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.
Doomed Star Eta Carinae
Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when - it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta Carinae 's mass - about 100 times greater than our Sun…
Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait . In the…
NGC 6188 and NGC 6164
Fantastic shapes lurk in clouds of glowing hydrogen gas in NGC 6188, about 4,000 light-years away. The emission nebula is found near the edge of a large molecular cloud unseen at…
Curiosity Rover at Rocknest on Mars
What's in this smooth soil on Mars? In late October, NASA's robotic Curiosity rover stopped near a place dubbed Rocknest as it continues to explore Gale Crater on Mars. Rocknest…
Makemake of the Outer Solar System
Makemake is one of the largest objects known in the outer Solar System. Pronounced MAH-kay MAH-kay , this Kuiper belt object is about two-thirds the size of Pluto, orbits the Sun…
Yosemite Winter Night
In this evocative night skyscape a starry band of the Milky Way climbs over Yosemite Valley , Sierra Nevada Range, planet Earth. Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon on the…
Hyades for the Holidays
Recognized since antiquity and depicted on the shield of Achilles according to Homer, stars of the Hyades cluster form the head of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Their general…
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
Comet Hale-Bopp , the Great Comet of 1997, became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights . Away from city lights, however, it put on…
Saturn at Night
Splendors seldom seen are revealed in this glorious picture from Saturn's shadow. Imaged by Cassini on October 17, 2012 during its 174th orbit, the ringed planet's night side is…
Orion over El Castillo
Welcome to the December solstice , a day the world does not end ... even according to the Mayan Calendar. To celebrate, consider this dramatic picture of Orion rising over El…
M33: Triangulum Galaxy
The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33…
NGC 5189: An Unusually Complex Planetary Nebula
Why is this nebula so complex? When a star like our Sun is dying, it will cast off its outer layers, usually into a simple overall shape. Sometimes this shape is a sphere ,…
A Sun Pillar Over Sweden
Have you ever seen a sun pillar ? When the air is cold and the Sun is rising or setting , falling ice crystals can reflect sunlight and create an unusual column of light. Ice…
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…
Viewing discoveries from 30 December 2012 through 7 December 2012.