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.
WMAP Resolves the Universe
Analyses of a new high-resolution map of microwave light emitted only 380,000 years after the Big Bang appear to define our universe more precisely than ever before. The eagerly…
Cat's Eye
Staring across interstellar space, the alluring Cat's Eye nebula lies three thousand light-years from Earth. A classic planetary nebula , the Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) represents a…
Portrait of RY Tauri
A star emerges from its natal cloud of gas and dust in this tantalizing portrait of RY Tauri, a small stellar nursery at the edge of the Taurus molecular cloud, a mere 450…
Orange Moon, Red Flash
This remarkable telescopic image highlights the deep orange cast of a waning gibbous Moon seen very close to the eastern horizon earlier this week, on September 19. In fact ,…
Shoreline Terrain on Saturn's Titan
What could have created this unusual terrain on Saturn's moon Titan? The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn swooped once again, earlier this month, past the Solar…
M1: The Crab Nebula from NOT
This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The Crab Nebula , the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD , is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments are not only…
Approaching Asteroid Itokawa
What are asteroids made of? To help find out, Japan 's JAXA space agency launched the Hayabusa mission to rendezvous with asteroid Itokawa . Last week, the small robotic Hayabusa…
M42: Wisps of the Orion Nebula
The Great Nebula in Orion , an immense, nearby starbirth region , is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas . Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge…
The Shadow of Phobos
Hurtling through space above the Red Planet , potato-shaped Phobos completes an orbit of Mars in less than eight hours. In fact, since its orbital period is shorter than the…
Northern Lights, September Skies
So far, the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights have made some remarkable visits to September's skies . The reason, of course, is the not-so-quiet Sun . In particular, a large…
The Nucleus of Comet Tempel 1
Approaching the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 at ten kilometers per second , the Deep Impact probe's targeting camera recorded a truly dramatic series of images. Successive pictures…
The Boomerang Nebula in Polarized Light
Why did the Boomerang Nebula form? The symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang appears to have been created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at…
A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake
This was a sky to show the kids. All in all, three children, three planets, the Moon, a star, an airplane and a mom were all captured in one image near Great Salt Lake in Utah ,…
The Colliding Galaxies of NGC 520
Is this one galaxy or two? The jumble of stars, gas, and dust that is NGC 520 is now thought to incorporate the remains of two separate galaxies. A combination of observations and…
Jupiter's Clouds from Cassini
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,…
Supernova Survivor
Beginning with a full view of beautiful spiral galaxy M81 , follow the insets (left, bottom, then right) to zoom in on a real survivor. Seen at the center of the final field on…
Moon River
Shortly after sunset on September 6th, sky gazers around the world were treated to a lovely crescent Moon in western skies -- joined by bright planets Venus and Jupiter. In this…
IC 1396 in Cepheus
Stunning emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus . Energized by the bright, bluish central star seen…
The View from Husband Hill on Mars
Scroll right to see a breathtaking panorama of Mars from the top of Husband Hill. The image was taken by the robotic rover Spirit now exploring the red planet . Spirit, situated…
Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus
The tiger stripes on Saturn's moon Enceladus might be active. Even today, they may be spewing ice from the moon's icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles…
Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae from SALT
Stars come in bunches. Of the over 200 globular star clusters that orbit the center of our Milky Way Galaxy , 47 Tucanae is the second brightest globular cluster, behind Omega…
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…
Venus Unveiled
The surface of Venus is perpetually covered by a veil of thick clouds and remains hidden from even the powerful telescopic eyes of earth-bound astronomers. But in the early 1990s,…
X-Ray Portrait of Trumpler 14
A wonder of planet Earth's southern sky, star cluster Trumpler 14 lies about nine thousand light-years away in the Carina complex -- a rich star forming region at the edge of a…
Viewing discoveries from 25 September 2005 through 2 September 2005.