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.
Orion in Red and Blue
When did Orion become so flashy? This colorful rendition of part of the constellation of Orion comes from red light emitted by hydrogen and sulfur ( SII ), and blue-green light…
Combined Solar Eclipse Corona from Earth and Space
Sometimes, a total eclipse is a good time to eye the Sun. Taking advantage of an unusual juxtaposition of Earth, Moon and Sun , the featured image depicts the total solar eclipse…
The Comet and the Star Cluster
Comet Linear has become unexpectedly bright. The comet, discovered in 2000, underwent a 100-fold outburst just a week before it passed a mere 14 lunar distances from Earth late…
Cassini Approaches Saturn
Cassini, a robot spacecraft launched in 1997 by NASA , became close enough in 2002 to resolve many rings and moons of its destination planet: Saturn . At that time, Cassini…
A Green Flash of Spring
Taken on March 20 from the top of Haleakala on the isle of Maui, planet Earth, the first sunrise of northern spring is pictured in this vacation snapshot. The telephoto view from…
Lapland Northern Lights
Early spring in the northern hemisphere is good season for aurora hunters. Near an equinox Earth's magnetic field is oriented to favor interactions with the solar wind that…
Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte
Named for the three astronomers instrumental in its discovery and identification, Wolf - Lundmark - Melotte (WLM) is a lonely dwarf galaxy. Seen toward the mostly southern…
Auroras and the Magnetosphere of Jupiter
Jupiter has auroras. Like near the Earth, the magnetic field of our Solar System 's largest planet compresses when impacted by a gust of charged particles from the Sun . This…
Cancri 55 e: Climate Patterns on a Lava World
Why might you want to visit super-earth Cancri 55 e? Its extremely hot climate would be a deterrent, and fresh lava flows might be common. Discovered in 2004, the planet Cancri 55…
Lucid Dreaming
Is this the real world? Or is it just fantasy ? The truth started with a dream -- a dream that the spectacular Seljarlandsfoss waterfall in southern Iceland could be photographed…
Close-up of the Bubble Nebula
It's the bubble versus the cloud. NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula , is being pushed out by the stellar wind of massive central star BD+602522 . Next door, though, lives a giant…
Pluto's Bladed Terrain in 3D
Get out your red/blue glasses and gaze across a mountainous region informally known as Tartarus Dorsa. This scene sprawls some 300 kilometers (about 180 miles) across the…
Europa: Discover Life Under the Ice
Looking for an interplanetary vacation destination? Consider a visit to Europa , one of the Solar System's most tantalizing moons . Ice-covered Europa follows an elliptical path…
Big Dipper to Southern Cross
Welcome to an equatorial night. This remarkable 24 frame night skyscape was captured from Maba Beach on the Indonesian island of Halmahera during the evening of March 4. Seen from…
NGC 6188 and NGC 6164
Fantastic shapes lurk in clouds of glowing gas in the giant star forming region NGC 6188. The emission nebula is found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large…
NASA's Curiosity Rover at Namib Dune (360 View)
Point or tilt to see a spectacular view of Mars visible to the Curiosity rover last December. In the foreground, part of Curiosity itself is visible, including its dusty sundial.…
Orion's Belt and Sword over Teide's Peak
The southern part of Orion, the famous constellation and mythical hunter, appears quite picturesque posing here over a famous volcano. Located in the Canary Islands off the…
NGC 6357: Cathedral to Massive Stars
How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of…
Solstice to Equinox Cubed
This 3 month long exposure packed the days from December 22, 2015 through March 20 into a box. Dubbed a solargraph , the unconventional, unfolded picture was recorded with a…
Close Comet and the Milky Way
Comet 252P/Linear's lovely greenish coma is easy to spot in this expansive southern skyscape. Visible to the naked eye from the dark site near Flinders , Victoria, Australia, the…
Hickson 91 in Piscis Austrinus
Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies , now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups…
The Great Nebula in Carina
In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina , is home to massive stars and…
Rainbow Airglow over the Azores
Why would the sky glow like a giant repeating rainbow? Airglow . Now air glows all of the time, but it is usually hard to see. A disturbance however -- like an approaching storm…
Alaskan Moondogs
What's happened to the sky? Moonlight illuminates a snowy scene in this night land and skyscape made on 2013 January from Lower Miller Creek, Alaska , USA . Overexposed near the…
Viewing discoveries from 13 April 2016 through 21 March 2016.