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 Moon through the Arc de Triomphe
Was this a lucky shot? Although many amazing photographs are taken by someone who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, this image took skill and careful…
Northern Lights over Southern Europe
Did you see an aurora over the past two nights? Many people who don't live in Earth's far north did. Reports of aurora came in not only from northern locales in the USA as Alaska…
The Medulla Nebula Supernova Remnant
What powers this unusual nebula? CTB-1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The…
A Waterspout in Florida
What's happening over the water? Pictured here is one of the better images yet recorded of a waterspout , a type of tornado that occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning…
NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
In visible light NGC 1333 is seen as a reflection nebula , dominated by bluish hues characteristic of starlight reflected by interstellar dust. A mere 1,000 light-years distant…
Solar Eclipse from Western Australia
Along a narrow path that mostly avoided landfall, the shadow of the New Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere on April 20 to create a rare annular-total or hybrid…
The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
Spanning light-years, this suggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern…
Auroral Storm over Lapland
On some nights the sky is the best show in town. On this night, auroras ruled the sky, and the geomagnetic storm that created this colorful sky show originated from an…
Map of Total Solar Eclipse Path in 2024 April
Would you like to see a total eclipse of the Sun? If so, do any friends or relatives live near the path of next April's eclipse ? If yes again, then you might want to arrange a…
ELVES Lightning over Italy
What's that red ring in the sky? Lightning. The most commonly seen type of lightning involves flashes of bright white light between clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, other…
M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula
Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and…
When Z is for Mars
A composite of images captured about a week apart from mid August 2022 through late March 2023, this series traces the retrograde motion of ruddy-colored Mars . Progressing from…
Portrait of NGC 3628
Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers…
NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer
Stars of the globular cluster NGC 2419 are packed into this Hubble Space Telescope field of view toward the mostly stealthy constellation Lynx . The two brighter spiky stars near…
NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy along with the galaxy's pinkish star-forming regions. Also…
North Star: Polaris and Surrounding Dust
Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth. Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve…
IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula
To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944 , the Running…
The Egg Nebula in Polarized Light
Where is the center of the Egg Nebula ? Emerging from a cosmic egg, the star in the center of the Egg Nebula is casting away shells of gas and dust as it slowly transforms itself…
M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is…
Rigel Wide
Brilliant, blue, supergiant star Rigel marks the foot of Orion the Hunter in planet Earth's night . Designated Beta Orionis, it's at the center of this remarkably deep and wide…
Terran 1 Burns Methalox
Relativity's Terran 1 Rocket is mostly 3D-printed. It burns a cryogenic rocket fuel composed of liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox). In this close-up of a Terran 1 launch…
Rubin's Galaxy
In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In…
Olympus Mons: Largest Volcano in the Solar System
The largest volcano in our Solar System is on Mars. Although three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest , Olympus Mons will not be difficult for humans to climb because of the…
The Galactic Center Radio Arc
What causes this unusual curving structure near the center of our Galaxy? The long parallel rays slanting across the top of the featured radio image are known collectively as the…
Viewing discoveries from 26 April 2023 through 3 April 2023.