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.
Layered Hills in Arabia Terra on Mars
Why are some hills on Mars so layered? The answer is still under investigation. Clearly, dark windblown sand surrounds outcropping of light sedimentary rock across the floor of…
Night of the Perseids
On the night of August 12, from moonset until dawn was a good time to see meteors. Enthusiasts watched as comet dust rained on planet Earth, streaking through dark skies during…
Arp 286: Trio in Virgo
A remarkable telescopic composition in yellow and blue, this scene features a trio of interacting galaxies almost 90 million light-years away, toward the constellation Virgo . On…
Perseid Prelude
Each August, as planet Earth swings through dust trailing along the orbit of periodic comet Swift-Tuttle , skygazers can enjoy the Perseid Meteor Shower . The shower should build…
Crepuscular Rays Over Lake Michigan
What could cause such rays of dark? Dark sky rays were caught in spectacular fashion earlier last month from Pentwater , Michigan , USA , looking west over Lake Michigan . The…
The Sand Dunes of Titan
Why do some sand dunes on Titan appear backwards? Central Titan , it turns out, is covered by sand , some of which appears strange. Images from the Cassini spacecraft currently…
IRAS 05437+2502: An Enigmatic Star Cloud from Hubble
What's lighting up nebula IRAS 05437+2502? No one is sure. Particularly enigmatic is the bright upside-down V that defines the upper edge of this floating mountain of interstellar…
Two Hours Before Neptune
Two hours before closest approach to Neptune in 1989, the Voyager 2 robot spacecraft snapped this picture . Clearly visible for the first time were long light-colored cirrus -type…
Rainbow at Sunset
Where is the Sun when you see a rainbow? Behind you, of course . But you can see both a rainbow and the Sun (far right) side by side in this graceful panorama recorded on July 28.…
The Not So Quiet Sun
After a long solar minimum , the Sun is no longer so quiet . On August 1, this extreme ultraviolet snapshot of the Sun from the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a complex burst…
M8: The Lagoon Nebula
This beautiful cosmic cloud is a popular stop on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius . Eighteenth century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged the bright nebula…
Eclipse Shadow Cone Over Patagonia
Sometimes, during a total eclipse of the Sun, a strange shadow of darkness can be seen stretching off into the distance. Called shadow cones, they are visible because the Earth's…
The Planet and the Radio Dish
What planet is this? Although seemingly something out of The Little Prince , the planet is actually Earth. More specifically, it is a small part of the Earth incorporated into a…
Prometheus Creating Saturn Ring Streamers
What's causing those strange dark streaks in the rings of Saturn? Prometheus . Specifically, an orbital dance involving Saturn's moon Prometheus keeps creating unusual light and…
Venus' Once Molten Surface
If you could look across Venus with radar eyes, what might you see? This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft.…
Four Planet Sunset
This mesmerizing sunset photo was taken from the summit of volcanic Mount Lawu , 3,265 meters above sea level, on July 21. The view looks west, toward the city lights of Surakarta…
Eclipse on the Beach
As the New Moon's shadow slid across the southern Pacific on July 11, people gathered along the white, sandy Anakena Beach on the north side of Easter Island to watch a total…
Sunset, Shadowrise
From central Australia, this serene 360 degree panorama follows a clear horizon as twilight began on May 28. At left, a bright western sky is still illuminated by the setting Sun.…
The Trifid Nebula is Stars and Dust
Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together in the Trifid Nebula . Also known as M20, this photogenic nebula is visible with good binoculars towards the…
The Milky Way Over Bryce Canyon
What are those strange rock structures? They are towers and walls of sedimentary rock that are particularly plentiful in Bryce Canyon in Utah , USA . The rock columns may rise…
Lutetia: The Largest Asteroid Yet Visited
As humans explore the universe, the record for largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft has increased yet again. Earlier this month, ESA's robotic Rosetta spacecraft zipped past…
Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth
What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend…
Diamond Ring and Shadow Bands
As the total phase of July 11's solar eclipse came to an end, sunlight streaming past the edge of the Moon's silhouette created the fleeting appearance of a glistening diamond…
Messier 76
“Nebula at the right foot of Andromeda ... ” begins the description for the 76th object in Charles Messier's 18th century Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters . In fact, M76 is…
Viewing discoveries from 15 August 2010 through 23 July 2010.