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.
A Meteor Wind over Tunisia
Does the Earth ever pass through a wind of meteors? Yes, and they are frequently visible as meteor showers . Almost all meteors are sand-sized debris that escaped from a…
The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation
The North America nebula on the sky can do what the North America continent on Earth cannot -- form stars. Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent, the bright…
4000 Exoplanets
Over 4000 planets are now known to exist outside our Solar System. Known as exoplanets, this milestone was passed last month, as recorded by NASA's Exoplanet Archive. The featured…
Herschel Crater on Mimas
Mimas , small 400 kilometer-diameter moon of Saturn, is host to 130 kilometer-diameter Herschel crater , one of the larger impact craters in the entire Solar System. The robotic…
Portrait of the Eagle Nebula
A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, Messier 16 (M16) is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image…
Perseids and MAGIC
On August 11, 2021 a multi-mirror , 17 meter-diameter MAGIC telescope reflected this starry night sky from the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory on the Canary…
Dust Clouds of the Pacman Nebula
Stars can create huge and intricate dust sculptures from the dense and dark molecular cloud s from which they are born. The tools the stars use to carve their detailed works are…
Leaving Earth
What it would look like to leave planet Earth? Such an event was recorded visually in great detail by the MESSENGER spacecraft as it swung back past the Earth in 2005 on its way…
The Lagoon Nebula without Stars
Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds inhabit the turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula . Also known as M8 , the bright star forming region is about…
Meteor before Galaxy
What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower , a small pebble…
Stereo Phobos
Get out your red/blue glasses and float next to Phobos, grooved moon of Mars! Captured in 2004 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, the…
A Beautiful Trifid
The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in contrasts . Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star…
M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
In 1716 , English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, “This is but a little Patch, but it shows itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent.” Of course, M13 is…
Halo of the Cat's Eye
What created the unusual halo around the Cat's Eye nebula? No one is sure. What is sure is that the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae on the…
A Moon Dressed Like Saturn
Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon . The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of…
Mountains of Dust in the Carina Nebula
It's stars versus dust in the Carina Nebula and the stars are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing…
Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble
Why does this galaxy have a ring of bright blue stars? Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the Hunting…
The Eagle Rises
Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo view from lunar orbit. The 3D anaglyph was created from two photographs ( AS11-44-6633 , AS11-44-6634 ) taken by astronaut…
SOFIA's Southern Lights
SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy , is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a large reflecting telescope into the stratosphere. The ability of the…
North Celestial Tree
An ancient tree seems to reach out and touch Earth's North Celestial Pole in this well-planned night skyscape. Consecutive exposures for the timelapse composition were recorded…
Crepuscular Moon Rays over Denmark
This moon made quite an entrance. Typically, a moonrise is quiet and serene. Taking a few minutes to fully peek above the horizon, Earth's largest orbital companion can remain…
Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Two years ago this month, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)) rose before dawn to the delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early.…
Find the New Moon
Can you find the Moon? This usually simple task can be quite difficult. Even though the Moon is above your horizon half of the time, its phase can be anything from crescent to…
Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
Many details of Saturn appear clearly in infrared light. Bands of clouds show great structure, including long stretching storms . Also quite striking in infrared is the unusual…
Viewing discoveries from 16 August 2022 through 24 July 2022.