Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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The Horsehead Nebula
One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion , is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud . Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first…
The Moon's Saturn
On May 22nd, just days after sharing the western evening sky with Venus , the Moon moved on to Saturn - actually passing in front of the ringed planet when viewed in skies over…
Jupiter, Vesta, and the Milky Way
In this gorgeous skyscape, gas giant Jupiter along with the stars and cosmic dust clouds of the Milky Way hang over the southern horizon in the early morning hours as seen from…
The Tulip in the Swan
This expansive (1-degree wide) telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan . It is centered on a bright…
Venus Near the Moon
The two brightest objects in the night sky appeared to go right past each other last week. On the night of May 19, Earth's Moon and the planet Venus were visible in the same part…
Orange Sun Oozing
The Sun's surface keeps changing. Click the central arrow and watch how the Sun's surface oozes during a single hour. The Sun's photosphere has thousands of bumps called granules…
In the Center of Reflection Nebula NGC 1333
The dust is so thick in the center of NGC 1333 that you can hardly see the stars forming. Conversely, the very dust clouds that hide the stars also reflects their optical light ,…
A Spherule from the Earth's Moon
How did this spherule come to be on the Moon? When a meteorite strikes the Moon , the energy of the impact melts some of the splattering rock , a fraction of which might cool into…
Circum-axial Leaf Trails
Are photographs of star trails really evidence of the Earth's rotation about its axis? Yes they are, and science journalist Trudy E. Bell discovered that there is a simple way to…
M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
In 1714, Edmond Halley noted that M13 “shows itself to the naked eye when the sky is serene and the Moon absent.” Of course, M13 is now modestly recognized as the Great Globular…
The Milky Way Near the Southern Cross
The glow of the southern Milky Way and the well-known Southern Cross are featured in this colorful skyscape recorded in April over La Frontera, Chile. The Southern Cross ( Crux )…
Dark Matter Ring Modeled around Galaxy Cluster CL0024+17
How do we know that dark matter isn't just normal matter exhibiting strange gravity? A new observation of gravitationally magnified faint galaxies far in the distance behind a…
Bright Spiral Galaxy M81 in Ultraviolet from Galex
Where are the hot stars in M81, one of the closest major spiral galaxies? To help find out, astronomers took a deep image in ultraviolet light of the sprawling spiral with the…
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Rotating Earth from Galileo
When passing Earth on your way to Jupiter, what should you look for? That question arose for the robotic Galileo spacecraft that soundlessly coasted past the Solar System's most…
The Cat's Eye Nebula from Hubble
Staring across interstellar space, the alluring Cat's Eye nebula lies three thousand light-years from Earth. A classic planetary nebula , the Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) represents a…
HD 189733b: Hot Jupiter
HD 189733b is a Jupiter-sized planet known to orbit a star some 63 light-years away. But while the distant world is approximately the size of Jupiter, its close-in orbit makes it…
LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion
The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene, based on images from the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey . Lynds' Dark Nebula ( LDN ) 1622 appears against a…
SN 2006GY: Brightest Supernova
The stellar explosion cataloged as supernova SN 2006gy shines in this wide-field image (left) of its host galaxy, NGC 1260, and expanded view (upper right panel) of the region…
The Snowflake Cluster versus the Cone Nebula
Strange shapes and textures can be found in the neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. These patterns result from the tumultuous unrest that accompanies the formation of the open…
A Dark Sky Over Death Valley
This eerie glow over Death Valley is in danger. Scrolling right will show a spectacular view from one of the darkest places left in the continental USA : Death Valley , California…
Europa Rising
When passing Jupiter on your way to Pluto, what should you look for? NASA pondered just this question recently, and the response from one space enthusiast was to capture the above…
Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
In the center of star-forming region 30 Doradus lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. These stars, known as the star cluster R136 , and part of…
Sombrero Galaxy Across the Spectrum
Appropriately famous for its broad ring of obscuring dust and hat-like appearance, the Sombrero Galaxy (aka spiral galaxy M104 ) is featured in this unique composite view that…
The Iron Tail of Comet McNaught
Outstanding in planet Earth's sky early this year, Comet McNaught is captured in this view from the STEREO A spacecraft. McNaught's coma is so bright, it blooms into the long…
Viewing discoveries from 27 May 2007 through 4 May 2007.