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.
Venus and the Sisters
After wandering about as far from the Sun on the sky as Venus can get, the brilliant evening star crossed paths with the Pleiades star cluster earlier this week. The beautiful…
Zodiacal Light Panorama
Sweeping from the eastern to western horizon, this 360 degree panorama follows the band of zodiacal light along the solar system's ecliptic plane . Dust scattering sunlight…
Centaurus A
What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, only 11 million light-years distant. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy…
M46 & M47: Star Clusters Young and Old
Many stars form in clusters . Galactic or open star clusters are relatively young swarms of bright stars born together near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Separated by about a…
Tungurahua Erupts
Volcano Tungurahua sometimes erupts spectacularly. Pictured above , molten rock so hot it glows visibly pours down the sides of the 5,000-meter high Tungurahua , while a cloud of…
Dad Quiets Omicron Ceti
The Omicron Cetians have been silenced. After alien-like monsters were reported to disturb his daughter's sleep for four nights in a row, this father took action. When last…
Paris by Night
Do you recognize the lights of Paris in this picture? In the cityscape taken on March 25 from the top of the 210 meter tall Montparnasse skyscraper, many will spot the looming…
The Grand Canyon in Moonlight
In this alluring night skyscape recorded on March 26, a young Moon stands over the distant western horizon in conjunction with brilliant planet Venus . In the foreground, the…
Rocket Trails in the Milky Way
On March 27, five sounding rockets leapt into early morning skies from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Part of the Anomalous Transport Rocket EXperiment ( ATREX ),…
Earthshine and Venus Over Sierra de Guadarrama
What just above that ridge? The Moon. Specifically, the Earth's Moon was caught just above the horizon in a young crescent phase. The familiar Moon might look a bit odd as the…
Unusual Hollows Discovered on Planet Mercury
What are those unusual features on planet Mercury? The slightly bluish tinge of features dubbed hollows has been exaggerated on the above image by the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft…
M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind
What's lighting up the Cigar Galaxy? M82 , as this irregular galaxy is also known, was stirred up by a recent pass near large spiral galaxy M81 . This doesn't fully explain the…
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus . This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the…
The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms
Also known as the Moon's ashen glow, Earthshine is Earthlight illuminating the Moon's night side. Taken on Nowruz , the March 20 equinox, from Esfahan, Iran, planet Earth, this…
Messier 9 Close-up
Renown 18th century astronomer Charles Messier described this 9th entry in his famous astronomical catalog as “Nebula, without star, in the right leg of Ophiuchus ...”. But…
M95 with Supernova
Barred spiral galaxy M95 is about 75,000 light-years across, comparable in size to our own Milky Way and one of the larger galaxies of the Leo I galaxy group . In fact, it is part…
Aurora Over Iceland
If you see a sky like this -- photograph it. Three nights ago in Iceland , an adventurous photographer (pictured) chanced across a sky full of aurora and did just that.…
Evolution of the Moon
What is the history of the Moon? The Moon was likely created from debris expelled when a Mars-sized object violently impacted the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. Just after…
Sunspot Group 1429 and the Distant Sun
What's that on the Sun ? Over the past two weeks, one of the most energetic sunspot regions of recent years crossed the face of the Sun. Active Region 1429 , visible above as the…
Jupiter and Venus from Earth
It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of Jupiter and Venus was visible last week almost no matter where you lived on Earth. Anyone on the planet with a clear…
NGC 2683: Edge-On Spiral Galaxy
This elegant island universe is cataloged as NGC 2683 . It lies a mere 16 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation Lynx . A spiral galaxy comparable to our…
Bright Planets at McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope
Bright planets Venus and Jupiter are framed by the National Solar Observatory's McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in this very astronomical scene. The photo was taken at Kitt Peak…
Solar Flare in the Gamma-ray Sky
What shines in the gamma-ray sky? The answer is usually the most exotic and energetic of astrophysical environments, like active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, or…
Angry Sun Erupting
It's one of the baddest sunspot regions in years. Active Region 1429 may not only look, to some, like an angry bird -- it has thrown off some of the most powerful flares and…
Viewing discoveries from 6 April 2012 through 14 March 2012.