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 Bubble Nebula
Blown by the wind from a massive star, this interstellar apparition has a surprisingly familiar shape . Cataloged as NGC 7635, it is also known simply as The Bubble Nebula .…
Messier 5
“Beautiful Nebula discovered between the Balance [Libra] & the Serpent [Serpens] ...” begins the description of the 5th entry in 18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous…
South Pole Star Trails
No star dips below the horizon and the Sun never climbs above it in this remarkable image of 24 hour long star trails . Showing all the trails as complete circles, such an image…
The Milky Way Over Monument Valley
You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that…
Curiosity Before Mars: Seven Minutes of Terror
Next week at this time, there may be an amazing new robotic explorer on Mars. Or there may be a new pile of junk. It all likely depends on many things going correctly in the…
Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
Why did the picturesque 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly…
Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
In the center of star-forming region 30 Doradus lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. These stars, known collectively as star cluster R136 , were…
Trails in the Morning Sky
Brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter still rise together before dawn . The peaceful waters by a small lakeside house near Stuttgart, Germany reflect their graceful arcing trails in…
High Energy Stereoscopic System II
The largest of its kind, the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) II telescope stands in the foreground of this photo. Tilted horizontally it reflects the inverted landscape…
The Tulip in the Swan
Framing a bright emission region this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan . Popularly called the…
Pink Aurora Over Crater Lake
Why is this aurora strikingly pink? When photographing picturesque Crater Lake in Oregon , USA last month, the background sky lit up with auroras of unusual colors . Although much…
South Polar Vortex Discovered on Titan
What's happening over the south pole of Titan? A vortex of haze appears to be forming, although no one is sure why. The above natural-color image shows the light-colored feature.…
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Lightning Captured at 7,207 Images per Second
How fast is lightning? Lightning, in fact, moves not only too fast for humans to see, but so fast that humans can't even tell which direction it is moving. The above lightning…
M16: Pillars of Creation
It was one of the most famous image s of the 1990s. This image , taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of…
The Eagle Rises
Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this remarkable stereo view from lunar orbit. Created from two photographs ( AS11-44-6633 , AS11-44-6634 ) taken by astronaut Michael…
Moon Meets Jupiter
Skygazers around planet Earth enjoyed the close encounter of planets and Moon in July 15's predawn skies . And while many saw bright Jupiter next to the slender, waning crescent,…
Dawn of the Dish
Wandering planets Venus and Jupiter were joined by an old crescent Moon near the eastern horizon on July 15. This serene southern skyview of the much anticipated predawn…
A Hole in Mars
What created this unusual hole in Mars? The hole was discovered by chance on images of the dusty slopes of Mars' Pavonis Mons volcano taken by the HiRISE instrument aboard the…
Simulation: A Disk Galaxy Forms
How do galaxies like our Milky Way form? Since our universe moves too slowly to watch, faster-moving computer simulations are created to help find out. Green depicts (mostly)…
Fifth Moon Discovered Orbiting Pluto
A fifth moon has been discovered orbiting Pluto. The moon was discovered earlier this month in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in preparation for the New Horizons…
Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula . Also known as M42 , the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar…
AR1520: Islands in the Photosphere
Awash in a sea of plasma and anchored in magnetic fields , sunspots are planet-sized, dark islands in the solar photosphere , the bright surface of the Sun. Dark because they are…
21st Century M101
One of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is…
Teimareh Petroglyphs and Star Trails
Engraved in rock, these ancient petroglyphs are abundant in the Teimareh valley, located in the Zagros Mountains of central Iran. They likely tell a tale of hunters and animals…
Viewing discoveries from 4 August 2012 through 12 July 2012.