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.
Two Worlds, One Sun
How different does sunset appear from Mars than from Earth? For comparison, two images of our common star were taken at sunset , one from Earth and one from Mars. These images…
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…
Mars 2020 from 5,000 Feet
On Thursday this snapshot from a small plane 5,000 feet above Florida's Space Coast caught a rocket's trail rising into the blue morning sky. It was July's third launch of a…
The Red Planet Mars
Mars looks pretty sharp in this backyard telescope image captured on July 23 from Hoegaarden, Belgium, planet Earth. The Red Planet's bright south polar cap is bathed in sunlight…
The Giants of Summer
As Comet NEOWISE sweeps through northern summer skies, Jupiter and Saturn are shining brightly, near opposition . With Jupiter opposite the Sun on July 14 and Saturn on July 21,…
NGC 6188: The Dragons of Ara
Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long. The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark and large…
Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn Mountains
Normally, Steamboat Point looks cool -- but not this cool. Every day, the iconic peak of the Bighorn Mountains is an interesting sight, in particular from US Highway 14 in Wyoming…
A Flight through the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
What would it look like to fly through the distant universe? To find out, a team of astronomers estimated the relative distances to over 5,000 galaxies in one of the most distant…
Tianwen-1 Mission to Mars
On July 23, this Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket rose into a blue morning sky from China's Hainan Island Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. The rocket carried an orbiter, lander,…
MAGIC NEOWISE
The multi-mirror , 17 meter-diameter MAGIC telescopes reflect this starry night sky from the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma.…
Fairytale NEOWISE
Comet dust falls through a twilight sky in this dream-like scene, but it's not part of a fairytale movie. Still, Castle Neuschwanstein , nestled in the Bavarian Alps, did inspire…
The Structured Tails of Comet NEOWISE
What is creating the structure in Comet NEOWISE's tails? Of the two tails evident, the blue ion tail on the left points directly away from the Sun and is pushed out by the flowing…
Iron in the Butterfly Nebula
Can stars, like caterpillars, transform themselves into butterflies? No, but in the case of the Butterfly Nebula -- it sure looks like it. Though its wingspan covers over 3…
Comet NEOWISE and Nebulae
Would you brave wild animals to photograph this sky? One astrophotographer did -- and we all get to reap the rewards. First, thousands of stars were visible with many of the…
Rotating Moon from LRO
No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology,…
Finding NEOWISE
If you can see the stars of the Big Dipper , you can find comet NEOWISE in your evening sky tonight. After sunset look for the naked-eye comet below the bowl of the famous…
NEOWISE of the North
After local midnight on July 14 comet NEOWISE was still above the horizon for Goldenrod, Alberta, Canada, just north of Calgary, planet Earth. In this snapshot it makes for an…
The Long Tails of Comet NEOWISE
This Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) now sweeps through our fair planet's northern skies . Its long tails stretch across this deep skyview from Suchy Vrch, Czech Republic. Recorded on…
Comet NEOWISE over the Swiss Alps
Comet NEOWISE has been wowing photographers around much of the world during dawn and dusk, at the margins of day and night . For the most north ern residents of planet Earth,…
Comet NEOWISE over Stonehenge
Have you ever seen a comet? Tonight -- and likely the next few nights -- should be a good chance . Go outside just at sunset and look to your northwest. The lower your horizon,…
Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)) has been rising before dawn during the past week to the delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that…
Comet CG Creates Its Dust Tail
Where do comet tails come from? There are no obvious places on the nuclei of comets from which the jets that create comet tails emanate. One of the best images of emerging jets is…
The Tails of Comet NEOWISE
Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is now sweeping through northern skies . Its developing tails stretch some six degrees across this telescopic field of view , recorded from Brno, Czech…
Comet NEOWISE from the ISS
Rounding the Sun on July 3rd and currently headed for the outer Solar System , Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) has been growing brighter in the predawn skies of planet Earth. From low…
Viewing discoveries from 2 August 2020 through 10 July 2020.