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.
Sweeping Through Southern Skies
For now , Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6), and Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) are sweeping through southern skies. Lemmon's lime green coma and thin tail are near the left edge of this…
Shadows Across Jupiter
Two dark shadows loom across the banded and mottled cloud tops of Jupiter in this sharp telescopic view. In fact, captured on January 3rd, about a month after the ruling gas giant…
Solar System Portrait
On another Valentine's Day (February 14, 1990), cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back to make this first ever family portrait of our Solar…
Infrared Orion from WISE
The Great Nebula in Orion is a intriguing place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion . But this image , an illusory-color…
Reflected Aurora Over Alaska
Some auroras can only be seen with a camera. They are called subvisual and are too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. In the above image , the green aurora were easily visible…
N11: Star Clouds of the LMC
Massive stars, abrasive winds , mountains of dust , and energetic light sculpt one of the largest and most picturesque regions of star formation in the Local Group of Galaxies .…
Asteroids in the Distance
Rocks from space hit Earth every day. The larger the rock, though, the less often Earth is struck. Many kilograms of space dust pitter to Earth daily. Larger bits appear initially…
The Great Meteor Procession of 1913
One hundred years ago today the Great Meteor Procession of 1913 occurred, a sky event described by some as “magnificent” and “entrancing” and which left people feeling…
NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy
Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small galaxies form stars too,…
Comet Lemmon near the South Celestial Pole
Currently sweeping through southern skies, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) was named for its discovery last year as part of the Mount Lemmon (Arizona) Survey. Brighter than expected but…
The Arms of M106
The spiral arms of bright galaxy M106 sprawl through this remarkable multiframe portrait , composed of data from ground- and space-based telescopes . Also known as NGC 4258, M106…
Mars: Shadow at Point Lake
What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human? Then you might be the robotic Curiosity rover currently exploring Mars . Curiosity landed in Gale Crater last August and…
Namibian Nights
Namibia has some of the darkest nights visible from any continent. It is therefore home to some of the more spectacular skyscapes, a few of which have been captured in the above…
LL Ori and the Orion Nebula
This esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis , interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its…
Herschel's Andromeda
This infrared view from the Herschel Space Observatory explores the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way. Only 2.5 million light-years distant,…
Atlas V Launches TDRS-K
Beyond a fertile field of satellite communication antennas at Kennedy Space Center , an Atlas V rocket streaks into orbit in this long exposure photograph. In the thoughtfully…
NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies , a tantalizing target for binoculars in the constellation Musca , The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against…
Full Moon Silhouettes
Have you ever watched the Moon rise? The slow rise of a nearly full moon over a clear horizon can be an impressive sight. One impressive moonrise was imaged two nights ago over…
Apollo 16: Driving on the Moon
What would it be like to drive on the Moon? You don't have to guess -- humans have actually done it. Pictured above, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke recorded…
In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
Clouds of glowing gas mingle with dust lanes in the Trifid Nebula , a star forming region toward the constellation of the Archer ( Sagittarius ). In the center, the three…
Comet McNaught Over Chile
Comet McNaught of 2007 has been, so far, the most photogenic comet of our time. After making quite a show in the northern hemisphere in early 2007 January, the comet moved south…
Alaskan Moondogs
Moonlight illuminates a snowy scene in this night land and skyscape made on January 17 from Lower Miller Creek, Alaska, USA. Overexposed near the mountainous western horizon is…
Matijevic Hill Panorama
On January 25 (UT) 2004, the Opportunity rover fell to Mars, making today the 9th anniversary of its landing . After more than 3,200 sols ( Mars solar days ) the golf cart-sized…
ISS and the Summer Milky Way
Clouds on a summer night frame this sea and skyscape, recorded earlier this month near Buenos Aires, Argentina. But planet Earth's clouds are not the only clouds on the scene.…
Viewing discoveries from 16 February 2013 through 24 January 2013.