NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the Virgo galaxy cluster, the nearest large galaxy cluster to our own local group of galaxies. This includes the giant elliptical known as M87 to the lower right of the image. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Pictur...

In today's image, we see the Cat's Eye nebula. The is an example of a planetary nebula. Here we look at an image which enhances the outer layers to make them more easily visible. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You can...

In today's image, we see a planetary nebula as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. A planetary nebula is the end state of a star much like our own Sun where the core compacts to a white dwarf and the outer layers are expelled out into space. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the...

In today's image, we see the region around the center of our galaxy as imaged by an array of radio telescope in South Africa. The inset image is a small portion that has been imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope in the infrared. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and websi...

In today's image, we see a region of Mars including a hole where a meteor may have punched a hole through the Martian surface and into some caverns below. If this is correct, it may mean there is the possibility of some simple martian life in the caverns, shielded from the ultraviolet light of the Sun which sterilizes the surface. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channe...

In today's image, we see our Moon near the edge of a building in Manhattan. The moon is bright enough to be visible in the day, especially during certain phases. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You can use the archive...

In today's image, we see a thin crescent Venus and the International Space Station as they pass close to one another in the sky. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You can use the archive link below the image to select th...

In today's image, we see a deep exposure of the M81 group of galaxies. The two most prominent galaxies here are in the slow process of a galaxy merger that will eventually leave just a single galaxy. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture...

In today's image, we see HH 49, a Herbig-Haro object caused by the jet of material being expelled from eh region around a young star. The object at the tip of the jet turned out to be a distant galaxy, unrelated to the jet. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website direct...

In today's image, we see the moon in conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster. These conjunctions (and occultations) will occur over the next few years because of the specific position of the Moon's orbit relative to Earth. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website dire...

In today's image, we see an example of a flocculant spiral galaxy, which is a galaxy without distinct spiral arms. Note: In the audio, the image is incorrectly 9identified as the April 1 image, that is incorrect and this is the image for April 7. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the i...

In today's image, we see an image from the Apollo 11 mission with a seismograph being set up on the lunar surface. Detections if seismic waves have show that moonquakes are more common than expected. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture...

In today's image, we see the partial solar eclipse from this past week, where our Moon passed in front of our Sun, blocking out a portion of its light. This was near the end of the first eclipse season of the year, but two more eclipses will occur in September of this year. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site fo...

In today's image, we see the compact group Hickson 44. Compact groups of galaxies are galaxies seen in the same small area of the sky and are often related to and interacting with one another. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the...

In today's image, we see the thing crescent moon, only a day or so after the new moon. While only a small portion of the Moon is directly illuminated by the Sun, The rest of the Moon can be seen illuminated faintly by sunlight reflected from Earth. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the...

In today's image, we see Jupiter, its faint ring, and several of its moons as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope in the infrared. The date is misstated in the audio. It is indeed April 2, not March 30. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy...

In today's image, we see a video showing the Sun rising in real time. The sun is partially eclipsed, so we see two distinct parts of the Sun rising over the horizon at first, before they join together in a crescent shape. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly...

In today's image, we see image in a timelapse from the Parker Solar Probe which studies then Sun. We will see six of the eight planets, a comet, and a star cluster in addition to the solar wind and a coronal mass ejection from the Sun. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and we...

In today's image, we see one of the moons of Saturn, Helene. This is now as a Trojan moon which orbits at a Lagrange point - this is a stable position in the gravitational well of Saturn and one of its larger moons, Dione. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directl...

In today's image, we see an image from the Apollo 17 mission where the astronauts made repairs to their rover using duct tape. The repair to the fender kept the rover's wheels from kicking up dust as the rover moved across the Moon's surface. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image...

In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as Messier 81. This is a relatively nearby galaxy, about 11.8 million light years away. Distances to nearby spiral galaxies like this one can be determined through the measurements of variable stars. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the...

In today's image, we see the region known as the Pacman Nebula. This is a star forming region, showing dark globules within the nebula where stars are currently forming. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You can use the...

In today's image, we see three images of the total lunar eclipse from a week ago. The red glow if from light coming through the main part of Earth's atmosphere. The blue band is from sunlight passing through the ozone in the stratosphere. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and...

In today's image, we see a timelapse showing the total lunar eclipse that occurred this last week. We can watch the stars and Milky Way become ore visible as the Moon's light fades. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You...

In today's image, we see an are on Mars which once contained liquid water. Mars is no longer able to have water in liquid form because of its low atmospheric pressure, but there is strong evidence that liquid water did exist on the surface billions of years ago. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You...