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.
Swirling Around the Eye of Hurricane Irma
Why does a hurricane have an eye at its center? No one is yet sure. What happens in and around a hurricane's eye is well documented, though. Warm air rises around the eye's edges,…
Calm Waters and Geomagnetic Storm
Very recognizable stars of the northern sky are a backdrop for calm waters in this moonlit sea and skyscape off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Taken on September 7 , the photo also…
The Great Gig in the Sky
There were no crowds on the beach at Phillips Lake, Oregon on August 21. But a few had come there to stand, for a moment, in the dark shadow of the Moon. From the beach, this…
The Flash Spectrum of the Sun
In clear Madras, Oregon skies, this colorful eclipse composite captured the elusive chromospheric or flash spectrum of the Sun. Only three exposures, made on August 21 with…
The Climber and the Eclipse
What should you do if your rock climbing picture is photobombed by a total eclipse of the Sun? Rejoice -- because your planning paid off . After months of considering different…
Europa and Jupiter from Voyager 1
What are those spots on Jupiter? Largest and furthest, just right of center, is the Great Red Spot -- a huge storm system that has been raging on Jupiter possibly since Giovanni…
Saturn's Rings from the Inside Out
What do Saturn's rings look like from Saturn? Images from the robotic spacecraft Cassini are providing humanity with this unprecedented vantage point as it nears the completion of…
A Waterspout in Florida
What's happening over the water? Pictured here is one of the better images yet recorded of a waterspout , a type of tornado that occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning…
Milky Way Voyager
Launched in 1977 on a tour of the outer planets of the Solar System, Voyager 1 and 2 have become the longest operating and most distant spacecraft from Earth . Nearly 16…
A First Glimpse of the Great American Eclipse
Making landfall in Oregon, the Moon's dark umbral shadow toured the United States on August 21. Those gathered along its coast to coast path were witness to a total eclipse of the…
Lunar View, Solar Eclipse
Swinging around the lunar nearside on August 21, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter turned to look back on a bright, Full Earth. As anticipated its Narrow Angle Camera scanned this…
Panoramic Eclipse Composite with Star Trails
What was happening in the sky during last week's total solar eclipse? This featured little-planet , all-sky , double time-lapse, digitally-fused composite captured celestial…
Saturn in Blue and Gold
Why is Saturn partly blue? The featured picture of Saturn approximates what a human would see if hovering close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2006 March by the…
A Fleeting Double Eclipse of the Sun
Last week, for a fraction of a second, the Sun was eclipsed twice. One week ago today, many people in North America were treated to a standard, single, partial solar eclipse .…
The Heart Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur
What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a heart . The nebula's glow -- as well as the shape of the gas and dust clouds -- is…
Hurricane Harvey Strengthens
A large and dangerous hurricane has developed in the Gulf of Mexico. The featured time-lapse video shows Hurricane Harvey) growing to Category 4 strength over the past few days,…
Diamond Ring in a Cloudy Sky
As the Moon's shadow swept across the US on August 21 , eclipse chasers in the narrow path of totality were treated to a diamond ring in the sky. At the beginning and end of…
The Eagle and The Swan
The Eagle Nebula and the Swan Nebula span this broad starscape , a telescopic view toward the Sagittarius spiral arm and the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Eagle, also known…
The Crown of the Sun
During a total solar eclipse , the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere, or corona, is an inspirational sight. Streamers and shimmering features visible to the eye span a brightness…
A Total Solar Eclipse over Wyoming
Will the sky be clear enough to see the eclipse? This question was on the minds of many people attempting to view yesterday's solar eclipse. The path of total darkness crossed the…
Milky Way over Chilean Volcanoes
Sometimes, the sky mimics the ground. Taken in 2017 May from the Atacama Desert in Chile , the foreground of the featured image encompasses the dipping edge of the caldera of an…
Time-Lapse: A Total Solar Eclipse
Have you ever experienced a total eclipse of the Sun? This time-lapse movie depicts such an eclipse in dramatic detail, seen from Australia in 2012. As the video begins, a slight…
Total Solar Eclipse of 1979
From cold, clear skies over Riverton, Manitoba, Canada, planet Earth, the solar corona surrounds the silhouette of the New Moon in this telescopic snapshot of the total solar…
Perseids over the Pyrénées
This mountain and night skyscape stretches across the French Pyrenees National Park on August 12, near the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. The multi-exposure panoramic…
Viewing discoveries from 10 September 2017 through 18 August 2017.