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 Milky Way Near the Southern Cross
This breathtaking patch of sky would be above you were you to stand at the south pole of the Earth . Just above and to the right of the photograph's center are the four stars that…
The Tails of Comet Hyakutake
What makes comet tails so colorful? This photograph of Comet Hyakutake was taken the night of April 18th and highlights different components of the tail. The gold and red tail…
Comet Hyakutake and a Cactus
Comet Hyakutake is shown photographed the night of March 27 in Arizona, USA, with a cactus in the foreground. Polaris, the north star, is the bright star seen just to the upper…
Uranus' Ring System
The rings of Uranus are thin, narrow, and dark compared to other planetary ring systems. Brightened artificially by computer, the ring particles reflect as little light as…
Saturn's Rings Seen Sideways
Saturn's rings are actually very thin. This picture from the Hubble Space Telescope was taken on August 6, 1995 when the rings lined up sideways as seen from Earth . Saturn 's…
The Sun Sets on Comet Hyakutake
Comet Hyakutake is seen here just as the Sun sets on April 22. As April draws to a close, Comet Hyakutake will be visible only just after sunset and will be hard to discern…
Apollo 14: Rickshaw Tracks Across the Moon
Brilliant sunlight glints off tracks gently winding across the the Moon's Frau Maro highlands . The tracks were made by the Apollo 14 crew's two-wheeled Modularized Equipment…
A Giant Globular Cluster in M31
G1, pictured above, is the brightest known globular cluster in the whole Local Group of galaxies. Also called Mayall II, it orbits the center of the largest nearby galaxy: M31 .…
In the Center of the Whirlpool
In the center of M51 , a spiral galaxy 23 million light-years away, astronomers have identified a dense region of young stars. The graceful swirling arcs of this galaxy's spiral…
Giant Cluster Bends, Breaks Galaxy Images
What are those strange blue objects? Many are images of a single, unusual, beaded, blue, ring-like galaxy which just happens to line-up behind a giant cluster of galaxies. Cluster…
Comet Hyakutake on a Starry Night
It was a starry night in April (April 9th, 1996, 9:32 pm CDT to be exact) near Lone Jack, Missouri when Comet Hyakutake graced this astronomically rich field . Making an…
At the Edge of the Helix
While exploring the inner edge of the Helix Nebula with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 , astronomers were able to produce this striking image - rich in…
A Supernova in the Whirlpool
In 1994, a new star in a distant galaxy was seen by amateur astronomers , who alerted the world to their discovery of a supernova . Near the nucleus of spiral galaxy M51 ,…
Apollo 17 Lunarscape: A Magnificent Desolation
Buzz Aldrin , Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot and the second human to walk on the Moon described the lunar landscape as “a magnificent desolation”. Dramatic pictures from the Apollo…
The Virgo Cluster: Hot Plasma and Dark Matter
This ROSAT image of the Virgo cluster of galaxies reveals a hot X-ray emitting plasma or gas with a temperature of 10-100 million degrees pervading the cluster. False colors have…
Hyakutake, Venus, Orion, and Pond
Can you find Comet Hyakutake in the above picture? In this gorgeous photo, the starry night sky of April 9th is pictured with its new comet visitor. In the foreground is a pond…
NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
The Helix nebula (New General Catalog number 7293) is estimated to be a mere 450 light-years from the Sun, in the direction of the constellation Aquarius . At that distance it may…
Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula
Four hundred fifty light-years from Earth, the wind from a dying, sun-like star produced a planetary nebula popularly known as the Helix . While exploring the Helix's gaseous…
NASA Mission to MAP the Universe
What is our universe made of? How rapidly is our universe expanding? When did galaxies form? These questions, among the most important and baffling to astronomers since the…
The Rotating Jets of Comet Hyakutake
Comet Hyakutake will reach its closest point to the Sun on May 1, passing well inside the orbit of Mercury . At this time, the comet's dust and ion tail will be at their greatest…
The Compton Observatory Turns Five
Earlier this April, NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory , completed its fifth successful year in orbit, exploring the gamma ray sky . Pictured is astronaut Jay Apt perched in the…
Man Enters Space
Thirty five years ago today, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. On April 12, 1961, his remotely controlled Vostok 1 spacecraft lofted him…
Unexpected X-rays from Comet Hyakutake
The first X-rays ever detected from a comet were discovered from Comet Hyakutake with the ROSAT satellite on March 27th. The discovery is particularly surprising because there was…
Comet Hyakutake and a Tree
Comet Hyakutake is still visible as it continues its orbit around the Sun . The comet will brighten again in late April and early May. The above fascinating picture was taken with…
Viewing discoveries from 3 May 1996 through 10 April 1996.