Posting 4 times daily
Posting archive pictures from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day as seen at
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
(Unofficial bot)
See also @apod@mastodon.bot for a new picture each day.
APOD from 2020-02-04
A Sunset Night Sky over the Grand Canyon
Amateur photographer captures a stunning image at Grand Canyon's 220 Mile campsite: red-hued peaks from a sunset, later combined with the Milky Way, Saturn, and Jupiter. Visible Venus adds to the celestial display in current evening skies.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200204.html
APOD from 2018-08-24
Messier 20 and 21
The Trifid Nebula (M20) and star cluster M21 share a telescopic view in Sagittarius. At 5,000 light-years away, the 300,000-year-old Trifid spans 40 light-years, featuring young stars amidst its dust lanes. Though similarly distant, M21's stars are older at 8 million years, with no connection to M20.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180824.html
APOD from 2007-05-05
Sombrero #Galaxy Across the Spectrum
This composite image of the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) combines X-ray (Chandra, blue), optical (Hubble, green), and infrared (Spitzer, red) views. It reveals hot gas, starlight, and a dust ring in a galaxy 28 million light-years away.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070505.html
APOD from 2011-03-11
AE Aurigae and the Flaming Star #Nebula
AE Aurigae, a bright O-type star, illuminates the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) with scattered blue light and glowing hydrogen filaments. Born in Orion Nebula and ejected after close stellar encounters, it drifts away from its sibling star Mu Columbae. This image covers 5 light-years in Auriga.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110311.html
APOD from 2008-09-29
A True Image from False Kiva
Night sky mosaic from False Kiva, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, showcases the Milky Way, Jupiter, and moonlit buttes. The cave's stone circle is lit by flashlight. Captured by Wally Pacholka after a challenging hike with mountain lion concerns.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080929.html
APOD from 2014-10-04
#Mars, Antares, #Moon and #Saturn
Mars, Antares, Moon, and Saturn shine post-sunset on Sep 28. Captured by Lake Balaton, Hungary, their alignment near the ecliptic is joined by a sailboat's mast light in this tranquil scene.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141004.html
APOD from 2007-04-14
#Venus by the Lake
Venus shines as the evening star, visible near the Pleiades cluster. This tranquil scene from Bolu, Turkey, captures Venus's reflection in a lake, with Aldebaran and Hyades to the left, Orion's stars further left, and Sirius on the far left—contrasted by a lakeside light.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070414.html
APOD from 2011-08-16
Shapley 1: An Annular Planetary #Nebula
When a star like our Sun exhausts its fuel, it forms a white dwarf and expels its outer layers as a planetary nebula. Shapley 1, shown above, features a distinct ring structure, unrelated to actual planets but named for their telescopic resemblance.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110816.html
APOD from 2024-04-20
Diamonds in the Sky
During the April 8 solar eclipse, observers in North America saw "diamond rings" as the Moon's shadow crossed. These phenomena occurred just before and after totality, when the Sun's sliver created a bright spot beside the Moon. A timelapse from Arkansas shows both diamond rings framing the solar corona.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240420.html
APOD from 2023-01-30
Globular Star Cluster NGC 6355 from #Hubble
Once abundant, less than 200 globular clusters remain in the Milky Way. Many were lost to collisions and the Galactic center's pull. The oldest, like NGC 6355 seen in a Hubble image, date back 13 billion years—older than Earth's fossils and predating other galactic structures.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230130.html
APOD from 2011-11-02
NGC 7380: The Wizard #Nebula
The Wizard Nebula, 8,000 light-years away, hosts star formation within gas and dust shaped like a sorcerer. Encompassing NGC 7380, it spans 100 light years—wider than the Moon's view. Visible in Cepheus with a small telescope, its fleeting existence contrasts with the longer lives of its stars.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111102.html
APOD from 2011-11-01
Hammer Versus Feather on the #Moon
Galileo and later scientists theorized that without air resistance, all objects fall at the same rate. Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott confirmed this on the Moon by dropping a hammer and feather together; they landed simultaneously, demonstrating the equivalence principle, which states gravity's pull is independent of an object's properties.
APOD from 2025-10-06
The Changing Ion Tail of #Comet Lemmon
Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)'s ion tail changes were captured over six days, influenced by material ejection rates, solar wind, comet rotation, and Earth's perspective. The tail points away from the Sun and varies daily. Comet Lemmon is approaching its closest to Earth and Sun in October and November.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251006.html
APOD from 2020-11-18
A Double Star Cluster in Perseus
Open clusters NGC 869 & NGC 884, or "h and chi Persei," form a bright double cluster in Perseus, visible without binoculars. Cataloged by Hipparchus, they're over 7,000 light-years away but only hundreds apart, suggesting a shared origin.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201118.html
APOD from 2007-10-27
The Great Carina #Nebula
The Great Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), over 300 light-years wide, is a massive star-forming region visible to the naked eye. This image captures its glowing gas and dust, including Eta Carinae, a massive variable star near the Keyhole Nebula.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071027.html
APOD from 2013-11-14
The Jets of NGC 1097
NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy in Fornax, is notable for its blue arms with star-forming regions and a companion galaxy. A deep exposure reveals mysterious jets, possibly fossil star streams from a disrupted galaxy. Its nucleus contains a supermassive black hole.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131114.html
APOD from 2020-08-11
Churning Clouds on #Jupiter
Juno spacecraft data suggests Jupiter's missing ammonia is carried below by "mushballs" formed in shallow lightning. These mushballs fall and melt deep in the atmosphere, explaining the absence of ammonia in upper layers. This insight helps understand atmospheric phenomena on Earth too.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200811.html
APOD from 2009-12-20
Tutulemma: Solar #Eclipse Analemma
Capturing the Sun's path at the same time daily creates an analemma, a figure-8 pattern. On Winter Solstice, it's at its lowest point. Analemmas vary by latitude and timing. A 'Tutulemma' includes a solar eclipse, like this composite from Turkey since 2005, featuring the 2006 eclipse and Venus.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091220.html
APOD from 2023-05-31
Simulation: A Disk #Galaxy Forms
This video from IllustrisTNG shows a simulation of gas from the early universe forming a galaxy over billions of years. As gravity pulls gas together, a galactic center emerges, with satellite galaxies merging into it. The process mirrors our Milky Way's future collision with Andromeda.
APOD from 2011-05-18
The Last Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on its final mission, STS-134, carrying six astronauts and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 to the ISS. The AMS will search for dark matter, antimatter, and strangelets. Atlantis is set for the last shuttle flight in July.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110518.html
APOD from 2012-03-20
Evolution of the #Moon
The Moon formed ~4.5 billion years ago from debris after a Mars-sized object hit Earth. Its hot surface cooled, was bombarded by impacts, and lava filled its basins, forming dark maria visible from Earth. Its formation and near-side maria are still studied.
APOD from 2015-12-24
Star Colors and Pinyon Pine
Stars of Scorpius and the Milky Way glow behind a sharp pinyon pine on Earth's Grand Canyon rim. Out-of-focus stars appear as colorful disks, with blue hues indicating hotter temperatures than our Sun. Red giant Antares stands out, while Saturn's whitish disk is also visible.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151224.html
APOD from 2025-09-26
A SWAN, an ATLAS, and #Mars
Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) with a long ion tail and the fainter C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) are captured in Virgo alongside Mars. Discovered in 2025, SWAN is outbound post-perihelion, while ATLAS approaches its closest Sun passage on October 8.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250926.html
APOD from 2019-09-08
Perijove 11: Passing #Jupiter
Juno spacecraft's time-lapse video from perijove 11 shows a close-up of Jupiter's clouds and storms over 4 hours, condensed into a short clip. Captured from just 3,500 km above, the footage reveals details larger than Earth's hurricanes before Juno retreats, braving intense radiation for science.
APOD from 2017-06-26
Artistic Impression: The Surface of TRAPPIST-1f
Illustration based on Spitzer data imagines the view from TRAPPIST-1f, with possible water, ice, rock, and clouds. The red dwarf star looms large in the sky. Seven Earth-sized planets in the system could harbor life, yet no signals have been detected.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170626.html
APOD from 2016-05-09
#Webb #Telescope Mirror Rises after Assembly
JWST's 6.5m gold-plated mirror, key to exploring the early universe and exoplanets, was recently raised vertically in a test. This powerful telescope, a joint mission by NASA, ESA, and CSA, will launch folded in late 2018 and later unfold in space.