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.
Titan Surmised
What does the surface of Titan look like? Thick clouds have always made Saturn's largest moon so mysterious that seemingly farfetched hypotheses like methane rain and lakes have…
Molecular Cloud Barnard 68
Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud . Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular…
Europa: Ice Line
This bright white swath cutting across the surface of icy Jovian moon Europa is known as Agenor Linea . In all about 1000 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, only a section is…
Prometheus and the Rings of Saturn
In Greek Mythology, Prometheus was known for stealing fire from the gods. Ironically, in a story for more modern times Prometheus may also become known for stealing, but this time…
The Arms of NGC 7424
The grand , winding arms are almost mesmerizing in this face-on view of NGC 7424, a spiral galaxy with a prominent central bar . About 40 million light-years distant in the…
Looking Back Over Mars
Pictured above , the path of the robot rover Spirit on Mars can be traced far into the distance. Spirit has now crossed kilometers of plains covered with rocks and sand,…
Nearby Spiral M33
Spiral galaxy M33 is a mid-sized member of our Local Group of Galaxies . M33 is also called the Triangulum Galaxy for the constellation in which it resides. About four times…
Announcing Comet Machholz
A comet discovered only this summer is brightening quickly and already visible to the unaided eye. Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) is currently best visible in Earth's Southern…
Atlantis to Orbit
Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human…
M87's Energetic Jet
An energetic jet from the core of giant elliptical galaxy M87 stretches outward for 5,000 light-years. This monstrous jet appears in the panels above to be a knotted and irregular…
Debris Disks Surround Distant Suns
In this dramatic artist's vision , debris along the outer reaches of a planet forming disk orbits in the glare of a distant sun. But inset are actual images of such disks around…
Jupiter and the Moon's Shadowed Horizon
Early Tuesday morning, December 7th, June Croft thought the southeastern sky above Atmore, Alabama, USA was beautiful. Watching the Moon rise through gossamer clouds, she noted, “…
In the Center of the Heart Nebula
What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart . The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent…
A Strange Streak Imaged in Australia
Meteor experts don't think it's a meteor . Atmospheric scientists don't think it's lightning . The photographer insists that the streak and flash on the above image has not been…
Filaments Across the Sun
Two unusually long filaments crossed part of the Sun last week. The filaments are actually relatively cool and dark prominences of solar plasma held up by the Sun's magnetic field…
Kemble's Cascade
A picturesque chain of unrelated stars is visible with strong binoculars towards the constellation of Camelopardalis . Known as Kemble's Cascade , the asterism contains about 20…
Reflecting Merope
In the well known Pleiades star cluster , a star's light is slowly destroying this wandering cloud of gas and dust . Above, the star Merope lies just off the upper left edge of…
I Zwicky 18: Young Galaxy
The Milky Way is an ordinary 12 billion year old spiral galaxy, and even our middle-aged Sun is pushing 4.5 billion years. But all the stars in dwarf galaxy I Zwicky 18 are much…
Mimas, Rings, and Shadows
Caught in sunlight, icy moon Mimas shines above a broad shadow across gas giant Saturn . In this remarkable image from the Cassini spacecraft, tiny Mimas is at the upper right.…
Saturn's Moon Dione from Cassini
What causes the bright streaks on Dione? Recent and likely future images of this unusual moon by the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn might help us find out. The above…
Lake Effect Snow on Earth
What are those strange clouds stretching out from these lakes? The clouds are caused by cold air moving over a warm water and result in bands of lake-effect snow . The rising…
Saturn's Moon Tethys from Cassini
Tethys is one of the larger and closer moons of Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn passed near the frozen moon at the end of October, capturing the most detailed…
Doomed Star Eta Carinae
Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when - it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta Carinae 's mass - about 100 times greater than our Sun…
NGC 2683: Spiral Edge-On
This gorgeous island universe , cataloged as NGC 2683 , lies a mere 16 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Lynx . A spiral galaxy comparable to our own Milky…
Viewing discoveries from 20 December 2004 through 27 November 2004.