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.
Three Planets from Mt. Hamilton
Venus, Mercury, and Saturn wandered close together in western evening skies last week. On Saturn day, June 25, astronomer R. Jay GaBany recorded this snapshot of their…
Thirteen Million Kilometers from Comet Tempel 1
The Deep Impact spacecraft continues to close on Comet Tempel 1, a comet roughly the size of Manhattan. Early on July 3 (EDT), the Deep Impact spacecraft will separate in to two…
The Giant Radio Lobes of Fornax A
Together, the radio lobes span over one million light years -- what caused them? In the center is a large but peculiar elliptical galaxy dubbed NGC 1316 . Detailed inspection of…
Globular Cluster M22 from CFHT
The globular cluster M22 , pictured above , contains over 100,000 stars. These stars formed together and are gravitationally bound. Stars orbit the center of the cluster, and the…
The 2MASS Galaxy Sky
Are the nearest galaxies distributed randomly? A plot of over one million of the brightest “extended sources” detected by the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) shows that they are…
Venus: Just Passing By
Venus, the second closest planet to the Sun, is by far the brightest of the three planets gathered in this weekend's western sky at sunset. It has also proven to be a popular…
Planets in the West
This week end three planets will grace the western sky , forming a lovely trio easily visible shortly after sunset. Saturday evening in particular will find Saturn , Venus , and…
Moonrise, Cape Sounion, Greece
The Moon was full this month on June 22nd, only a day after the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. Since this solstice marked the northernmost point of the Sun's annual motion…
Saturn's Rings from the Other Side
What do Saturn's rings look like from the other side? From Earth, we usually see Saturn's rings from the same side of the ring plane that the Sun illuminates them. Geometrically,…
The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation
The North America Nebula in the sky can do what North Americans on Earth cannot -- form stars. Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent , the bright part that…
Sunset Over Gusev Crater
What would it be like to see a sunset on Mars? To help find out, the robotic rover Spirit was deployed last month to park and serenely watch the Sun dip below the distant lip of…
Noctilucent Clouds
Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still…
Visitors' Galaxy Gallery
A tantalizing assortment of island universes is assembled here. From top left to bottom right are the lovely but distant galaxies M61 , NGC 4449 , NGC 4725 , NGC 5068 , NGC 5247 ,…
The Small Cloud of Magellan
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew had plenty of time to study the southern sky during the first circumnavigation of planet Earth. As a result, two celestial…
APOD Is Ten Years Old Today
Welcome to the eleventh year of Astronomy Picture of the Day! In a decade of editing the APOD web pages , the industrious Robert Nemiroff (left) and persistent Jerry Bonnell…
Cassiopeia A Light Echoes in Infrared
Why is the image of Cassiopeia A changing? Two images of the nearby supernova remnant taken a year apart in infrared light appear to show outward motions at tremendous speeds.…
Gliese 876 System Includes Large Terrestrial Planet
Is our Earth unique? In continuing efforts to answer this question, astronomers have now discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a distant normal star. Previously over 150…
Tornado and Rainbow Over Kansas
The scene might have been considered serene if it weren't for the tornado . Last June in Kansas , storm chaser Eric Nguyen photographed this budding twister in a different light…
M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula
Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and…
Earth at Twilight
No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet Earth . Instead, the shadow line or terminator is…
Titan's Cryovolcano
Investigators suspect the domed feature detailed above is an ice volcano, or cryovolcano, seen in infrared light through the hazy atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan . Since Titan's…
Venus Returns to the Evening Sky
This serene image of boats moored in the harbor of l'le-Tudy, Bretagne, France was taken on June 1st, about an hour after sunset. It also features Venus , third brightest…
Rampaging Supernova Remnant N63A
What has this supernova left behind? As little as 2,000 years ago, light from a massive stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) first reached planet Earth. The LMC…
Galaxies in View
Galaxies abound in this cosmic scene , a well chosen telescopic view toward the northern constellation of Ursa Major . Most noticeable are the striking pair of spiral galaxies -…
Viewing discoveries from 30 June 2005 through 7 June 2005.