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.
Beijing Ancient Observatory
Did observatories exist before telescopes ? One example that still stands today is the Beijing Ancient Observatory in China. Starting in the 1400s astronomers erected large…
Aurora at Midnight
What's happening behind those trees? Aurora . This picture was taken at midnight near Fairbanks , Alaska , and captures familiar trees, common clouds, and a glowing sky markedly…
M57: The Ring Nebula
It looked like a ring on the sky. Hundreds of years ago astronomers noticed a nebula with a most unusual shape. Now known as M57 or NGC 6720, the gas cloud became popularly known…
Standing on the Moon
Humans once walked on the Moon. Pictured above is the second person to stand on the lunar surface: Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. During this Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong (the first…
The Frothy Milky Way
Astronomers have discovered that looking at dust along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy is a bit like looking into a frothy glass of beer. The dust between stars in our galaxy…
Venus: Just Passing By
Venus, the second closest planet to the Sun , is a popular way-point for spacecraft headed for the gas giant planets in the outer reaches of the solar system. Why visit Venus…
Mars: Big Crater in Stereo
Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo picture of “Big Crater” on Mars! (Pieces of red and blue or green clear plastic will do. Your right eye should look through…
Tornadoes on the Sun
Giant spinning clouds of gas, similar to Earth's tornadoes , have been found on the Sun. Solar tornadoes , however, can be larger than the entire Earth, and sustain wind gusts…
A Double Conjunction Eclipse
The crescent Moon , Venus , and Jupiter all appeared together in the early morning hours of April 23rd. Some locations on Earth were able to witness a rare double conjunction…
IC 4406: A Seemingly Square Nebula
How can a round star make a square nebula? This conundrum came to light with the discovery of planetary nebulae like IC 4406. IC 4406 is most probably cylindrical, with its square…
NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
Like a butterfly , a white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a cocoon that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a caterpillar and the…
Supernova Remnant and Neutron Star
A massive star ends life as a supernova, blasting its outer layers back to interstellar space. The spectacular death explosion is initiated by the collapse of what has become an…
Infrared Saturn
This delightfully detailed false color image of Saturn has been earmarked to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope . The picture is a combination of…
Three Dusty Stars
These separate radio images reveal three dusty debris disks surrounding three bright, young, nearby stars - evidence for solar systems in formation. From left to right are the…
HR 4796A: A Recipe for Planets
Two hundred and twenty light years from Earth, planets are forming. Recent observations of the binary star system HR 4796 have shown that one of the stars is surrounded by a dusty…
Water in Orion
Is Orion all wet? Recent observations have confirmed that water molecules now exist in the famous Orion Nebula , and are still forming. The Orion Nebula (M42, shown above) is…
Name This Satellite
Can you name this satellite? In December, NASA's third Great Observatory is planned for launch. The two NASA Great Observatories currently in orbit are the Hubble Space Telescope…
Betelgeuse
Here is the first direct picture of the surface of a star other than our Sun. Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, the atmosphere of Betelgeuse reveals some unexpected…
Star Wars in NGC 664
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, locked in their final desperate struggle against the force of gravity ... two stars exploded! stellar explosions - Supernovae - are among the…
Mars: Looking For Viking
On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 lander touched down on the Martian Chryse Planitia. Its exact landing site is somewhere in the white rectangle above. Unfortunately, this wide angle…
Mars: Cydonia Close-Up
The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has returned another close-up of the Cydonia region on Mars. Orbiting over clear Martian skies at a range of about 200 miles, the Mars Orbiter…
NGC 1818: Pick A Star
This is NGC 1818 , a youthful, glittering cluster of 20,000 stars residing in the Large Magellanic Cloud , 164,000 light-years away. Pick a star. Any star. Astronomers might pick…
Starlight Reflections
Wisps of dust fill the space between the stars. This dust is usually invisible, subtly acting to dim the light of more distant stars. Sometimes this dust is thick and prominent as…
The Sun Changes
Our Sun changes every day. This recent picture was taken in a very specific red color called Hydrogen-Alpha . Dark spots that might appear on the image are usually sunspots , dark…
Viewing discoveries from 6 May 1998 through 13 April 1998.