Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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NGC 7008: The Fetus Nebula
Compact and round, NGC 7008 is recognized as a planetary nebula about 2,800 light-years distant in the nebula rich constellation of Cygnus. This impressive telescopic view shows…
Grand Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232
Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232 , captured in detail by one of the new Very Large Telescopes , is a…
The Matter of the Bullet Cluster
The matter in galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, fondly known as the “bullet cluster”, is shown in this composite image . A mere 3.4 billion light-years away, the bullet cluster's…
Active Galaxy NGC 1275
Active galaxy NGC 1275 is the central, dominant member of the large and relatively nearby Perseus Cluster of Galaxies . A prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission, NGC 1275…
August Moons
This August was eclipse season . The month's first New Moon and Full Moon were both seen in darkened skies during a solar and lunar eclipse. Blocking the Sun, the left panel's New…
Earth's Shadow
The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra . Shaped like a cone extending into space, the umbra has a circular cross section that can be most easily seen during a…
NGC 6960: The Witch's Broom Nebula
Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history , a new light must suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light…
Baily's Beads near Solar Eclipse Totality
Just before the Sun blacks out, something strange occurs. As the Moon moves to completely cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse , beads of bright sunlight stream around the edge…
Io's Surface: Under Construction
Like the downtown area of your favorite city, the roads you drive to work on, and any self-respecting web site ... Io's surface is constantly under construction . This moon of…
Perseid over Vancouver
Colorful and bright, the city lights of Vancouver, Canada are reflected in the water in this portrait of the world at night . Recorded on August 12 during the Perseid Meteor…
Facing NGC 6946
From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy , we see NGC 6946 face-on . The big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 10 million light-years away, behind a veil of…
Perseid Trail
This bright and colorful meteor flashed through Tuesday's early morning skies, part of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. The lovely image is one of over 350 frames captured on…
NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula
NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. This beautiful telescopic view…
A Mars Panorama from the Phoenix Lander
If you could stand on Mars, what would you see? The robotic Phoenix spacecraft that just landed on Mars in May recorded the above spectacular panorama . The above image is…
Black Hole Candidate Cygnus X-1
Is that a black hole? Quite possibly. The Cygnus X-1 binary star system contains one of the best candidates for a black hole . The system was discovered because it is one of the…
The Eagle Rises
Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this remarkable stereo view from lunar orbit. Created from two photographs ( AS11-44-6633 , AS11-44-6634 ) taken by astronaut Michael…
Aurora Persei
Dark skies are favored for viewing meteor showers -- so the best viewing of this year's Perseids will occur in the early morning. While the Perseid meteor shower is scheduled to…
The Crown of the Sun
During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere, or corona, is an inspirational sight. The subtle shades and shimmering features of the corona that engage the…
At the Sun's Edge
A train trip on the Trans-Siberian railway to Novosibirsk resulted in this stunning view along the edge of the Sun recorded during the August 1st total solar eclipse . The picture…
NGC 1818: A Young Globular Cluster
Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way . Back in the old days , back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed our Galaxy . Today, there are…
A Total Solar Eclipse Over China
What's that black dot over the Sun? The Moon. This past weekend, the Sun went dark during the day as the Moon completely covered it. The total solar eclipse was visible over a…
X-Rays from the Cat's Eye Nebula
Haunting patterns within planetary nebula NGC 6543 readily suggest its popular moniker -- the Cat's Eye nebula. Starting in 1995, stunning false-color optical images from the…
Open Cluster NGC 290: A Stellar Jewel Box
Jewels don't shine this bright -- only stars do. Like gems in a jewel box, though, the stars of open cluster NGC 290 glitter in a beautiful display of brightness and color. The…
Eclipse Shirt
Of course , everyone is concerned about what to wear to a solar eclipse . No need to worry though, nature often conspires to project images of the eclipse so that stylish and…
Viewing discoveries from 25 August 2008 through 2 August 2008.