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.
Cosmic Crab Nebula
The Crab Pulsar, a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second, lies at the center of this tantalizing wide-field image of the Crab Nebula . A spectacular…
ALMA Milky Way
This alluring all-skyscape was taken 5,100 meters above sea level, from the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes. Viewed through the site's rarefied atmosphere at about 50% sea…
IC 4603: Reflection Nebula in Ophiuchius
Why does this starfield photograph resemble an impressionistic painting ? The effect is created not by digital trickery but by large amounts of interstellar dust . Dust, minute…
Cave with Aurora Skylight
Yes, but have you ever seen aurora from a cave? To capture this fascinating juxtaposition between below and above, astrophotographer Bjargmundsson spent much of a night alone in…
Spacecraft Rosetta Shows Comet has Two Components
Why does this comet's nucleus have two components? The surprising discovery that Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko has a double nucleus came late last week as ESA 's robotic…
A Solar Filament Erupts
What's happened to our Sun? Nothing very unusual -- it just threw a filament . Toward the middle of 2012, a long standing solar filament suddenly erupted into space producing an…
Alicante Beach Moonrise
In this beach and skyscape from Alicante, Spain, July's Full Moon shines in the dark blue twilight, its reflection coloring the Mediterranean waters. Near the horizon, the…
Ou4: A Giant Squid Nebula
A mysterious, squid-like apparition, this nebula is very faint, but also very large in planet Earth's sky. In the mosaic image, composed with narrowband data from the 2.5 meter…
3D Homunculus Nebula
If you're looking for something to print with that new 3D printer, try out a copy of the Homunculus Nebula. The dusty, bipolar cosmic cloud is around 1 light-year across but is…
The Moon Eclipses Saturn
What happened to half of Saturn? Nothing other than Earth's Moon getting in the way. As pictured above on the far right, Saturn is partly eclipsed by a dark edge of a Moon itself…
A Blue Bridge of Stars between Cluster Galaxies
Why is there a blue bridge of stars across the center of this galaxy cluster? First and foremost the cluster, designated SDSS J1531+3414 , contains many large yellow elliptical…
Auroras over Northern Canada
Gusting solar winds and blasts of charged particles from the Sun resulted in several rewarding nights last December for those anticipating auroras . The above image captured…
Planetary Nebula NGC 2818 from Hubble
NGC 2818 is a beautiful planetary nebula , the gaseous shroud of a dying sun-like star . It could well offer a glimpse of the future that awaits our own Sun after spending another…
SN 1006 Supernova Remnant
A new star, likely the brightest supernova in recorded human history, lit up planet Earth's sky in the year 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion, found…
Spotty Sunrise over Brisbane
In this composite cityscape, dawn's first colors backdrop the lights along Brisbane's skyline at the southeastern corner of Queensland, Australia, planet Earth. Using a solar…
Noctilucent Clouds over London
This scene from the early morning hours of July 3 looks out across the River Thames from the Westminster Bridge. Part of a luminous timelapse video (vimeo) , the frame captures a…
Gliese 832c: The Closest Potentially Habitable Exoplanet
This planet is only 16 light years away -- could it harbor life? Recently discovered exoplanet Gliese 832c has been found in a close orbit around a star that is less bright than…
Iridescent Clouds over Thamserku
Why would a cloud appear to be different colors? A relatively rare phenomenon known as iridescent clouds can show unusual colors vividly or a whole spectrum of colors…
J1502+1115: A Triple Black Hole Galaxy
Most galaxies contain one supermassive black hole -- why does this galaxy have three? The likely reason is that galaxy J1502+1115 is the product of the recent coalescence of three…
Manhattanhenge: A New York City Sunset
This coming Saturday, if it is clear, well placed New Yorkers can go outside at sunset and watch their city act like a modern version of Stonehenge . Manhattan 's streets will…
M106 Across the Spectrum
The spiral arms of bright, active galaxy M106 sprawl through this remarkable multiwavelength portrait , composed of image data from radio to X-rays, across the electromagnetic…
OCO-2 Night Launch
In this alluring time exposure , star trails arc across the night sky above foggy Monterey Bay and the lights of Santa Cruz, California in the United States of America . Since the…
Along the Cygnus Wall
The prominent ridge of emission featured in this vivid skyscape is known as the Cygnus Wall. Part of a larger emission nebula with a distinctive shape popularly called The North…
NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
Spiral galaxy NGC 4651 is a mere 62 million light-years distant, toward the well-groomed northern constellation Coma Berenices . About the size of our Milky Way, this island…
Viewing discoveries from 25 July 2014 through 2 July 2014.