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.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 4038 in Collision
This galaxy is having a bad millennium. In fact, the past 100 million years haven't been so good, and probably the next billion or so will be quite tumultuous. Visible on the…
The First Color Panorama from Mars by Curiosity
You've just landed on Mars and opened your eyes -- what do you see? If you're the Curiosity rover , you see a strange gravelly place with a large mountain in the distance. You've…
Perseid Below
Denizens of planet Earth watched last year's Perseid meteor shower by looking up into the bright moonlit night sky . But this remarkable view captured on August 13, 2011 by…
Mars in the Loop
This composite of images spaced some 5 to 7 days apart from late October 2011 (top right) through early July 2012 (bottom left), traces the retrograde motion of ruddy-colored Mars…
Curiosity Drops In
Just as it captured the Phoenix lander parachuting to Mars in 2008, the HiRise camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) snapped this picture of the Curiosity rover's…
A Wheel on Mars
A wheel attached to NASA's Curiosity rover is firmly on the martian surface in this early picture from the Mars Science Laboratory mission , captured after a successful landing on…
IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus
Stunning emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus . Energized by the bright, bluish central star seen…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
Viewing discoveries from 12 August 2012 through 16 July 2012.