NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we seethe supernova recently discovered in the spiral galaxy M101. This is an example of a Type II supernova which occurs at the end of the life of a massive star. Being able to stu…

In today's image, we see an animal known as a tardigrade which is an example of an extremophile which can exist under conditions that would kill a human or most other life forms. These can survive de…

In today's image, we see an image of one of the large moons of Jupiter known as Europa. This moon is interesting because it is known to have a vast subsurface ocean which leads us to consider the pos…

In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as M63. In this very deep exposure, we can see total streams around the galaxy where it is in the process of cannibalizing the smaller galaxies that o…

In today's image, we see the nebula around a Wolf-Rayet star. This is a hot, massive star of the type that will eventually end its life as a supernova. At this point, we see layers of material from t…

In today's image, we see a sunspot on the surface of our Sun. this is a cooler region on the solar surface where the energy flow has been inhibited by the strong magnetic field around the sunspot. We…

In today's image, we see the total solar eclipse of April 2023 which was visible in parts of Australia. Here we see the Moon completely blocking out the Sun's surface allowing us to see the much fain…

In today's image, we see the star forming region known as the Eagle Nebula. In the center of this, we see a newly formed cluster of stars. These stars are in the process of eating away at the remaini…

In today's image, we see an astronaut floating free in space. The astronaut is actually about 100 meters away from the cargo bay of the space shuttle at this point, controlling their motion through t…

In today's image, we see am image taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972. This shows the Earth as a crescent phase and is the last image to date showing this that was taken by…

In today's image, we see meteors from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower from a year ago. While this year's shower was hampered by the bright light of a full moon, last year's allowed for observation of m…

In today's image, we see the dusty debris disk around the star Fomalhaut. This was imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope and we are likely seeing a planetary system in the process of formation.

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In today's image, we see over Milky Way galaxy as well as the Rho Ophiuchi star clouds over the very dark skies of the Egyptian desert.

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In today's image, we see two shadows of Earth. One is the partially eclipsed Moon. The other is Earth's shadow cast on the atmosphere. The Belt of Venus is also seen as the dividing region in the atm…

In today's image, we see the galaxy sometimes known as the Spanish Dancer galaxy. This is an example of a grand design spiral galaxy with majestic spiral arms around the core of the galaxy. It is als…

In today's image, we see the Helix Nebula, an example of a planetary nebula. A planetary nebula is the end state of a star much like our own Sun. The outer layers are expelled out into space while th…

In today's image, we see 16 images of the twilight on April 22. Start at the top and move counterclockwise and you can watch as the sky fades from brighter to darker as the evening progresses.

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In today's image, we see part of Shackleton Crater near the lunar South Pole. This crater is permanently shielded from sunlight allowing ice to remain. It is being observed using ShadowCam, which is …

In today's image, we see the galaxy, M87 along with its well-known prominent jet and the image of its central black hole as imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope from 2017.

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In today's image, we see Centaurus, an example of an active galaxy. In this galaxy, there are actually two galaxies, a spiral galaxy and an elliptical which are in the process of colliding. The mater…