NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

Recent Episodes

2023 April 19 - Auroral Storm over Lapland

Posted April 19, 2023 • 00:03:55

In today's image, we see a recent auroral storm over Lapland. The aurora are caused when charged particles from our Sun, funneled along magnetic field...

2023 April 18 - Map of Total Solar Eclipse Path pf 2024 April

Posted April 18, 2023 • 00:04:12

In today's image, we see the path of two upcoming eclipses across the United Stated. In October of 2023, there will be an annular eclipse whose path...

2023 April 17 - ELVES Lightning over Italy

Posted April 17, 2023 • 00:03:45

In today's image, we see an example of ELVES lighting. This is an upper atmospheric lightning which may occur when electrons from a discharge lower...

2023 April 16 - M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula

Posted April 16, 2023 • 00:04:19

In today's image, we see the planetary nebula known as the Butterfly Nebula. The is the end state of most stars, including our own Sun. The inner layers...

2023 April 15 - When Z is for Mars

Posted April 15, 2023 • 00:04:10

In today's image, we see images of Mars as it was going through its retrograde motion in 2022-2023. This motion occurs when Earth overtakes Mars in...