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.
Southern Geminids
At least 34 meteors are included in this composite image as they rain through Australian skies during the annual Geminid Meteor shower . Dust particles strung out along the orbit…
Mojave Desert Fireball
Monstrously bright, this fireball meteor lit up the Mojave Desert sky Monday morning, part of this year's impressive Geminid meteor shower . Seen toward the southwest over rock…
Comet Hyakutake Passes the Earth
In 1996, an unexpectedly bright comet passed by planet Earth. Discovered less than two months before, Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake came within only 1/10th of the Earth-Sun distance…
A Fading Moonset Over Hong Kong
Do stars appear dimmer when nearer the horizon? Yes -- atmospheric air absorbs and reradiates light, so that the greater the airmass through which one peers, the fainter an object…
Saturns Hexagon Comes to Light
Believe it or not, this is the North Pole of Saturn. It is unclear how an unusual hexagonal cloud system that surrounds Saturn's north pole was created, keeps its shape, or how…
Crescent Neptune and Triton
Gliding silently through the outer Solar System , the Voyager 2 spacecraft camera captured Neptune and Triton together in crescent phase in 1989. The above picture of the gas…
Geminid Meteor over Monument Valley
The Geminids are expected to put on a good show this year. Created as planet Earth sweeps through dusty debris from extinct comet Phaethon , the annual Geminid meteor shower is…
Messier Craters in Stereo
Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier , from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also…
The Colors of IC 1795
This colorful cosmic portrait features glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds in IC 1795, a star forming region in the northern constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula's colors were…
HUDF Infrared: Dawn of the Galaxies
When did galaxies form? To help find out, the deepest near-infrared image of the sky ever has been taken of the same field as the optical-light Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) in…
Ice Moon Tethys from Saturn-Orbiting Cassini
What processes formed the unusual surface of Saturn's moon Tethys? To help find out, NASA sent the robotic Cassini spacecraft right past the enigmatic ice moon in 2005. Pictured…
The International Space Station Over the Horizon
This was home. Just over a week ago, the STS-129 crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth. As the shuttle…
The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, was the brightest comet of the last 40 years. Its spectacular tail spread across the sky and was breathtaking to behold from dark…
Himalayan Skyscape
Capella , alpha star of the constellation Auriga , rises over Mt. Everest in this panoramic view of the top of the world at night . The scene was recorded in late November near…
The Double Cluster
A lovely starfield in the heroic northern constellation Perseus holds this famous pair of open or galactic star clusters, h and Chi Persei . Also cataloged as NGC 869 (right) and…
Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660
NGC 660 lies near the center of this intriguing field of galaxies swimming within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces . Over 20 million light-years away, its peculiar…
Dust Sculptures in the Rosette Nebula
What creates the cosmic dust sculptures in the Rosette Nebula? Noted for the common beauty of its overall shape , parts of the Rosette Nebula , also known as NGC 2237 , show…
NGC 6992: Filaments of the Veil Nebula
Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,500 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula , also known as the Cygnus Loop.…
Bright Sun and Crescent Earth from the Space Station
This was just one more breathtaking view from the International Space Station. The Sun, a crescent Earth, and the long arm of a solar panel were all visible outside a window when…
Ancient Layered Hills on Mars
Is this a picture of Mars or Earth? Oddly enough, it is a picture of Mars . What may appear to some as a terrestrial coastline is in fact a formation of ancient layered hills and…
Annapurna Star Trails
In myth, Atlas holds up the heavens. But in this moonlit mountainscape, peaks of the Himalayan Annapurna Range appear to prop up the sky as seen from Ghandruk, Nepal. From left to…
The Jets of NGC 1097
Enigmatic spiral galaxy NGC 1097 lies about 45 million light-years away in the southern constellation Fornax . The small companion galaxy, just below and left of center, that…
M78 Wide Field
Interstellar dust clouds and glowing nebulae abound in the fertile constellation of Orion . One of the brightest, M78 , is centered in this colorful, wide field view , covering an…
All-Sky Milky Way Panorama
If you could go far away from the Earth and look around the entire sky -- what would you see? Such was the goal of the All-Sky Milky Way Panorama 2.0 project of Axel Mellinger.…
Viewing discoveries from 18 December 2009 through 25 November 2009.