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.
Black Sun and Inverted Starfield
Does this strange dark ball look somehow familiar? If so, that might be because it is our Sun. In the above image, a detailed solar view was captured originally in a very specific…
The Hubble Extreme Deep Field
What did the first galaxies look like? To help answer this question, the Hubble Space Telescope has just finished taking the eXtreme Deep Field (XDF), the deepest image of the…
Galaxies, Stars, and Dust
Spiky stars and spooky shapes abound in this deep cosmic skyscape . Its well-composed field of view covers about 2 Full Moons on the sky toward the constellation Pegasus . Of…
Pan-STARRS and Nebulae
A single field from the world's most powerful survey instrument captures this spectacular skyview. Looking toward Sagittarius, the scene spans nearly 3 degrees or six times the…
Aurorae over Planet Earth
North America at night is easy to recognize in this view of our fair planet from orbit, acquired by the Suomi-NPP satellite on October 8. The spectacular waves of visible light…
Nauset Light Star Trails
In myth, Atlas holds up the heavens, but in this scene they seem to pivot around a lighthouse beacon. Photographed with a camera fixed to a tripod, the well-planned image, a…
Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this detailed mosaic image of faint supernova remnant Simeis 147 (S147). Also cataloged as Sh2-240, it covers nearly 3…
Spherical Planetary Nebula Abell 39
Ghostly in appearance, Abell 39 is a remarkably simple, spherical nebula about five light-years across. Well within our own Milky Way galaxy, the cosmic sphere is roughly 7,000…
The Same Color Illusion
Are square A and B the same color? They are! To verify this, either run your cursor over the image or click here to see them connected. The above illusion , called the same color…
At the Heart of Orion
Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait , at the heart of the Orion Nebula , are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium . Gathered within a region about 1.5…
Aurora and Fireball Over Norway
What's happening behind that mountain? A convergence of variable sky spectacles. One night in mid-September near Troms , Norway , high red aurora could be seen shimmering through…
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…
Goat Aurora Over Greenland
Sometimes it's hard to believe what you see in the sky. During the Shelios Expedition to Greenland in late August, even veteran sky enthusiasts saw auroras so colorful, so fast…
An Ancient Stream Bank on Mars
Fresh evidence of an ancient stream has been found on Mars. The robotic rover Curiosity has run across unusual surface features that carry a strong resemblance to stream banks on…
Introducing Comet ISON
Could this dim spot brighten into one of the brightest comets ever? It's possible. Alternatively , the comet could break up when it gets closer to the Sun, or brighten much more…
A Galaxy Collision in NGC 6745
Galaxies don't normally look like this. NGC 6745 actually shows the results of two galaxies that have been colliding for only hundreds of millions of years. Just off the above…
NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus . Sometimes…
Stars in a Dusty Sky
Bright star Markab anchors this dusty skyscape. At the top right corner of the frame, Markab itself marks a corner of an asterism known as the Great Square , found within the…
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…
A Space Shuttle Over Los Angeles
It's not every day that a space shuttle lands at LAX. Although this was a first for the major Los Angeles airport hub, it was a last for the space shuttle Endeavour, as it…
Unusual Spheres on Mars
Why are these strange little spheres on Mars? The robotic rover Opportunity chanced across these unusually shaped beads earlier this month while exploring a place named Kirkwood…
NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula
This shock wave plows through space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Moving toward to bottom of this beautifully detailed color composite, the thin, braided filaments are…
Equinox: The Sun from Solstice to Solstice
Yesterday was an equinox, a date when day and night are equal. Today, and every day until the next equinox , the night will be longer than the day in Earth's northern hemisphere,…
Austrian Analemma
Today, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south at 14:49 Universal Time. An equinox (equal night), this astronomical event marks the first day of autumn in the northern…
Viewing discoveries from 15 October 2012 through 22 September 2012.