NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the Orion Nebula in two images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The first shows the region in the red and near infrared part of the spectrum while the second image is ima…

In today's image, we see an eclipse which occurred as the Sun was rising above the horizon. The images of the Moon above and below the Sun nearly split the Sun in two in this image and are caused by …

In today's image, we see a number of object together in the same direction on the sky. We see the plane and clouds within our own atmosphere. We see the Moon passing between Earth and Sun. And we see…

In today's image, we see the Andromeda galaxy in two images. The first, in visible light shows it as we are used to seeing it as a typical spiral galaxy. The second, in infrared, emphasizes the dust …

In today's image, we see a photographic plate of the Andromeda Galaxy marked by Edwin Hubble one hundred years ago with the identification of variable stars. This discovery led to an increase in our …

In today's image, we see images of a ring of fire eclipse as seen over Monument Valley in 2012. Here the eclipse occurred as the Sun was setting in the sky. Another such eclipse will be visible over …

In today's image, we see the reflection nebula known as the Witch Head Nebula. A reflection nebula occurs when light from a nearby hot star is scattered off of dust grains in the interstellar medium.…

In today's image, we see an example of a planetary nebula perhaps seen in the shape of an hourglass. A planetary nebula is what forms at the end of the life of a star much like our own Sun. The outer…

In today's image, we see an example of red sprite lightning. This is a type of lightning that forms high in the atmosphere and is associated with thunderstorms like tradition lightning. However, it w…

In today's image, we see an annular eclipse seen over the desert in the United Arab Emirates. This annular, or ring of fire, eclipse occurred in 2019. However, we will have another one in just a coup…

In today's image, we see the Harvest Moon which is the full moon that occurs closest to the time of the autumnal equinox. The light of the Harvest Moon would have assisted farmers with their harvest …

In today's image, we see the capsule recently returned to Earth containing a sample from the asteroid Bennu that was collected several years ago. This sample of material can help us learn about the e…

In today's image, we see what is known as M8 or the Lagoon Nebula. This is a star forming region located in the constellation of Sagittarius on the sky.

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In today's image, we see what is known as a STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) This is a type of aurora which looks a bit different from what we are used to looking at. While it has…

In today's image, we see the Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula, which is distinct from the Horsehead nebula, a dark nebula in the constellation of Orion. This is an example of a reflection nebula wher…

In today's image, we see the galaxy known as Arp 142, an example of a peculiar galaxy which is a galaxy which has undergone an interaction with another galaxy giving it an unusual shape and structure…

In today's image, we see a video clip showing an annular solar eclipse from May 2013. We will see the Sun rising as a ring shaped object with the Moon blocking out the central portion of the Sun, but…

In today's image, we see an analemma in the sky. This is an image created by taking a phot of the Sun at exactly the same time each day for the course of an entire day over the course of a year. The …

In today's image, we see star trails reflected off of the more than ten thousand mirrors in an array around a solar power station in the Gobi desert.

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In today's image, we see an image of the Collector arm of the OSIRIS-REx space craft just before the collection of a sample of material from the asteroid Bennu in 2020. That sample has been on its wa…