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.
The Heart and Soul Nebulas
Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in Cassiopeia ? Possibly not, but that is where two bright emission nebulas nicknamed Heart and Soul can be found. The Heart Nebula ,…
Falling to Earth
What would it be like to fall to Earth from really high up? A new record for the highest jump was accomplished in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner. Surpassing the previous record of 31.3…
The Missing Craters of Asteroid Itokawa
Where are the craters on asteroid Itokawa? Missing -- unexpectedly. The Japanese robot probe Hayabusa approached the Earth-crossing asteroid in 2005 and returned pictures showing…
NGC 5101 and Friends
This sharp telescopic field of view holds two bright galaxies. Barred spiral NGC 5101 (top right) and nearly edge-on system NGC 5078 are separated on the sky by about 0.5 degrees…
Night Hides the World
Stars come out as evening twilight fades in this serene skyscape following the Persian proverb “Night hides the world, but reveals a universe.” In the scene from last November,…
The Terraced Night
Long after sunset on January 25 an unusually intense red airglow floods this south-looking skyscape. The scene was recorded with a long exposure using a digital camera over Yunnan…
NGC 2683: Edge-On Spiral Galaxy
Does spiral galaxy NGC 2683 have a bar across its center? Being so nearly like our own barred Milky Way Galaxy , one might guess it has. Being so nearly edge-on, however, it is…
A Particle Beam Jet forms HH 24
If you visit HH 24, don't go near the particle beam jet. This potential future travel advisory might be issued because the powerful jet likely contains electrons and protons…
Lunar Time Lapse Panorama including Yutu Rover
Where has the Yutu rover been on the Moon? Arriving in 2013 mid-December, the Chinese Yutu robotic rover has spent some of the past month and a half exploring Mare Imbrium on…
Mars and Orion over Monument Valley
Welcome to The World At Night. Sharing the night sky seen around the world, this view from Monument Valley , USA includes a picturesque foreground of famous buttes. Buttes are…
NGC 6188 and NGC 6164
Fantastic shapes lurk in clouds of glowing 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 visible…
Light Pillars from a Little Planet
Eerie pillars of light ring the edges of this snowy little planet. Of course the little planet is planet Earth, shown in a nadir-to-zenith, around-the-horizon, little planet…
Rocket Streak and Star Trails
Fixed to a tripod and looking east across the Kennedy Space Center's Turn Basin, a camera captured these star trails as a series of short exposures over a three hour period on the…
Jelly Donut Shaped Rock Appears on Mars
What if a rock that looked like a jelly donut suddenly appeared on Mars? That's just what happened in front of the robotic Opportunity rover currently exploring the red planet.…
Spiral Galaxy M83: The Southern Pinwheel
M83 is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies on the sky . Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra , majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the…
From the Northern to the Southern Cross
There is a road that connects the Northern to the Southern Cross but you have to be at the right place and time to see it. The road, as pictured above, is actually the central…
Sunspot Loops in Ultraviolet
It was a quiet day on the Sun . The above image shows, however, that even during off days the Sun's surface is a busy place. Shown in ultraviolet light , the relatively cool dark…
Opportunity's Decade on Mars
On January 25 (UT) 2004, the Opportunity rover fell to Mars, making today the 10th anniversary of its landing . After more than 3,500 sols ( Mars solar days ) the golf cart-sized…
Bright Supernova in M82
Astronomers really don't find supernovae by looking for the arrows. But in this image taken January 23rd , an arrow does point to an exciting, new supernova , now cataloged as SN…
Double Cluster in Perseus
This lovely starfield spans some seven full moons (about 3.5 degrees) across the heroic northern constellation of Perseus . Just right of center it holds the famous pair of open…
The Upper Michigan Blizzard of 1938
Yes, but can your blizzard do this? In Upper Michigan 's Storm of the Century in 1938, some snow drifts reached the level of utility poles . Nearly a meter of new and unexpected…
Micro Moon over Super Moon
Did you see the big, bright, beautiful Full Moon last Wednesday night? That was actually a Micro Moon ! On that night, the smallest Full Moon of 2014 reached its full phase only a…
Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from SDSS-III
How large do things appear when far away? When peering across the universe, the answer can actually tell us about its average gravitational history and hence its composition .…
Spiral Galaxies in Collision
Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of…
Viewing discoveries from 11 February 2014 through 19 January 2014.