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.
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The Path of Artemis II
Why doesn't Artemis II land on the Moon? The main reason is that Artemis II is primarily a test mission designed to make a future Artemis missions -- which will land humans on the…
NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
The party is still going on in spiral galaxy NGC 3310. Roughly 100 million years ago, NGC 3310 likely collided with a smaller galaxy causing the large spiral galaxy to light up…
Hello World
From pole to pole our fair planet is captured in this snapshot from space, an evocative image from a window of the Orion spacecraft Integrity. From the spacecraft's perspective…
Caught in the Web: Visualization of a Black Hole Merger in the Tarantula Nebula
How can we see what is invisible? Black holes are not easy to see in the dark cosmic night, but astronomers can find them by analyzing their gravitational effects on matter ,…
Liftoff! Returning to the Moon
We are one small step closer to returning to the Moon. A new chapter in human exploration began yesterday when NASA's Artemis II launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) from…
The Claw and Bubble Nebulae
What unexpected things do you see when you look up at the night sky? Today’s image resembles an abstract painting , with large swaths of color strewn across a cosmic canvas…
Uranus's Largest Moon: Titania
Titania's tortured terrain is a mix of canyons, cliffs, and craters. NASA 's interplanetary robot spacecraft Voyager 2 passed the largest moon of Uranus in 1986 and took the…
Peculiar Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A
What's happened to the center of this galaxy? Dramatic dust lanes run across the center of unusual elliptical galaxy Centaurus A . These dust lanes are so thick they almost…
A Message from Earth
What are these Earthlings trying to tell us? The featured message was broadcast from Earth towards the globular star cluster M13 in 1974. During the dedication of an upgrade to…
Robert Goddard and Nell
Robert H. Goddard , considered the father of modern rocketry, was born in Worcester Massachusetts in 1882. As a 16 year old, Goddard read H.G. Wells' science fiction classic “War…
Hickson 44 in Leo
Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies , now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups .…
Black Holes and Neutron Stars: 218 Mergers and Counting
What is the sound of two black holes merging in deep space? Sound waves don't propagate in vacuum, but gravitational waves do. In 2015 we were able to “hear” them for the first…
The Guardians of Rapa Nui beneath the Milky Way
In the words of today's astrophotographer, Rositsa Dimitrova, “What have these silent sentinels watched pass across the sky?” The volcanic mo'ai (meaning statue) of Anakena stand…
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A Gravity Map of Earth
Is gravity the same over the surface of the Earth? No -- in some places you will feel slightly heavier than others. The featured Earth map video shows in colors and exaggerated…
Light Pillars and Orion over Mohe
What's happening at the end of that street? Pictured here are not auroras but light pillar s, a phenomenon typically much closer. In most places on Earth , a lucky viewer can see…
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Leaving Earth
What would it look like to leave planet Earth? Such an event was recorded visually in great detail by the MESSENGER spacecraft as it swung back past the Earth in 2005 on its way…
Galaxies in the River: NGC 1300 and NGC 1297
Spiral NGC 1300 and elliptical NGC 1297 are galaxies that lie on the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus (The River) . At 70 million light-years distant or more, both are…
Spring Equinox at Teide Observatory
The defining astronomical moment of the equinox today is at 14:46 UTC (March 20). That's when the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving north in its yearly journey through…
Launch Plume: SpaceX Jellyfish
Even if you live with your head in the clouds , you won’t find a jellyfish like this one very often. The featured image shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral…
Cygnus and the Solitary Tree
A lone tree stands in a quiet meadow in Guadalajara, Spain , silhouetted against the Cygnus region rising above like flames in the night sky. This deep night skyscape is a…
The Tadpoles of IC 410
This telescopic close-up shows off the central regions of otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410, captured under backyard skies. Presented in a Hubble color palette, the image…
NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe containing billions of stars and situated about 40 million light-years away…
Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico 's Yucatán Peninsula -- near an equinox . Then, during…
A Year for K2-315b
Want to visit a planet that has 3.14 days in a year? Then plan a trip to K2-315b, an earth-sized planet orbiting around a cool, red, M dwarf star about once every 3.14 days. The…
Viewing discoveries from 6 April 2026 through 14 March 2026.