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.
The Lively Center of the Lagoon Nebula
The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year…
A Deep Sky Behind an Eclipsed Moon
The plan was to capture a picturesque part of the sky that was hosting an unusual guest. The result included a bonus — an additional and unexpected guest. The beautiful background…
The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda
This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are now, but where stars will soon be. Of course, the big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy , M31, is a spiral galaxy -- and a mere…
A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun
Tsunamis this large don't happen on Earth. During 2006, a large solar flare from an Earth-sized sunspot produced a tsunami -type shock wave that was spectacular even for the Sun.…
Planetary Nebula Abell 7
Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is some 1,800 light-years distant, just south of Orion in planet Earth's skies in the constellation Lepus, The Hare . Surrounded by Milky Way…
A View from Earth's Shadow
This serene sand and skyscape finds the Dune of Pilat on the coast of France still in Earth's shadow during the early morning hours of May 16. Extending into space, the planet's…
A Digital Lunar Eclipse
Recorded on May 15/16 this sequence of exposures follows the Full Moon during a total lunar eclipse as it arcs above treetops in the clearing skies of central Florida. A frame…
A Jewel on the Flower Moon
Cloudy skies plagued some sky watchers on Sunday as May's Full Flower Moon slipped through Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse . In skies above Chile's Atacama desert this…
NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
Astronomers turn detectives when trying to figure out the cause of startling sights like NGC 1316 . Investigations indicate that NGC 1316 is an enormous elliptical galaxy that…
Milky Way over French Alp Hoodoos
Real castles aren't this old. And the background galaxy is even older. Looking a bit like an alien castle, the pictured rock spires are called hoodoos and are likely millions of…
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.…
Ice Halos by Moonlight
An almost full moon on April 15 brought these luminous apparitions to a northern spring night over Alberta Canada. On that night, bright moonlight refracted and reflected by…
The Milky Way's Black Hole
There's a black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Stars are observed to orbit a very massive and compact object there known as Sgr A (say “sadge-ay-star” ). But this just…
Young Stars of NGC 346
The massive stars of NGC 346 are short lived, but very energetic . The star cluster is embedded in the largest star forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud , some 210,000…
Gravity's Grin
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published over 100 years ago, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such…
NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula
Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble . Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw…
A Martian Eclipse: Phobos Crosses the Sun
What's that passing in front of the Sun? It looks like a moon, but it can't be Earth's Moon, because it isn't round. It's the Martian moon Phobos. The featured video was taken…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings
Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy have two? To begin, the bright band near NGC 1512 's center is a nuclear ring , a ring that surrounds the galaxy center…
Firefall by Moonlight
On certain dates in February, an elusive firefall can be spotted at sunset in Yosemite National Park , when water flows, the weather cooperates and the direction to the setting…
NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles
This cosmic skyscape features glowing gas and dark dust clouds along side the young stars of NGC 3572 . A beautiful emission nebula and star cluster it sails far southern skies…
NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo . Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is…
Planets Over Egyptian Pyramid
The early morning planet parade continues. Visible the world over, the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn have been lining up in the pre-dawn sky since mid-April. In the…
Mercury's Sodium Tail
That's no comet. Below the Pleiades star cluster is actually a planet: Mercury. Long exposures of our Solar System's innermost planet may reveal something unexpected: a tail.…
Partial Solar Eclipse over Argentina
What's happened to the Sun? Two days ago, parts of South America were treated to a partial solar eclipse -- where the Moon blocked out part of the Sun. The featured image shows an…
Viewing discoveries from 25 May 2022 through 2 May 2022.