NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see a parabolic outflow from a protostar. This star, is not actually a star, but it a star in the later stages of formation, before it has achieved sufficient temperatures to start fusing hydrogen to helium in its core. 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 a...

In today's image, we see the dwarf planet Pluto as imaged by the New Horizons spacecraft back in July of 2015. Here, we are looking back at Pluto, shortly after the craft passed it, giving us a view of the night side of Pluto and its tenuous, nitrogen atmosphere. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You...

In today's image, we see the Surveyor 3 spacecraft in the foreground as it is being visited by the astronauts from the Apollo 12 mission. The Apollo 12 lunar module is visible off in the distance. The image id visible in 3D with the use of red-blue 3D glasses. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You ca...

In today's image, we see the young star cluster, IC 248 as well as Barnard 3, a dark nebula surrounded by a red emission nebula. All of these are related to the young stars currently forming in the region. 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 P...

In today's image, we see the Barred Spiral Galaxy known as NGC 1365 as imaged recently by the James Webb Space telescope. This is images in the mid-infrared, giving us a different view of the telescope than we see with an ordinary optical telescope. 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 th...

In today's image, we see a nebula surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star. This is a young, massive star of the type expected to eventually undergo a supernova explosion. 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 l...

In today's image, we see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS and its long tail stretching back behind it. This was the great comet of 2024 which was visible for a few weeks in early October. 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 Valles Marineris, a great canyon stretching across the face of Mars. It is much longer than our own Grand Canyon on Earth, by a factor of four and was not formed by running water like the Grand Canyon on 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 we...

In today's image, we see the outermost planet in the solar system as see from behind by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989. Voyager 2 is the only craft to visit the two outermost planets in our solar system. 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 P...

In today's image, we see dust clouds in the constellation of Cassiopeia, learning to new start formation. In addition, the dust will dim and redden the light bring distant stars, making them appear fainter and redder than they would otherwise appear. 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 t...

In today's image, we see galaxies with shells of material around them which are likely caused by interactions with smaller galaxies which have been torn apart by the tidal forces of the larger 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 Pictur...

In today's image, we see comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in this image from last month when it was prominently visible in the sky. The comet has since faded as it heads back to the outer solar system. Another comet, S1 ATLAS, ended up breaking apart as it passed close to the Sun so we will not have a second bright comet this year. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This...

In today's image, we see the stone statues of Easter Island in the foreground and the Milky Way up above. The Milky Way is our own spiral galaxy as we see it from within. 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 the nearby star forming region known as the Orion Nebula. This contain a young open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium. Wishing this nebula and much of the Orion region, star formation is still ongoing. 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 dark spot on Jupiter known as the abyss. The darker could on Jupiter are generally lower in the atmosphere than the lighter colored clouds, but a complete understanding of the abyss is something we still do not have. 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 imag...

In today's image, we see an image of the night side of Saturn as taken out seven years ago by the Cassini spacecraft, just a couple of days before the end of its mission at which time, it plunged into the planet's atmosphere. 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 NGC 6744, a spiral galaxy. We can se the distinct spiral structure as well as the blue star clusters and pink hydrogen regions which dominate the spiral arms. 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 . Yo...

In today's image, we see the bright star Rigel in the constellation of Orion as well as the reflection nebula known as the Witch Head Nebula. The scattering of light from a massive, blue star will give the reflection nebula its faint blue coloration. 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 t...

In today's image, we see the Bubble Nebula. This is the region of gas and dust being pushed out by the string stellar winds and radiation pressure from a newly formed massive star. 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 c...

In today's image, we see two images of the star cluster NGC 602 and the surrounding region as imaged by both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, highlighting the differences and the stronger power and different wavelengths observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New M...

In today's image, we see an example of a Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement or STEVE. This phenomenon has only been recently studied and scientists still try to understand what causes this fleeting rivers 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 dir...

In today's image, we see LDN 43, a dark dusty nebula which has the appearance go a bat flying through space. This is part of a start formation region and some of the bright areas near the head of the bat are stars that are newly formed, just breaking out of their cocoons. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for...

In today's image, we see a region of gas and dust in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This may give the appearance of phantoms in 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 image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day . You can use the archive link below the image to s...

In today's image, we see a globular star cluster. These clusters are about 10 billion years old and some of the remnants of the earliest times of our 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 of the Day . You can use the archive link...

In today's image, we see the planetary nebula known as the Helix Nebula. This will be the eventual end state of our own Sun in billions of year when it has exhausted its sources of fuel. 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 ....