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 Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens
Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible…
The Moona Lisa
Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at…
NGC 289: Swirl in the Southern Sky
About 70 million light-years distant, gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 289 is larger than our own Milky Way . Seen nearly face-on, its bright core and colorful central disk give way to…
NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, toward the constellation Aquarius , a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a…
NGC 7822: Cosmic Question Mark
It may look like a huge cosmic question mark, but the big question really is how does the bright gas and dark dust tell this nebula's history of star formation . At the edge of a…
Fireball over Lake Louise
What makes a meteor a fireball? First of all, everyone agrees that a fireball is an exceptionally bright meteor. Past that, the International Astronomical Union defines a fireball…
Juno Flyby of Ganymede and Jupiter
What would it be like to fly over the largest moon in the Solar System? In June, the robotic Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter's huge moon Ganymede) and took images that have been…
Full Moon Silhouettes
Have you ever watched the Moon rise? The slow rise of a nearly full moon over a clear horizon can be an impressive sight. One impressive moonrise was imaged in early 2013 over…
50 Light-years to 51 Pegasi
It's only 50 light-years to 51 Pegasi. That star's position is indicated in this snapshot from August, taken on a hazy night with mostly brighter stars visible above the dome at…
The Double Cluster in Perseus
This pretty starfield spans about three full moons (1.5 degrees) across the heroic northern constellation of Perseus . It holds the famous pair of open star clusters , h and Chi…
NGC 6559: East of the Lagoon
Slide your telescope just east of the Lagoon Nebula to find this alluring field of view in the rich starfields of the constellation Sagittarius toward the central Milky Way. Of…
M43: Streams of Orion
Where do the dark streams of dust in the Orion Nebula originate? This part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex , M43 , is the often imaged but rarely mentioned neighbor of the…
Sunrise at the South Pole
Sunrise at the South Pole is different. Usually a welcome sight , it follows months of darkness -- and begins months of sunshine. At Earth's poles , it can take weeks for the Sun…
NGC 4676: When Mice Collide
These two mighty galaxies are pulling each other apart. Known as the “ Mice ” because they have such long tails, each spiral galaxy has likely already passed through the other.…
The Holographic Principle and a Teapot
Sure, you can see the 2D rectangle of colors, but can you see deeper? Counting color patches in the featured image , you might estimate that the most information that this 2D…
A Light and Dusty Night
Posing as a brilliant evening star , Venus lies near the western horizon in this southern hemisphere, early spring, night skyscape. To create the composite view exposures tracking…
The Central Milky Way from Lagoon to Pipe
Dark markings and colorful clouds inhabit this stellar landscape. The deep and expansive view spans more than 30 full moons across crowded star fields toward the center of our…
The Hydrogen Clouds of M33
Gorgeous spiral galaxy M33 seems to have more than its fair share of glowing hydrogen gas. A prominent member of the local group of galaxies, M33 is also known as the Triangulum…
Gigantic Jet Lightning from Puerto Rico
Have you ever seen a gigantic jet? They are extremely rare but tremendously powerful. Gigantic jets are a type of lightning discharge documented only this century that occur…
Night of the Perseids
Have you ever experienced a meteor shower? To help capture the wonder, a video was taken during the peak of the recent Perseid meteor shower above the Indian Astronomical…
Unwrapped: Five Decade Old Lunar Selfie
Here is one of the most famous pictures from the Moon -- but digitally reversed. Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969 and soon thereafter many pictures were taken, including an…
The Red Square Nebula
How did a round star create this square nebula? No one is quite sure. The round star, known as MWC 922 and possibly part of a multiple star system , appears at the center of the…
The Bubble and the Star Cluster
To the eye, this cosmic composition nicely balances the Bubble Nebula at the right with open star cluster M52. The pair would be lopsided on other scales, though. Embedded in a…
Perseid Outburst at Westmeath Lookout
This year an outburst of Perseid meteors surprised skywatchers. The reliable meteor shower's peak was predicted for the night of August 12/13. But persistent visual observers in…
Viewing discoveries from 17 October 2021 through 24 September 2021.