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 Belt of Venus over the Valley of the Moon
Although you've surely seen it, you might not have noticed it. During a cloudless twilight , just before sunrise or after sunset , part of the atmosphere above the horizon appears…
Mira: The Wonderful Star
To seventeenth century astronomers, Omicron Ceti or Mira was known as a wonderful star - a star whose brightness could change dramatically in the course of about 11 months. Modern…
Strangers on Mars
This view from the winter station of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, looks across the rock strewn landscape of Gusev Crater . The dark boulders and distant hills are characteristic…
Constellation Construction
This lovely twilight scene , recorded last April, finds a young crescent Moon low in the west at sunset. Above it, stars shine in the darkening sky but they too are soon to drop…
Reflections on Planet Earth
Catching sight of your reflection in a store window or shiny hubcap can be entertaining and occasionally even inspire a thoughtful moment. So consider this reflective view from…
Noctilucent Clouds Over Sweden
Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still…
Venus Express Arrives at Venus
Humanity now has a spacecraft orbiting Venus. The robotic Venus Express spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency in 2005 November arrived at Venus in 2006 April. Venus…
The Galactic Center in Infrared
The center of our Galaxy is a busy place. In visible light , much of the Galactic Center is obscured by opaque dust . In infrared light , however, dust glows more and obscures…
Reflecting Merope
In the well known Pleiades star cluster, starlight is slowly destroying this wandering cloud of gas and dust . The star Merope lies just off the upper left edge of this picture…
The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
This stunning mosiac of the sky around bright stars Antares (Alpha Scorpii ) and Rho Ophiuchi reveals spectacular colors in a cosmic starscape. Near the top, Rho Ophiuchi and…
A Space Shuttle Climbs to Orbit
You are going into space. New small cameras allow anyone with a web browser to virtually ride along with the space shuttle , at times from numerous angles, as it launches into…
A Manhattan Sunset
Today, if it is clear, Manhattan will flood dramatically with sunlight just as the Sun sets precisely on the centerline of every street. Usually, the tall buildings that line the…
Crescent Rhea Occults Crescent Saturn
Soft hues, partially lit orbs, a thin trace of the ring, and slight shadows highlight this understated view of the majestic surroundings of the giant planet Saturn. Looking nearly…
Dark Sun Sizzling
Is this our Sun? Yes. Even on a normal day, our Sun is sizzling ball of seething hot gas . Unpredictably, regions of strong and tangled magnetic fields arise, causing sunspots and…
NGC 2392 Nebula from Hubble
In 1787, astronomer William Herschel discovered NGC 2392 . From the ground, NGC 2392 resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. In 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope…
Discovery in Motion
On July 4th, the space shuttle orbiter Discovery rocketed into space on mission STS-121 . Now docked with the International Space Station, Discovery orbits planet Earth at about…
Bright Galaxy M81
Big and beautiful spiral galaxy M81 lies in the northern constellation Ursa Major . One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth's sky, M81 is also home to the second brightest…
NGC 6888: A Tricolor Starfield
NGC 6888 , also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. Near the center of this…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 2403 from Subaru
Sprawling spiral arms dotted with bright red emission nebulas highlight this new and detailed image of nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Also visible in the photogenic spiral galaxy…
Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A from CFHT
Why is peculiar galaxy Centaurus A so dusty? Dramatic dust lanes that run across the galaxy's center mark Cen A . These dust lanes are so thick they almost completely obscure the…
The View toward Husband Hill on Mars
This Martian vista is only part of one of the greatest panoramic views of Mars that has ever been attempted. The expansive mosaic is helping to keep the robotic Spirit rover busy…
Tornado and Rainbow Over Kansas
The scene might have been considered serene if it weren't for the tornado . Last June in Kansas , storm chaser Eric Nguyen photographed this budding twister in a different light…
Wind from a Black Hole
Binary star system GRO J1655-40 consists of a relatively normal star about twice as massive as the Sun co-orbiting with a black hole of about seven solar masses . This striking…
The Antennae
Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus , two large galaxies have collided . But stars in the two galaxies - NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 - don't collide…
Viewing discoveries from 23 July 2006 through 30 June 2006.