NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see Jupiter, the largest of the planets in the solar system off to the right side of the image. In addition, we see one of the Geminid meteors, a tiny bit of material from an asteroid that is vaporizing in our upper 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...

In today's image, we see a multicolored aurora in the sky over a waterfall in Iceland. Above this is the Milky Way - our own galaxy as we see it from within. In addition, we can see the Andromeda galaxy and the Pleiades star cluster in 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 i...

In today's image, we see the supernova remnant known as the Jellyfish Nebula. This is an example of a remnant of a Type II supernova which occurs at the end of the life of a very 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...

In today's image, we see an alignment of three objects - The Cathedral in front of the distant mountain here on Earth - timed so that the Moon was rising directly behind the mountain (and cathedral!) It took the photographer several years of waiting for the weather to cooperate on a day when the Moon would be properly aligned to get this image. My podcasts are available in video form through this...

In today's image, we see a young planetary nebula which is the end state of a star much like our own Sun. The core has collapsed down to an extremely dense white dwarf star while the outer layers have expanded and been expelled out into space. It is a relatively short-lived, but beautiful stage of a star's life. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is...

In today's image, we see an image from a nice summer night in December in New Zealand. Since seasons on Earth are opposite, winter is currently starting in the Northern Hemisphere while Summer is starting in the Southern Hemisphere. In the sky, we see such things as the Southern Cross and the two bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Cha...

In today's image, we see a 183 day exposure of the Sun using a pinhole camera. This shows the position of the Sun over the course of the 6 month period from June to December of 2022. 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 three galaxies which are relatively close together in the sky along with a comet passing that same general direction in space. While the comet is close to us - within our own solar system, the galaxies are about 70 million light years away - far beyond the comet in space. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized N...

In today's image, we see a number of different ice halos and other features around the setting Sun. The features are caused by ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere and are formed by the reflection and refraction of sunlight off of these crystals. 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 California Nebula also known by the catalog designation of NGC 1499. This is an example of an emission nebula where light from a hot star ionizes the gas nearby and causes it to glow. The red color is associated with hydrogen gas, the most common element in the universe. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorize...

In today's image, we see what is known as the Same Color Illusion. Squares A & B are exactly the same color although it may not look like they are at first glance. When a bar of the same color is laid between these two, we can see that they are actually the same color. 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 many of the Geminid meteors which appear to converge off in the distance toward the constellation of Gemini. These meteors are unusual as they are associated with an asteroid (3200 Phaethon) instead of a comet as with most meteor showers. 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 a crescent view of the moon of Saturn, Enceladus as images by the Cassini spacecraft. This moon is surprisingly active for such a small object, having volcanic activity that results in the expulsion of icy materials from regions near its South Pole. 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 constellation Orion side by side. In the left image, we see the red supergiant star, Betelgeuse at its regular brightness. In the right image, we see Betelgeuse much fainter as this was taken as an asteroid passed directly between Earth and Betelgeuse blocking out much of the light from the star. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTub...

In today's image, we see the supernova remnant known as Cassiopeia A. This would have been seen to explode here on Earth about 350 years ago. However, it was not clearly seen, possibly because of excess dust between us and the supernova. 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 the emission nebula known as the Heart Nebula to the left and below and to the right is the Fish Head nebula. This Heart Nebula is an example of an emission nebula which contains gases that have been excited by the ultraviolet light from hot stars. 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 view of the sky from Norway which includes a prominent aurora, our Milky Way galaxy, the Pleiades star cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the planet Mars. 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 a video clip comparing solar activity at minimum (left) and maximum (right). The Sun goes through an 11 year cycle of solar activity with a peak of activity every 11 years. The more active the Sun is, the more we see solar flares and auroral activity here on Earth. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Medi...

In today's image, we see the Big Dipper which is an asterism or grouping of bright stars located in the constellation of Ursa Major. The middle five stars in the dipper all move roughly together in space, but the two on either end are moving in somewhat different directions which will cause the appearance of the dipper to change over many thousands of years. My podcasts are available in video form...

In today's image, we see the Pleiades star cluster, an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus. We also see the bright trail of a meteor which happened to pass through the same area of the sky while the image was being taken. 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 bright star Vega to the upper left, the fifth brightest star in our night sky. To the lower right, we see the comet Pons-Brooks which is making its way into the inner solar system and last visited nearly 70 years ago. It will reach its closest approach to our Sun in April of 2024. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an...

In today's image, we see the Orion spacecraft as it flew around our Moon last year in a test of the craft to eventually return humans to the Moon. The large "ocean" is actually one of the maria on the Moon which is an old impact basin that was flooded with lava billions of years ago. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirr...

In today's image, we see a part of the Carina Nebula where stars are forming from dust while already formed stars are eating away at the dust, inhibiting star formation. It is a battle that the stars will eventually win as the nebula is cleared. 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 im...

In today's image, we see a shower of particles from a single, very high energy nucleus striking Earth's upper atmosphere. While these cosmic rays strike Earth all the time, this one was of exceptionally high energy and astronomers are trying to understand how it formed and where it came from. 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 image of the waning crescent moon, just a couple of days before new moon. As the image was being taken, a plane flew across the face of the moon giving us the lucky capture of this image showing the trail cutting across the Moon. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel . This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can a...