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.
Eclipse at Moonset
The Pacific Ocean and Chilean coast lie below this sea of clouds. Seen through the subtle colors of the predawn sky a lunar eclipse is in progress above, the partially eclipsed…
NGC 6823: Cloud Sculpting Star Cluster
Star cluster NGC 6823 is slowly turning gas clouds into stars. The center of the open cluster, visible on the upper right, formed only about two million years ago and is dominated…
From the Temple of the Sun to the Temple of the Moon
What connects the Sun to the Moon? Many answers have been given throughout history , but in the case of today's featured image, it appears to be the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy…
Space Station Detector Finds Unexplained Positron Excess
Where did all these high energy positrons come from? The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been meticulously recording how…
A Total Lunar Eclipse Over Tajikistan
If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer during the total lunar eclipse of 2011 June was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video from Tajikistan. During a…
Mars, Antares, Moon and Saturn
Mars , Antares, Moon , and Saturn are the brightest celestial beacons in this serene sky . The Sun's golden light is still scattered along the southwestern horizon though,…
Aurora and Milky Way in a Little Sky
Stepping stones seem to lead to the Milky Way as it stretches across this little sky . Of course, the scene is really the northern hemisphere's autumnal equinox night. Water and…
The Bubble Nebula
Blown by the wind from a massive star, this interstellar apparition has a surprisingly familiar shape . Cataloged as NGC 7635, it is also known simply as The Bubble Nebula .…
The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble
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…
A Full Circle Rainbow over Australia
Have you ever seen an entire rainbow? From the ground, typically, only the top portion of a rainbow is visible because directions toward the ground have fewer raindrops. From the…
Unusual Rocks near Pahrump Hills on Mars
How did these Martian rocks form? As the robotic Curiosity rover has approached Pahrump Hills on Mars , it has seen an interesting and textured landscape dotted by some unusual…
Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75
What's happening at the center of active galaxy 3C 75? The two bright sources at the center of this composite x-ray (blue)/ radio (pink) image are co-orbiting supermassive black…
A Launch and a Landing
Taken from an Atlantic beach, Cape Canaveral, planet Earth , four identically framed digital images are combined in this night skyscape. Slightly shifted short star trails dot the…
MAVEN at Mars
Launched on November 18, 2013, the MAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN ) spacecraft completed its interplanetary voyage September 21, captured into a wide, elliptical…
NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy . Also known as M31, the spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5…
The Lagoon Nebula in Stars Dust and Gas
The large majestic Lagoon Nebula is home for many young stars and hot gas. Spanning 100 light years across while lying only about 5000 light years distant, the Lagoon Nebula is so…
Aurora and Volcanic Light Pillar
That's no sunset. And that thin red line just above it -- that's not a sun pillar . The red glow on the horizon originates from a volcanic eruption , and the red line is the…
Earth at Equinox
Earth is at equinox. Over the next 24 hours, day and night have nearly equal duration all over planet Earth. Technically, equinox transpires at 2:29 am Universal Time tomorrow,…
Saturn at Equinox
How would Saturn look if its ring plane pointed right at the Sun? Before August 2009, nobody knew. Every 15 years, as seen from Earth, Saturn's rings point toward the Earth and…
Shoreline of the Universe
Against dark rifts of interstellar dust, the ebb and flow of starlight along the Milky Way looks like waves breaking on a cosmic shore in this night skyscape. Taken with a digital…
Potentially Habitable Moons
For astrobiologists , these may be the four most tantalizing moons in our Solar System. Shown at the same scale, their exploration by interplanetary spacecraft has launched the…
Cocoon Nebula Wide Field
In this crowded starfield covering over 2 degrees within the high flying constellation Cygnus , the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic…
Aurora over Maine
It has been a good week for auroras. Earlier this month active sunspot region 2158 rotated into view and unleashed a series of flares and plasma ejections into the Solar System…
Milky Way above Atacama Salt Lagoon
Galaxies, stars, and a serene reflecting pool combine to create this memorable land and skyscape. The featured panorama is a 12-image mosaic taken last month from the Salar de…
Viewing discoveries from 9 October 2014 through 16 September 2014.