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.
183 Days in the Sun
A single 183 day exposure with a pinhole camera and photographic paper resulted in this long-duration solargraph . Recorded from solstice to solstice , June 21 to December 21, in…
Three Galaxies and a Comet
Distant galaxies abound in this one degree wide field of view toward the southern constellation Grus (The Crane). But the three spiral galaxies at the lower right are quite…
Ice Halos over Bavaria
What's causing those unusual sky arcs? Ice crystals. While crossing a field of fresh snow near Füssen , Bavaria , Germany , earlier this month, the photographer noticed that he…
NGC 1499: The California Nebula
Could Queen Calafia 's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of California , USA.…
The Same Color Illusion
Are squares A and B the same color? They are! To verify this, either run your cursor over the image or click here to see them connected. The featured illusion , an example of the…
Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake
Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is…
Crescent Enceladus
Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of tantalizing inner moon Enceladus poses in this Cassini spacecraft image. North is up in the dramatic scene captured…
Betelgeuse Eclipsed
Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse . But to see everyone's favorite red giant star fade this…
Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After…
Deep Field: The Heart Nebula
What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula on the left, catalogued as IC 1805 , looks somewhat like a human heart . The nebula glows brightly in red light…
Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
What are these two giant arches across the sky? Perhaps the more familiar one, on the left, is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy . This grand disk of stars and nebulas here…
Solar Minimum versus Solar Maximum
The surface of our Sun is constantly changing. Some years it is quiet, showing relatively few sunspots and active regions. Other years it is churning, showing many sunspots and…
Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain
When did you first learn to identify this group of stars? Although they are familiar to many people around the world, different cultures have associated this asterism with…
Pic du Pleiades
Near dawn on November 19 the Pleiades stood in still dark skies over the French Pyrenees. But just before sunrise a serendipitous moment was captured in this single 3 second…
Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
On December 4, periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks shared this telescopic field of view with Vega, alpha star of the northern constellation Lyra. Fifth brightest star in planet Earth's…
Orion and the Ocean of Storms
On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended…
Stars Versus 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 wind s from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and…
Energetic Particle Strikes the Earth
It was one of the most energetic particles ever known to strike the Earth -- but where did it come from? Dubbed Amaterasu after the Shinto sun goddess , this particle, as do all…
Plane Crossing Crescent Moon
No, the Moon is not a bow, and no, it did not shoot out a plane like an arrow. What is pictured is a chance superposition. The plane's contrail would normally appear white, but…
Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano
These people are not in danger. What is coming down from the left is just the Moon, far in the distance. Luna) appears so large here because she is being photographed through a…
Startrails over Beijing Ancient Observatory
You can take a subway ride to visit this observatory in Beijing, China but you won't find any telescopes there. Starting in the 1400s astronomers erected devices at the Beijing…
Milky Way Rising
The core of the Milky Way is rising beyond the Chilean mountain-top La Silla Observatory in this deep night skyscape . Seen toward the constellation Sagittarius, our home galaxy's…
Artemis 1: Flight Day 13
On flight day 13 (November 28, 2022) of the Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from its home world. Over 430,000 kilometers from Earth in a…
A Landspout Tornado over Kansas
Could there be a tornado inside another tornado? In general, no. OK, but could there be a tornado inside a wider dust devil ? No again, for one reason because tornados comes down…
Viewing discoveries from 22 December 2023 through 29 November 2023.