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.
Exploring the Antennae
Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus , two large galaxies are colliding . Stars in the two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 , very…
Lyrids in Southern Skies
Earth's annual Lyrid meteor shower peaked before dawn on April 22nd, as our fair planet plowed through dust from the tail of long-period comet Thatcher . Seen from the high, dark,…
Mt. Etna Lava Plume
Mt. Etna has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of years. Located in Sicily , Italy , the volcano produces lava fountains over one kilometer high. Mt. Etna is not only one of…
A Split Ion Tail for Comet Lovejoy E4
What's happened to Comet Lovejoy? In the pictured image , a processed composite , the comet was captured early this month after brightening unexpectedly and sporting a long and…
A White Battle in the Black Sea
Trillions have died in the Earth's seas. Calcified shields of the dead already make up the white cliffs of Dover . The battle between ball-shaped light-colored single-celled…
The Holographic Principle
Is this picture worth a thousand words? According to the Holographic Principle , the most information you can get from this image is about 3 x 1065 bits for a normal sized…
Between the Rings
On April 12 , as the Sun was blocked by the disk of Saturn the Cassini spacecraft camera looked toward the inner Solar System and the gas giant's backlit rings . At the top of the…
NGC 4302 and NGC 4298
Seen edge-on , spiral galaxy NGC 4302 (left) lies about 55 million light-years away in the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. A member of the large Virgo Galaxy Cluster ,…
Asteroid 2014 JO25
A day before its closest approach, asteroid 2014 JO25 was imaged by radar with the 70-meter antenna of NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California. This grid…
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…
Viewing discoveries from 28 April 2017 through 5 April 2017.