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.
Noctilucent Clouds Over Germany
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…
Molecular Cloud Barnard 68
Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud . Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular…
Atlas 5 Rocket Launches to the Moon
This rocket is headed for the Moon. Pictured above , a huge Altas V rocket roared off the launch pad last week to start NASA's first missions to Earth's Moon in 10 years. The…
Sunrise over the Parthenon
Today, the sun will stay in the sky longer than any other day of the year, as seen from the northern hemisphere of Earth. Named the Summer Solstice, today's maximum daylight is…
Seaside Moon Mirage
This surprising view of the Full Moon rising on June 7 was captured with a telephoto lens from a seaside balcony near Nice, France. The orange Moon's dark markings and odd shape…
Dunhuang Star Atlas
This ancient Chinese map of planet Earth's northern sky is part of the Dunhuang Star Atlas, one of the most impressive documents in the history of astronomy . The oldest complete…
NGC 6240: Merging Galaxies
NGC 6240 offers a rare glimpse of a cosmic catastrophe in its final throes. The titanic galaxy-galaxy collision is located a mere 400 million light-years away in the constellation…
M13: A Great Globular Cluster of Stars
M13 is one of the most prominent and best known globular clusters . Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hercules , M13 is frequently one of the first objects found by…
Moonrise Over Turkey
Is the Moon larger when near the horizon? No -- as shown above, the Moon appears to be very nearly the same size no matter its location on the sky. Oddly, the cause or causes for…
Streaming Dark Nebulas near B44
Dark dust lit by the bright yellow star Antares highlight this photogenic starscape of the southern sky. A wider angle image shows the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy…
Stars at the Galactic Center
The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista , the Spitzer Space…
The Milky Road
Inspired by the night skies of planet Earth in the International Year of Astronomy , photographer Larry Landolfi created this tantalizing fantasy view. The composited image…
SNR 0104: An Unusual Suspect
SNR 0104 is a supernova remnant with an unusual shape. Found 190,000 light-years away in our neighboring galaxy the Small Magellanic Cloud , SNR 0104 is suspected of being the…
Pyrenees Paraselene
A sea of clouds laps at rugged mountain peaks of the French Pyrenees in this serene view from Pic du Midi Observatory. The time exposure was recorded on June 4, with the…
A Dusty Iris Nebula
These clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus . Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and…
Markarian's Chain of Galaxies
Across the heart of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies lies a striking string of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. The chain, pictured above , is highlighted on the upper right with…
Possible Jet Blown Shells Near Microquasar Cygnus X-1
What happens to matter that falls toward an energetic black hole? In the case of Cygnus X-1 , perhaps little of that matter actually makes it in. Infalling gas may first collide…
Asteroid Eros Reconstructed
Orbiting the Sun between Mars and Earth , asteroid 433 Eros was visited by the robot spacecraft NEAR-Shoemaker in 2000 February. High-resolution surface images and measurements…
One-Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725
While most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way , have two or more spiral arms, NGC 4725 seems to have only one. In this sharp color image , the solo spira mirabilis is…
Stars and Dust Across Corona Australis
Cosmic dust clouds sprawl across a rich field of stars in this sweeping telescopic vista near the northern boundary of Corona Australis , the Southern Crown. Probably less than…
Sunspots on a Cloudy Day
On June 2nd, clouds over Stuttgart, Germany parted to reveal what has become a relatively rare sight, spots on the Sun . In fact, the roughly 11-year solar activity cycle is still…
VB 10: A Large Planet Orbiting a Small Star
Can a planet be as large as the star that it orbits? Recent observations have discovered that nearby Van Biesbroeck's star might have just such a large planet. Although VB 10 lies…
Spokes Reappear on Saturn's Rings
What causes the mysterious spokes in Saturn's rings? Visible in the above image as light ghostlike impressions, spokes were first discovered in the mid-1970s and first…
Spirit Encounters Soft Ground on Mars
Will Spirit be able to free itself from soft ground on Mars? The robotic Spirit rover currently rolling across Mars ran into unexpectedly soft ground last month while exploring…
Viewing discoveries from 24 June 2009 through 1 June 2009.