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 Lost World of Lake Vida
A lake hidden beneath 19 meters of ice and gravel has been found near the bottom of the world that might contain an ecosystem completely separate from our own. In a modern version…
A Mystery In Gamma Rays
Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light, packing a million or more times the energy of visible light photons. If you could see gamma rays, the familiar skyscape of steady…
Mercury and Venus in the West
Doing their part in the ongoing dance of the planets , Mercury and Venus both reached their greatest elongation or maximum apparent distance from the Sun only a few days ago, on…
April Fools Day More Intense On Mars
Today, April 1st, astrophysicists have announced a surprising discovery - April Fools Day is more intense on Mars! Though the discovery is contrary to accepted theories of April…
M39: Open Cluster in Cygnus
Lying just at the limit of human perception is a picturesque starfield containing one of the larger open clusters on the northern sky. Spanning an angle larger than the Moon ,…
A Prominent Solar Prominence from SOHO
One of the most spectacular solar sights is a prominence. A solar prominence is a cloud of solar gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field . Last month, NASA's…
NASA's X-43A Scramjet Sets Air Speed Record
Using oxygen from the air itself, a NASA experimental jet propelled itself past Mach 7 in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The small automated X-43A Hyper-X…
Stars and the Bubble Nebula
Seemingly adrift in a cosmic sea of stars and gas, this delicate, floating apparition is cataloged as NGC 7635 -- The Bubble Nebula . In this wide-angle view, the Bubble nebula…
Mir Dreams
This dream -like image of Mir was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission. Sporting…
Moon and Planets Sky
Look up into the sky tonight and without a telescope or binoculars you might have a view like this one of Moon, planets and stars. The lovely photo was taken on March 23rd, and…
An Orion of a Different Color
Look up into the sky tonight , and even with a good telescope you won't come across a sight quite like this one. It is a familiar object though, the grand stellar nursery known as…
Intriguing Dimples Near Eagle Crater on Mars
What are those unusual looking dimples? Looking back toward Eagle crater , its landing place on Mars , the robot rover Opportunity has spotted some unusual depressions in the…
Lava Flows on Venus
The hot surface of Venus shows clear signs of ancient lava flows . Evidence of this was bolstered by the robot spacecraft Magellan , which orbited Venus in the early 1990s. Using…
Asteroid 2004 FH Whizzes By
Last week, a small asteroid approached unusually close to the Earth. Asteroid 2004 FH posed no danger, but became bright enough to see with binoculars. Passing only 7 Earth radii…
A Green Flash from the Sun
Many think it is just a myth . Others think it is true but its cause isn't known. Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it. It's a green flash from the Sun . The truth is…
Equinox + 1
Twice a year, at the Spring and Fall equinox , the Sun rises due east. In an emphatic demonstration of this celestial alignment , photographer Joe Orman recorded this inspiring…
Going Wild
Dynamic jets of gas and dust surround one of the most active planetary surfaces in the solar system in this wild-looking picture of a comet nucleus . The comet's designation is…
Spirit Pan from Bonneville Crater's Edge
Scroll right and follow this breathtaking view of the martian surface from the southern edge of a small crater dubbed Bonneville. NASA's Spirit rover recorded the sharp 180-degree…
Redshift 10: Evidence for a New Farthest Galaxy
What's the farthest galaxy known? The answer keeps changing as astronomers compete to find galaxies that top the list. The new claimed record holder is now the faint smudge…
Sedna of the Outer Solar System
What is the most distant known object in our Solar System ? A new answer to this centuries-old question was announced yesterday by NASA with the discovery of a dark red object…
The Orion Nebula from CFHT
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula . The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an…
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
Comet Hale-Bopp became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights . Out away from city lights, however, it put on quite a spectacular show…
A Cerro Tololo Sky
High atop a Chilean mountain lies one of the premier observatories of the southern sky: the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). Pictured above is the dome surrounding…
X-Ray Saturn
Above, the ringed planet Saturn shines in x-rays . Otherwise beyond the range of human vision, the eerie x-ray view was created by overlaying a computer generated outline of the…
Viewing discoveries from 4 April 2004 through 12 March 2004.