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.
47 Tuc Near the Small Magellanic Cloud
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 around 200 other globular star…
Plasma Jets from Radio Galaxy Hercules A
Why does this galaxy emit such spectacular jets? No one is sure, but it is likely related to an active supermassive black hole at its center. The galaxy at the image center ,…
In the Center of Saturn's North Polar Vortex
What's happening at the north pole of Saturn? A vortex of strange and complex swirling clouds. The center of this vortex was imaged in unprecedented detail last week by the…
A Quadruple Lunar Halo Over Spain
Sometimes falling ice crystals make the atmosphere into a giant lens causing arcs and halos to appear around the Sun or Moon. This past Saturday night was just such a time near…
The Gegenschein Over Chile
Is the night sky darkest in the direction opposite the Sun? No. In fact, a rarely discernable faint glow known as the gegenschein (German for “counter glow”) can be seen 180…
Northern Mercury
Innermost planet Mercury would probably not be a good location for an interplanetary winter olympics . But new results based on data from the Mercury orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft…
Clouds in Cygnus
Cosmic clouds of gas and dust drift across this magnificent mosaic covering a 12x12 degree field within the high flying constellation Cygnus. The collaborative skyscape, a…
Super Moon vs. Micro Moon
Did you see the big, bright, beautiful Full Moon Wednesday night? That was actually a Micro Moon! On that night, the smallest Full Moon of 2012 reached its full phase only about 4…
Jupiter and Io
On December 3 (UT), Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet , will be at opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky, shining brightly and rising as the Sun sets. That…
Bright Jupiter in Taurus
That bright star you've recently noticed rising just after sunset isn't a star at all. It's Jupiter , the solar system's ruling gas giant. Bright Jupiter is nearing its December…
Wisps of the Veil Nebula
Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 9,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula , also known as the Cygnus Loop.…
Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered…
NGC 1365: Majestic Spiral with Supernova
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation…
The Pipe Nebula
East of Antares, dark markings sprawl through crowded star fields toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard , the…
Night of the Long Leonid
A cosmic grain of sand left the long and colorful trail across this all-sky view . Its grazing impact with planet Earth's atmosphere began at 71 kilometers per second . With the…
Diamond Ring and Shadow Bands
As the total phase of last week's solar eclipse came to an end, sunlight streaming past the edge of the Moon created the fleeting appearance of a glistening diamond ring in the…
A Halo Around the Moon
Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal…
Leonids Over Monument Valley
What's happening in the sky over Monument Valley ? A meteor shower. Over the past weekend the Leonid meteor shower has been peaking. The image -- actually a composite of six…
NGC 6357: Cathedral to Massive Stars
How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of…
Like a Diamond in the Sky
A dark Sun hung over Queensland, Australia on Wednesday morning during a much anticipated total solar eclipse . Storm clouds threatened to spoil the view along the northern coast,…
Moon Shadow Sequence
On the morning of November 14, the Moon's umbral shadow tracked across northern Australia before heading into the southern Pacific. Captured from a hilltop some 30 miles west of…
Solar Eclipse over Queensland
This month's New Moon brought a total solar eclipse to parts of planet Earth on November 13 (UT) . Most of the total eclipse track fell across the southern Pacific, but the Moon's…
Our Story in One Minute
Could you tell the story of human existence in a minute? This thrilling video culls together multiple teasing snippets in an attempt to do just that. And sets it to music. Briefly…
A Solar Eclipse Quilt
Some people are so inspired by solar eclipses that they quilt . Pictured above is a resulting textile from one such inspiration. The 38x38 inch quilt offers impressions of a total…
Viewing discoveries from 6 December 2012 through 13 November 2012.