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.
Huge Gamma Ray Bubbles Found Around Milky Way
Did you know that our Milky Way Galaxy has huge bubbles emitting gamma rays from the direction of the galactic center? Neither did anybody. As the data from the Earth-orbiting…
NGC 4452: An Extremely Thin Galaxy
Why is there a line segment on the sky? In one of the more precise alignments known in the universe, what is pictured above is actually a disk galaxy being seen almost perfectly…
700 Kilometers Below Comet Hartley 2
What kind of comet is this? Last week, NASA's robotic EPOXI spacecraft whizzed past Comet 103P/Hartley , also known as Comet Hartley 2, and recorded images and data that are both…
The Center of Centaurus A
A fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, gigantic glowing gas clouds, and imposing dark dust lanes surrounds the central region of the active galaxy Centaurus A. This…
The Elephant's Trunk in IC 1396
Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story , the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396 , in the high and far off…
Comet Hartley 2 Flyby
Follow these 5 frames clockwise starting from the top left to track the view from the EPOXI mission spacecraft as it approached, passed under, and then looked back at the nucleus…
Night Lights
Constellations of lights sprawl across this night scene , but they don't belong in the skies of planet Earth . Instead, the view looks down from the International Space Station as…
The Necklace Nebula
The small constellation Sagitta sports this large piece of cosmic jewelry, dubbed the Necklace Nebula. The newly discovered example of a ring-shaped planetary nebula is about…
Spicules: Jets on the Sun
Imagine a pipe as wide as a state and as long as the Earth. Now imagine that this pipe is filled with hot gas moving 50,000 kilometers per hour. Further imagine that this pipe is…
The Milky Way Over the Peak of the Furnace
On Reunion Island , it is known simply as “The Volcano.” To others, it is known as the Piton de la Fournaise , which is French for the Peak of the Furnace. It is one of the most…
Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula
Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day , a day halfway between an equinox (equal day /…
Ghost of the Cepheus Flare
Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse , drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus . Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds faintly visible in…
Star Trails and the Captain's Ghost
Look closely at this surreal nightscape . In the dreamlike scene, star trails arc over an old ship run aground on a beach near Gytheio, Peloponnesus in southern Greece. Could that…
Mirach's Ghost
As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that scary . In fact, Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly…
Ultraviolet Andromeda
This stunning vista represents the highest resolution image ever made of the Andromeda Galaxy (aka M31) at ultraviolet wavelengths . Recorded by NASA's Swift satellite , the…
Comet Hartley Passes a Double Star Cluster
Most star clusters are singularly impressive. Open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884, however, are doubly impressive. Also known as “h and chi Persei”, this unusual double cluster ,…
Water Ice Detected Beneath Moon's Surface
Is there enough water on the moon to sustain future astronauts? The question has important implications if humanity hopes to use the Moon as a future outpost. Last year , to help…
A Bucket-Wheel Excavator on Earth
Please wait while one of the largest mobile machines in the world crosses the road. The machine pictured above is a bucket-wheel excavator used in modern surface mining . Machines…
Orion: Head to Toe
Cradled in cosmic dust and glowing hydrogen, stellar nurseries in Orion the Hunter lie at the edge of a giant molecular cloud some 1,500 light-years away. Spanning nearly 25…
NGC 7822 in Cepheus
Pillars of gas, dust, and young, hot stars seem to fill the gaping maw of NGC 7822. At the edge of a giant molecular cloud toward the northern constellation Cepheus , the glowing…
Methuselah Nebula MWP1
The lovely, symmetric planetary nebula cataloged as MWP1 lies some 4,500 light-years away in the northern constellation Cygnus the Swan. One of the largest planetary nebulae…
Venus Just After Sunset
Is that Venus or an airplane? A common ponderable for sky enthusiasts is deciding if that bright spot near the horizon is the planet Venus. Usually, an airplane will show itself…
Prometheus Rising Through Saturn's F Ring
What is that dark streak below Prometheus? Although it may look like a shadow or a trail blazed by sweeping up material, computer simulations indicate that the dark streak is…
It Came from the Sun
What's that coming over the edge of the Sun? What might appear at first glance to be some sort of Sun monster is actually a solar prominence . The above prominence , captured by…
Viewing discoveries from 10 November 2010 through 18 October 2010.