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.
Rocket Transits Rippling Moon
Can a rocket make the Moon ripple? No, but it can make a background moon appear wavy . The rocket, in this case, was a SpaceX Falcon Heavy that blasted off from NASA 's Kennedy…
NGC 1232: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232 , captured in detail by one of the Very Large Telescopes , is a good…
Illustris: A Simulation of the Universe
How did we get here? Click play, sit back, and watch. A computer simulation of the evolution of the universe provides insight into how galaxies formed and perspectives into…
The Persistence of Moonlight
Known to some in the northern hemisphere as December's Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon , the last full moon of 2023 is rising in this surreal mountain and skyscape. The Daliesque…
Shakespeare in Space
In 1986, Voyager 2 became the only spacecraft to explore ice giant planet Uranus close up. Still, this newly released image from the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on the James…
Jupiter and the Geminid
For a brief moment , this brilliant fireball meteor outshone Jupiter in planet Earth's night. The serendipitous image was captured while hunting meteors under cold Canadian skies…
Rainbow Aurora over Icelandic Waterfall
Yes, but can your aurora do this? First, yes, auroras can look like rainbows even though they are completely different phenomena. Auroras are caused by Sun-created particles being…
IC 443: The Jellyfish Nebula
Why is this jellyfish swimming in a sea of stars? Drifting near bright star Eta Geminorum , seen at the right, the Jellyfish Nebula extends its tentacles from the bright arcing…
Cathedral, Mountain, Moon
Single shots like this require planning. The first step is to realize that such an amazing triple-alignment actually takes place. The second step is to find the best location to…
NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
What's that in the center? Like a butterfly , a white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a cocoon of gas that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun…
A December Summer Night
Colours of a serene evening sky are captured in this 8 minute exposure, made near this December's solstice from New Zealand, southern hemisphere, planet Earth . Looking south,…
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…
Viewing discoveries from 2 January 2024 through 10 December 2023.