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 Not So Quiet Sun
After a long solar minimum , the Sun is no longer so quiet . On August 1, this extreme ultraviolet snapshot of the Sun from the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a complex burst…
M8: The Lagoon Nebula
This beautiful cosmic cloud is a popular stop on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius . Eighteenth century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged the bright nebula…
Eclipse Shadow Cone Over Patagonia
Sometimes, during a total eclipse of the Sun, a strange shadow of darkness can be seen stretching off into the distance. Called shadow cones, they are visible because the Earth's…
The Planet and the Radio Dish
What planet is this? Although seemingly something out of The Little Prince , the planet is actually Earth. More specifically, it is a small part of the Earth incorporated into a…
Prometheus Creating Saturn Ring Streamers
What's causing those strange dark streaks in the rings of Saturn? Prometheus . Specifically, an orbital dance involving Saturn's moon Prometheus keeps creating unusual light and…
Venus' Once Molten Surface
If you could look across Venus with radar eyes, what might you see? This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft.…
Four Planet Sunset
This mesmerizing sunset photo was taken from the summit of volcanic Mount Lawu , 3,265 meters above sea level, on July 21. The view looks west, toward the city lights of Surakarta…
Eclipse on the Beach
As the New Moon's shadow slid across the southern Pacific on July 11, people gathered along the white, sandy Anakena Beach on the north side of Easter Island to watch a total…
Sunset, Shadowrise
From central Australia, this serene 360 degree panorama follows a clear horizon as twilight began on May 28. At left, a bright western sky is still illuminated by the setting Sun.…
The Trifid Nebula is Stars and Dust
Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together in the Trifid Nebula . Also known as M20, this photogenic nebula is visible with good binoculars towards the…
The Milky Way Over Bryce Canyon
What are those strange rock structures? They are towers and walls of sedimentary rock that are particularly plentiful in Bryce Canyon in Utah , USA . The rock columns may rise…
Lutetia: The Largest Asteroid Yet Visited
As humans explore the universe, the record for largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft has increased yet again. Earlier this month, ESA's robotic Rosetta spacecraft zipped past…
Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth
What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend…
Diamond Ring and Shadow Bands
As the total phase of July 11's solar eclipse came to an end, sunlight streaming past the edge of the Moon's silhouette created the fleeting appearance of a glistening diamond…
Messier 76
“Nebula at the right foot of Andromeda ... ” begins the description for the 76th object in Charles Messier's 18th century Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters . In fact, M76 is…
The Meteor of 1860
Frederic Church (1826-1900), American landscape painter of the Hudson River School, painted what he saw in nature. And on July 20th, 1860, he saw a spectacular string of fireball…
The Crown of the Sun
During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere, or corona, is an inspirational sight. Subtle shades and shimmering features that engage the eye span a…
Lightning Over Athens
Have you ever watched a lightning storm in awe? Join the crowd. Oddly, nobody knows exactly how lightning is produced. What is known is that charges slowly separate in some clouds…
Dark River, Wide Field
A Dark River of dust seems to run from our Galactic Center, then pool into a starfield containing photogenic sky wonders. Scrolling right will reveal many of these objects…
The Antennae Galaxies in Collision
Two galaxies are squaring off in Corvus and here are the latest pictures . But when two galaxies collide , the stars that compose them usually do not. That's because galaxies are…
Galaxies in the River
Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy practices galactic cannibalism , absorbing small galaxies that get too close and are captured by the Milky Way's…
Shaping NGC 6188
Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long. The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark large…
Andes Sunset Eclipse
On July 11 , after a long trek eastward across the southern Pacific Ocean, the Moon's shadow reached landfall in South America. In a total solar eclipse close to sunset ,…
Easter Island Eclipse
Makemake , a god in Easter Island mythology, may have smiled for a moment as clouds parted long enough to reveal this glimpse of July 11's total solar eclipse to skygazers. In the…
Viewing discoveries from 6 August 2010 through 14 July 2010.