Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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The Red Spider Planetary Nebula
Oh what a tangled web a planetary nebula can weave. The Red Spider Planetary Nebula shows the complex structure that can result when a normal star ejects its outer gases and…
Night Glows
What glows in the night? This night, several unusual glows were evident -- some near, but some far. The foreground surf glimmers blue with the light of bioluminescent plankton .…
Two Million Stars on the Move
If you could watch the night sky for one million years -- how would it change? Besides local effects caused by the Earth's spin and the reorientation of the Earth's spin axis, the…
Life-Enabling Plumes above Enceladus
Does Enceladus have underground oceans that could support life? The discovery of jets spewing water vapor and ice was detected by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft in 2005.…
Luminous Salar de Uyuni
A scene in high contrast this thoughtful night skyscape is a modern composition inspired by M. C. Escher's lithograph Phosphorescent Sea . In it, bright familiar stars of Orion…
Earth Shadow over Damavand
Through crystal clear skies this beautiful panorama follows the curve of planet Earth's shadow rising across the top of the world . The tantalizing twilight view is composed of…
Moons and Jupiter
On April 10, a Full Moon and Jupiter shared this telephoto field of view. Both were near opposition, opposite the Sun in Earth's night sky. Captured when a passing cloud bank…
Leo Trio
This group is popular in the northern spring. Famous as the Leo Triplet , the three magnificent galaxies gather in one field of view. Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest…
Man, Dog, Sun
This was supposed to be a shot of trees in front of a setting Sun. Sometimes, though, the unexpected can be photogenic. During some planning shots, a man walking his dog…
Galaxy Cluster Gas Creates Hole in Microwave Background
Why would this cluster of galaxy punch a hole in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)? First, the famous CMB was created by cooling gas in the early universe and flies right…
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
Comet Hale-Bopp , the Great Comet of 1997, became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights . Away from city lights, however, it put on…
Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait . In the…
Castle Eye View
The best known asterism in northern skies, The Big Dipper is easy to recognize, even when viewed upside down, though some might see a plough or wagon . The star names and the…
Dark Nebula LDN 1622 and Barnard's Loop
The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula ( LDN ) 1622 appears below center against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas…
Filaments of Active Galaxy NGC 1275
What keeps these filaments attached to this galaxy? The filaments persist in NGC 1275 even though the turmoil of galactic collisions should destroy them. First, active galaxy NGC…
Plane Contrail and Sun Halo
What's happened to the sky? Several common features of the daytime sky are interacting in uncommon ways. First, well behind the silhouetted hills, is the typically bright Sun . In…
Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
Many details of Saturn appear clearly in infrared light. Bands of clouds show great structure, including long stretching storms . Also quite striking in infrared is the unusual…
NGC 602 and Beyond
Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud , a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602 . Surrounded by natal…
Split the Universe
Just now, before you hit the button, two future universes are possible. After pressing the button, though, you will live in only one. A real-web version of the famous Schrdinger's…
3D 67P
Get out your red/cyan glasses and gaze across the surface of Churyumov-Gerasimenko, aka Comet 67P. The stereo anaglyph was created by combining two images from the Rosetta…
Young Stars and Dusty Nebulae in Taurus
This complex of dusty nebulae lingers along the edge of the Taurus molecular cloud , a mere 450 light-years distant. Stars are forming on the cosmic scene. Composed from almost 40…
Nebula with Laser Beams
Four laser beams cut across this startling image of the Orion Nebula, as seen from ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert on planet Earth . Not part of an interstellar…
King of Wings Hoodoo under the Milky Way
This rock structure is not only surreal -- it's real. The reason it's not more famous is that it is, perhaps, smaller than one might guess: the capstone rock overhangs only a few…
Black Hole Accreting with Jet
What happens when a black hole devours a star? Many details remain unknown, but recent observations are providing new clues. In 2014, a powerful explosion was recorded by the…
Viewing discoveries from 19 April 2017 through 27 March 2017.