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.
IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula
To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944 , the Running…
The Egg Nebula in Polarized Light
Where is the center of the Egg Nebula ? Emerging from a cosmic egg, the star in the center of the Egg Nebula is casting away shells of gas and dust as it slowly transforms itself…
M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is…
Rigel Wide
Brilliant, blue, supergiant star Rigel marks the foot of Orion the Hunter in planet Earth's night . Designated Beta Orionis, it's at the center of this remarkably deep and wide…
Terran 1 Burns Methalox
Relativity's Terran 1 Rocket is mostly 3D-printed. It burns a cryogenic rocket fuel composed of liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox). In this close-up of a Terran 1 launch…
Rubin's Galaxy
In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In…
Olympus Mons: Largest Volcano in the Solar System
The largest volcano in our Solar System is on Mars. Although three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest , Olympus Mons will not be difficult for humans to climb because of the…
The Galactic Center Radio Arc
What causes this unusual curving structure near the center of our Galaxy? The long parallel rays slanting across the top of the featured radio image are known collectively as the…
M57: The Ring Nebula from Hubble
It was noticed hundreds of years ago by stargazers who could not understand its unusual shape. It looked like a ring on the sky. Except for the rings of Saturn , the Ring Nebula…
NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans
Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern constellation of the flying fish, (Piscis) Volans . Located about 50 million light-years away, the galaxy's two spiral arms…
Seeing Titan
Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, Saturn's largest moon Titan really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly…
NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies , a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellation Musca , The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is…
Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble
Which star created this bubble? It wasn't the bright star on the bubble's right. And it also wasn't a giant space dolphin . It was the star in the blue nebula's center, a famously…
A Multiple Green Flash Sunset
Yes, but can your green flash do this? A green flash at sunset is a rare event that many Sun watchers pride themselves on having seen. Once thought to be a myth , a green flash is…
Aurora Over Arctic Henge
Reports of powerful solar flares started a seven-hour quest north to capture modern monuments against an aurora -filled sky. The peaks of iconic Arctic Henge in Raufarhöfn in…
Venus and the Da Vinci Glow
On March 23 early evening skygazers could watch Venus and a young crescent moon, both near the western horizon. On that date Earth's brilliant evening star, faint lunar night side…
Outbound Comet ZTF
Former darling of the northern sky Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) has faded . During its closest approach to our fair planet in early February Comet ZTF was a mere 2.3 light-minutes…
Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in planet Earth's night sky toward the northern constellation of Ursa Major . This sharp image centered…
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
How far can you see? The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy , over two million light-years away. Without a telescope, even…
Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus
Can dust be beautiful? Yes, and it can also be useful. The Taurus molecular cloud has several bright stars, but it is the dark dust that really draws attention . The pervasive…
Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico 's Yucatán Peninsula -- near an equinox . Then, during…
Wolf-Rayet 124
Driven by powerful stellar winds, expanding shrouds of gas and dust frame hot, luminous star Wolf-Rayet 124 in this sharp infrared view . The eye-catching 6-spike star pattern is…
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…
Millions of Stars in Omega Centauri
Globular star cluster Omega Centauri , also known as NGC 5139, is 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10 million stars much older than the Sun within a…
Viewing discoveries from 10 April 2023 through 16 March 2023.