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.
Curly Spiral Galaxy M63
A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055,…
The Antennae Galaxies in Collision
Sixty million light-years away toward the southerly constellation Corvus, these two large galaxies are colliding . The cosmic train wreck captured in stunning detail in this…
Eye of Moon
Who's watching whom? The featured image of the Moon through a gap in a wall of rock may appear like a giant eye looking back at you. Although, in late October, it took only a…
NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC
Are stars still forming in the Milky Way's satellite galaxies? Found among the Small Magellanic Cloud's (SMC's) clusters and nebulas, NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200…
Cygnus Without Stars
The sky is filled with faintly glowing gas, though it can take a sensitive camera and telescope to see it. For example, this twelve-degree-wide view of the northern part of the…
Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System
Could you survive a jump off the tallest cliff in the Solar System? Quite possibly. Verona Rupes on Uranus ' moon Miranda is estimated to be 20 kilometers deep -- ten times the…
NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy
Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small galaxies form stars too,…
Chang'e 5 Mission Launch
This Long March-5 rocket blasted off from the Wenchang launch site in southernmost Hainan province on Tuesday November 24, at 4:30 am Beijing Time, carrying China's Chang'e-5…
The Great Turkey Nebula
Surprisingly reminiscent of The Great Nebula in Orion, The Great Turkey Nebula spans this creative field of view. Of course if it were the Orion Nebula it would be our closest…
Andromeda over Patagonia
How far can you see? The Andromeda Galaxy at 2.5 million light years away is the most distant object easily seen with your unaided eye . Most other apparent denizens of the night…
The Helix Nebula from CFHT
Will our Sun look like this one day? The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula , a gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like…
A Jupiter Vista from Juno
Why do colorful cloud bands encircle Jupiter? Jupiter 's top atmospheric layer is divided into light zones and dark belts that go all the way around the giant planet. It is high…
Dark Molecular Cloud Barnard 68
Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud . Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular…
Mars and Meteor over Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
A brilliant yellowish celestial beacon, Mars still dazzles in the night. Peering between clouds the wandering planet was briefly joined by the flash of a meteor in this moonless…
Global Map: Mars at Opposition
This may be the best global Mars map made with a telescope based on planet Earth. The image data were captured by a team of observers over six long nights at the Pic du Midi…
Crew-1 Mission Launch Streak
Leaving planet Earth for a moment, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arced into the early evening sky last Sunday at 7:27 pm EST from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. This 3…
A Double Star Cluster in Perseus
Most star clusters are singularly impressive. Open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884, however, could be considered doubly impressive. Also known as “h and chi Persei”, this unusual…
A Glowing STEVE and the Milky Way
What's creating these long glowing streaks in the sky? No one is sure. Known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs), these luminous light-purple sky ribbons may…
Light and Glory over Crete
The month was July, the place was the Greek island of Crete , and the sky was spectacular. Of course there were the usual stars like Polaris , Vega , and Antares -- and that…
Edge-On Galaxy NGC 5866
Why is this galaxy so thin? Many disk galaxies are just as thin as NGC 5866, pictured here , but are not seen edge-on from our vantage point. One galaxy that is situated edge-on…
Venus, Mercury, and the Waning Moon
Yesterday, early morning risers around planet Earth were treated to a waning Moon low in the east as the sky grew bright before dawn . From the Island of Ortigia, Syracuse,…
The Tarantula Zone
The Tarantula Nebula , also known as 30 Doradus, is more than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic…
Comet ATLAS and Orion's Belt
With its closest approach to planet Earth scheduled for November 14, this Comet ATLAS (C/2020 M3) was discovered just this summer, another comet found by the NASA funded Asteroid…
Colors of the Moon
What color is the Moon? It depends on the night. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere, the dark Moon , which shines by reflected sunlight, appears a magnificent ly brown-tinged gray.…
Viewing discoveries from 4 December 2020 through 11 November 2020.