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.
Geminid Meteor Shower over Dashanbao Wetlands
The annual Geminid meteor shower is raining down on planet Earth this week. Despite the waxing gibbous moonlight, the reliable Geminids should be enjoyable tonight (night of…
Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
Alnitak , Alnilam , and Mintaka , are the bright bluish stars from east to west (lower right to upper left) along the diagonal in this gorgeous cosmic vista. Otherwise known as…
The Coldest Place on Earth
How cold can it get on Earth? In the interior of the Antarctica , a record low temperature of -93.2 C (-135.8 F) has been recorded. This is about 25 C (45 F ) colder than the…
Seyfert's Sextet
What will survive this battle of the galaxies? Known as Seyfert's Sextet , this intriguing group of galaxies lies in the head portion of the split constellation of the Snake (…
Comet Lovejoy Over a Windmill
Lovejoy continues to be an impressive camera comet. Pictured above, Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) was imaged above the windmill in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire in southern France with…
Everest Panorama from Mars
If you could stand on Mars -- what might you see? Scroll right to find out. The robotic Spirit rover that rolled around Mars from 2004 to 2009 Mars climbed to the top of a hill in…
Naked Eye Nova Centauri 2013
Brightest stellar beacons of the constellation Centaurus, Alpha and Beta Centauri are easy to spot from the southern hemisphere. For now, so is new naked eye Nova Centauri 2013 .…
Gamma-Ray Earth and Sky
For an Earth-orbiting gamma-ray telescope, Earth is actually the brightest source of gamma-rays , the most energetic form of light. Gamma-rays from Earth are produced when high…
Planetary Nebula Abell 7
Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is some 1,800 light-years distant, just south of Orion in planet Earth's skies in the constellation Lepus, The Hare . Surrounded by Milky Way…
Comet Lovejoy through Mrby Castle Ruins
This new comet is quite photogenic. Comet Lovejoy, discovered only three months ago, was imaged through ruins of ancient Mrby Castle in Sweden last week sporting a green-glowing…
The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
The many spectacular colors of the Rho Ophiuchi (oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds highlight the many processes that occur there. The blue regions shine primarily by reflected light. Blue…
Comet Lovejoy Before Galaxy M63
Comet Lovejoy was captured last week passing well in front of spiral galaxy M63. Discovered only three months ago and currently near its maximum brightness, Comet Lovejoy can be…
A Laser Strike at the Galactic Center
Why are these people shooting a powerful laser into the center of our Galaxy? Fortunately, this is not meant to be the first step in a Galactic war . Rather, astronomers at the…
Comet ISON Before and After
Sungrazing Comet ISON reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, yesterday, November 28, at 18:45 UT. The comet passed just over 1 million kilometers above the solar…
NGC 1999: South of Orion
South of the large star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula, lies bright blue reflection nebula NGC 1999 . At the edge of the Orion molecular cloud complex some 1,500…
Cap Cloud over the Sierra Nevadas
One might say this was a bell weather day for the Sierra Nevada mountains . In January, just as the Sun was setting above the district of Albayzn in Grenada , Spain , a huge cloud…
Anemic Spiral NGC 4921 from Hubble
How far away is spiral galaxy NGC 4921? Although presently estimated to be about 310 million light years distant, a more precise determination could be coupled with its known…
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Indian Cove
Comet Hale-Bopp, the Great Comet of 1997, was quite a sight. In the above photograph taken on 1997 April 6, Comet Hale-Bopp was imaged from the Indian Cove Campground in the…
Comet ISON from STEREO
Still intact , on November 21 Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) swept into this animated field of view (left) from the HI-1 camera on the STEREO-A spacecraft. The camera has also captured…
From California to the Pleiades
An astronomical trip from the California Nebula to the Pleiades star cluster would cover just over 12 degrees across planet Earth's night sky. That's equivalent to the angular…
The Trail of a Minotaur
Star trails arc above a moonlit beach and jetty in this serene sea and night skyscape. Captured on November 19, the single time exposure looks south down the Atlantic coast from…
Heavy Black Hole Jets in 4U1630-47
What are black hole jets made of? Many black holes in stellar systems are surely surrounded by disks of gas and plasma gravitationally pulled from a close binary star companion.…
Globular Cluster M15 from Hubble
Stars, like bees, swarm around the center of bright globular cluster M15. This ball of over 100,000 stars is a relic from the early years of our Galaxy , and continues to orbit…
Aurora and Unusual Clouds Over Iceland
What's happening in the sky? On this cold winter night in Iceland, quite a lot. First, in the foreground, lies the largest glacier in Iceland : Vatnajokull . On the far left,…
Viewing discoveries from 13 December 2013 through 18 November 2013.