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.
Zodiacal Light and the False Dawn
Is it dawn or false dawn? During certain times of the year, the horizon near the rising Sun will begin to glow unusually early. This early glow does not originate directly from…
Infrared Portrait of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Cosmic dust clouds ripple across this infrared portrait of our Milky Way's satellite galaxy , the Large Magellanic Cloud. In fact, the remarkable composite image from the Herschel…
NGC 6369: The Little Ghost Nebula
This pretty planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 6369 , was discovered by 18th century astronomer William Herschel as he used a telescope to explore the medicinal constellation…
Saturn's Iapetus: Painted Moon
What has happened to Saturn's moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal , while others are as bright as ice. The composition of the dark material is…
The Case of the Missing Supernova Companion
Where's the other star? At the center of this supernova remnant should be the companion star to the star that blew up. Identifying this star is important for understanding just…
Little Planet Lovejoy
Once a bright apparition in the southern hemisphere dawn Comet Lovejoy is fading, but its long tail still stretches across skies near the south celestial pole. Captured on the…
Bright Star Regulus near the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy
The star near the top is so bright that it is sometimes hard to notice the galaxy toward the bottom. Pictured above , both the star, Regulus , and the galaxy, Leo I , can be found…
Facing NGC 6946
From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy , we see NGC 6946 face-on . The big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 10 million light-years away, behind a veil of…
Lighthouse and Meteor
Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers. It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early…
Grand Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232
Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232 , captured in detail by one of the new Very Large Telescopes , is a…
A Wide Field Image of the Galactic Center
From Sagittarius to Scorpius , the central Milky Way is a truly beautiful part of planet Earth's night sky. The gorgeous region is captured in this wide field image spanning about…
Ringside with Titan and Dione
Orbiting in the plane of Saturn's rings , Saturnian moons have a perpetual ringside view of the gorgeous gas giant planet. Of course, while passing near the ring plane the Cassini…
Starburst Galaxy IC 10
Lurking behind dust and stars near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, IC 10 is a mere 2.3 million light-years distant. Even though its light is dimmed by intervening dust, the…
A Full Sky Aurora Over Norway
Higher than the highest building , higher than the highest mountain , higher than the highest airplane , lies the realm of the aurora. Auroras rarely reach below 60 kilometers,…
Spot the Moon
Where's the full Moon? Somewhere in this image, the Earth's Moon is hiding. The entire Moon is visible, in its completely full phase, in plain sight. Even the photographer's keen…
To Fly Free in Space
At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was farther out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit…
Comet Lovejoy and the ISS
On December 24, Comet Lovejoy rose in dawn's twilight, arcing above the eastern horizon, its tails swept back by the solar wind and sunlight. Seen on the left is the comet's early…
The Diner at the Center of the Galaxy
The monster at the center of our Galaxy is about to get fed . Recent observations by the Very Large Telescopes indicate that a cloud of gas will venture too close to the…
Conjunction at Sunset
While Comet Lovejoy entertained early morning risers in the southern hemisphere , a lovely conjunction of a young crescent Moon and Venus graced western skies at sunset. Captured…
Comet Lovejoy over Paranal
Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) survived its close encounter with the Sun earlier this month, taking its place among wonders of the southern skies just in time for Christmas. Seen here…
M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
The first hint of what will become of our Sun was discovered inadvertently in 1764 . At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with…
A Raging Storm System on Saturn
It is one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System. First seen late last year, the above cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of Saturn…
M1: The Crab Nebula from Hubble
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…
Eclipsed Moon in the Morning
December's lunar eclipse graced early morning skies over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, USA. There, this wintry scene finds the Moon in a cold blue twilight sky near the western…
Viewing discoveries from 16 January 2012 through 24 December 2011.