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 Rosette Nebula
Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet ? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to diminish the appearance of the this flowery…
NEAR Spacecraft Survives Landing on Asteroid Eros
Yesterday NEAR-Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid and send signals back from its surface. Since the robot spacecraft was not designed for such a…
Approaching Asteroid Eros
Today, at about 3 pm EST, the first human-made spacecraft is scheduled to touchdown on an asteroid . At an impact speed of 8 kilometers per hour, it is most probable that the…
Near-Shoemaker Views Eros
Orbiting asteroid 433 Eros, 145 million miles from Earth, NASA's NEAR spacecraft has been returning stunning views as its year long mission of exploration nears completion . A…
Aurora Astern
Sailing upside down, 115 nautical miles above Earth, the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour made this spectacular time exposure of the southern aurora (aurora australis) in…
Nashville Four Planet Skyline
So far this February, evening skies have been blessed with a glorious Moon and three bright planets; Venus , Jupiter, and Saturn. But just last week, on January 30th, an extreme…
Distant Galaxies in Radio Vision
Radio waves , like visible light, are electromagnetic radiation and radio telescopes can “see” -- their signals translate into radio images of the cosmos. While individually even…
Distant Open Cluster M103
Bright blue stars highlight the open cluster known as M103 . The gas clouds from which these stars condensed has long dispersed. Of the stars that were formed, the brightest,…
Touchdown Site on Asteroid Eros
The first controlled descent of a spacecraft onto an asteroid is scheduled to occur next week. The robot spacecraft NEAR-Shoemaker has been orbiting asteroid Eros for nearly one…
Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create…
Welcome to Planet Earth
Welcome to Planet Earth , the third planet from a star named the Sun . The Earth is shaped like a sphere and composed mostly of rock . Over 70 percent of the Earth's surface is…
M100: A Grand Design
Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a Grand Design spiral galaxy. A large galaxy of over 100 billion or so stars with well defined spiral arms , it is…
All-Sky Panorama
This quite stunning panorama of the entire sky is a mosaic of 51 wide-angle photographs . Made over a three year period from locations in California (USA), South Africa, and…
Jupiter's Brain
Gas giant Jupiter is the solar system's largest world with about 320 times the mass of planet Earth . Famous for its Great Red Spot , Jupiter is also known for its regular,…
Earth's Plasmasphere
Our Earth is surrounded by plasma . The overall shape that this ionized gas plasmasphere takes was discovered last year by NASA 's robot IMAGE spacecraft , and shown in the…
The Orion Nebula from VLT
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion . But this image , a…
An Airplane in Front of the Sun
Sometimes, good planes come to those who wait. Experienced solar photographer Thierry Lagault had noticed planes crossing in front of the Sun from his home in suburban Paris . He…
CMB Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe
Our Earth is not at rest. The Earth moves around the Sun . The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy . The Milky Way Galaxy orbits in the Local Group of Galaxies . The…
The Moons Of Earth
While orbiting the planet during their June 1998 mission, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery photographed this view of two moons of Earth. Thick storm clouds are visible in…
Galaxies Of The Virgo Cluster
Well over a thousand galaxies are known members of the Virgo Cluster , the closest large cluster of galaxies to our own local group . The galaxy cluster is difficult to see all at…
Sail On, Stardust
Spacecraft on long interplanetary voyages often use the planets themselves as gravitational “sling shots” to boost them along their way. Launched in February of 1999 on a historic…
NGC 3603: X-Rays From A Starburst Cluster
A mere 20,000 light-years from the Sun lies the NGC 3603 star cluster, a resident of the nearby Carina spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy . Seen here in this recent false-color…
Spherical Planetary Nebula Abell 39
One of the largest spheres in our Galaxy is giving valuable clues about the chemical composition of stars by its very shape. Planetary nebula Abell 39 , now six light-years…
A Two-toned Crater on Asteroid Eros
What lies beneath the surface of asteroid Eros? This image taken two weeks ago by the robot NEAR spacecraft orbiting the dark asteroid shows a kilometer-wide crater where some…
Viewing discoveries from 14 February 2001 through 22 January 2001.