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.
Crab Pulsar Wind Nebula
The Crab Pulsar , a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second, lies at the center of this remarkable image from the orbiting Chandra Observatory. The deep…
The Elephant's Trunk in IC 1396
Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story , the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396 , in the high and far off…
Fox Fur, a Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas fill this colorful skyscape in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros , the Unicorn. A star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264 , the…
Earthrise
Forty years ago, in December of 1968, the Apollo 8 crew flew from the Earth to the Moon and back again. Frank Borman , James Lovell , and William Anders were launched atop a…
Collinder 399: The Coat Hanger
Is this coat hanger a star cluster or an asterism? This cosmic hang-up has been debated over much of last century, as astronomers wondered whether this binocular-visible object is…
Labtayt Sulci on Saturn's Enceladus
Do some surface features on Enceladus roll like a conveyor belt ? A leading interpretation of recent images taken of Saturn's most explosive moon indicate that they do. This form…
Analemma Over the Porch of Maidens
If you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the shape traced out by the Sun over the course of a year…
Solstice at Newgrange
Tomorrow's solstice marks the southernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of winter in the north. In celebration of the…
The Large Cloud of Magellan
The 16th century 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,…
La Superba
Y Canum Venaticorum (Y CVn) is a very rare star in planet Earth's night sky. It's also very red, exhibiting such a remarkable spectrum of light, 19th century astronomer Angelo…
The Dumbbells
These two nebulae are cataloged as M27 (left) and M76, popularly known as The Dumbbell and the Little Dumbbell . Not intended to indicate substandard mental prowess, their popular…
Orion Dawn Over Mount Nemrut
What's that in front of Orion? Forty kilometers north of Kahta , Turkey , lies Mount Nemrut , a mountain adorned with the fragments of vast statues built over 2000 years ago. The…
A Sun Pillar Over North Carolina
Have you ever seen a sun pillar ? When the air is cold and the Sun is rising or setting , falling ice crystals can reflect sunlight and create an unusual column of light. Ice…
Zodiacal Light Over New Mexico
An unusual triangle of light is visible this time of year just before dawn. Once considered a false dawn , this triangle of light is actually Zodiacal Light , light reflected from…
The 60-inch Reflector
On the night of December 13, 1908, 100 years ago today, the 60-inch diameter reflecting telescope of Mount Wilson Observatory was first tested on the stars. It became the first…
Lick Observatory Moonrise
As viewed from a well chosen location at sunset , October's gorgeous Full Moon rose behind Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose, California. Captured in this lovely telescopic view,…
At the Center of the Milky Way
At the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies a supermassive black hole . Once a controversial claim, this conclusion is now solidly based on 16 years of observations that map the…
Portrait of NGC 281
Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281 and it's almost easy to miss stars of open cluster IC 1590 . But, formed within the nebula, that cluster's young, massive stars…
M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city . Also known as the Seven Sisters and…
The Dark Doodad Nebula
What is that strange dark ribbon on the sky? When observing the great globular cluster NGC 4372, observers frequently take note of a strange dark streak nearly three degrees in…
A Halo Around the Moon
Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal…
Lunar Diamond
Cameras around the globe pointed skyward this week to capture the spectacular conjunction of a crescent Moon and bright planets Venus and Jupiter. But astronomer-artist Deirdre…
Smile in the Sky
At sunset, Monday's western sky showed off stunning colors and dramatic clouds reflected in Brisbane Water on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It also featured the…
Venus in the Moon
On December 1, bright planets Venus and Jupiter gathered near the young crescent Moon, an inspiring celestial scene in early evening skies around the world . But from some…
Viewing discoveries from 27 December 2008 through 4 December 2008.