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.
Noctilucent Clouds over Moscow
This panoramic night scene from June 8 looks out across a Moscow skyline from atop the main building of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Shining in the darkened sky above are…
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy . Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda . Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of…
Rock Nest Panorama from Curiosity on Mars
This is Mars -- have a look around. More specifically, this is one area picked for its promise of holding clues to the habitability of Mars to ancient life. To better search for…
The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble
What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown , was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning,…
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.…
Perigee's Full Moon
A big, bright, beautiful Full Moon will rise at sunset on Sunday. Its exact full phase (June 23, 11:32 UT) will occur shortly before it reaches perigee , the closest point to…
A Solstice Sunset Self Portrait
Today, the solstice is at 05:04 Universal Time , the Sun reaching the northernmost declination in its yearly journey through planet Earth's sky . A June solstice marks the…
Edge-on NGC 3628
Sharp telescopic views of magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this deep galactic portrait puts some…
Milky Way Over Crater Lake with Airglow
How many different astronomical phenomena have come together to create the above vista? Several. First, in the foreground, is Crater Lake -- a caldera created by volcanism on…
A Supercell Thunderstorm Over Texas
Is that a cloud or an alien spaceship? It's an unusual and sometimes dangerous type of thunderstorm cloud called a supercell. Supercells may spawn damaging tornados, hail,…
Dry Ice Sled Streaks on Mars
What creates these long and nearly straight grooves on Mars? Dubbed linear gullies , they appear on the sides of some sandy slopes during Martian spring, have nearly constant…
APOD Turns Eighteen
The first APOD appeared eighteen years ago today, on 1995 June 16. Although garnering only 14 pageviews on that day, we are proud to estimate that APOD has now served over one…
Delphinid Meteor Mystery
Over a five hour period last Tuesday morning, exposures captured this tantalizing view of meteor streaks and the Milky Way in dark skies above Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.…
Sharpless 115
Sharpless 115 stands just north and west of Deneb, the alpha star of Cygnus the Swan in planet Earth's skies . Noted in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless (as…
Four Planet Sunset
You can see four planets in this serene sunset image , created from a series of stacked digital exposures captured near dusk on May 25. The composite picture follows the trail of…
All of Mercury
For the first time, the entire surface of planet Mercury has been mapped. Detailed observations of the innermost planet's surprising crust have been ongoing since the robotic…
Star Forming Region NGC 3582
What's happening in the NGC 3582 nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming. The complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57. Visible in this…
The Large Magellanic Cloud in Ultraviolet
Where are the hottest stars in the nearest galaxies? To help find out, NASA commissioned its Earth-orbiting Swift satellite to compile a multi-image mosaic of the neighboring…
Flowing Auroras Over Norway
Have you ever seen an aurora? Auroras are occurring again with increasing frequency. With the Sun peaking at its eleven year maximum in aurora-triggering activity, it is…
Messier Craters in Stereo
Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier , from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also…
NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula
The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects . Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With…
Star Size Comparisons
How big is our Sun compared to other stars? In a dramatic and popular video featured on YouTube, the relative sizes of planets and stars are shown from smallest to largest. The…
M57: The Ring Nebula
Except for the rings of Saturn , the Ring Nebula (M57) is probably the most famous celestial band. Its classic appearance is understood to be due to our own perspective, though.…
Orion Nebula in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula. The Nebula 's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an…
Viewing discoveries from 27 June 2013 through 4 June 2013.