Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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Portrait of NGC 1055
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus .…
Jupiter Meets Saturn: A Red Spotted Great Conjunction
It was time for their close-up . Two days ago Jupiter and Saturn passed a tenth of a degree from each other in what is known a Great Conjunction . Although the two planets pass…
Trifid Pillars and Jets
Dust pillars are like interstellar mountains . They survive because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are being slowly eroded away by a hostile environment.…
Solstice: Sunrises Around the Year
Does the Sun always rise in the same direction? No. As the months change, the direction toward the rising Sun changes, too. The featured image shows the direction of sunrise every…
A Volcanic Great Conjunction
Where can I see the Great Conjunction? Near where the Sun just set. Directionally, this close passing of Jupiter and Saturn will be toward the southwest. Since the planetary pair,…
Conjunction after Sunset
How close will Jupiter and Saturn be at their Great Conjunction ? Consider this beautiful triple conjunction of Moon, Jupiter and Saturn captured through clouds in the wintry…
Diamond in the Sky
When the shadow of the Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere on December 14, sky watchers along the shadow's dark central path were treated to the only total solar…
Gemini's Meteors
Taken over the course of an hour shortly after local midnight on December 13, 35 exposures were used to create this postcard from Earth. The composited night scene spans dark…
Sonified: The Matter of the Bullet Cluster
What's the matter with the Bullet Cluster? This massive cluster of galaxies (1E 0657-558) creates gravitational lens distortions of background galaxies in a way that has been…
Great Conjunction: Saturn and Jupiter Converge
It's happening. Saturn and Jupiter are moving closer and will soon appear in almost exactly the same direction. Coincidentally, on the night of the December solstice -- the…
Capsule Returns from Asteroid Ryugu
The streak across the sky is a capsule returning from an asteroid. It returned earlier this month from the near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu carrying small rocks and dust from its…
Geminid Meteors over Xinglong Observatory
Where do Geminid meteors come from? In terms of location on the sky, as the featured image composite beautifully demonstrates, the sand-sized bits of rock that create the streaks…
Saturn and Jupiter in Summer 2020
During this northern summer Saturn and Jupiter were both near opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. Their paired retrograde motion, seen about every 20 years, is…
Messier Craters in Stereo
Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also given…
Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
It's easy to get lost following the intricate looping filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular…
Arecibo Telescope Collapse
This was one great scientific instrument. Starting in 1963, the 305-meters across Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico USA reigned as the largest single-dish radio telescope in the…
Great Conjunction over Sicilian Lighthouse
Don't miss the coming great conjunction . In just under two weeks, the two largest planets in our Solar System will angularly pass so close together in Earth 's sky that the Moon…
Mammatus Clouds over Mount Rushmore
What's that below those strange clouds? Presidents. If you look closely, you may recognize the heads of four former US Presidents carved into famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota…
M16: Pillars of Star Creation
These dark pillars may look destructive, but they are creating stars. This pillar-capturing image of the inside of the Eagle Nebula, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995,…
Mons Rumker in the Ocean of Storms
Mons Rumker , a 70 kilometer wide complex of volcanic domes , rises some 1100 meters above the vast, smooth lunar mare known as Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms. Daylight…
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…
Viewing discoveries from 24 December 2020 through 1 December 2020.