Browse NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day archive by date and media: Archive Discoveries
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Star Trails Over Indonesia
Both land and sky were restless. The unsettled land included erupting Mount Semeru in the distance, the caldera of steaming Mount Bromo on the left, flowing fog , and the lights…
Jupiter and Venus from Earth
It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in 2012 was visible almost no matter where you lived on Earth. Anyone on the planet with a clear…
No X-rays from SN 2014J
Last January, telescopes in observatories around planet Earth were eagerly used to watch the rise of SN 2014J, a bright supernova in nearby galaxy M82 . Still, the most important…
Perseid in Moonlight
Bright moonlight from a Full Moon near perigee illuminates the night and casts shadows in this skyscape from central Iran . Taken on August 12, near the peak of the annual Perseid…
Surreal Moon
Big, bright, and beautiful, a Full Moon near perigee, the closest point in its elliptical orbit around our fair planet , rose on August 10. This remarkable picture records the…
Rings Around the Ring Nebula
It is a familiar sight to sky enthusiasts with even a small telescope. There is much more to the Ring Nebula (M57) , however, than can be seen through a small telescope . The…
Collapse in Hebes Chasma on Mars
What's happened in Hebes Chasma on Mars? Hebes Chasma is a depression just north of the enormous Valles Marineris canyon. Since the depression is unconnected to other surface…
Rosetta Approaches Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
What does it look like to approach a comet? Early this month humanity received a new rendition as the robotic Rosetta spacecraft went right up to -- and began orbiting -- the…
A Perseid Below
Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers by looking up. But this remarkable view , captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan , caught a Perseid meteor by…
A Luminous Night
What shines in the world at night ? Just visible to the eye, a rare electric blue glow spread along the shores of Victoria Lake on January 16, 2013. Against reflections of a light…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way . It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern…
Rosetta's Rendezvous
On August 3rd, the Rosetta spacecraft's narrow angle camera captured this stunning image of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko . After 10 years and 6.5 billion…
Saturn's Swirling Cloudscape
Acquiring its first sunlit views of far northern Saturn in late 2012 , the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera recorded this stunning, false-color image of the ringed planet's…
Four Billion BCE: Battered Earth
No place on Earth was safe. Four billion years ago, during the Hadean eon, our Solar System was a dangerous shooting gallery of large and dangerous rocks and ice chunks. Recent…
Shadows and Plumes Across Enceladus
Why does Enceladus have ice plumes? The discovery of jets spewing water vapor and ice was detected by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft in 2005. The origin of the water…
Dark Shuttle Approaching
What's that approaching? Astronauts on board the International Space Station first saw it in early 2010 far in the distance. Soon it enlarged to become a dark silhouette . As it…
NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
These clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus . Sometimes called the Iris Nebula, NGC…
Tetons and Snake River, Planet Earth
An alluring night skyscape , this scene looks west across the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, Planet Earth. The Snake River glides through the foreground, while above the…
Veins of Heaven
Transfusing sunlight through a still dark sky, this exceptional display of noctilucent clouds was captured earlier this month above the island of Gotland, Sweden. From the edge of…
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy . Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda . Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of…
A Sky Portal in New Zealand
To some, it may look like a portal into the distant universe. To others, it may appear as the eye of a giant. Given poetic license , both are correct. Pictured above is a standard…
The Horsehead Nebula from Blue to Infrared
One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion , is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud . Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first…
Rho Ophiuchi Wide Field
The clouds surrounding the star system Rho Ophiuchi compose one of the closest star forming regions. Rho Ophiuchi itself is a binary star system visible in the light-colored…
NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
Shiny NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, and also one of the dustiest. Some call it the Silver Dollar Galaxy for its appearance in small telescopes, or just…
Viewing discoveries from 18 August 2014 through 26 July 2014.