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.
1901 Photograph: The Orion Nebula
By the turn of the 20th century advances in photography contributed an important tool for astronomers. Improving photographic materials, long exposures, and new telescope designs…
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Cepheus
Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story , the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396 , in the high and far off…
The Perseids and the Plough
Despite interfering moonlight, many denizens of planet Earth were able to watch this year's Perseid meteor shower . This pastoral scene includes local skygazers admiring the…
Saturn Behind the Moon
What's that next to the Moon? Saturn . In its monthly trip around the Earth -- and hence Earth's sky -- our Moon passed nearly in front of Sun -orbiting Saturn earlier this week.…
Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002
What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball? A supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star…
Perseid Meteors over Slovakia
Tonight is a good night to see meteors. Comet dust will rain down on planet Earth, streaking through dark skies during the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower . The featured…
Arp 87: Merging Galaxies from Hubble
This dance is to the death. Along the way, as these two large galaxies duel, a cosmic bridge of stars, gas, and dust currently stretches over 75,000 light-years and joins them.…
M16 Close Up
A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the…
Atlas at Dawn
This single, 251-second long exposure follows the early flight of an Atlas V rocket on August 8, streaking eastward toward the dawn from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, planet…
Curiosity at Teal Ridge
Part of a 360 degree panorama, this view looks out from the Mars rover Curiosity's current location on the Red Planet dubbed Teal Ridge. The mosaicked scene was captured by the…
Jupiter Engulfed and the Milky Way
This is a good month to see Jupiter. To find our Solar System 's largest planet in your sky, look toward the southeast just after sunset -- Jupiter should be the brightest object…
The Local Void in the Nearby Universe
What does our region of the Universe look like? Since galaxies are so spread out over the sky, and since our Milky Way Galaxy blocks part of the distant sky, it has been hard to…
A Total Solar Eclipse Reflected
If you saw a total solar eclipse, would you do a double-take? One astrophotographer did just that -- but it took a lake and a bit of planning. Realizing that the eclipse would be…
Rumors of a Dark Universe
Twenty-one years ago results were first presented indicating that most of the energy in our universe is not in stars or galaxies but is tied to space itself. In the language of…
Mimas in Saturnlight
Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Mimas lies in near darkness alongside a dramatic sunlit crescent . The mosaic was captured near the Cassini spacecraft's…
Chamaeleon II Dark Cloud
A small constellation hiding near the south celestial pole , The Chamaeleon boasts no bright stars. Stars are forming within its constellation boundaries though, in a complex of…
Elements in the Aftermath
Massive stars spend their brief lives furiously burning nuclear fuel. Through fusion at extreme temperatures and densities surrounding the stellar core, nuclei of light elements…
IC 1795: The Fishhead Nebula
To some, this nebula looks like the head of a fish . However, this colorful cosmic portrait really features glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds in IC 1795, a star forming region…
Star Forming Region NGC 3582 without Stars
What's happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated . The complex nebula resides in the star forming region…
Lightning over the Volcano of Water
Have you ever watched a lightning storm in awe? Join the crowd. Details of what causes lightning are still being researched , but it is known that inside some clouds, internal…
The North America Nebula in Infrared
The North America Nebula can do what most North Americans cannot -- form stars. Precisely where in the nebula these stars are forming has been mostly obscured by some of the…
Chandrayaan 2 Launch
On July 22nd this GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) MkIII rocket vanished from sight into a cloud bank an instant after this dramatic snapshot was taken. Launched…
The Veins of Heaven
Transfusing sunlight through a still dark sky, this exceptional display of noctilucent clouds was captured earlier this month, reflected in the calm waters of Vallentuna Lake near…
Cygnus Skyscape
In brush strokes of interstellar dust and glowing hydrogen gas , this beautiful skyscape is painted across the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy near the northern end of the Great…
Viewing discoveries from 17 August 2019 through 25 July 2019.