NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as M51. In this image, the spiral arms have been digitally modified to unwind them using logarithms. The ordinary spiral arms form a logarithmic spiral which can be unwound digitally giving the ams a straight line appearance. 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 two images of the corona of the Sun stretched out so they can be easily compared to one another. On the top is an image from the solar eclipse of 2023 and on the bottom an image from the solar eclipse of 2017. We can see that the Sun was far more active in 2023 as compared to 2017. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an au...

In today's image, we see comet Pons-Brooks at it was seen on March 30. The comet is approaching its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on April 21. In addition, it could be visible during the day to those who happen to be located on the path of the total solar eclipse which occurs next Monday (April 8) across parts of North America. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTu...

In today's image, we see the remnant left behind by a star which was observed to explode back in the year 1181. This appears to be an unusual type of nebula classified as a Type Iax which occurs when two white dwarf stars merge together and explode. 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 the corona of our Sun. This is the atmosphere of the Sun and is normally invisible because of the brightness of the Sun itself. However, during an eclipse, our Moon passes in front of our Sun and blocks out its light. This allows the corona to be seen. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site...

In today's image, we see an image from the Event Horizon Telescope which allows astronomers to image the regions around the central black holes of galaxies including the one at the center of our Milky Way. Here we see it in polarized light which gives us a better understanding of the strong magnetic fields in the region. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This P...

In today's image, we see a total eclipse of the Sun observed from an airplane in 2021. Sometimes the eclipses occur at points on Earth that are not easy accessible and this is one way such an eclipse can be observed. Another total solar eclipse will be visible from much of eastern North America in just over a week on April 8. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . T...

In today's image, we see a page of astronomy lecture notes dating back to 1490. The upper diagrams show the explanation of the occurrence of eclipses under the Ptolemaic model of the universe. At the bottom are a model of the geocentric universe, and a calendar to calculated the date of Easter Sunday in the Julian Calendar. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . Thi...

In today's image, we see one of the four large moons of Jupiter, known as Europa. This is the smallest of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, but actually has more water than the entire Earth. The Europa Clipper, scheduled to launch in October is planned to orbit the moon and study it in more detail - especially to try to find if life could exist in the oceans below the icy surface. My podcasts are ava...

In today's image, we see the globular star cluster known as Omega Centauri. Globular star clusters exist in the spherical halo of our galaxy. Omega Centauri has an unusual combination of stellar populations leading astronomers to consider that it may be the core of a small galaxy which merged with the Milky Way in the past. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . Thi...

In today's image, we see a large, dense galaxy cluster known as the Coma Cluster. The cluster contains thousands of galaxies and is so large that it can take light millions of years to travel across the cluster. 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: Astro...

In today's image, we see the comet known as Pons-Brooks. This comet returns to the inner solar system every 71 years and has been observed since the 14th century. It is currently visible with the aid of a telescope or binoculars and may brighten enough to be visible to the naked eye on April 8 when it may be possible to view it during the total solar eclipse that occurs that day. My podcasts are a...

In today's image, we see a video where the tones the sound are used to represent different colors in the image. The red colors are represented by the lower tones while the blue is represented by the lower tones and the green, the middle tones. This is a way of representing the image in a different way so it can be "seen" even by one who can not see the image directly. My podcasts are available in...

In today's image, we see the shadow of our Moon as cast on the Earth during the total solar eclipse from 1999. The very center region of this shadow will be the area that sees a total solar eclipse with the Sun's light completely blocked by the Moon. The outer areas of the shadow will see a partial solar eclipse and beyond that, no eclipse will be seen at all. My podcasts are available in video fo...

In today's image, we see the region around the landing site of the fictional Ares 3 craft which was the basis of the novel: The Martian in which an astronaut is stranded on the surface of Mars. The image is taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showing detail of craters in this region of Mars. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized N...

In today's image, we see the planet Mars with its moon, Phobos just appearing in multiple images off the left-hand side. Phobos is an unusual moon in that it orbits so close to Mars that it would actually appear to rise in the west and set in the east and would do this three times each day! It is also known at the doomed moon as it is in such a low orbit, it will eventually be destroyed by today f...

In today's image, we see the Leo Triplet - a group of spiral galaxies in the direction of the constellation of Leo the lion. The galaxies appear relatively close to one another in the sky, spanning a distance of only about two full moons. They are actually close together in space as well as they interact with one another causing tidal distortions. My podcasts are available in video form through th...

In today's image, we see two galaxy which have recently interacted. We can see how the one galaxy contains material that has been distorted as the gravitational fields of the two galaxies interacted. These interactions also increase the stat formation rate in the galaxy giving rise to the large number of blue stars which color much of these tidal streams. My podcasts are available in video form th...

In today's image, we see the Sun setting at the end of a road. This road runs roughly east-west so the Sun will appear to rise and set at the end of the road on the two equinoxes that occur each year. For this in the Northern Hemisphere, today is the Vernal Equinox or the first day of spring. On this day, the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving into the northern part of the sky. It is also th...

In today's image, we see an image of Comet Pons-Brooks. The coma is highlighted to show the swirling pattern around it. It is thought this might be caused by the rotation of the nucleus of the comet as material is vaporized of its surface by the energy of the Sun. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. Yo...

In today's image, we see galaxies in the process of colliding. The collision will allow large gas clouds to merge and compress, causing star formation rates to increase. We see this in the many large, blue star cluster visible around the image. In a few hundred million years, the collision will have finished and we will have just a single, ordinary galaxy left behind. My podcasts are available in...

In today's image, we see the ongoing construction of the ELT - Extremely Large Telescope. This is expected to be completed later this decade and will be a 40-meter telescope. In the sky above, we see our Milky Way Galaxy as well as two satellite galaxies known as the Magellanic Clouds. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mi...

In today's image, we see the galaxy known as NGC 1055. The is a spiral type galaxy as we see it edge-on with the dark dust lane concentrated in the disk component of the 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...

In today's image, we see the full moon as it rises over the horizon. The full moon is always directly opposite to the Sun in the sky which makes it 180 degrees (π radians) away from the Sun 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 Pictu...

In today's image, we see the Seagull Nebula. This is an example of an emission nebula which glows red with the light of hydrogen gas that has been excited by ultraviolet light from newly formed hot 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 image and website directly at: Astronomy Pi...