight , and even with a good telescope you won't come across a sight quite like this one. It is a familiar object though, the grand stellar nursery known as…
Intriguing Dimples Near Eagle Crater on Mars
What are those unusual looking dimples? Looking back toward Eagle crater , its landing place on Mars , the robot rover Opportunity has spotted some unusual depressions in the…
Lava Flows on Venus
The hot surface of Venus shows clear signs of ancient lava flows . Evidence of this was bolstered by the robot spacecraft Magellan , which orbited Venus in the early 1990s. Using…
Asteroid 2004 FH Whizzes By
Last week, a small asteroid approached unusually close to the Earth. Asteroid 2004 FH posed no danger, but became bright enough to see with binoculars. Passing only 7 Earth radii…
A Green Flash from the Sun
Many think it is just a myth . Others think it is true but its cause isn't known. Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it. It's a green flash from the Sun . The truth is…
Equinox + 1
Twice a year, at the Spring and Fall equinox , the Sun rises due east. In an emphatic demonstration of this celestial alignment , photographer Joe Orman recorded this inspiring…
Going Wild
Dynamic jets of gas and dust surround one of the most active planetary surfaces in the solar system in this wild-looking picture of a comet nucleus . The comet's designation is…
Spirit Pan from Bonneville Crater's Edge
Scroll right and follow this breathtaking view of the martian surface from the southern edge of a small crater dubbed Bonneville. NASA's Spirit rover recorded the sharp 180-degree…
Redshift 10: Evidence for a New Farthest Galaxy
What's the farthest galaxy known? The answer keeps changing as astronomers compete to find galaxies that top the list. The new claimed record holder is now the faint smudge…
Sedna of the Outer Solar System
What is the most distant known object in our Solar System ? A new answer to this centuries-old question was announced yesterday by NASA with the discovery of a dark red object…
The Orion Nebula from CFHT
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula . The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an…
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
Comet Hale-Bopp became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights . Out away from city lights, however, it put on quite a spectacular show…
A Cerro Tololo Sky
High atop a Chilean mountain lies one of the premier observatories of the southern sky: the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). Pictured above is the dome surrounding…
X-Ray Saturn
Above, the ringed planet Saturn shines in x-rays . Otherwise beyond the range of human vision, the eerie x-ray view was created by overlaying a computer generated outline of the…
Henize 206: Cosmic Generations
Peering into a dusty nebula in nearby galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, infrared cameras on board the Spitzer Space Telescope recorded this detailed view of stellar nursery…
Humphrey Rock Indicates Ancient Martian Water
How prevalent was water on Mars? Results from the Spirit rover now indicate that Gusev crater likely had a wet past, a result that comes shortly after Spirit's twin rover…
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
What did the first galaxies look like? To help answer this question, the Hubble Space Telescope has just finished taking the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), the deepest image of…
Moon and Venus over Corona Del Mar Beach
The crescent Moon passed nearly in front of Venus two weeks ago. The close conjunction of the night sky 's two brightest objects created a striking pose for many viewing the…
Viewing discoveries from 31 March 2004 through 8 March 2004.