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.
Aurora and Unusual Clouds Over Iceland
What's happening in the sky? On this cold winter night in Iceland, quite a lot. First, in the foreground, lies the largest glacier in Iceland : Vatnajokull . On the far left,…
The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent tail spread across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern…
Active Comet ISON
Falling through planet Earth's predawn skies toward its close encounter with the Sun on November 28, Comet ISON is coming to life . The much anticipated comet has now been…
The Flash Spectrum of the Sun
In a flash, the visible spectrum of the Sun changed from absorption to emission on November 3rd, during the brief total phase of a solar eclipse. That fleeting moment is captured…
The Jets of NGC 1097
Enigmatic spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shines in southern skies, about 45 million light-years away in the chemical constellation Fornax . Its blue spiral arms are mottled with pinkish…
In the Shadow of Saturn
In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn drifted in giant planet's shadow earlier this year and looked back toward…
The Unexpected Tails of Asteroid P5
What is happening to asteroid P/2013 P5? No one is sure. For reasons unknown, the asteroid is now sporting not one but six discernible tails. The above images were taken two…
An Active Sun During a Total Eclipse
Sometimes, a total eclipse of the Sun is an opportunity. Taking advantage of such, the above image shows the solar eclipse earlier this month as covered and uncovered by several…
Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning
Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. In January 2007, people from Perth , Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far.…
Comet Lovejoy with M44
While anxiously waiting for Comet ISON to brighten further as it falls toward the Sun, northern skygazers can also find three other bright comets in the east before dawn. In fact…
Solar Eclipse from Uganda
The Sun's disk was totally eclipsed for a brief 20 seconds as the Moon's dark umbral shadow raced across Pokwero in northwestern Uganda on November 3rd. So this sharp telescopic…
Eclipse at 44,000 Feet
Timing was critical to catch this image of November 3rd's solar eclipse . But flying at 44,000 feet, intrepid eclipse chasers on a chartered jet traveling 500 miles per hour…
Creature Aurora Over Norway
It was Halloween and the sky looked like a creature. Exactly which creature, the astrophotographer was unsure ( but possibly you can suggest one ). Exactly what caused the eerie…
Kepler-78b: Earth-Sized Planet Discovered
Even though Kepler-78b is only slightly larger than the Earth, it should not exist. Its size is extraordinary only in the sense that it is the most similar in size to the Earth of…
Eclipse Over New York
A sunrise over New York City rarely looks like this. Yesterday, however, the Sun rose partly eclipsed by the Moon as seen from much of the eastern North American and northern…
A Rare Hybrid Solar Eclipse
A spectacular geocentric celestial event of 2005 was a rare hybrid eclipse of the Sun - a total or an annular eclipse could be seen depending on the observer's location. For Fred…
Jupiter's Triple Shadow Transit
This webcam and telescope image of banded gas giant Jupiter shows the transit of three shadows cast by Jupiter's moons in progress, captured in Belgian skies on October 12 at 0528…
NGC 7841: The Smoke Nebula in Frustriaus
NGC 7841 is probably known as the Smoke Nebula, found in the modern constellation of Frustriaus, the frustrated astrophotographer. Only a few light-nanoseconds from planet Earth ,…
Night on a Spooky Planet
What spooky planet is this? Planet Earth of course, on the dark and stormy night of September 12 at Hverir, a geothermally active area along the volcanic landscape in northeastern…
A Spectre in the Eastern Veil
Frightening forms and scary faces are a mark of the Halloween season. They also haunt this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova…
Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas. Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the night sky's most recognizable constellations ,…
The Great Comet of 1680 Over Rotterdam
Was there ever another comet like ISON? Although no two comets are exactly alike, one that appears to have had notable similarities was Comet Kirch, the Great Comet of 1680 . Like…
Sungrazer
Arcing toward a fiery fate, this Sungrazer comet was recorded by the SOHO spacecraft's Large Angle Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO) on December 23, 1996. LASCO uses an occulting…
NGC 7789: Caroline's Rose
Found among the rich starfields of the Milky Way toward the constellation Cassiopeia, star cluster NGC 7789 lies about 8,000 light-years away. A late 18th century deep sky…
Viewing discoveries from 18 November 2013 through 26 October 2013.