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.
Bonestell Panorama from Mars
If you could stand on Mars -- what could you see? One memorable vista might be the above 360-degree panoramic image taken by the robotic Spirit rover over the last year. The above…
Methane Discovered in the Atmosphere of Mars
Why is there methane on Mars? No one is sure. An important confirmation that methane exists in the atmosphere of Mars occurred last week, bolstering previous controversial claims…
Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters
What lies at the bottom of Hyperion 's strange craters? Nobody knows. To help find out, the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn swooped past the sponge-textured moon in…
IC 410 and NGC 1893
Dusty emission nebula IC 410 lies about 12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation Auriga . The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar…
ISS: Reflections of Earth
Remarkable details are visible in this view of the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), recorded with a small telescope on planet Earth through a clear twilight sky. Seen…
Suspension Bridge Solargraph
If every picture tells a story, this one might make a novel. The six month long exposure compresses the time from December 17, 2007 to June 21, 2008 into a single point of view .…
NGC 2170: Celestial Still Life
Is this a painting or a photograph? In this beautiful celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 shines near the image center. Reflecting the light…
Largest Full Moon of 2009
A larger moon will not be seen this year. This past weekend, the largest full Moon of 2009 could be seen from almost any clear location on planet Earth at night . The large…
Unusual Light Pillars Over Latvia
What's happening over that town? Close inspection shows these strange columns of light occur over bright lights, and so likely involve falling ice crystals reflecting back these…
In the Shadow of Saturn
In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn recently drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours and looked back…
Martian Sunset
This month, the Mars Exploration Rovers are celebrating their 5th anniversary of operations on the surface of the Red Planet. The serene sunset view , part of their extensive…
NGC 4945 in Centaurus
Large, dusty, spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen edge-on near the center of this rich telescopic image . The field of view spans nearly 2 degrees, or about 4 times the width of the…
NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula
This shock wave plows through space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Moving right to left in the beautifully detailed color composite, the thin, braided filaments are actually…
The Galactic Core in Infrared
What's happening at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy? To help find out, the orbiting Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have combined their efforts to survey the region in…
Jupiter Eclipsing Ganymede
How hazy is Jupiter's upper atmosphere? To help find out, astronomers deployed the Hubble Space Telescope to watch Jupiter eclipse its moon Ganymede . Although Ganymede circles…
Comet and Meteor
This meteor streaking toward the horizon through the early morning sky of January 4th is from the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Aligned with the shower's radiant point high in…
Breaking Distant Light
In the distant universe, time appears to run slowly. Since time-dilated light appears shifted toward the red end of the spectrum (redshifted), astronomers are able to use…
Double Cluster in Perseus
Some 7,000 light-years away, this pair of open or galactic star clusters is an easy binocular target, a lovely starfield in the northern constellation Perseus . Also visible to…
Alpine Conjunction
Did you see it? The last conjunction of Moon and bright planets in 2008 featured a young crescent Moon and brilliant Venus in the west after sunset on December 31st. Seen here in…
Welcome to the International Year of Astronomy
Astronomers all over planet Earth invite you to experience the night sky as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 . This year was picked by the International…
The Sky in Motion
Still need to come up with a good new year's resolution? Consider one appropriate for 2009, the International Year of Astronomy; just look up -- experience, learn, and enjoy the…
Home from Above
There's no place like home . Peering out of the window of the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Greg Chamitoff takes in the planet on which we were all born. About 350…
NGC 1569: Starburst in a Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small, irregular galaxies form…
Thackeray's Globules
Rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas silhouette dense, opaque clouds of interstellar gas and dust in this Hubble Space Telescope close-up of IC 2944 , a bright star forming…
Viewing discoveries from 20 January 2009 through 28 December 2008.