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 Seagull Nebula
An interstellar expanse of glowing gas and obscuring dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth, suggesting its popular moniker, the Seagull Nebula . This…
Rubin's First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape
This interstellar skyscape spans over 4 degrees across crowded starfields toward the constellation Sagittarius and the central Milky Way. A First Look image captured at the new…
In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61
Is there a spiral galaxy in the center of this spiral galaxy? Sort of. Image data from the Hubble Space Telescope , the European Southern Observatory , and smaller telescopes on…
W5: Pillars of Star Formation
How do stars form? Images of the star forming region W5 like those in the infrared by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE , later NEOWISE ) satellite provide clear…
A Berry Bowl of Martian Spherules
How were these unusual Martian spherules created? Thousands of unusual gray spherules made of iron and rock and dubbed blueberries were found embedded in and surrounding rocks…
Two Worlds, Two Analemmas
Sure, that figure-8 shaped curve you get when you mark the position of the Sun in Earth's sky at the same time each day over one year is called an analemma. On the left , Earth's…
Major Lunar Standstill 2024-2025
Edmonton , Alberta, Canada, planet Earth lies on the horizon in this stack of panoramic composite images. In a monthly time series arranged vertically top to bottom the ambitious…
NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo . Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is…
Space Station Silhouette on the Moon
What's that unusual spot on the Moon? It's the International Space Station . Using precise timing, the Earth-orbiting space platform was photographed in front of a partially lit…
Rosette Nebula Deep Field
Can you find the Rosette Nebula? The red flowery-looking nebula just above the image center may seem a good choice, but that's not it. The famous Rosette Nebula is really located…
APOD is 30 Years Old Today
APOD is 30 years old today. In celebration, today's picture uses past APODs as tiles arranged to create a single pixelated image that might remind you of one of the most…
Two Worlds, One Sun
How different does sunset appear from Mars than from Earth? For comparison, two images of our common star were taken at sunset , one from Earth and one from Mars. These images…
Meteors and Satellite Trails over the Limay River
What are all those streaks in the sky? A galaxy, many satellite trails, and a few meteors. First, far in the distance, the majestic band of our Milky Way Galaxy runs down the…
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…
Solar Eclipse
On April 20, 2023 the shadow of a New Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere. When viewed along a narrow path that mostly avoided landfall, the Moon in silhouette…
25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars? It's likely that you do, even though some bright star s have names so old they date back to near the beginning of written…
Enceladus in True Color
Do oceans under the ice of Saturn's moon Enceladus contain life? A reason to think so involves long features -- some dubbed tiger stripes -- that are known to be spewing ice from…
Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
Can you identify this celestial object? Likely not — because this is a discovery image . Massive stars forge heavy elements in their cores and, after a few million years, end…
Facing NGC 3344
From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy , we see NGC 3344 face-on. Nearly 40,000 light-year s across, the big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located just 20 million…
Perseverance Selfie with Ingenuity
On the Mars rover's mission Sol 46 or Earth date April 6, 2021, Perseverance held out a robotic arm to take its first selfie on Mars . The WATSON camera at the end of the arm was…
NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula
The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often given the names of flowers or insects , and its whopping 3 light-year wingspan, NGC 6302 is no exception.…
Savudrija Star Trails
Savudrija lighthouse shines along the coast near the northern end of the Istrian peninsula in this well-composed night skyscape . A navigational aid for sailors on the Adriatic…
A Milky Road to the Rubin Observatory
Is the sky the same every night? No -- the night sky changes every night in many ways. To better explore how the night sky changes, the USA 's NSF and DOE commissioned the Vera C.…
Rainbow Airglow over the Azores
Why would the sky glow like a giant repeating rainbow? Airglow . Now, air glows all of the time, but it is usually hard to see. A disturbance however -- like an approaching storm…
Viewing discoveries from 26 June 2025 through 3 June 2025.