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 Rosette Nebula
Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet ? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission…
Ice Fishing for Cosmic Neutrinos
Scientists are melting holes in the bottom of the world. In fact, almost 100 holes melted near the South Pole are now being used as astronomical observatories. Astronomers with…
Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
It's easy to get lost following the intricate filaments in this detailed mosaic image of faint supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sh2-240 and seen towards the…
Star Colors in Orion
What determines a star's color ? Its temperature. Red stars are cool, with surface temperatures of around 3,000 kelvins (K) , while blue stars are hotter and can have temperatures…
Hanny's Voorwerp
Hanny's Voorwerp , Dutch for “Hanny's Object”, is enormous, about the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Glowing strongly in the greenish light produced by ionized oxygen atoms,…
NGC 2174: Stars Versus Mountains
It's stars versus gas mountains in NGC 2174 and the stars are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing…
Iridescent Clouds from the Top of the World Highway
Why would a cloud appear to be different colors? A relatively rare phenomenon known as iridescent clouds can show unusual colors vividly or a whole spectrum of colors…
Sun 360: STEREO Captures Views of the Entire Sun
For the first time, the entire Sun is being imaged all at once. This has become possible because the two STEREO satellites orbiting and monitoring the Sun are now on opposite…
An Anomalous SETI Signal
No one knows for sure what caused this signal . There is a slight possibility that it just might originate from an extraterrestrial intelligence . The bright colors on the blue…
Apollo 14: A View from Antares
Forty years ago , while looking out the window of Apollo 14's Lunar Module Antares , astronaut Ed Mitchell snapped a series of photos of the lunar surface, assembled into this…
Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait from the WISE…
Six Worlds for Kepler-11
Six worlds orbit Kepler-11 , a sunlike star 2,000 light-years distant in the constellation Cygnus. The new discovery is based on data from NASA's planet hunting Kepler spacecraft…
Moon and Venus Over Switzerland
Sometimes a morning sky can be a combination of serene and surreal. Such a sky perhaps existed before sunrise this past Sunday as viewed from a snowy slope in eastern Switzerland…
Powers of Ten
How different does the universe look on small, medium, and large scales? The most famous short science film of its generation gives breathtaking comparisons. That film, Powers of…
Japan's Kounotori2 Supply Ship Approaches the Space Station
The care package from Earth had arrived. Last week, Japan launched the robotic Kounotori2 spacecraft to bring needed supplies , including food, to the International Space Station…
Gibbous Europa
Although the phase of this moon might appear familiar, the moon itself might not. In fact, this gibbous phase shows part of Jupiter 's moon Europa . The robot spacecraft Galileo…
Opportunity at Santa Maria Crater
Celebrating 7 years on the surface of the Red Planet , Mars exploration rover Opportunity now stands near the rim of 90 meter wide Santa Maria crater . Remarkably, Opportunity and…
Tomorrow's picture:
Featured in this artist's illustration, NASA's NanoSail-D finally unfurled a very thin, 10 square meter reflective sail on January 20th, becoming the first solar sail spacecraft…
Hidden Treasures of M78
M78 isn't really hiding in planet Earth's night sky. About 1,600 light-years away and nestled in the nebula rich constellation Orion , the large, bright, reflection nebula is…
The Whirlpool Galaxy in Infrared Dust
How do spiral galaxies form stars? To help find out, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the nearby photogenic spiral M51 in infrared light to highlight the dust that traces the…
The Rippled Red Ribbons of SNR 0509
What is causing the picturesque ripples of supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5? The ripples, as well as the greater nebula, were imaged in unprecedented detail by the Hubble Space…
Phobos' South Pole from Mars Express
Where on this moon would you land? The moon pictured above is not Earth's moon but Phobos , the closest moon to the planet Mars. Phobos is so close to Mars that it is expected to…
Peekskill Fireball Video: Johnstown
The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on 16 independent videos and then struck a car. Documented as brighter than the full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of…
Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 660
NGC 660 lies near the center of this intriguing skyscape , swimming in the boundaries of the constellation Pisces . Over 20 million light-years away, its peculiar appearance marks…
Viewing discoveries from 14 February 2011 through 22 January 2011.