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.
M44: The Beehive Cluster
A mere 600 light-years away, M44 is one of the closest star clusters to our solar system. Also known as the Praesepe or the Beehive cluster its stars are young though, about 600…
The Long Jet of the Lighthouse Nebula
The Lighthouse nebula was formed by the wind of a pulsar, a rapidly rotating, magnetized neutron star, as it speeds through the interstellar medium at over 1,000 kilometers per…
Comet Lovejoy over the Great Wall
Fading now as it returns to the outer solar system Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) still graces planet Earth's sky, a delicate apparition in binoculars or small telescopes . The comet,…
A Rainbow Pileus Cloud over Zimbabwe
Yes, but how many dark clouds have a multicolored lining? Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud , a group of water droplets that have a uniformly…
Crossing Dingo Gap on Mars
An important threshold on Mars has now been crossed. Landing in mid-2012, the Curiosity rover is searching for clues of whether life could ever have existed on the red planet .…
The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula
It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud , a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way…
Inside the Eagle Nebula
From afar, the whole thing looks like an Eagle . A closer look at the Eagle Nebula , however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell…
NGC 2359: Thor's Helmet
This helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages is popularly called Thor's Helmet. Heroically sized even for a Norse god , Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across.…
IC 1805: Light from the Heart
Sprawling across almost 200 light-years, emission nebula IC 1805 is a mix of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds about 7,500 light-years away in the Perseus spiral arm…
Downtown Auriga
Rich in star clusters and nebulae, the ancient constellation of Auriga , the Charioteer, rides high in northern winter night skies. Spanning nearly 24 full moons (12 degrees) on…
Rocket, Meteor, and Milky Way over Thailand
Can the night sky appear both serene and surreal? Perhaps classifiable as serene in the above panoramic image taken last Friday are the faint lights of small towns glowing across…
The Heart and Soul Nebulas
Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in Cassiopeia ? Possibly not, but that is where two bright emission nebulas nicknamed Heart and Soul can be found. The Heart Nebula ,…
Falling to Earth
What would it be like to fall to Earth from really high up? A new record for the highest jump was accomplished in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner. Surpassing the previous record of 31.3…
The Missing Craters of Asteroid Itokawa
Where are the craters on asteroid Itokawa? Missing -- unexpectedly. The Japanese robot probe Hayabusa approached the Earth-crossing asteroid in 2005 and returned pictures showing…
NGC 5101 and Friends
This sharp telescopic field of view holds two bright galaxies. Barred spiral NGC 5101 (top right) and nearly edge-on system NGC 5078 are separated on the sky by about 0.5 degrees…
Night Hides the World
Stars come out as evening twilight fades in this serene skyscape following the Persian proverb “Night hides the world, but reveals a universe.” In the scene from last November,…
The Terraced Night
Long after sunset on January 25 an unusually intense red airglow floods this south-looking skyscape. The scene was recorded with a long exposure using a digital camera over Yunnan…
NGC 2683: Edge-On Spiral Galaxy
Does spiral galaxy NGC 2683 have a bar across its center? Being so nearly like our own barred Milky Way Galaxy , one might guess it has. Being so nearly edge-on, however, it is…
A Particle Beam Jet forms HH 24
If you visit HH 24, don't go near the particle beam jet. This potential future travel advisory might be issued because the powerful jet likely contains electrons and protons…
Lunar Time Lapse Panorama including Yutu Rover
Where has the Yutu rover been on the Moon? Arriving in 2013 mid-December, the Chinese Yutu robotic rover has spent some of the past month and a half exploring Mare Imbrium on…
Mars and Orion over Monument Valley
Welcome to The World At Night. Sharing the night sky seen around the world, this view from Monument Valley , USA includes a picturesque foreground of famous buttes. Buttes are…
NGC 6188 and NGC 6164
Fantastic shapes lurk in clouds of glowing gas in NGC 6188, about 4,000 light-years away. The emission nebula is found near the edge of a large molecular cloud unseen at visible…
Light Pillars from a Little Planet
Eerie pillars of light ring the edges of this snowy little planet. Of course the little planet is planet Earth, shown in a nadir-to-zenith, around-the-horizon, little planet…
Rocket Streak and Star Trails
Fixed to a tripod and looking east across the Kennedy Space Center's Turn Basin, a camera captured these star trails as a series of short exposures over a three hour period on the…
Viewing discoveries from 22 February 2014 through 30 January 2014.