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.
Gibbous Europa
Although the phase of this moon might appear familiar, the moon itself might not. In fact, this gibbous phase shows part of Jupiter 's moon Europa . The robot spacecraft Galileo…
Opportunity at Santa Maria Crater
Celebrating 7 years on the surface of the Red Planet , Mars exploration rover Opportunity now stands near the rim of 90 meter wide Santa Maria crater . Remarkably, Opportunity and…
Tomorrow's picture:
Featured in this artist's illustration, NASA's NanoSail-D finally unfurled a very thin, 10 square meter reflective sail on January 20th, becoming the first solar sail spacecraft…
Hidden Treasures of M78
M78 isn't really hiding in planet Earth's night sky. About 1,600 light-years away and nestled in the nebula rich constellation Orion , the large, bright, reflection nebula is…
The Whirlpool Galaxy in Infrared Dust
How do spiral galaxies form stars? To help find out, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the nearby photogenic spiral M51 in infrared light to highlight the dust that traces the…
The Rippled Red Ribbons of SNR 0509
What is causing the picturesque ripples of supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5? The ripples, as well as the greater nebula, were imaged in unprecedented detail by the Hubble Space…
Phobos' South Pole from Mars Express
Where on this moon would you land? The moon pictured above is not Earth's moon but Phobos , the closest moon to the planet Mars. Phobos is so close to Mars that it is expected to…
Peekskill Fireball Video: Johnstown
The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on 16 independent videos and then struck a car. Documented as brighter than the full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of…
Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660
NGC 660 lies near the center of this intriguing skyscape , swimming in the boundaries of the constellation Pisces . Over 20 million light-years away, its peculiar appearance marks…
Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
Alnitak , Alnilam , and Mintaka , are the bright bluish stars from east to west (left to right) along the diagonal in this gorgeous cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of…
The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda
The big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy , aka M31, is a spiral galaxy a mere 2.5 million light-years away. Two space-based observatories have combined to produce this intriguing…
Saturn Storm
Late last year, a new, remarkably bright storm erupted in Saturn's northern hemisphere. Amateur astronomers first spotted it in early December, with the ringed gas giant rising in…
Kona Galaxy Garden
How does your galaxy grow? Quite contrary to a typical galaxy, this one needs water to flourish. Pictured above as it appears at the Paleaku Peace Gardens Sanctuary in Kona ,…
Night and Day above Almost Planet Sounio
Has a new planet been discovered? What is pictured above is a remarkable 24 hour mosaic surrounding a spot on Sounio , Greece , right here on planet Earth . Images taken at night…
Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104 , it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters…
A Total Eclipse at the End of the World
Would you go to the end of the world to see a total eclipse of the Sun? If you did, would you be surprised to find someone else there already? In 2003, the Sun, the Moon,…
Quadrantids over Qumis
The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers. It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early morning hours of January 4. The…
NGC 3521 Close Up
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years distant, toward the constellation Leo . Spanning some 50,000 light-years, its central region is shown in this…
The Seagull Nebula
This broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth , suggesting its popular moniker - The Seagull Nebula . This portrait of…
The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula
It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud , a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way…
A Sun Halo Beyond Stockholm
What's happened to the Sun? Sometimes it looks like the Sun is being viewed through a large lens . In the above case, however, there are actually millions of lenses: ice crystals…
The Antikythera Mechanism
What is it? It was found at the bottom of the sea aboard an ancient Greek ship. Its seeming complexity has prompted decades of study, although some of its functions remained…
NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius , a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a…
Sunset, Moonset
Seen from central and northern Asia, the Sun and New Moon set together on January 4, in a partial solar eclipse . Close to its maximum phase, the eclipse is captured near the…
Viewing discoveries from 30 January 2011 through 7 January 2011.