Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula
South of Antares , in the tail of the nebula-rich constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628 . Nearby hot, massive stars, millions of years young, radiate the nebula…
Airglow over Italy
In this serene night skyscape , the Milky Way's graceful arc stretches over prominent peaks in the Italian Alps known as Tre Cime di Lavaredo . A 180 degree wide-angle panorama…
Airglow Over Germany
Does air glow? It does, but it is usually hard to see. When conditions are right, however, a faint glow about 90 kilometers up can be observed, most easily with a wide-angle…
Hurricane Paths on Planet Earth
Should you be worried about hurricanes? To find out, it is useful to know where hurricanes have gone in the past. The above Earth map shows the path of every hurricane reported…
M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky , the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city . Also known as the Seven Sisters and…
RBSP Night Launch
This graceful arc traces an Atlas V rocket climbing through Thursday's early morning skies over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. Snug inside the rocket's Centaur…
On a Blue Moon
Rising at sunset, the gorgeous Full Moon of August 31 became the second Full Moon in a month. According to modern reckoning , that makes it a Blue Moon. In fact, parts of the Full…
Halo of the Cat's Eye
The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky . Its haunting symmetries are seen in the very central region of this tantalizing image ,…
Apollo 11 Landing Site Panorama
Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the…
A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite
There is something very unusual in this picture of the Earth -- can you find it? A fleeting phenomenon once thought to be only a legend has been newly caught if you know just…
Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi
Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust illuminated from the front by starlight produces…
Curiosity on Mars: Mt. Sharp in View
What's that on the horizon? The light peak is Mt. Sharp -- an eventual destination of the Curiosity rover. The above image mosaic was taken from Bradbury Landing, the landing spot…
The Cat's Eye Nebula
Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off shells of glowing gas. This image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals the Cat's Eye Nebula to be one of the most…
Perseid over Albrechtsberg Castle
Medieval Albrechtsberg castle is nestled in trees near the northern bank of the river Pielach and the town of Melk, Austria . In clearing night skies on August 12 it stood under…
Moon Meets Morning Star
Rising in the dark hours before dawn, wandering Venus now shines as the brilliant morning star. Its close conjunction with the Moon on August 13 was appreciated around planet…
Conjunction Colours
During the past week , nightfall on planet Earth has featured Mars, Saturn, and Spica in a lovely conjunction near the western horizon. Still forming the corners of a distinctive…
Clouds Near the Edge of Space
Noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space . From about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface, the icy clouds can still reflect sunlight even though the Sun…
A Filament Across the Sun
Is that a cloud hovering over the Sun? Yes, but it is quite different than a cloud hovering over the Earth. The long light feature on the left of the above color-inverted image is…
M72: A Globular Cluster of Stars
Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way . Back in the old days , back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of globular clusters roamed our Galaxy . Today, there are…
Curiosity on Mars: Still Life with Rover
What does the Curiosity rover look like on Mars? To help find out, NASA engineers digitally synthesized multiple navigation camera images taken last week into what appears to be…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 5033
Magnificent island universe NGC 5033 lies some 40 million light-years away in the well-trained northern constellation Canes Venatici . This telescopic portrait reveals striking…
NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula
NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. This colorful portrait of the…
Curiosity on Mars: A Wall of Gale Crater
If you could stand on Mars, what would you see? The above image is a digitally re-colored approximation of what you might see if the above Martian landscape had occurred on Earth.…
Perseid Meteors and the Milky Way
Where will the next Perseid meteor appear? Sky enthusiasts who trekked outside for the Perseid meteor shower that peaked over the past few days typically had this question on…
Viewing discoveries from 7 September 2012 through 14 August 2012.