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.
Alnitak and the Flame Nebula
What lights up the Flame Nebula? Fifteen hundred light years away towards the constellation of Orion lies a nebula which, from its glow and dark dust lanes, appears, on the left,…
When Black Holes Collide
What happens when two black holes collide? This extreme scenario occurs in the centers of many merging galaxies and multiple star systems. The featured video shows a computer…
Zodiacal Night
An intense band of zodiacal light is captured in this serene mountain and night skyscape from April 7. The panoramic view was recorded after three hours of hiking from a vantage…
Messier 106
Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer…
3D Ingenuity
The multicolor, stereo imaging Mastcam-Z on the Perseverance rover zoomed in to captured this 3D close-up (get out your red/blue glasses) of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter on…
Threads of NGC 1947
Found in far southern skies, deep within the boundaries of the constellation Dorado , NGC 1947 is some 40 million light-years away. In silhouette against starlight, obscuring…
Mars and the Pleiades Beyond Vinegar Hill
Is this just a lonely tree on an empty hill? To start, perhaps, but look beyond . There, a busy universe may wait to be discovered. First, physically, to the left of the tree, is…
Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Exploded Star
Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way star. About 7,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving the Veil Nebula . At the time, the expanding cloud…
In, Through, and Beyond Saturn's Rings
Four moons are visible on the featured image -- can you find them all? First -- and farthest in the background -- is Titan , the largest moon of Saturn and one of the larger moons…
Ingenuity on Sol 39
The Mars Ingenuity Helicopter , all four landing legs down, was captured here on sol 39 (March 30) slung beneath the belly of the Perseverance rover. The near ground level view is…
NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the constellation Leo . Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small…
Rocket Launch as Seen from the Space Station
Have you ever seen a rocket launch -- from space? A close inspection of the featured time-lapse video will reveal a rocket rising to Earth orbit as seen from the International…
M87's Central Black Hole in Polarized Light
To play on Carl Sagan 's famous words “If you wish to make black hole jets, you must first create magnetic fields.” The featured image represents the detected intrinsic spin…
Red Sprite Lightning over the Andes
What are those red filaments in the sky? They are a rarely seen form of lightning confirmed only about 30 years ago: red sprites . Recent research has shown that following a…
M64: The Evil Eye Galaxy
Who knows what evil lurks in the eyes of galaxies? The Hubble knows -- or in the case of spiral galaxy M64 -- is helping to find out. Messier 64 , also known as the Evil Eye or…
SuitSat-1: A Spacesuit Floats Free
A spacesuit floated away from the International Space Station 15 years ago, but no investigation was conducted. Everyone knew that it was pushed by the space station crew. Dubbed…
Exploring the Antennae
Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus , two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 , very…
The Medusa Nebula
Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500…
Curiosity: Sol 3048
Before Perseverance there was Curiosity. In fact, the Curiosity rover accomplished the first sky crane maneuver touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. March 2, 2021 marked…
Aurorae and Lightning on Jupiter
Why does so much of Jupiter's lightning occur near its poles? Similar to Earth , Jupiter experiences both aurorae and lightning. Different from Earth, though, Jupiter's lightning…
Mars over Duddo Stone Circle
Why are these large stones here? One the more famous stone circles is the Duddo Five Stones of Northumberland , England . Set in the open near the top of a modest incline, a short…
From Auriga to Orion
What's up in the sky from Auriga to Orion? Many of the famous stars and nebulas in this region were captured on 34 separate images, taking over 430 hours of exposure, and…
The Antikythera Mechanism
No one knew that 2,000 years ago, the technology existed to build such a device. The Antikythera mechanism , pictured, is now widely regarded as the first computer . Found at the…
The Leo Trio
This popular group leaps into the early evening sky around the March equinox and the northern hemisphere spring . Famous as the Leo Triplet , the three magnificent galaxies found…
Viewing discoveries from 12 April 2021 through 20 March 2021.