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.
NGC 922: Collisional Ring Galaxy
Why does this galaxy have so many big black holes? No one is sure. What is sure is that NGC 922 is a ring galaxy created by the collision of a large and small galaxy about 300…
MWC 922: The Red Square Nebula
What could cause a nebula to appear square? No one is quite sure. The hot star system known as MWC 922 , however, appears to be embedded in a nebula with just such a shape. The…
When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal
From a radiant point in the constellation of the Twins, the annual Geminid meteor shower rained down on planet Earth this week. Recorded near the shower's peak in the early hours…
Umbra World
On the morning of November 14, sky gazers from around the world gathered on this little planet to stand in the dark umbral shadow of the Moon . Of course, the Moon cast the shadow…
Apollo 17: A Stereo View from Lunar Orbit
Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this awesome stereo view of another world. The scene was recorded by Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan on December 11, 1972,…
Milky Way Over Quiver Tree Forest
In front of a famous background of stars and galaxies lies some of Earth's more unusual trees. Known as quiver trees, they are actually succulent aloe plants that can grow to…
NGC 604: Giant Stellar Nursery
Stars are sometimes born in the midst of chaos. About 3 million years ago in the nearby galaxy M33 , a large cloud of gas spawned dense internal knots which gravitationally…
Time-Lapse: A Total Solar Eclipse
Have you ever experienced a total eclipse of the Sun? The above time-lapse movie depicts such an eclipse in dramatic detail as visible from Australia last month. As the video…
The Astronaut Who Captured a Satellite
In 1984, high above the Earth's surface, an astronaut captured a satellite. It was the second satellite captured that mission. Pictured above , astronaut Dale A. Gardner flies…
Baku Moonrise
A Full Moon rises in this waterfront scene. Its colorful, watery reflection is joined by harbor lights and a windowed skyscraper's echo of the western horizon just after sunset.…
Earth at Night
This remarkably complete view of Earth at night is a composite of cloud-free, nighttime images. The images were collected during April and October 2012 by the Suomi-NPP satellite…
47 Tuc Near the Small Magellanic Cloud
Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104 , it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with around 200 other globular star…
Plasma Jets from Radio Galaxy Hercules A
Why does this galaxy emit such spectacular jets? No one is sure, but it is likely related to an active supermassive black hole at its center. The galaxy at the image center ,…
In the Center of Saturn's North Polar Vortex
What's happening at the north pole of Saturn? A vortex of strange and complex swirling clouds. The center of this vortex was imaged in unprecedented detail last week by the…
A Quadruple Lunar Halo Over Spain
Sometimes falling ice crystals make the atmosphere into a giant lens causing arcs and halos to appear around the Sun or Moon. This past Saturday night was just such a time near…
The Gegenschein Over Chile
Is the night sky darkest in the direction opposite the Sun? No. In fact, a rarely discernable faint glow known as the gegenschein (German for “counter glow”) can be seen 180…
Northern Mercury
Innermost planet Mercury would probably not be a good location for an interplanetary winter olympics . But new results based on data from the Mercury orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft…
Clouds in Cygnus
Cosmic clouds of gas and dust drift across this magnificent mosaic covering a 12x12 degree field within the high flying constellation Cygnus. The collaborative skyscape, a…
Super Moon vs. Micro Moon
Did you see the big, bright, beautiful Full Moon Wednesday night? That was actually a Micro Moon! On that night, the smallest Full Moon of 2012 reached its full phase only about 4…
Jupiter and Io
On December 3 (UT), Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet , will be at opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky, shining brightly and rising as the Sun sets. That…
Bright Jupiter in Taurus
That bright star you've recently noticed rising just after sunset isn't a star at all. It's Jupiter , the solar system's ruling gas giant. Bright Jupiter is nearing its December…
Wisps of the Veil Nebula
Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 9,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula , also known as the Cygnus Loop.…
Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered…
NGC 1365: Majestic Spiral with Supernova
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation…
Viewing discoveries from 17 December 2012 through 24 November 2012.