Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 01
Large clouds of interstellar gas and dust of various shapes and sizes
cover the image. A cloud shaped like a bubble sits atop the image,
while a cloud shaped like a claw is in the middle.

The Claw and Bubble Nebulae
Image Credit & Copyright: Richard Whitehead
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What unexpected things do you see when you look up at the
night sky? TodayCÇÖs image resembles an abstract painting, with large
swaths of color strewn across a cosmic canvas seemingly without design.
Despite the image's abstract nature, the human mind finds patterns,
identifying a large claw reaching up towards a floating bubble.
Embedded within these seemingly random structures are the physical laws
that govern how light and matter interact. The Claw (Sh2-157) and
Bubble (NGC 7635) Nebulae glow colors that are mapped to the yellow and
blue shown, indicating the presence of hydrogen and oxygen ionized by
the intense light emitted from stars several times the mass of the Sun.
This image depicts both the chaos and structure of astronomical
processes, showing that a common thread between art and science is to
look for the unexpected.

Tomorrow's picture: warping spacetime
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 2
A towering rocket ignites and lifts off from acoastal launch pad at
dusk, its bright plume of fire and exhaust illuminating thick clouds of
smoke spreading accross the ground.

Liftoff! Returning to the Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/Bill Ingalls; Text: Ogetay Kayali (MTU)

Explanation: We are one small step closer to returning to the Moon. A
new chapter in human exploration began yesterday when NASA's Artemis II
launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) from Kennedy Space
Center. Carrying four astronauts, the Orion spacecraft's planned lunar
flyby will be the first in over half a century. This historic test
flight, echoing the legacy of Apollo while pushing beyond it, will
carry its crew farther from Earth than any humans since 1972, looping
around the Moon before returning home. During the approximately ten-day
journey, Orion's systems--from life support to navigation--will be
tested in deep space, while astronauts observe the lunar surface,
including shadowed regions of the far side rarely seen with such
perspective. After looping around the Moon, the astronauts will return
to Earth, ending their journey with a Pacific Ocean splashdown.

Tomorrow's picture: Warping Spacetime
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 3
Illustration showing a binary black hole close to merger in front of
the Tarantula Nebula. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Caught in the Web: Visualization of a Black Hole Merger in the
Tarantula Nebula
Illustration Credit & Copyright: Artwork: Carl Knox (OzGrav, Swinburne
University of Technology);
Astrophotography: Blake Estes & Christian Sasse, iTelescope.net; Text:
Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: How can we see what is invisible? Black holes are not easy
to see in the dark cosmic night, but astronomers can find them by
analyzing their gravitational effects on matter, light and spacetime.
The featured image shows an illustration that combines a simulation of
a black hole binary system in its final "death-dance" with an
astrophotography image of the Tarantula Nebula in the background. Even
though black holes don't emit light, they distort the path of light
rays, acting like a gravitational lens. As a result, the nebula appears
extremely distorted, forming Einstein rings and multiple images.
Tarantula Nebula lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy
that is one of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, 160,000
light-years away. That is more than 1,000 times closer than any of the
binary black hole mergers detected so far. We'll probably never detect
a merger so close to home!

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 4

Hello World
Image Credit: NASA, Reid Wiseman, Artemis II

Explanation: From pole to pole our fair planet is captured in this
snapshot from space, an evocative image from a window of the Orion
spacecraft Integrity. From the spacecraft's perspective the Sun is
moving behind Earth's bright limb along the lower right. Africa and the
Iberian peninsula are in view on the pale blue planet's surface, while
aurorae crown Earth's south and north poles at top right and bottom
left. Commander Reid Wiseman took the historic picture on Artemis II
mission flight day 2 (April 2), after the completion of the planned
translunar injection burn. That burn boosted the spacecraft out of
Earth orbit, sending Integrity and crew on a trajectory that will take
them around the Moon and back again. That's a journey humans last made
over 50 years ago.

Tomorrow's picture: starburst spiral
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 5
A starfield has a spiral galaxy in the center. Around the galaxy is a
light blue faint halo. One of the spiral arms juts out at about 11
o'clock. The galaxy center is red, white, and quite bright. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: AAO ITSO Office, Gemini Obs./AURA & T. A.
Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage)

Explanation: The party is still going on in spiral galaxy NGC 3310.
Roughly 100 million years ago, NGC 3310 likely collided with a smaller
galaxy causing the large spiral galaxy to light up with a tremendous
burst of star formation. The changing gravity during the collision
created density waves that compressed existing clouds of gas and
triggered the star-forming party. The featured image from the Gemini
North Telescope shows the galaxy in great detail, color-coded so that
pink highlights gas while white and blue highlight stars. Some of the
star clusters in the galaxy are quite young, indicating that starburst
galaxies may remain in star-burst mode for quite some time. NGC 3310
spans about 50,000 light years, lies about 50 million light years away,
and is visible with a small telescope towards the constellation of
Great Bear Ursa Major.

Tomorrow's picture: horsehead high
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 7
A starfield surrounds a large nebula that is mostly brown and blue and
has an appearance reminiscent of the head of a horse. This nebula is
not the more famous Horsehead Nebula. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Rabeea Alkuwari

Explanation: Do you see the horse's head? What you are seeing is not
the famous Horsehead nebula toward Orion, but rather a fainter nebula
that only takes on a familiar form with deeper imaging. The main part
of the here-imaged molecular cloud complex is reflection nebula IC
4592. Reflection nebulas are made up of very fine dust that normally
appears dark but can look quite blue when reflecting the visible light
of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the
reflected light is a star at the eye of the horse. That star is part of
Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star systems toward the constellation
of the Scorpion (Scorpius). A second reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601
is visible surrounding two stars just below the image center. The
featured picture was taken from Sawda Natheel in Qatar.

Jigsaw Nebula: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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n.'n.'

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 8
NASA alt text: Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at
6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew s flyby of the
Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the
cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing
nighttime. On Earth s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the
Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has
terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central
peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on
impact, splashes upwards during the crater s formation.

Earthset
Image Credit: NASA
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: "And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth,
we love you, from the Moon. We will see you on the other side," said
Artemis II pilot Victor Glover on April 6^th at 6:44pm ET as 8.3
billion minus four people and one Earth set below the Moon's horizon.
The Orion spacecraft, Integrity, then traveled behind the Moon as part
of its seven-hour lunar flyby. The crew characterized never-before-seen
regions of the far side of the Moon, which is puzzlingly less
volcanically active than the near side. New observations of crater
peaks, floors, terraces, and rings preserved on the lunar surface will
help piece together the impact history of the Solar System. Among many
other surface characterizations, the crew observed one of the Moon's
best-preserved basins, the Orientale basin, and identified two new
craters. As Earth rose above the Moon s horizon and Integrity began its
return home, Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch powerfully
summarized humanity s grander mission: "...we will always choose Earth.
We will always choose each other."

Tomorrow's picture: the death of a comet
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 9

Destruction of Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)
Video Credit: Brian Day, SOHO, SDO, JHelioviewer
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: As the crew of Artemis II travelled towards the Moon this
week, Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was expected to have its closest approach
to the Sun on Monday. At this point, comet and Sun would be closer than
half the distance separating the Earth and Moon. The comet did not
survive; the featured video was made with 40 hours of data and shows
the comet plunging toward the Sun, like a moth to a flame. Observing
the comet so close to our bright star requires a coronagraph, an
instrument that blocks the Sun and is used for studies of its corona.
This composite video combines, starting from the outside, views from:
the wider angle coronagraph (blue) and the narrower angle coronagraph
(red), both on NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and NASA's
Solar Dynamics Observatory (black). We can see the comet approaching
the sun, stretching, disappearing behind the coronagraph's occulting
disk and reappearing as a cloud of debris that dissipates.

Tomorrow's picture: galactic antennae
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 10

Exploring the Antennae
Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition - Mike Selby Processing - Roberto
Colombari

Explanation: Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly
constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the
two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide
in the course of the ponderous cataclysm that lasts for hundreds of
millions of years. But the galaxies' large clouds of molecular gas and
dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the
center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning over 50 thousand light-years,
this stunning telescopic frame also reveals new star clusters and
matter flung far from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal
forces. The remarkably sharp ground-based image follows the faint tidal
tails and distant background galaxies in the field of view. The
suggestive overall visual appearance of the extended arcing structures
gives the galaxy pair, also known as Arp 244, its popular name - The
Antennae.

Artemis II: mission updates
Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 11

Artemis II: Flight Day 6
Image Credit: NASA, Artemis II

Explanation: On flight day 6 (April 6) the Artemis II mission achieved
a historic lunar flyby. Rounding the lunar far side, the deep space
maneuver marked humanity's first venture to the Moon since Apollo 17 in
1972. The Orion spacecraft Integrity reached a maximum distance of
nearly 407,000 kilometers, and the Artemis II crew, Reid Wiseman,
Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, set the record
for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by any human since the
Apollo 13 crew in 1970. From behind the Moon on flight day 6, a solar
array wing camera recorded this space age selfie, framing the
spacecraft and lunar far side. Planet Earth, home to the Artemis II
crew, is the small, bright crescent beyond the lunar limb. The crew
safely returned home on Artemis II mission flight day 10.

Artemis II: Splashdown
Tomorrow's picture: beyond the Milky Way
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 12
A starry night is seen above foreground mountains. Toward the right is
a comet with its head near the bottom center and a long tail extending
toward the upper right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Comet R3 (PanSTARRS) Brightens
Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Rodrigues

Explanation: Comet R3 is brightening rapidly -- will it survive? C/2025
R3 (PanSTARRS) has been slowly brightening and extending an ion tail
since its discovery last year. This shedding mountain of dirty ice puts
on its best sky show this month, though, because it passes its closest
to both the Sun (April 19) and the Earth (April 25). The featured
image, showing R3 already sporting a tail extending over 10 degrees,
was taken two nights ago from Sion, Switzerland with the big mountain
Bietschhorn on the left. Comet R3 will be visible during mid-April
before sunrise. Although the future brightness of any comet is hard to
predict, the brightness of R3 makes it already a good camera comet and
it may become visible to the unaided eye in the next week. Comet R3's
physical future is also unknown because, like Comet A1 (MAPS) earlier
this month, it may disintegrate when it passes its closest to the Sun.
Or it may live to leave the Solar System.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: oyster stars
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 13
A starfield surrounds a large light-brown nebula that has several dust
pillars. In the center of the nebula are many bright blue stars. Some
distant galaxies are visible through and around the nebula. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 602 and Beyond
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) -
ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Explanation: The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like
pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic
Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5
million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and
dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region.
Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic
radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have
eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation
moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the
Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200
light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are
also visible in this sharp multi-colored view. The background galaxies
are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 14
A star field surrounds a bright comet with a long tail. The green coma
of the comet is seen on the lower left, while the light blue ion tail
extends to the upper right and shows wavey structure. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

The Long Wispy Tail of Comet R3 (PanSTARRS)
Image Credit & Copyright: Haythem Hamdi

Explanation: Why does Comet R3 (PanSTARRS) have a wispy tail? The
newest bright member of the inner Solar System, Comet C/2025 R3
(PanSTARRS) is already extending an impressive stream of glowing gas.
This tail starts from an unseen central nucleus of dirty ice that is
likely a few kilometers across. The nucleus is warmed by the Sun and
emits a cloud of neutral gas into a coma that glows light green.
Nuclear gas ionized by energetic sunlight is pushed away from the Sun
by the solar wind into an ion tail that glows light blue. The wispy
nature of the ion tail is caused by the constantly changing structure
of the solar wind. Pictured from Rhode Island, USA two days ago, Comet
R3 (PanSTARRS) shows off a many-degree ion tail. Comet R3 (PanSTARRS)
is best seen before dawn from northern skies for another 10 days, after
which it will be best visible from southern skies.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 15
The relatively small International Space Station sits atop the image,
about to transit in front of the illuminated Moon. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

The ISS Transits the Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: S+¬bastien Borie
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Nope, that is not an alien spaceship landing on the Moon!
This is an image of the International Space Station (ISS) as it begins
to transit in front of the Moon. The ISS is in low-Earth orbit (LEO)
where it wizzes around the Earth every 90 minutes. Orbiting the Earth
16 times per day for 25 years, the ISS has photobombed many familiar
celestial objects including Venus, Mars, Saturn, and the Sun. Thousands
of experiments led by researchers from over one hundred countries have
been conducted on the ISS. Growing protein crystals in low-gravity was
one of the first experiments onboard the ISS and continues to
contribute to new medical treatments. ISS astronauts study plant
growth, water recycling, human health, and more to support the Artemis
missions which will take humans farther than theyCÇÖve ever gone before.
Next time you are out and about at night, try to spot the ISS zooming
across the sky!

Tomorrow's picture: the night sky in Brazil
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 16
A dead tree branch on the foreground appears to support a spinning
wheel of stars on the night sky. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

South Celestial Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: Kiko Fairbairn
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: If you live in the northern hemisphere, you may have
learned how to locate the North Star, Polaris, in the night sky. It can
be used to find north, and it approximately marks the northern
celestial pole. If you live in the southern hemisphere, there is no
bright star marking the southern celestial pole, but the Southern Cross
can be used to find south. The featured image was taken in Padre
Bernardo (GO), Brazil. It shows the apparent motion of the stars around
the apparently empty southern celestial pole over 2 hours, on August
20, 2018. Each star takes about 24 hours to make a complete turn around
the pole in the sky. Padre Bernardo is located in the Cerrado region, a
tropical savanna that occupies most of central Brazil and supports rich
biodiversity. The barren branch that apparently supports this sky wheel
of rotating stars is a common sight there in the dry season during the
southern winter.

Tomorrow's picture: starburst and superwind
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 17

M82: Starburst Galaxy with a Superwind
Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Malleval

Explanation: Messier 82 is a starburst galaxy with a superwind. In
fact, through supernova explosions and powerful winds from massive
stars, the burst of star formation in M82 is driving a prodigious
outflow. Evidence for the superwind from the galaxy's central regions
is clear in the sharp telescopic portrait. The composite image includes
33 hours of narrowband data, highlighting emission from long outflow
filaments of atomic hydrogen gas in reddish hues. Some of the gas in
the superwind, enriched in heavy elements forged in the massive stars,
will eventually escape into intergalactic space. Triggered by a close
encounter with nearby large galaxy M81, the furious burst of star
formation in M82 should last about 100 million years or so. Also known
as the Cigar Galaxy for its elongated visual appearance, M82 is about
30,000 light-years across. It lies 12 million light-years away near the
northern boundary of Ursa Major.

Tomorrow's picture: just dust
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 18

PanSTARRS and Planets
Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)

Explanation: Near the eastern horizon before sunrise, Comet C/2025 R3
PanSTARRS is getting brighter. Readily visible in binoculars and small
telescopes, the comet may be just on the verge of naked-eye visibility
from dark sky sites. Though it was not quite apparent to the eye,
PanSTARRS is still easy to spot in this camera image taken on April 16.
In the view from a volcanic peak overlooking France's Reunion Island,
planet Earth, the comet shares eastern predawn skies with naked-eye
planets Mars and Mercury and fainter Neptune. Saturn is hiding behind
the low cloudbank that doesn't quite hide an old crescent Moon. This is
a good weekend for northern hemisphere comet watchers to try to catch
PanSTARRS an hour or so before sunrise, as the comet grows brighter
approaching its perihelion on April 19. On April 26 the comet makes its
closest approach to our fair planet but by then will be difficult to
see in the solar glare. Good views of this comet PanSTARRS in late
April and early May will be from the southern hemisphere.

Tomorrow's picture: starry-eyed
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 19
The image shows land on the left and a star filled sky on the right.
Prominent in the sky is the band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the left
is a small circular lake that reflects some of the stars in the sky.
Together, the land and lake look like an eye lookout out at the Milky
Way. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Eye on the Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

Explanation: Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the
eye on the left does, and moreover, it appears to be gazing at even
more stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken in 2019 from Ojas de
Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small
lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy
arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really
composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of
light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both
Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the
right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical
horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like
the surface of Mars than our Earth.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 20
A starry sky is seen above two tree-covered mountains that slope up on
both sides of the image. In the central valley the head of a comet is
seen, with a long tail flowing nearly vertically upward toward the top
of the tall frame. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Comet R3 PanSTARRS over a Himalayan Valley
Image Credit & Copyright: Basudeb Chakrabarti & Samit Saha

Explanation: The best way to see comet R3 PanSTARRSCÇÖs long tail is with
a camera. This week, the recently brightened comet appears in northern
skies to the east just before dawn, but is only barely visible to the
unaided eye. The many-degree ion tail captured on long duration camera
exposures is not unusual for a comet - it is primarily due to the
Earth's nearly sideways view of the tail as it points away from the
Sun. In the featured image taken last week, Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)
showed off its flowing tail through a valley between two peaks in the
Himalayan mountains of India. The comet passed its closest to the Sun
yesterday. As it nears its closest approach to Earth next week, a bushy
dust tail may become visible. The comet is slowly moving out of
northern skies and by the end of the month will be visible after sunset
in southern skies as it fades and leaves our Solar System.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: different mountains
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 21
A starry sky is seen above snowy mountains. In the sky three arches are
visible, with the Milky Way on either side and zodiacal light in the
center. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Three Sky Arches over Snowy Alps
Image Credit & Copyright: Angel Fux

Explanation: Why are there three arches across the sky instead of two?
Last month, after being dropped off by a helicopter at a high mountain
peak in the Alps near the Swiss Italian border, an adventurous
astrophotographer expected two arches of our Milky Way galaxy to be
visible during the night. These were the inner arch looking in toward
the center of our galaxy on the left, visible just before sunrise, and
the outer arch on the right visible just after sunset. But there were
three arches. The surprised astrophotographer soon realized that the
sky was so dark that an entire arc of faint zodiacal light was also
noticeable -- sunlight scattered by inner Solar System dust. And it
artfully connected the two Milky Way arches! The next morning a
helicopter picked the astrophotographer back up, and after 40 hours of
processing and combining that night's images, the featured triple-arch
360-degree panorama resulted.

Jigsaw Vistas: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 22

Earthset with an iPhone
Video Credit: NASA, Reid Wiseman
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What does it mean for the Earth to set? Artemis II
Commander Reid Wiseman gave us another spectacular view of Earth from
their historic flyby of the Moon. Commander Wiseman's video, taken with
an iPhone at 8x zoom, shows our entire planet gradually blocked from
view by the Moon. On the Earth, the 24-hour planetary rotation causes
the Sun to set below your horizon every night. However, on Artemis II
the Earthset was caused not by the MoonCÇÖs rotation but by the
spacecraft moving behind the Moon (at about 55 seconds in this video).
Once rare, views of Earth are now taken many times a day from many
spacecraft, including NASACÇÖs SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)
satellite tracking freshwater resources and USGS Landsat 8 and 9
satellites supporting water management for farmers, for example. Space
agencies around our home planet now work together to provide unique and
ever-improving views of our Earth.

Celebrate: Earth Day
Tomorrow's picture: placeholder
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 23
The image shows a circle with bands of different colors, missing two
opposite pizza slices, on a dark background. An inset presents a
zoomed-in view of the center, showing a fine, feathery structure.

Large Scale Structure of the Universe
Image Credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: This is a map of the universe. The Dark Energy
Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) at Kitt Peak National Observatory,
Arizona, has finished its five-year survey. It observed more than 47
million galaxies and quasars and created a 3D map centered on the
Earth. Today's featured image shows a thin slice of these data: the
black gaps indicate where our Galaxy obscures distant objects. The
feathery web in the inset shows the large scale structure of the
universe. Light of the most distant galaxies shown here travelled for
11 billion years to reach the Earth. Galaxies cluster throughout cosmic
history under the competing influences of gravity and dark energy,
responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe. Analysis of
early DESI results hinted at the possibility that dark energy,
described as a cosmological constant by Albert Einstein, may not be
constant after all. But we still have to wait for the analysis of the
now complete dataset. The nature of dark energy is the biggest mystery
of cosmology.

Tomorrow's picture: young moon and sister stars
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 24

Young Moon and Sister Stars
Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

Explanation: Sunlit arms of a crescent moon seem to embrace the faint
lunar night side in this dramatic celestial scene from planet Earth.
The single telephoto exposure tracking the sky was captured on the
night of April 19, when a two day old Moon was near perigee in its
elliptical orbit. On that date, the young Moon was also close on the
sky to the lovely Pleiades Star Cluster. With the moonlight dimmed by
clouds the Pleiades sister stars gather below the Moon's bright
crescent, seen through a faint but colorful lunar corona. The lunar
night side is illuminated by earthshine, sunlight reflected from the
Earth itself. The Moon's ashen glow, also known as the "old moon in the
young moon's arms", tends to be brighter in the northern hemisphere
spring. And for now, the Moon's orbit takes it near the Pleiades stars
each month in planet Earth's sky, though their close conjunctions are
easiest to see when the Moon is near a crescent phase.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 25

The Persistence of Sunlight
Image Credit & Copyright: Lorenzo Busilacchi

Explanation: This seaside sunset offered a surreal experience, captured
in a sea and skyscape from the west coast of Sardinia, Italy, planet
Earth. The Daliesque scene is a composition of sequential exposures
made with a camera and long telephoto lens. The Sun is not melting,
though. Its shifting and fluid appearance as it nears the horizon is
caused as refraction along the line of sight changes and creates
distorted images or mirages of the reddened solar disk. The changes in
atmospheric refraction correspond to atmospheric layers with sharply
different temperatures and densities. Another famous but fleeting
effect of atmospheric refraction produced by a long sight-line to the
setting (or rising) Sun is often called the green flash.

Tomorrow's picture: mystic mountain monster
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 26
The featured image shows a large pillar of dust and gas in the Carina
Nebula. The pillar has many humps and several jets. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Mystic Mountain Monster being Destroyed
Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: Inside the head of this interstellar monster is a star
that is slowly destroying it. The huge monster, actually an inanimate
series of pillars of gas and dust, measures light years in length. The
in-head star is not itself visible through the opaque interstellar dust
but is bursting out partly by ejecting opposing beams of energetic
particles called Herbig-Haro jets. Located about 7,500 light years away
in the Carina Nebula and known informally as Mystic Mountain, the
appearance of these pillars is dominated by dark dust even though they
are composed mostly of clear hydrogen gas. The featured image was taken
with the Hubble Space Telescope. All over these pillars, the energetic
light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and
dispersing the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed. Within a
few million years, the head of this giant, as well as most of its body,
will have been completely evaporated by internal and surrounding stars.

Tomorrow's picture: lost comet
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 27
A night sky filled with lines and dashed-lines appears above a hilly
landscape featuring a distant lit-up tower. Near the center of the
image is a comet shown by its small green coma and ion tail to the
upper right. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Comet R3 PanSTARRS Behind Satellite Trails
Image Credit & Copyright: Uli Fehr

Explanation: Can you find the comet? Somewhere through this web of
satellite trails is Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), a bright visitor
passing through the inner Solar System. Now, the orbiting satellites
themselves only appear as streaks because of the long camera exposure,
over 10 minutes in this case. On the contrary, to the eye, satellites
appear as points that drift slowly across the night sky and shine by
reflecting sunlight -- primarily just after sunset and before sunrise.
The featured image was taken just before sunrise two weeks ago from
Bavaria, Germany. Presently, Comet R3 PanSTARRS is hard to see for even
another reason -- because it is so (angularly) close to the Sun. As the
comet rounds the Sun, it will be best seen in coming weeks from
southern hemispheree skies, although then it will be heading out to
interstellar space and fading. If you haven't yet found the comet,
don't despair; please take a closer look just above the image center.

Tomorrow's picture: cometary mountains
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 28
A star field with a few red wisps surrounds a nebula that has many
several dark components each of which has a dark head closer to the top
of the image. A red glow is brightest near the top of each component.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

CG 30: Cometary Globules
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcelo Salemme

Explanation: They're like mountain peaks, but they are forming stars.
Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich
starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern constellations
Puppis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and dust, the grouping of
light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 light-years distant.
Energetic ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars has molded the
globules and ionized their bright rims. The globules also stream away
from the Vela supernova remnant which may have influenced their
swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and dust are likely
collapsing to form low mass stars whose formation will ultimately cause
the globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (upper right
in the group) sports a small reddish glow inside its head, a telltale
sign of energetic jets from a star in the early stages of formation.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 April 29
The crescent Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades travel across the twilight
sky. The silhouettes of a few beach flowers decorate the foreground.

The Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades
Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: No, Earth did not recently acquire six more moons! TodayCÇÖs
APOD is a combination of images following the Moon, Venus, and the
Pleiades across a southern Sicilian sky as twilight turned to evening
on April 19. From 2023 to 2029, the Pleiades' and the Moon CÇ£visit" each
other once per month due to the Pleiades' location in the ecliptic
plane. April 2026 saw the celestial alignment of their visit with
Venus. About six stars in the Pleiades cluster (Messier 45) are
typically visible with the unaided eye. Due to the clusterCÇÖs visibility
across the world, there are many myths and legends across cultures
associated with the Pleiades. The Haudenosaunee people of North
America, for example, say that seven boys danced so enthusiastically
that they lifted off into the sky. Astronomers recently found thousands
more Pleiades members, showing that after thousands of years of gazing
upon this cluster, there is yet more to learn about the Pleiades.

Tomorrow's picture: Waves on Titan
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 1

Markarian's Chain
Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

Explanation: Near the heart of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, a string of
galaxies known as Markarian's Chain stretches across this telescopic
field of view. Anchored in the frame at bottom right by prominent
lenticular galaxies, M84 (bottom) and M86, you can follow the chain's
gentle arc up and toward the left. Near center you'll spot the pair of
interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known to some as
Markarian's Eyes. An estimated 50 million light-years distant, the
Virgo Cluster itself is the nearest galaxy cluster. With up to about
2,000 member galaxies, it has a noticeable gravitational influence on
our own Local Group of Galaxies. Within the Virgo Cluster at least
seven galaxies in Markarian's Chain appear to move coherently, while
others may appear to be part of the chain by chance.

Tomorrow's picture: seeing Titan
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 2

Seeing Titan
Image Credit: VIMS Team, Univ. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA, NASA

Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, the surface of Saturn's
largest moon, Titan, is really hard to see. Small particles suspended
in Titan's upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly
scattering light at visible wavelengths and hiding surface features
from prying eyes. Still, Titan's surface is better imaged at infrared
wavelengths, where scattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is
reduced. Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan are
some of the clearest global infrared views of the tantalizing moon so
far. In false color, the six panels present a consistent processing of
13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn
from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's
visible light view. NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan's
surface is due to launch no earlier than July, 2028.

Tomorrow's picture: going interstellar
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 3
A field of stars on the left is mirred by a wall of opaque brown dust
on the right. Jutting out from the wall is a long pillar with a rounded
end that has a prominent light- colored jet emanating toward the upper
left. The stellar background toward the upper left is dark blue. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Trifid Pillars and Jets
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

Explanation: Dust pillars are like interstellar mountains. They survive
because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are
slowly being eroded away by a hostile environment. Visible in the
featured picture by the Hubble Space Telescope is the end of a huge gas
and dust pillar in the Trifid Nebula (M20), punctuated by a smaller
pillar pointing up and an unusual jet pointing to the upper left. Many
of the bright dots are newly formed stars. A star near the small
pillar's end is slowly being stripped of its accreting gas by radiation
from a tremendously brighter star situated off the top of the image.
The jet extends nearly a light-year and would not be visible without
external illumination. As gas and dust evaporate from the pillars, the
hidden stellar source of this jet will likely be uncovered, possibly
over the next 20,000 years.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: inside Earth
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 4

Superplumes Inside Earth
Image Credit & License: Sanne Cottaar via Wikimedia Commons

Explanation: Why are there huge, unusual masses inside the Earth? No
one is sure. By noting how earthquakes rumble through our planet's
interior, humanity has discovered two deep structures that appear to
have unusual temperatures and/or chemical compositions. One hypothesis
holds that the superplumes are sunken debris left over from the
Earth-shattering collision that created Earth's Moon about 4.5 billion
years ago. A competing hypothesis is that they are graveyards for old
tectonic plates that slowly slid under each other over the past few
billion years. No matter their origin, the superplumes are thought to
affect EarthCÇÖs surface volcanism, possibly creating, for example,
island chains such as Hawaii. Also known as large low-shear-velocity
provinces (LLSVPs), Earth's superplumes are visualized in the featured
animation.

Tomorrow's picture: orionic volcano
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 5
A starry sky is seen above a snowy volcano peak. The sky is bright with
many stars and red nebula. In the foreground is dark soil and green
evergreen trees. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Orion over Mount Teide
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Rosadzi+äski

Explanation: Orion is rarely seen like this. To achieve this majestic
vista, you need a camera capable of taking such long duration exposures
that faint features in the night sky become revealed. Iconic nebulas
that appear include the Orion Nebula, the Flame Nebula, and Barnard's
Loop. For contrast, it also helps to have a volcano on the foreground,
in this case the Teide volcano on Tenerife on the Canary Islands of
Spain. But if you want your Teide volcano snow-covered, you also need
good timing -- because that only happens, typically, for a few days
each year. Good timing also includes waiting for Orion to appear just
behind Teide, which occurred late last year after sunset. The featured
image is the result of a series of images taken consecutively with the
same camera from the same location.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: backwards planets
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 6
The image shows two parellel rings of bright dots in the night sky.
This is a composite image of the positions Saturn and Neptune traced in
the sky from May 2025 to January 2026. The brighter ring in the
foreground is Saturn, while the dimmer ring in the background is
Neptune. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Retrograde Dance of Saturn and Neptune
Image Credit & Copyright: Tun+º Tezel (TWAN)
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What does it mean for Saturn and Neptune to be in
retrograde? Featured is a composite of images taken over 34 nights from
May 2025 to February 2026 tracing Saturn (brighter, foreground) and
Neptune (dimmer, background). Over that time, the two planets exhibited
retrograde motion, meaning they appeared to move backward in the sky.
This apparent backwards motion occurs when Earth overtakes the slower
outer planets as they orbit the Sun. Imagine the Solar System is a
running track. Earth "runs" faster along the inside of the track
compared to the outer planets. As Earth approaches, aligns, and then
"laps" the outer planets, they change position from ahead to behind
from the Earth's perspective. This perspective shift is what causes the
outer planets to change position in the night sky. An animation
corresponding to todayCÇÖs image shows Saturn and NeptuneCÇÖs months-long
dance across the northern night sky. Saturn stepped from the Pisces
constellation into Aquarius and back again while Neptune remained in
Pisces. This is the closest Saturn and Neptune have been in the sky
since their last conjunction in 1989.

Tomorrow's picture: spiralling into a supernova
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 8
A starfield appears with three large objects. Near the top is a bright
star. Near the middle is a small light blue nebula. And near the bottom
is a comet with its long tail extending to the upper left and passing
in front of both the star and the blue nebula. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Comet R3 PanSTARRS Before Rigel
Image Credit & Copyright: Jakub Ku+Ö+ík & Martin Ma+íek (FZU of the Czech
Academy of Sciences)

Explanation: Which way is Comet R3 PanSTARRS going? Not towards the
star at the top of the image, because that is Rigel, which, being far
in the background, is unrelated to the comet. Not through the nebula in
the image middle, because that is the Witch Head Nebula and it, too, is
far in the distance -- but not far from Rigel. Not into northern skies
because over the past week Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) has moved into
southern skies and is now best visible in Earth's Southern Hemisphere
toward the west after sunset. Angularly, Comet R3 PanSTARRS is slowly
moving toward the upper right, night by night, and will soon be in the
constellation Orion. Spatially, the comet is now headed out of our
Solar System but should remain visible to cameras in southern skies for
about a week. The featured image was captured last week near Cerro
Paranal in Chile.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: stereo Moon
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 9

Messier Craters in Stereo
Image Credit: Apollo 11, NASA; Stereo Image Copyright Patrick Vantuyne

Explanation: Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's
sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier from his
famous 18th century catalog. His name is also given to these two large
and remarkable craters on the Moon. Standouts in the dark, smooth lunar
Sea of Fertility or Mare Fecunditatis, Messier (left) and Messier A
have dimensions of 15 by 8 and 16 by 11 kilometers respectively. Their
elongated shapes are explained by the extremely shallow-angle
trajectory followed by an impactor, moving left to right, that gouged
out the craters. The shallow impact also resulted in two bright rays of
material extending along the surface to the right, beyond the picture.
Intended to be viewed with red/blue glasses (red for the left eye),
this striking stereo picture of the crater pair was recently created
from high resolution scans of two images (AS11-42-6304, AS11-42-6305)
taken during the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon.

Tomorrow's picture: moonset timelapse
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 10
A starfield appears featuring a comet with a long tail that extends
from the lower right to the upper left. To the left of the comet is a
bright star, and above the comet and to the right is a red and white
nebula. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Comet R3 PanSTARRS and Orion
Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)

Explanation: Orion never had a sword like this. As Comet C/2025 R3
(PanSTARRS) heads out of the inner Solar System, it is putting on quite
a show for long exposure cameras. Currently seen toward the
constellation of Orion the Hunter, the distant Orion Nebula is visible
on the upper right. Comet R3 PanSTARRS is now showing two distinct
tails: a short dust tail pointing toward the top of the image and a
long and wavy ion tail trailing off toward the upper left. The ion tail
points away from the Sun and glows blue from excited carbon monoxide.
Large particles in the dust tail somewhat resist the radiation pressure
that push them away from the Sun and so retain a bit of the comet's
orbit. The dust tail shines by reflected sunlight. The featured image
was taken a few days ago from France's Reunion Island in the southern
Indian Ocean.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: Canary moonset
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 11

Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano
Video Credit & Copyright: Daniel L+|pez (El Cielo de Canarias); Music:
Piano della Moon (Dan Silva)

Explanation: These people are not in danger. What is coming down from
the left is just the Moon, far in the distance. Luna appears so large
here because she is being photographed through a telescopic lens. What
is moving is mostly the Earth, whose spin causes the Moon to slowly
disappear behind Mount Teide, a volcano in the Canary Islands of Spain
off the northwest coast of Africa. The people pictured are 16
kilometers away and many are facing the camera because they are
watching the Sun rise behind the photographer. It is not a coincidence
that a full moon sets just when the Sun rises because the Sun is always
on the opposite side of the sky from a full moon. The featured video
was made in 2018 during a full Milk Moon. The video is not time-lapse
-- this was really how fast the Moon was setting.

Tomorrow's picture: stellar cluster
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 12
The bright blue Comet R3 PanSTARRS streaks across the right side of the
image with the red cloud of the Orion Nebula in the background on the
left.

The Conjunction of Comet R3 PanSTARRS and the Orion Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Julien De Winter, Sascha Ebeler
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: TodayCÇÖs composite image features something old, something
new, something borrowed, and something blue! Comet R3 PanSTARRS,
streaking across the right of the image, likely originated from the
Oort Cloud, meaning it is an old Solar System relic from billions of
years ago. ItCÇÖs bright extended ion tail glows blue as the gas escaping
the cometCÇÖs core is ionized by sunlight. Astronomers are fascinated by
comets for all sorts of reasons: comet compositions are untouched time
capsules containing the building blocks of Solar System planets; comets
may have delivered water to the young Earth; the behavior of cometary
tails shed light on solar wind and radiation interactions. The
background mosaic, featuring the Orion Nebula (M42), was taken over two
nights of observation with the comet captured on the third night. The
Orion Nebula is our nearest stellar nursery and, at about 2 million
years old, is our something (relatively) new! Now at around 127.5
million kilometers from Earth, we wave goodbye to the borrowed Comet R3
PanSTARRS as it leaves the Solar System.

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: a cluster of stars
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 13

NGC 188: Old Cluster in the New General Catalog
Image Credit & Copyright: Neven Krcmarek

Explanation: The New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae
really isn't so new. In fact, it was published in 1888 - an effort by
J. L. E. Dreyer to consolidate the work of astronomers William,
Caroline, and John Herschel along with others into a useful single,
complete catalog of astronomical discoveries and measurements. Dreyer's
work was largely successful and is still important today, as this
famous catalog continues to lend its "NGC" to bright clusters,
galaxies, and nebulae. Take for example the star cluster known as NGC
188 (item number 188 in the NGC compilation). It lies about 6,000
light-years distant in the northern constellation Cepheus and
represents a galactic or open star cluster. With an age of about 7
billion years, NGC 188 is old for an open cluster. Its old, evolved red
giant stars have yellowish hues in this colorful, deep sky view. NGC
188 also enjoys the designation Caldwell 1 in a modern compilation of
deep sky objects. Located well above the plane of the Milky Way and
seen in the direction of planet Earth's north celestial pole, the
ancient stellar group is known to some as the Polarissima Cluster.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 15
A starfield appears featuring many bright stars, red nebula, and a
comet. Snow covered mountains cover the foreground. The comet appears
on the upper left with a tail the goes upward and right through a
bright star. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

R3 PanSTARRS: An Orion Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Chester Hall-Fernandez

Explanation: Comet R3 PanSTARRS might be best remembered as an Orion
comet. A key reason is because Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was near its
most spectacular -- in terms of tail visibility -- when passing in
front of the iconic constellation. Although rare, other bright comets,
too, have ventured across Orion, including Lovejoy in 2015, Hale-Bopp
in 1997, and the Great Comet of 1264. Best visible in long duration
exposures, the featured image was captured last week from the
Craigieburn Mountain Range in New Zealand. Visible in the deep
background image are the Orion Nebula, Barnard's Loop, and through R3's
tail, the bright star Saiph, the sixth brightest star in the
constellation of Orion. Comet R3 PanSTARRS continues to fade as it
moves further south, passing into the constellation of the Unicorn
(Monoceros) in the next few days.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: aurora burrito
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 16

Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA

Explanation: Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora
slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the
International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above
Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the
auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited
molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes.
Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow
is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the
space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing
over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon
at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big
dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the
Earth's limb.

Tomorrow's picture: spiral barred
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 17
The featured image shows a the big beautiful barred spiral galaxy NGC
1300 with encompassing spiral arms tinted blue from young stars. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 1300: Barred Spiral Galaxy
Image Credit: NASA ESA, Hubble Heritage

Explanation: Across the center of this spiral galaxy is a bar. And at
the center of this bar is smaller spiral. And at the center of that
spiral is a supermassive black hole. This all happens in the big,
beautiful, barred spiral galaxy cataloged as NGC 1300, a galaxy that
lies some 70 million light-years away toward the constellation of the
river Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the
gorgeous island universe is one of the most detailed Hubble images ever
made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and
the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant
central bar and majestic spiral arms. How the giant bar formed, how it
remains, and how it affects star formation remains an active topic of
research.

Jigsaw Universe: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: spiral unraveling
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 18

Unraveling NGC 3169
Image Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi and the ShaRA Team

Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball
of cosmic yarn. It lies some 70 million light-years away, south of
bright star Regulus toward the faint constellation Sextans. Wound up
spiral arms are pulled out into sweeping tidal tails as NGC 3169 (left)
and neighboring NGC 3166 interact gravitationally. Eventually the
galaxies will merge into one, a common fate even for bright galaxies in
the local universe. Drawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear
indications of the ongoing gravitational interactions across the deep
and colorful galaxy group photo. The telescopic frame spans about 20
arc minutes or about 400,000 light-years at the group's estimated
distance, and includes smaller, bluish NGC 3165 to the right. NGC 3169
is also known to shine across the spectrum from radio to X-rays,
harboring an active galactic nucleus that is the site of a supermassive
black hole.

Tomorrow's picture: space angel
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 19
A starfield surrounds a colorful nebula that glows both red and blue
but is filled with dust, both light brown and dark brown. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 2170: The Angel Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Marriott

Explanation: Is this a painting or a photograph? In this celestial
abstract art composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also
known as the Angel Nebula, shines just above the image center.
Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other
bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption
nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household
items that abstract painters often choose for their subjects, the
clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly
found in a setting like this one -- a massive, star-forming molecular
cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant
molecular cloud Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only
2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be
over 60 light-years across.

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 20
A dark and whispy cloud blocks the background light from surrounding
gas and stars. It resembles the head, snout, and jaws of a wolf.

The Dark Wolf Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: William Vrbasso
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: A dark wolf lies in gum. No, this isnCÇÖt a riddle! Today's
image features the Dark Wolf Nebula (SandqvistCÇôLindroos 17), a spooky
dust cloud embedded within the Gum 55 (RCW 113) Nebula in the Scorpius
constellation. While dust is a pest to us, it serves a vital role in
creating the necessary conditions for stars to be born. The Dark Wolf
absorbs the intense ultraviolet and visible light emitted by young
stars in Gum 55 and re-emits it at longer, mainly infrared,
wavelengths. This prevents the higher energy light from heating up the
gas in the region. When a region of gas is cool enough, gravity takes
over and causes the gas to collapse into a star. Not only does dust act
as an interstellar thermostat, but it is also the meet-cute for single
hydrogen atoms forming molecular hydrogen, the building block for
stars. The seemingly sinister Dark Wolf is actually a harbinger of
cosmic life.

Tomorrow's picture: write
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 21
On a dark background, galaxies are shown as fuzzy white dots. A bright
blue spiral expands from the center. Clicking on the picture will
download the highest resolution version available.

A Collision of Galaxy Clusters
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/C. Watson et al.; Optical: PanSTARRS;
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and P. Edmonds
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: This big beautiful spiral shines in X-ray light. It is
about 20 times larger than our Galaxy. It belongs to Abell 2029, a
galaxy cluster one billion light-years away. (To see only the galaxies,
hover your cursor over the image, or follow this link.) Galaxy clusters
are the largest structures in the universe that are supported by
gravity. Abell 2029 is formed by thousands of galaxies, surrounded by a
huge cloud of hot gas and the equivalent of hundreds of trillions times
the mass of the Sun in dark matter. The spiral is made of gas, mostly
hydrogen and helium, heated to tens of millions of degrees. It was
found in a recent study that used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray
Observatory to show that Abell 2029 had a collision with a smaller
cluster four billion years ago. The collision affected the
gravitational field and caused the intracluster gas to slosh, like wine
moving in a wine glass, shaping the spiral.

Tomorrow's picture: stellar winds
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 22

The Nebulous Realm of WR 134
Image Credit & Copyright: Luigi Morrone and Telescope Live

Explanation: This cosmic snapshot covers a field of view over twice as
wide as the full Moon within the boundaries of the high-flying
constellation Cygnus. Made using astronomical narrowband filters, the
image highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the
glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's
expanse of interstellar clouds, the complex, glowing arcs are sections
of shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134,
the brightest star near image center. Distance estimates put WR 134
about 6,000 light-years away, making this telescopic frame over 100
light-years across. Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar
winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel
at a prodigious rate and end their final phase of massive star
evolution in a spectacular supernova. Their stellar winds and final
supernova explosion enrich the interstellar material with heavy
elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars.

Tomorrow's picture: 2nd place
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 23

Messier 2
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto et al.

Explanation: After the Crab Nebula, this giant star cluster is the
second entry in 18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous list
of things that are not comets. M2 is one of the largest globular star
clusters now known to roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though
Messier originally described it as a nebula without stars, this
stunning Hubble image resolves stars across the cluster's central 40
light-years. Its population of stars numbers close to 150,000,
concentrated within a total diameter of around 175 light-years. About
55,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Aquarius, this
ancient denizen of the Milky Way, also known as NGC 7089, is 13 billion
years old. An extended stellar debris stream, a signature of past
gravitational tidal disruption, was recently found to be associated
with Messier 2.

Tomorrow's picture: moving Sun dark
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 24

A Martian Eclipse: Phobos Crosses the Sun
Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU MSSS, SSI

Explanation: What's that passing in front of the Sun? It looks like a
moon, but it can't be Earth's Moon, because it isn't round. It's the
Martian moon Phobos. The featured video was taken from the surface of
Mars in 2022 by the Perseverance rover. Phobos, at 11.5 kilometers
across, is 150 times smaller than Luna (our moon) in diameter, but also
50 times closer to its parent planet. In fact, Phobos is so close to
Mars that it is expected to break up and crash into Mars within the
next 50 million years. In the near term, the low orbit of Phobos
results in more rapid solar eclipses than seen from Earth. The featured
video is shown in real time -- the transit really took about 40
seconds, as shown. The videographer -- the robotic rover Perseverance
(Percy) -- continues to explore Jezero Crater on Mars, searching not
only for clues to the watery history of the now dry world, but evidence
of ancient microbial life.

Tomorrow's picture: space globs
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 25
A starfield with a blue background shows several unusual brown globs.
They are generally irregularly shaped. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

Thackeray's Globules
Image Credit & Copyright: John Hayes

Explanation: What are these strange space globs? Situated in rich star
fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar
dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars. Their home
is known as IC 2944, a bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light
years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The
largest of these dark globules, first spotted by A. D. Thackeray in
1950 using a telescope in South Africa, is likely two separate but
overlapping clouds, each more than one light-year wide. Along with
other data, the featured Hubble palette image from the El Sauce
Observatory in Chile, indicates that Thackeray's globules are fractured
and churning as a result of intense ultraviolet radiation from young,
hot stars already energizing and heating the bright emission nebula.
These and similar dark globules known to be associated with other star
forming regions may ultimately be dissipated by their hostile
environment -- like cosmic lumps of butter in a hot frying pan.

Interstellar Jigsaw: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: different galaxies
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 26
A starfield is shown showing two prominent galaxies. Near the top is a
bright spiral galaxy with several blue spiral arms. Near the bottom is
a fainter circular galaxy with a bright center. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 3660 and Bur+ºin's Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, El Sauce Obs.

Explanation: The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower
galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy
similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue
spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by
chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN
2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar.
Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as
Bur+ºinCÇÖs galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of
this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely
surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Bur+ºin's
galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it
likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 27
A bubble of gas occupies the center of the image with a few stars in
the fore- and background. On opposite sides of the bubble, there are
two regions where the gas pinches inward. This makes the inner region
of the nebula appear like a peanut inside a larger ring.

PK 164 +31.1: The Headphone Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What is a pair of headphones doing in the sky? TodayCÇÖs
image features the Headphone Nebula, also known as PK 164 +31.1 or
Jones-Emberson 1. This planetary nebula, the remnant of a dying
Sun-like star, faintly occupies an angular region of the Lynx
constellation about 1/5^th the diameter of the full moon. The red and
blue-ish green colors trace hydrogen and oxygen atoms, respectively,
that have been excited and ionized by the nebula's central white dwarf.
The headphone shape, where two lobes of hydrogen puncture the inner
region of oxygen, adds this object to a long list of oddly shaped
nebulae. The morphology of such strange nebulae hint at the presence of
a stellar or planetary companion, which can stir the material flowing
out from the dying star. You can listen to Hubble and JWST
sonifications of planetary nebulae through your very own headphones!

Tomorrow's picture: gaze into a Crystal Ball
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 28
A white nebula over a black background with a bright star in the
center.

NGC 1514: The Crystal Ball Nebula
Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Image
Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini
Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska
Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: What do you see in this crystal ball? The featured image
shows NGC 1514, known as the Crystal Ball Nebula, observed by the
Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, in Hawai'i. NGC 1514 is 1,500
light-years away and was discovered by William Herschel in 1790. This
planetary nebula is formed when a star becomes a red giant and ejects
its outer gas layers. The ejected shell of gas is heated up by the core
of the star to temperatures hotter than the surface of our Sun: that
makes the gas shine, creating beautiful images like this one. The
slightly asymmetrical shape of the Crystal Ball Nebula reveals a
secret: the bright star in the center has a companion. As the two stars
orbit each other with a period of about nine years, they shape the gas
around them. In about 10,000 - 25,000 years the nebula will be
dissipated by their stellar winds.

Tomorrow's picture: a fancy hat
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 29

Messier 104
Image Credit: CTIO, NOIRLab, DOE, NSF, AURA;
Image Processing: T. A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage), D. de Martin
(NSFCÇÖs NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF, NOIRLab)

Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy, Messier 104 is famous for its
nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes.
Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the
swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the
galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. Also
known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen across the spectrum
and is host to a central supermassive black hole. About 50,000
light-years across and 28 million light-years away, M104 is one of the
largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
Still, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view lie well within
our own Milky Way. This broad view of the well-known galaxy was
processed to reveal M104's extended halo, as well as a faint tidal
stellar stream. It was captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on
the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American
Observatory.

Tomorrow's picture: moon sizes
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 30
Two images of Earth's Moon are shown, both in full phase. The left moon
image, labelled Supermoon, is slightly larger than the right moon
image, labelled Micromoon. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Supermoon Versus Micromoon
Image Credit: Soumyadeep Mukherjee

Explanation: What is so micro about tonight's blue micromoon? Just
after sunset, a full moon will appear slightly smaller and dimmer than
usual. The reason is that the Moon's fully illuminated phase occurs
within a short time of apogee - when the Moon is farthest from the
Earth in its elliptical orbit. In fact, tonight's micromoon will be the
farthest, smallest, and dimmest Moon this year. But tonight's micromoon
is notable for yet another reason: it is also a blue moon, meaning that
it is the second full moon in the same month (moon-th). Pictured here,
a supermoon -- when the full moon appears near its largest -- is
compared to a micromoon as photographed from Kolkata, India in May and
December of 2021. Although the next micromoon occurs next month, and
the next blue moon at the end of 2028, the next blue micromoon will not
occur until 2053.

Tomorrow's picture: eagle stars
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 May 31
A starfield surrounds three large brown pillars of dark dust. The
pillars are shown vertically. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Eagle Nebula Pillars in Infrared from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Luis Romero Ventura

Explanation: Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. They are
gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust. The
intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing
surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken with the Hubble
Space Telescope in near infrared light, allows the viewer to see
through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in visible
light. The giant structures are light years in length and dubbed
informally the Pillars of Creation. Associated with the open star
cluster M16, the Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away. The
Eagle Nebula is a satisfying target for small telescopes in a
nebula-rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens
Cauda (the tail of the snake).

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 1

Saturn at Night
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Mindaugas
Macijauskas

Explanation: Telescopic views of Saturn and its beautiful rings often
make it the star of star parties. But this stunning view of the outer
gas gaint planet's rings and night side just isn't possible from
telescopes in the vicinity of planet Earth. Peering out from the inner
Solar System they can only bring Saturn's day side into view. In fact,
this image of Saturn's slender sunlit crescent with the planet's night
shadow cast across its broad and complex ring system was captured by
the robot spacecraft Cassini. After a seven year long journey from
planet Earth, Cassini called Saturn orbit home for 13 years (from 2004
- 2017) before it was directed to dive into the atmosphere of the gas
giant on September 15, 2017. This magnificent mosaic is composed of
frames recorded by Cassini's wide-angle camera only two days before its
grand final plunge. And Saturn's night will not be seen again until
another spaceship from Earth calls.

Tomorrow's picture: star debris
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 2
The starfield is filled with many red nebulas, areas of dark dust, and
light blue filaments. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

The Vela Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Mtanous

Explanation: The explosion is over, but the consequences continue.
About twelve thousand years ago, a relatively normal star in the
constellation Vela suddenly exploded, creating a strange point of light
briefly visible to humans living near the beginning of recorded
history. The outer layers of the star crashed into the interstellar
medium, driving a shock wave that is still visible today. The featured
image, taken piecemeal over 60 hours from the Khomas Region of Namibia,
captures some of that filamentary and gigantic shock in visible light,
with details highlighted by hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) emissions.
As gas flies away from the detonated star, it decays and reacts with
the interstellar medium, producing light in many different colors and
energy bands. Remaining at the center of the Vela Supernova Remnant is
a pulsar, a star as dense as nuclear matter that spins around more than
ten times in a single second.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 3
Wispy clouds of dust and gas in the Milky Way obscure the image. Milky
Way stars are scattered across the image. Andromeda is a tight spiral
of gas, dust, and stars that occupies the middle background. A couple
smaller galaxies look like small bright clumps of stars near Andromeda.

Andromeda Through Gas and Dust
Image Credit & Copyright: Nick Fritz
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Over 1000 years ago, Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman
al-Sufi published humanityCÇÖs oldest known record of the Andromeda
Galaxy in "The Book of Fixed Stars" (Bodleian Library MS. Marsh 144 p.
167). 800 years later, Andromeda became the 31st entry in Charles
MessierCÇÖs "Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters". From CÇ£a small
cloudCÇØ to CÇ£nebulaCÇØ and now known to be our nearest major galaxy,
Andromeda has remained a fundamental astronomical object. TodayCÇÖs
image, taken over 202 hours, shows how far we have come in our ability
to observe our neighbor. The diffuse red and blue clouds are mostly
foreground ionized hydrogen and oxygen well within our Milky Way.
Pink-red clouds of hydrogen ionized by the energetic light of young
stars trace the galaxyCÇÖs dusty spiral arms. M32 and M110 are satellite
galaxies pictured orbiting the larger Andromeda. Despite its long
history of observation through ancient unaided eyes to modern
telescopes, Andromeda still holds countless secrets that astronomers
will continue to search for, including how galaxies merge and evolve,
as well as the nature of the dark matter that galaxies reside in.

Teachers! the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program
is officially open for applications!
Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic buckyball
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 4
A spherical nebula shows concentric rings of different colors over a
dark background with a few stars.

A Planetary Nebula with Cosmic Buckyballs
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/J. Cami (Western University); Image
Processing: K. Beecroft
Text: Jan Cami (Western University) & Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC,
UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: What is happening inside this unusual nebula? Planetary
nebula Tc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space
Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified
in 2010. Buckminsterfullerene CÇö as buckyballs are officially called CÇö
is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C[60]) arranged in the shape of a
soccer ball. The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller
because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize.
WebbCÇÖs new data reveal where the C[60] molecules live in this nebula,
and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell
around the central star, visible here as the bright edge of the
nebulaCÇÖs glowing orange central region. Look closely near the nebulaCÇÖs
heart and a more perplexing feature emerges: a delicate structure
shaped uncannily like an upside-down question mark, fitting punctuation
for the many questions this nebula still poses.

Tomorrow's picture: what's next?
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 5

The Hydra Cluster of Galaxies
Image Credit & Copyright: Rafael Sampaio

Explanation: Within our own Milky Way galaxy, two bright, spiky stars
stand like sentinels in the foreground of this cosmic snapshot. Far
beyond them are the galaxies of the Hydra Cluster. In fact, while the
spiky foreground stars are hundreds of light-years distant, the Hydra
Cluster galaxies are well over 100 million light-years away. Three
large galaxies near the cluster center, two yellow ellipticals (NGC
3311, NGC 3309) and one prominent blue spiral (NGC 3312), are the
dominant galaxies, each about 150,000 light-years in diameter. An
intriguing overlapping galaxy pair cataloged as NGC 3314 lies above and
left of NGC 3312. Also known as Abell 1060, the Hydra galaxy cluster is
one of three large galaxy clusters within 200 million light-years of
the Milky Way. In the nearby universe, galaxies are gravitationally
bound into clusters which themselves are loosely bound into
superclusters. Superclusters in turn are seen to align over even larger
scales.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 6

Charon: Moon of Pluto
Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research
Institute, U.S. Naval Observatory

Explanation: A darkened and mysterious north polar region known to some
as Mordor Macula caps this premier view of Charon, Pluto's largest
moon. The high-resolution image was captured by the interplanetary
space probe New Horizons near its closest approach to distant Pluto on
July 14, 2015. The combined blue, red, and infrared image data was
processed to enhance colors and follow variations in Charon's surface
properties with a resolution of about 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles). A
stunning image of Charon's Pluto-facing hemisphere, it also features a
clear view of an apparently moon-girdling belt of fractures and canyons
that seems to separate smooth southern plains from varied northern
terrain. Charon is 1,214 kilometers (754 miles) across. That's about
1/10th the size of planet Earth but a whopping 1/2 the diameter of
Pluto itself, and makes it the largest satellite relative to its parent
body in the Solar System. Still, the moon appears as a small bump at
about the 1 o'clock position on Pluto's disk in the grainy, negative,
telescopic picture inset at upper left. That image was used by James
Christy and Robert Harrington at the U.S. Naval Observatory in
Flagstaff to discover Charon in June of 1978.

Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter and Venus from Earth
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 7
The silhouette of a person appears on a hill with a starfield in the
background. The person's arms are extended to each side, and near each
hand is a bright orb -- which are really Jupiter (on the right) and
Venus on the left. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Jupiter and Venus from Earth
Image Credit & Copyright: Marek Nikodem (PPSAE)

Explanation: It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of
Jupiter (left) and Venus (right) in 2012 was visible almost no matter
where you lived on Earth. Anyone on our planet with a clear western
horizon at sunset could see them. That year, a creative photographer
traveled away from the town lights of Szubin, Poland to photograph a
near closest approach of the two planets. The bright planets were then
separated by only three degrees and his daughter struck a humorous
pose. A faint red sunset still glowed in the background. Jupiter and
Venus are together again this week after sunset, passing within a
degree of each other about two days from today.

Tomorrow's picture: comets Orion
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 8
A starfield shows many red nebulas near the center. Running vertically
up the left side are about 20 images of a comet, with the head towards
the image bottom. Successively higher images of the comet show
successively shorter tails. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Comet R3 PanSTARRS Through Time
Image Credit & Copyright: Jakub Ku+Ö+ík & Martin Ma+íek (FZU of the Czech
Academy of Sciences)

Explanation: What happens to a comet as it leaves our inner Solar
System? Now, the arrival of a comet
into the inner Solar System is typically heralded with great fanfare
and high hopes that the comet will become bright and photogenic. But on
the way out, the comet's nucleus is less warmed by the Sun, less gas
and dust are expelled, the bright coma around the nucleus shrinks and
fades, and the tail length drops off. Many comets will then return to
the outer Solar System and only return in hundreds or thousands of
years. In contrast, some comets -- like Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) --
receive a gravitational kick from the planets and so will never return.
Pictured, Comet R3 PanSTARRs was imaged deeply many nights in early to
mid-May near Cerro Paranal in Chile. Later images appear closer to the
top and clearly show the shrinking ion tail.

Comet R3 Gallery: Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: heady Thor
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 9
A starfield surrounds a complex nebula with many red and blue
filaments. Dark streams of dust also populate the nebula. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

Thor's Helmet
Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis, Christian Sasse

Explanation: Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in
the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped
cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a
Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the
cosmic head-covering is more like an interstellar bubble, blown by a
fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center. Known
as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant
thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is
located about 15,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the
Great Overdog. This sharp image is a combination of deep images taken
in light emitted by hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue). The star in the
center of Thor's Helmet is expected to explode in a spectacular
supernova sometime within the next few thousand years.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 10
Gas, dust, and stars are scattered across the image. A dark silhouette
that looks like an eagle swoops downward towards three small pillars of
gas. Other gas and dust pillar-like features reach out of the
surrounding nebula. A central cluster of stars sits beneath the eagle
silhouette.

The Eagle Nebula and Friends
Image Credit & Copyright: Emmanuel Delgadillo
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What looks as if it is going to swallow the great Pillars
of Creation? The Eagle Nebula (M16) is not a bird, a plane, or
Superman. M16 is actually a combination of several celestial objects.
NGC 6611 is the young star cluster that appears to peak out beneath the
EagleCÇÖs CÇ£wingsCÇØ. The ultraviolet light from these stars ionizes the
surrounding gas, creating the emission nebula IC 4703. The Stellar
Spire is seen reaching towards the Pillars of Creation from the left.
Both are structures of cold gas and dust that are optimal for star
formation. Some astronomers previously thought the Pillars of Creation
had been evaporated away by a supernova. Because M16 is 6,000 light
years away, we would not be able to see the PillarsCÇÖ destruction for
thousands more years. However, there is no conclusive evidence of the
theorized supernova, so the Pillars of Creation will likely continue to
create stars for millions of years.

Tomorrow's picture: mermaids in space!
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 11
A delicate nebula in shades of blue and purple shines in front of a
dark field of stars. The shape of the nebula resembles a mermaid.

The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Data acquisition: Sy Ming Wong; Processing:
Guangyan Gao
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Could the Little Mermaid turn into stardust instead of
seafoam? It would seem so in this beautiful nebula. The featured image
shows the Mermaid Nebula, also known as the Betta Fish Nebula, which is
part of the G296.5+10.0 Supernova Remnant. The blue color visible here
originates from doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), while the deep red is
emitted by hydrogen gas. Estimated to be located a few thousand
light-years away and about 10,000 years old, this nebula was formed
when a massive star exploded as a supernova. It left behind a peculiar
pulsar, a young radio-quiet neutron star that spins around about twice
every second. The bright stars shown in the image are unassociated with
the nebula. The pulsar can be detected in the X-rays but it does not
have a confirmed detection in the optical (visible light) so far. As a
result, the pulsar itself is not visible in this image.

Tomorrow's picture: what's next?
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 12

Venus and Jupiter: Conjunction from Avebury
Image Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

Explanation: To see Venus and Jupiter together this month, you won't
need binoculars or even a telescope. Just look up after sunset and
you'll find them emerging as the sky grows dark near the western
horizon. In fact, on June 9 the two brightest planets were in close
conjunction, separated on the sky by less than 2 degrees from our
perspective. Since (brighter) inner planet Venus orbits the Sun faster
than outer planet Jupiter, it catches up with and passes the outer
planet along the ecliptic roughly every 13 months. But every three
years or so their resulting conjunction can be viewed far enough from
the Sun to be easily seen in Earth's twilight skies. On June 9, the two
celestial beacon's close "cosmic kiss" was captured here next to the
two large standing stones at the cove within a 4,000 year old stone
circle at Avebury, UK. Larger than Stonehenge, the Avebury henge and
stone circle complex is also recognized as one of the most significant
neolithic ceremonial sites on planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 13

Interplanetary Earth
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA / JHU
Applied Physics Lab / Carnegie Inst. Washington

Explanation: In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was
photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System,
innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the
left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as
captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost
gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of
their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon system is
seen against the dark background of space as captured by the sunward
MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its image
as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury, moons that
would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image, the brighter
Earth and Moon are both overexposed and shine brightly with reflected
sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world, both Cassini and
MESSENGER have since retired from their missions of Solar System
exploration.

Tomorrow's picture: planets passing
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 14
A sunset sky is shown in four vertical bands. Two bright planets appear
getting closer together from left to right. The dates of the images
appear at the bottom. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

10 Days of Venus and Jupiter
Image Credit & Copyright: Aditya Pawar

Explanation: Venus and Jupiter may have caught your attention lately.
The recent close conjunction of the two brightest planets in recent
evening skies has been hard to miss. With Jupiter at the top, starting
on May 30 and ending on June 8, their close approach was chronicled
daily, left to right, in the featured panels from Maharashtra, India.
Near the western horizon, the evening sky colors and exposures used for
each panel depend on the local conditions near sunset. At their closest
on June 9, the celestial pair appeared to be only about three times the
width of a full moon apart. Of course, on that date, the two planets
were physically separated by over 600 million kilometers in their
orbits around the Sun. In the coming days, Jupiter will slowly settle
into the sunset glare, but Venus will continue to move farther from the
Sun in the western sky to excel in its current role as the brilliant
evening star.

Gallery: Venus - Jupiter Conjunction of 2026 June
Tomorrow's picture: triple Sun shock
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 15
The disk of the Sun is shown with a rocket launching through it. The
rising rocket shows a plume behind it and three unusual waves curve
around its top tip. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Triple Shockwave from Sun Crossing Rocket
Image Credit & Copyright: John Winkopp (WAI Media)

Explanation: What's happening to this Sun-crossing rocket? The SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket, visible on the upper left, launched only about one
minute before this amazing image was captured. As it rose to low Earth
orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, in late May, the rocket became
supersonic before it crossed the disk of the distant Sun -- from the
perspective of the well-placed photographer. The spacecraft's high
speed caused bow-shaped compressed-air shockwaves to form across
leading surfaces, with at least three visible even outside the Sun's
disk because they refract sunlight. The trailing exhaust caused
turbulence visible on the lower right. None of this was damaging to the
robotic Starlink 10-53 mission, which delivered 29 communications
satellites to low Earth orbit as planned. And if that isn't amazing
enough - the Sun had spots!

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: rings and moons
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 16
Saturn is shown up close with its ring plane running up diagonally from
the lower right. Two small moons are visible. Near the top of the
planet are large dark bands that are shadows of the rings onto Saturn's
cloud tops. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Moons, Rings, Shadows, Clouds: Saturn (Cassini)
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute

Explanation: While cruising around Saturn, be on the lookout for
picturesque arrangements of moons, rings, and shadows. One such
striking sight occurred in 2005 and was captured by the then
Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft. In the featured image, moons Mimas
(left) and Tethys (right) are visible on either side of Saturn's thin
rings, which are seen nearly edge-on. Across the top of Saturn are dark
shadows of the wide rings, exhibiting their impressive complexity. The
violet-light image brings up the texture of the backdrop: Saturn's
clouds. Cassini orbited Saturn from 2004 until mid-2017, when the
robotic spacecraft was directed to dive into Saturn to keep it from
contaminating any moons.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 17
A gaseous structure that resembles a hamster wheel sits near the center
of the image. Inside is a bright white dwarf star. There is a larger
asymmetric gas bubble surrounding the inner nebula. A galaxy sits to
the bottom right. The background is composed of foreground and
background stars, as well as distant galaxies.

Longmore 8: The Hamster Wheel Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Mazlin, Parker, Forman, Magill, Hanson
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: How did a hamster wheel get into space? The Hamster Wheel
Nebula (Longmore 8) was discovered by Andrew Longmore in 1976 as a part
of a larger survey of the southern sky. This survey employed several
improvements in photographic technology, including the use of highly
sensitive film, to capture deeper and fainter objects on plates that
were examined by eye and catalogued. The featured image, taken at
Observatorio El Sauce in Chile, depicts an intricate wheel structure of
glowing hydrogen that was thrown out into space by a dying star and
ionized by the leftover white dwarf. This structure was barely visible
on the original plate, emphasizing the power of modern telescopes and
cameras. Two opposing clumps of red hydrogen gas encased in the blue
veil of ionized oxygen hint at the presence of a companion to the
bright white dwarf at the wheelCÇÖs center!

Tomorrow's picture: a supernova remnant?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 18
A composite image shows a field of stars on a dark background, together
X-rays in blue and radio in red

Possible Supernova Remnant in Galactic Center
Image Credit & Copyright: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UCLA/Z. Zhu et al.;
ESA/XMM-Newton; Optical: PanSTARRS; Radio: MeerKAT; Image Processing:
NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and P. Edmonds
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Do you see that blue blob to the lower right of the image
center? Astronomers think that it shows where a massive star exploded
as a supernova whose light reached Earth 1,700 years ago. The image
combines optical data from the PanSTARRS telescopes in Hawaii
(background stars in red, green, and blue), radio from the MeerKAT
telescope in South Africa (large red cloud) and X-rays from NASA's
Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESACÇÖs XMM-Newton (shown in blue). The
large cloud is a star forming region called Sagittarius C, which is
approximately 50 light-years in extent and about 26,000 light-years
from Earth. It is located only about 260 light-years from the
supermassive black hole in the center of the Galaxy (off to the left of
the image). If the blue blob is confirmed to be a supernova remnant, it
would be one of the closest ever discovered to the Galactic Center. In
this dense region, the deaths of massive stars are connected to the
birth of new stars through gas and magnetic fields in a complex way.

Tomorrow's picture: Vincent
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 19
A sunset sky is seen above a dark sloping horizon. A tall tree is on
the left. The sky is partly cloudy with a crescent Moon on the upper
right and a bright planet just to the right of the tree. Next to the
tree in the foreground on the right is an easel showing the famous van
Gogh painting Starry Night. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Starry Night II
Image Credit & Copyright: Rodrigo Guerra, Original Painting: Vincent
van Gogh

Explanation: Does this scene look familiar? It is a modern recreation
of the famous painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Both the image
and the painting depict a tall tree on the left, a crescent moon on the
upper right, the planet Venus just to the right of the tree, a
foreground horizon rising from left to right, and clouds above the
horizon. Differences include that the photograph was taken in mid-April
earlier this year in Cascavel, Brazil, while the painting was composed
in Saint-R+¬my-de-Provence, France, in 1889. The original Starry Night
is considered by many to be one of the three most famous paintings in
the world today and a statement about the wonders of the night sky.
Today is (roughly) the anniversary of the morning that van Gogh saw the
sky that he later painted in his version of Starry Night.

Night Sky Jigsaw: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: Sometimes, I like the clouds.
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 20

Daytime Moon Meets Evening Star
Image Credit & Copyright: Debra Ceravolo

Explanation: Venus is now appearing on the celestial stage as Earth's
brilliant evening star, performing with the Moon, other wandering
planets, and bright stars in western skies. For evening sky gazers on
June 17, the celestial beacon rose after sunset close by a young,
slender, crescent Moon. But from some locations the Moon could be seen
to occult or pass in front of Venus. And from a backyard observatory in
southern British Columbia, Canada, the lunar occultation was played out
in daylight. This stunning telescopic snapshot captured a scene in
dramatically cloudy skies, following Venus' hour long disappearance, as
the evening star emerged beyond the bright lunar limb.

Tomorrow's picture: keogram of the sky
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 21
An image of the sky over the Netherlands taken every 15 seconds during
2025. Visible are night, day, solstices, equinoxes, moonglow, the blue
hour, and more. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Keogram: The Sky in 2025
Image Credit & License: Cees Bassa (Netherlands Institute for Radio
Astronomy)

Explanation: What if you could see the entire sky -- all at once -- for
an entire year? That, very nearly, is what is pictured here. Every 15
seconds during 2025, an all-sky camera took an image of the sky over
the Netherlands. Central columns from these images were then aligned
and combined to create the featured keogram, with January at the top,
December at the bottom, and the middle of the night running vertically
just left of center. What do we see? Most obviously, the daytime sky is
mostly blue, while the nighttime sky is mostly black. The twelve light
bands crossing the night sky are caused by the glow of the Moon. The
thinnest part of the black hourglass shape occurs during the summer
solstice, like today, when days are the longest, while the thickest
part occurs at the winter solstice. Equinoxes can also be located in
the keogram, for example the northern-spring equinox from one year ago
is about three-quarters of the way up.

Tomorrow's picture: Sun's future
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 23

Flying Past Neptune's Moon Triton
Image Credit: NASA; JPL, Voyager 2, Digital composition: Paul Schenk
(LPI, USRA)

Explanation: What would it look like to fly past Triton, the largest
moon of planet Neptune? Only one spacecraft has ever done this -- and
the images of this dramatic encounter have been gathered into a video.
In 1989, the Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft shot through the Neptune
system with cameras blazing. Triton is slightly smaller than Earth's
Moon but has ice volcanoes and a surface rich in frozen nitrogen. The
first sequence in the video shows Voyager's approach to Triton, which,
with the exception of an overall false green tint, appears in
approximately true color. The mysterious cantaloupe terrain seen under
the spacecraft soon changed from light to dark, with the terminator of
night crossing underneath. After closest approach, Voyager pivoted to
see the departing moon, now visible as a diminishing crescent. In 2015,
the robotic New Horizons spacecraft famously flew past Pluto, an orb of
similar size to Triton.

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 24

SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection
Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA; Processing: Richard Petarius III (MTU)
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Why does the Sun throw stuff at us? The SunCÇÖs surface is a
churning soup of energetic electrons and ions called plasma. The motion
of those charged particles creates magnetic field loops that are larger
than the Earth. These loops twist, turn, and trap plasma. The featured
time-lapse, taken over 2 hours on April 24th, 2026 by the Solar
Dynamics Observatory, shows what happens when those magnetic fields
become too stressed: they snap and expel billions of tons (trillions of
kilograms) of plasma into space at millions of miles (or kilometers)
per hour in what is called a coronal mass ejection (CME). The Sun
releases a few CMEs each day when it is at the peak of its activity
cycle, which passed in 2025. Some of these eruptions hit Earth and can
disrupt power grids, disable satellites, and endanger astronauts, which
is why space weather monitoring is so important.

Tomorrow's picture: anticrepuscular rays
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 25
A landscape with an open horizon shows sunset color and coverging rays
of light.

Anticrepuscular Rays over Sicily
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: The Sun has just set... in the opposite side of the sky.
Pictured here are anticrepuscular rays apparently converging in the
east in this image of the limestone plateau in the heart of the
Hyblaean Mountains of southeastern Sicily, in Italy. How were these
anticrepuscular rays formed, if the Sun wasn't there? After the Sun set
(in the west, as usual) its light still illuminated a cloud higher up
in the sky. Partially blocked by the cloud, the sunlight produced
patterns of light and shadow, crossing the sky in parallel lines.
Perspective makes it look like they converge in the east, in the same
way that train tracks appear to meet in the distance. This effect can
also happen at sunrise, only the directions are exchanged. In rare
cases, both crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays can be seen at the
same time.

Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 26

Milky Way Urban Style
Image Credit & Copyright: Shingoo Lee

Explanation: In a cosmic vista you can never see, the Milky Way arcs
through the night above Seoul, South Korea. Remarkably, this urban
night skyscape reveals our galaxy's faintly luminous central region and
dark obscuring dust clouds in spite of the brilliant city lights. To
overcome the extreme light pollution of the metropolitan area and
record faint cosmic details, an infrared filter was used to capture the
night scene in a single exposure. While the filter transmits
predominately infrared light, it still passes some visible light to
give the scene a natural appearance. The view is from Seoul's Ttukseom
Hangang Park, with the Han River and a well lit railway bridge across
the foreground. The 123 story Lotte World Tower looms in the distance,
the tallest building in South Korea.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 27

Mars Marathon by Perseverance
Image Credit: NASA, LPL (U. Arizona), MRO, HiRISE

Explanation: In this recent HiRISE view from the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, the little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red
Planet is the Perseverance Mars rover. Recorded on June 13, the
car-sized, six-wheeled robot was imaged a day before completing a
Martian marathon, traveling a total distance of 26.218 miles (42.195
kilometers) since it began exploring the surface of Mars. That
equivalent marathon distance was achieved by Perseverance on its
mission sol (Martian day) 1,890, after about 5 Earth years and 4 Earth
months of driving. Perseverance is continuing to hunt for
biosignatures. In the HiRISE image, the Mars rover's tracks can be seen
leading to its location in an area west of its landing site in Jezero
crater near an ancient river delta.

Tomorrow's picture: supergalactic
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 28
The Sun is pictured in yellow with surface structure. In the middle of
the frame are many circuitous dark spots. The edge of the Sun is
visible at the top of the image. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

AR 4478: Giant Sunspot Group
Image Credit & Copyright: Alfredo Vidal P+¬rez

Explanation: Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent
history is crossing the Sun. Active Region 4478 is not only big -- it's
violent, showing tangled magnetic fields capable of throwing off huge
clouds of particles into the Solar System. Some of these CMEs might
impact the Earth. At the extreme, these solar storms could cause some
Earth-orbiting satellites to malfunction, the Earth's atmosphere to
slightly distort, and electrical power grids to surge. When impacting
Earth's upper atmosphere, these particles can produce beautiful
auroras. Pictured here, AR 4478 and its dark sunspots were captured in
visible light a few days ago from Barcelona, Spain. Almost as large as
AR 3664 was in 2024, the AR 4478 sunspot group is so big that it is
visible just with glasses specially designed to view solar eclipses.
This week, skygazing enthusiasts all over the globe will not only be
tracking AR 4478 during the day -- but keenly watching night skies for
its corresponding bright auroras.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: supergalactic wind
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 29
A starfield surrounds an unusual object with a band of diffuse white
crossing horizontally. Emanating out from the band toward both the top
and the bottom of the frame is an orange and red nebula. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Smercina (STScI, Tufts), T. Williams
(U. Manchester); Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Explanation: Why is the Cigar Galaxy billowing red smoke? M82, as this
starburst galaxy is also known, was stirred up by a recent pass near
large spiral galaxy M81. This doesn't fully explain the source of the
red-glowing outwardly expanding gas and dust, however. Evidence
indicates that this gas and dust is being driven out by the combined
emerging particle winds of many stars, together creating a galactic
superwind. The dust particles are thought to originate in M82's
interstellar medium and are actually similar in size to particles in
cigar smoke. The featured photographic mosaic combines images taken in
visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope and images taken in
infrared light from James Webb Space Telescope. It shows the
light-colored central galaxy nearly edge on across the image center
with tremendous orange and red colored filaments of gas and dust
extending both up and down. The filaments extend for over 10,000 light
years. The 12-million light-year distant Cigar Galaxy is the brightest
galaxy in the sky in infrared light and can be seen in visible light
with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Great Bear
(Ursa Major).

Tomorrow's picture: smooth asteroid
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 30
Dark space surrounds a gray peanut sized object. The object has a
surface that has many rough nodules but also some relatively smooth
sections. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Unusually Smooth Sections of Asteroid Itokawa
Image Credit: JAXA, ISAS

Explanation: Why are parts of this asteroid's surface so smooth? The
answer seems likely to do with the dynamics of an asteroid that is a
loose pile of rubble rather than a solid rock. The unusual asteroid
Itokawa was visited by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa in 2005 which
imaged and documented its unusual structure and mysterious lack of
craters. Analyses of the border regions between smooth and rugged
sections indicate that jostling of the asteroid might be creating
segregation between large and small rocks near the surface, like the
Brazil nut effect. The robotic Hayabusa actually touched down on one of
the smooth patches, dubbed the MUSES Sea, and collected soil samples.
These samples were returned to Earth and are not only giving clues to
the ancient history of this unusual asteroid, but also about the early
years of our entire Solar System. Computer simulations show that
500-meter asteroid Itokawa may impact the Earth within the next few
million years.

Rocking Space: Today is Asteroid Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 1
A handful of different types of clouds splatter across the image, with
bright stars embedded within. Dust blocks some parts of the clouds.
Many small stars cover the background, with a cluster of them sitting
in the bottom right beneath all the clouds.

The Cotton Candy Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
Image Credit & Copyright: +üngel Molina
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Although they look like cotton candy, you cannot eat these
clouds! Taken in C+ídiz, Spain, today's image features the Rho Ophiuchi
complex, a rich tapestry of young and old astronomical phenomena. This
colorful cloud complex is a nearby star-forming region containing
hundreds of young stellar objects, including protostars and T Tauri
stars. Light from the triple star system at its center reflects off of
small dust grains to create the blue reflection nebula. Ultraviolet
light from hot stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, creating the
red emission nebula. Antares, a red supergiant big enough to engulf the
Solar SystemCÇÖs asteroid belt, lights up the yellow region. Dark
interstellar dust blocks some of the complexCÇÖs color. Recent JWST
observations exhibit shadows cast by hidden circumstellar disks, the
beginning stages of planet formation. Messier 4, a globular cluster
almost as old as the universe, sits in the bottom right and witnesses
yet another chaotic burst of youth in the Milky Way.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 2
Against a bright field of stars, a yellow nebula with blue details, a
purple filament on the left and a bright star on the right.

Sibling Supernova Remnants
Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and M. Michailidis et
al. 2026; optical: DSS; infrared: NASA/WISE/JPL-Caltech/UCLA;
ultraviolet: NASA/Swift
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: What happens when one of the stars in a binary goes
supernova? This image combines visible (yellow), ultraviolet (purple)
and infrared light (cyan, red and orange) to show two supernova
remnants and their surrounding environment, about 6,000 light-years
away. The younger one is the well-known Jellyfish Nebula in the center
(mostly in yellow). If we could see it by eye, it would appear larger
than the full moon in the sky. The filament shown in purple is part of
an older, overlapping supernova remnant, G189.6+3.3. A new study used
data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to piece together
their story. Astronomers believe that there were two stars in a binary
system, then the first one exploded as a supernova, kicking away its
companion, which also exploded as a supernova tens of thousands of
years later, creating the superimposed supernova remnants we see today.
The bright star on the right is actually a triple star system named
Propus.

Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 3

Three Galaxies in Pavo
Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

Explanation: Some 190 million light-years away, far beyond the bright
stars and nebulae of the Milky Way, these three galaxies are drawn
together by gravity in a mesmerizing cosmic dance. Clearly distorted by
galactic-scale gravitational interactions, large spiral galaxies
NGC6769 and NGC6770 are seen face-on, with luminous galactic disks
scarred by obscuring interstellar dust lanes. Their young blue star
clusters along drawn out spiral arms are spawned in star forming
regions that result from collisions of massive molecular clouds. Below,
spiral NGC6771 presents a more edge-on perspective, its boxy central
bulge due to tidal star streams. Of course, in the distant future a
merger of the three galaxies is inevitable. At the estimated distance
of this galaxy trio, known to some as the Devil's Mask, the sharp
telescopic frame spans over 300 thousand light-years within the
boundaries of the far southern constellation Pavo.

Tomorrow's picture: beach balls from Earth
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 4

Pathfinder on Mars
Image Credit: Mars Pathfinder, JPL, NASA

Explanation: On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a
parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft
bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to
rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After
its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed,
Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth.
In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is
visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder.
About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered
Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding
Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares
Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty
brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl
Sagan Memorial Station.

Tomorrow's picture: painting Iapetus
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 5
An unusually colored ball is shown against a dark background. The ball
has numerous craters but a very large cratered near the lower center.
Much of the ball is light colored, but around the right and top it is
green-brown, with a border area that seems splattered. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Saturn's Iapetus: Painted Moon
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

Explanation: What has happened to Saturn's moon Iapetus? Vast sections
of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as
snow. To help better understand this unusually tinted moon, in 2007
NASA directed the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting Saturn to
swoop within 2,000 kilometers. Pictured here, from about 75,000
kilometers out, is the hemisphere of Iapetus that is always trailing. A
large impact crater seen in the south spans 500 kilometers and appears
superposed on an older crater of similar size. The dark material is
seen increasingly coating the easternmost part of Iapetus, darkening
craters and highlands alike. A leading hypothesis is that the dark
material is mostly a form of carbon-rich soil leftover from when
relatively warm but dirty ice sublimates. An initial coating of this
dark material may have been effectively painted on by the accretion of
meteor-liberated debris from other moons.

Jigsaw Moon: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: dueling space bands
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 6
A distant person stands on a rocky landscape. Above is a starry sky.
Rising up from the horizon on either side of the person are bright
arching spires. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Dueling Bands over the Atacama Desert
Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly
seen band is on the left and is the central band of our Milky Way
galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy so that from
inside, it appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way
around the sky. The less commonly seen band, on the right, is zodiacal
light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our Solar
System. Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen
just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some evenings, this ribbon
of zodiacal light can appear quite prominent. It was discovered only in
this century that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled by comets that have
passed near Jupiter. The featured image was captured about a year ago
from the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Tomorrow's picture: dueling space dragons
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 7
The featured image shows the nebulae NGC 6188 and NGC 6164. The former
is a star forming region near the image center filled with glowing gas
and laced with dust that resembles dragons. The smaller NGC 6164 is
seen on the lower right is an emission nebula created by a single
massive star in its center. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
Image Credit & Copyright: Rod Prazeres

Explanation: Where can you find dragons fighting in the night sky? In
the southern constellation of the Altar: Ara. The dragons are, of
course, actually made of suggestively shaped gas and dust. The
celestial home of the mythological battling beasts is cataloged as NGC
6188 and located about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large
molecular cloud. Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1
association were formed there only a few million years ago, sculpting
the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and
intense ultraviolet radiation. Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas,
visible toward the lower right, is unusual emission nebula NGC 6164,
also created by one of the region's massive stars. This impressively
wide field picture, captured from Queensland, Australia, spans over 2
degrees (four full Moons).

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 8

Swift Boost Mission
Image Credit: Katalyst Space
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Sometimes we can all use a little help from a friend.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory needs a boost to stay in orbit
after almost 22 years of service. This video shows an artist's
visualization of the Swift Boost Mission: The Katalyst's LINK
spacecraft was launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on
July 3 and it is now en route to rendezvous with Swift and boost it to
a higher orbit over the course of the next several months. This type of
maneuver has never been attempted before. If successful, it will be the
technology demonstration of a new key capability to extended the
lifetime of spacecraft in low Earth orbit, whose orbits decay over
time. Swift has an array of instruments that observe the most energetic
explosions in the Universe in gamma-rays, X-rays and ultraviolet, and
the unique ability to repoint in their direction within tens of
seconds. Astronomers around the world, and indeed all fans of cosmic
explosions, are anxiously hoping for a successful mission!

Tomorrow's picture: Cosmic bat
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 9
There is a dark cloud of gas and dust resembling a bat with
outstretched wings in the middle of the image. Two spots appear to glow
from within where there are young stars. A different more diffuse glow
appears to outline just below the bat and extending outward from the
bats head. The background is scattered with stars.

The Red Glow of the Cosmic Bat Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Humbert C+¬dric
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: This Cosmic Bat wishes you a happy Summerween! This
mid-year celebration of Halloween transcends hemispheres, even though
summer in the Northern hemisphere is winter in the South. Contrary to
its eery aura, the Cosmic Bat Nebula (LDN 43), not to be confused with
the Bat Nebula (NGC 6995), is a vibrant birthplace for stars. A bit of
young starlight peeks through the dense clouds of gas and dust that
make up the Cosmic BatCÇÖs 12 lightyear wingspan. The ultraviolet light
from the young stars energizes the nebulaCÇÖs hydrogen gas, causing it to
glow an ominous red. The jet of glowing hydrogen gas emerging from the
batCÇÖs head hints at the star formation hidden within.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 10

Western Moon, Eastern Sea
Image Credit & Copyright: Guy Bardon

Explanation: The Mare Orientale, Latin for Eastern Sea, is one of the
most striking large scale lunar features. The youngest of the large
lunar impact basins it's very difficult to see from an earthbound
perspective. Still, captured on July 7 during a period of favorable
tilt, or libration of the lunar nearside, the Eastern Sea can be found
at the upper right in this sharp telescopic view. In the image, the
large lunar mare is extremely foreshortened and stretches along the
Moon's western edge. Formed by the impact of an asteroid over 3 billion
years ago and nearly 1000 kilometers across, the impact basin's
concentric circular features are ripples in the lunar crust. But they
are a little easier to spot in more direct images of the region taken
from lunar orbit. So why is the Eastern Sea at the Moon's western edge?
The Mare Orientale lunar feature was named before 1961. That's when the
convention labeling east and west on lunar maps was reversed.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 11

Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of
deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula.
It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a
view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky
Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or a
small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300
light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth.
Sometimes called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars
stretch across this gorgeous interstellar scene. Spanning over four
full moons on the sky toward the constellation Sagittarius, the
telescopic field of view includes dark markings B92 and B93 near the
center of M24, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae
toward the center of the Milky Way.

Tomorrow's picture: shells and streams
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 12
A starfield surrounds a complex background galaxy. The galaxy center is
surrounded by numerous shells, some circular and concentric, but others
colorful and filamentary. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star Streams
Image Credit & License: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre (CFHT)
& G. A. Anselmi (Coelum)

Explanation: What's happening to galaxy NGC 474? The multiple layers of
emission appear strangely complex given the relatively featureless
appearance of the elliptical galaxy in less deep images. The cause of
the shells is a topic of research, but they are possibly tidal tails
related to debris left over from absorbing numerous small galaxies in
the past billion years. Alternatively, the shells may be like ripples
in a pond, where the ongoing collision with the spiral galaxy just to
the right of NGC 474 is causing density waves to ripple through the
galactic giant. Regardless of the actual cause, the featured image
dramatically highlights the increasing evidence that the halos of some
elliptical galaxies are surprisingly complicated. Similarly, the halo
of our own Milky Way Galaxy is one example of such unexpected
intricacies. NGC 474 spans about 250,000 light years and lies about 100
million light years distant toward the constellation of the Fish
(Pisces).

Tomorrow's picture: aurora below
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 13

Auroras from Space
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, ISS Expedition 74; Capture: Sophie Adenot;
Music: Circle of Light (Patrick Hawes & Grace Davidson)

Explanation: What do auroras look like from above? Behold! From the
ground, auroras dance high above clouds, frequently causing spectacular
displays. From space, they look a bit different. As the International
Space Station (ISS) circles the Earth every 90 minutes, it sometimes
sees auroras below that are active on the night side. A one-hour
time-lapse video showing auroras from above was captured about two
weeks ago from the orbiting ISS. The ISS -- and all objects in low
Earth orbit -- will pass well above green auroras but just a bit above
red glowing auroras. The auroras' electron and proton streams are too
thin to be a danger to the ISS, just as clouds pose little danger to
airplanes. From orbit, as magnetic fields change, auroras can appear to
squiggle and crawl like giant snakes. The featured one-minute video was
captured by French astronaut Sophie Adenot of the ISS Expedition 74
crew.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: asteroid double
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 14
A large rocky object floats in dark space. The object is gray and has
many small protrusions. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Double Lobed Asteroid Torifune
Image Credit & Copyright: JAXA, U. of Tokyo, Chiba Tech, Tokyo U. of
Science, AIST, Paris Obs., IAC

Explanation: Why is this asteroid a double? Earlier this month the
Japanese robotic spacecraft Hayabusa2 shot past asteroid 98943 Torifune
and captured pictures. Although previous observations from distant
Earth indicated that Torifune was oblong, Hayabusa2 found that Torifune
actually has two joined lobes. With a length of about four soccer
fields, this space rock frequently comes near the Earth as it orbits
the Sun, although it is not a threat. Besides the two lobes, Torifune
shows many large boulders, but, surprisingly, no obvious craters,
likely because its surface is a pile of rubble. Like asteroid Arrokoth,
it appears that each lobe formed separately before colliding and
becoming stuck together. Hayabusa2 famously encountered asteroid Ryugu
in 2018, and now heads for an encounter in 2031 with 1998 KY26, a
smaller asteroid that rotates unusually fast and might have reservoirs
of ice.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 15
Lightning spreads like roots from a tree up into the atmosphere from
the top of a cloud. Stars are scattered across the night sky above and
the desert sits below the cloud deck.

Red Sprites in the Tatacoa Desert
Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Vargas
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Is there an angry Sith using force lightning in the
Tatacoa Desert? This is not science fiction, but a red sprite with
multiple streamers! Ordinary lightning occurs when thundercloud
particles collide, lose their electrons, and build up negative charge
at the cloud bottom. The cloudCÇÖs negative charge repels negative charge
deeper into the Earth, leaving EarthCÇÖs surface positively charged. The
opposite charges attract, reaching towards each other and superheating
the air into a white strike of plasma. Red sprites are millisecond
events triggered by positive cloud-to-ground lightning. They extend up
into the mesosphere where the air is too thin for thunder. Their red
glow comes from heated molecular nitrogen. There are several potential
causes for red sprites, including that the preceding positive lightning
exposes the negatively charged cloud core to the positively charged
upper atmosphere, allowing those charges to connect. NASACÇÖs Juno has
observed sprites on Jupiter, indicating that sprites occur on other
planets!

Tomorrow's picture: a galaxy bursting with excitement
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 16
A bright spiral galaxy shows stars and colorful clous of gas in red,
green and blue colors. The background is a dark field of stars.

NGC 300: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars and Gas Clouds
Image Credit & Copyright: Team Ciel Austral
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: This sparkling, colorful gemstone is a spiral galaxy, NGC
300. It is one of the closest spiral galaxies to Earth, only about 6
million light-years away. But does it really look like this? Here is a
more standard portrait of it. This unusual image combines the light
from the stars and dust within the galaxy with the light from ionized
clouds of interstellar gas shown in red (Sulphur), green (Hydrogen) and
blue (Oxygen). Combining red and green light in different proportions
makes yellow or orange light, most visible in the image. Light from
other ionized gases is also at work in neon signs, fluorescent tubes
and street lights. These massive clouds of ionized gas are typically
created by young, massive stars that produce high-energy ultraviolet
radiation capable of ionizing the gas. Massive stars are short-lived,
compared with lighter stars like our sun, and explode as supernovas at
the end of their lives. Some of the colorful clouds in the image could
be hiding supernova remnants.

Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 17

The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2
Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Explanation: Comet 10P/Tempel 2 orbits the Sun once every 5.4 years.
Currently visible in binoculars or small telescopes toward the
constellation Capricornus, the periodic comet is captured in this sharp
telescopic image from July 11 sporting a bright nuclear region and
pretty greenish coma. Remarkably, a thin dust trail, not a typical dust
tail, is also seen extending both east and west of the Tempel 2
nucleus. Unlike a comet dust tail, which tends to temporarily fan out
in a direction away from the Sun, this dust trail is due to the
residual dust shed during many past orbits along this ancient periodic
comet's orbital plane. In fact, Tempel 2's dust trail may get a little
narrower and brighter from our perspective as Earth crosses through the
comet's orbital plane on July 20. Comet 10P/Tempel 2 will reach a
perihelion on August 2, and make its closest approach to Earth on
August 3.

Tomorrow's picture: the antisolar horizon
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 18

Shadow and Rainbow
Image Credit & License: Dave Loschiavo

Explanation: At sunset, an alignment of rainbow and mountain shadow was
captured in this remarkable snapshot. The stunning view was recorded
from a fire lookout on Smith Peak in the Plumas National Forest near
Portola, California on July 13. Still, near sunset it's no accident
that the majestic mountain shadow seems to point to the center of the
graceful rainbow arc. Due to perspective and the long line of sight the
mountain shadow naturally forms a tapering triangular shape, its apex
positioned at the point opposite the Sun on the horizon. Following
thunderstorms across the region, the rainbow arcs across the early
evening sky, with its colorful and characteristic 42 degree arc formed
as sunlight is refracted and reflected by the atmospheric water
droplets. The geometric center of a rainbow arc lies at the antisolar
point. And in this scene from the golden hour on planet Earth, that's
also oposite the setting Sun along the distant horizon.

Tomorrow's picture: it came from space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 19
The featured image shows the disk from NASA's Genesis Mission embedded
in sand with two helicopters visible in the distance. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert
Image Credit: USAF 388th Range Sqd., Genesis Mission, NASA

Explanation: A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah
desert after being tracked by radar and chased by helicopters. The year
was 2004, and no space aliens were involved. The saucer, pictured here,
was the Genesis sample return capsule, part of a human-made robot
Genesis spaceship launched in 2001 by NASA itself to study the Sun. The
unexpectedly hard landing at over 300 kilometers per hour occurred
because the parachutes did not open as planned. The Genesis mission had
been orbiting the Sun collecting solar wind particles that are usually
deflected away by Earth's magnetic field. Despite the crash landing,
many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze.
Genesis-related discoveries included new details about the composition
of the Sun and how the abundance of some types of elements differ
across the Solar System. These results have provided intriguing clues
into details of how the Sun and planets formed billions of years ago.

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: flying star statue
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 20
The featured image shows the star forming nebula NGC 3576 in multiple
false colors. A central dust structure may appear similar to the Statue
of Liberty. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 3576: The Statue of Liberty Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Logan Carpenter

Explanation: What's happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright
stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. The
complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57, and
besides the iconic monument, to some looks like a flying superhero or a
weeping angel. This re-assigned color image showcases dense knots of
dark interstellar dust, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these
stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars. A detailed study
of NGC 3576, also known as NGC 3582 and NGC 3584, uncovered at least 33
massive stars in the end stages of formation, and the clear presence of
the complex carbon molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs). PAHs are thought to be created in the cooling gas of star
forming regions, and their development in the Sun's formation nebula
five billion years ago may have been an important step in the
development of life on Earth.

Jigsaw Star Statue: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: not a turtle
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 21
An orange landscape is seen with many darker rocks visible in the
foreground. Toward the image top is a large rock outcrop with orange
sand on top. The outcrop may appear to resemble a large turtle. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Turtle Rock on Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas
Thomopoulos

Explanation: Is this a fossilized turtle on Mars? No. Although
resembling a large Earth tortoise, this is a layered rock outcrop on
Mars that is estimated to span about 15 meters, making it much larger
than turtles on Earth. NASACÇÖs robotic Curiosity rover came across this
unusual mound, dubbed Miraflores, last month during its 4922nd Martian
day exploring Mars. The small butte may survive because it was somehow
more resistant to erosion than surrounding rock. More recent wind has
now covered its top with orange Martian sand. Below the top shell, many
layers of stratified rock are visible, possibly indicating a long
history of intermittent wind-blown sand being deposited and then
hardened by ground water. Similar wind-eroded layered landforms, such
as yardangs in the Qaidam Desert of China, exist here on Earth.
Curiosity and its companion rover Perseverance continue to investigate
the ancient history of Mars as well as searching for signs of primeval
life.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 22
Both dense and whispy clouds streak across the left side of the image
with bright stars peaking through. A few stars stand out as brighter
than the rest. A tight cluster of stars sits to the top right of the
image. The background is covered with stars.

The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and the Chandelier Cluster
Image Credit: DES/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (UAA/NOIRLab), R. Colombari & M. Zamani
(NOIRLab)
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: The Southern Crown (Corona Australis) dazzles with young
and ancient celestial jewels. The Corona Australis Cloud is a collage
of reflection and emission nebulae on the left of todayCÇÖs image. At 430
light years away, this cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions
to Earth. It contains gas cool enough (-260 Celsius or -440 Fahrenheit)
to collapse into protostars. Recently formed stars paint blue hues
across the cloud as their light reflects off surrounding material. The
waltz of the R Coronae Australis binary system stirs up the nebula NGC
6729. The younger of the pair ionizes nearby gas with its ultraviolet
light, causing it to glow. The Chandelier Cluster (NGC 6723) dangles
from the top right, but is actually tens of thousands of light years
farther away than its apparent star-forming neighbor. While NGC 6723
experienced multiple periods of star formation creating slightly
younger stars, the chandelier twinkles with stars almost as old as the
universe.

Tomorrow's picture: a friendly neighborhood galaxy
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 23
A galaxy with stars and colorful clous of gas. The background is a dark
field of stars.

The Large Magellanic Cloud
Image Credit & Copyright: Monica Mesa
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Have you ever seen another galaxy with your own eyes? The
featured image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the
closest neighbors of our Milky Way. If you are anywhere south of
latitude 20+# N (but the further south, the better), you can see it with
the unaided eye if you go to a dark sky location, away from big cities
and light polution. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 163,000
light-years away, and a member of our Local Group of galaxies. Despite
being small, with a total mass approximately equivalent to 10% - 20% of
the mass of the Milky Way, the LMC is very actively forming stars. This
is likely due in part to the gravitational push and pull of tides
caused by the Milky Way on the LMC. Some astronomers have predicted
that it will collide with the Milky Way in in about 2 billion years.

Tomorrow's picture: 185 AD
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 24

RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: David Cowland

Explanation: In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of
a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is identified
with part of the southern constellation Centaurus on modern star
charts. In fact, the new star was reported to be visible to the
naked-eye for months before it faded from view, and is now thought to
be the earliest recorded supernova. In this 21st century telescopic
image, the wispy outlines of a faint emission nebula recognized as the
remnant of that historical stellar explosion can be traced against a
starry background. The ragged but roughly circular extent of the
nebula, cataloged as RCW 86, represents interstellar gas ionized by the
supernova's still expanding shock wave. Space-based images indicate an
abundance of the element iron in RCW 86 and the absence of a neutron
star or pulsar within the remnant, suggesting that the original
supernova was Type Ia. Unlike the core collapse supernova explosion of
a massive star, a Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear detonation on a
white dwarf star that has accreted material from its companion in a
binary star system. Near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and larger
than the full moon on the sky this supernova remnant is too faint to be
seen by eye though. RCW 86 is some 8,000 light-years distant and around
100 light-years across.

Tomorrow's picture: tranquility and serenity
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 25

Tranquility and Serenity
Image Credit & Copyright: Ny+¬rdson Ferreira

Explanation: The Seas of Tranquility and Serenity are calm today.
They're calm most every day though, since they are actually lunar
maria, ancient lava flows filling in large impact basins on the Moon.
Also known by Latin names Mare Tranquillitatis (right) and Mare
Serenitatis, the smooth dark lunar "seas" are in stark contrast to the
bright cratered lunar highlands surrounding them in this telescopic
view. Of course their names are based on the historical, pre-telescopic
designations of lunar maria. Easily visible to the unaided eye, the
broad features on the Moon's near side were imagined to be like the
expansive oceans of planet Earth. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar
module Eagle touched down on the Mare Tranquillitatis (at lower right),
establishing Tranquility base and the first human presence on the Moon.

Tomorrow's picture: a galaxy cluster forms
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 26

Simulation TNG50: A Galaxy Cluster Forms
Video Credit: IllustrisTNG Project; Visualization: Dylan Nelson (Max
Planck Institute for Astrophysics) et al.
Music: Symphony No. 5 (Ludwig van Beethoven), via YouTube Audio Library

Explanation: How do clusters of galaxies form? Since our universe moves
too slowly to watch, faster-moving computer simulations are created to
help find out. One famous effort is TNG50 from IllustrisTNG, an upgrade
of the famous Illustris Simulation. The first part of the featured
video tracks cosmic gas (mostly hydrogen) as it evolves into galaxies
and galaxy clusters from the early universe to today, with brighter
colors marking faster moving gas. As the universe matures, gas falls
into gravitational wells, galaxies forms, galaxies spin, galaxies
collide and merge, all while black holes form in galaxy centers and
expel surrounding gas at high speeds. The second half of the video
switches to tracking stars, showing a galaxy cluster coming together,
complete with stellar streams. The outflow from black holes in TNG50 is
surprisingly complex and details are being compared with our real
universe. Studying how gas coalesced in the early universe helps
humanity better understand how our Earth, Sun, and Solar System
originally formed.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: eerie space bubble
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 27
A starfield is shown with a big light bubble in the center. To some,
the bubble may resemble a skull. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Pawe+é Piechnik

Explanation: What created this huge space bubble? Blown by the wind
from a star, this tantalizing, head-like apparition is cataloged as NGC
7635, but known simply as the Bubble Nebula. Taken from Krakow, Poland,
the featured view utilizes a long exposure to reveal the intricate
details of this cosmic bubble and its environment. Although it looks
delicate, the 10 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent
processes at work. Seen here right of the Bubble's center, a bright hot
star is embedded in the nebula's reflecting dust. A fierce stellar wind
and intense radiation from the star, which likely has a mass 10 to 20
times that of the Sun, has blasted out the structure of glowing gas
against denser material in a surrounding molecular cloud. The
intriguing Bubble Nebula lies a mere 11,000 light-years away toward the
boastful constellation Cassiopeia.

Tomorrow's picture: volcanic connection
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 28
A pair of snow topped volcanoes are seen in the distance. A background
starry sky is seen behind them, with a red filamentary nebula looping
around that appears to connect the two tops of the volcanoes. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Barnards Loop over Twin Volcanoes
Image Credit & Copyright: Gonzalo Laserna Vargas

Explanation: What's connecting these two volcanoes? In ancient
folklore, the two volcanoes, Parinacota (left) and Pomerape (right),
are connected by representing a mythical prince and princess who
engaged in a forbidden romance. Beneath the ground, the two peaks are
not known to be connected by a common pool of hot magma, and neither
volcano has erupted in the past 1000 years. Above the ground, there is
usually nothing in the sky that connects them -- except if you use
careful timing and look from a specific location. The featured
well-planned image was captured from Bolivia in mid-April with a series
of camera exposures taken on the same day and from the same location.
Then, Barnard's Loop appeared to connect the volcanic peaks. Also
visible in the image is the Orion Nebula in the center, the star
Betelgeuse on the right, and the Rosette Nebula on the upper right.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 30
A deep red sun shows several sunspots. Clouds and haze are visible.

Red Sun through Wildfire Smoke
Image Credit & Copyright: Debra Ceravolo
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: This could be the view from an exoplanet orbiting around a
red dwarf star, but it is our own Sun. This image was taken on July 22,
2026, in the Okanagan region in the Canadian province of British
Columbia. Wildfire smoke from the Pacific Northwest acted as a solar
filter, allowing the photographer to take this photo of the Sun
directly. Several sunspots are also visible in this eerie image; just
below and right of the center is AR 4493, a fast evolving, giant active
solar region and sunspot group. The smoke is made of tiny particles
that help block and scatter light with bluer colors, so the light we
see coming from the Sun is dimmer and redder than usual (but it is
never safe to stare directly at the Sun). Sunsets and sunrises are also
more colorful because of the smoke. Some 6 billion years from now, the
Sun will actually start to turn redder as it approaches its red giant
phase.

Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 July 31

NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandro Cipolat Bares

Explanation: The Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a
tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellation Musca,
The Fly. A dusty interstellar cloud, it's seen against rich starfields
just south of the Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching
for about 3 degrees across this telescopic field of view, the Dark
Doodad is punctuated near its southern tip (upper right) by yellowish
globular star cluster NGC 4372. Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of
our Milky Way galaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away
and only by chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. About
700 light-years distant and over 30 light-years long, the Dark Doodad's
well defined silhouette belongs to the potentially star-forming Musca
molecular cloud. The dusty Dark Doodad's delightfully alliterative
moniker was first coined by astro-imager and writer Dennis di Cicco in
1986 while observing Comet Halley from the Australian outback.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 1

Buck Moon and Belt of Venus
Image Credit & Copyright: Branko Nadj

Explanation: The Buck Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of
July. In this colorful Adriatic sea and skyscape captured on July 28
from Krk Island along the coast of Croatia, a full Buck Moon is just
rising over distant mountains. Since a full moon rises as the Sun sets,
Earth's shadow also rises in the twilight scene, a diffuse gray band
extending above the mountainous southeastern horizon. Above Earth's
shadow band is the pinkish antitwilight arch. That subtly tinted band
of backscattered sunlight is more widely known as the Belt of Venus.
But as it shares the eastern horizon with the atmospheric shadow of
Earth and Belt of Venus, this full Buck Moon seems to set the stage for
the New Moon to come. The New Moon of August 12 will cast its shadow on
planet Earth in a much anticipated total solar eclipse.

Tomorrow's picture: fire and rainbow
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 2
Blue sky has white clouds across the top and dark tree tops across the
bottom. Across the middle is a very colorful row of clouds that are
wavy and are orange at the top and green at the bottom. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia
Image Credit & Copyright: Christa Harbig

Explanation: What's happening to this cloud? Ice crystals in a distant
cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally
as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc
appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be
visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus
clouds present below -- in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous,
flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be
aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively
similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual
to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North
Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: photobombed nebula
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 3
A dark starfield has a faint red nebula near the center. A bright
streak crosses the image horizontally from the lower left, filled with
faint evaporating wisps in many colors. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

Vaporizing Meteor Photobombs the Lacerta Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Burnett

Explanation: What's happening to this meteor? This bright meteor streak
appeared and disappeared quickly during a long exposure of the Great
Lacerta Nebula, seen faintly in red toward the center of the image. The
meteoroid, likely a small pebble, creates its glow partly by heating
and exciting surrounding air in Earth's atmosphere, but itself
vaporizes and leaves wind-blown gas and dust with colors that give
clues to its composition. The featured image was captured last month
from Death Valley Observatories in Nevada, USA. This month, though, is
particularly good for seeing meteors. Presently there are three meteor
showers ongoing, although they are currently competing for visibility
with the glow of a bright gibbous Moon. The most active of these
showers, the Perseids, will be busiest in about 10 days -- after the
Moon has dimmed considerably. This year, the Perseids peak nearly
coincides with not only a new Moon, but, from some locations, one that
totally eclipses the Sun.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: star knots
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 4
A dark field shows many orange filaments that seem to point to a place
just above the image field. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Curious Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST; Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Explanation: What causes unusual knots of gas and dust in planetary
nebulas? Seen also in the Ring Nebula, the Dumbbell Nebula and NGC
2392, the knots' existence was not initially predicted, and their
origins are still not well understood. Pictured here is a fascinating
image of part of the Helix Nebula by the James Webb Space Telescope
showing tremendous detail in infrared light. The cometary knots have
masses similar to the Earth but have sizes typically several times the
orbit of Pluto. One hypothesis for the fragmentation and evolution of
the knots includes existing gas being driven out by a less dense but
highly energetic stellar wind of the central evolving star. The Helix
Nebula is one of the closest examples of a planetary nebula created at
the end of the life of a Sun-like star. Given a technical designation
of NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula lies about 650 light-years away towards
the constellation of Water Carrier (Aquarius).

Open Science: Browse 4,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
Library
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 5
Subtle dark features appear and disappear from Saturn's ring as it
rotates.

Spokes on Saturn's B Ring
Image Credit & Copyright: Brad Croslin
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: DonCÇÖt get spooked by SaturnCÇÖs ghostly spokes! Today we
feature a nearly two-hour timelapse of Saturn and its rings looping
forwards and backwards. A day on Saturn is only 10 hours long, so two
hours of observation covers quite a bit of its rotation. If you look
closely, a ghoulish shadow appears and disappears as SaturnCÇÖs B ring
rotates. Decades of observation with Voyager 2, Cassini, and Hubble
show the appearance of SaturnCÇÖs spokes varies with the planetCÇÖs
seasons. Like Earth, SaturnCÇÖs spin axis is tilted compared to the plane
of its orbit around the Sun. During SaturnCÇÖs equinox, the rings are
less tilted away from the Sun and the planet receives more evenly
distributed sunlight and solar wind. Although their origin is still
uncertain, SaturnCÇÖs spokes may be shadows of and reflections off of
dust and ice levitating above the rings caused by electromagnetic
interactions between the solar wind and the planetCÇÖs magnetic field.

Find dark skies and look up this August to witness the Perseid meteor
shower uninhibited by the Moon!
Tomorrow's picture: the COSMOS
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 6
A image shows flowery dark and light structures on a yellow background.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

New Sharpest Image of the Sun Uncovers Instability
Image Credit: NSF, NSO, AURA, MPS, Inouye Tel.

Explanation: What does the new sharpest image of our Sun show?
Instability. To be clear, a certain kind of interactive process called
the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). This instability can create
waves and swirls when two streams flow past each other -- in this case
variable streams of solar magnetic plasma. Long hypothesized to occur
on the Sun's surface, KHI streaks and swirls were confirmed in
just-released dramatic high-resolution images taken recently by the
Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, USA. The featured false-yellow
image, actually taken in deep blue, is the highest resolution image yet
of the Sun in visible light. It spans about the radius of the Earth,
but its finest details are city sized. Visible are several smooth tops
of changing solar granules, while the edges of the flower-like
structures have been found to harbor multiple KHI swirls. Future
research may investigate how the KHI helps move energy, magnetic
fields, and may even heat the surrounding solar corona.

Tomorrow's picture: Rubin's COSMOS
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 7
A deep field image of the sky, with some highlighted areas shown with a
zoom-in.

Rubin's COSMOS field
Image Credit & Copyright: NSFCÇôDOE Vera C. Rubin
Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: There are more than half a million galaxies in the central
panel of this image from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in
Chile. This is the COSMOS field, a patch of sky several times larger
than the full moon, first observed by Hubble. It has also been observed
by Webb and other telescopes because it contains comparatively few
bright stars from our own galaxy, offering a relatively unimpeded view
of other galaxies outside the Milky Way. The outer panels, numbered
1-10, show zoomed-in views of the corresponding small regions
highlighted in the central panel. The variety of galaxy shapes and
sizes is astonishing. Some of them are so far away that their light has
traveled for billions of years before reaching Earth. Rubin will come
back every couple of days to the COSMOS field as part of its ten-year
Legacy Survey of Space and Time. It will allow a dynamic view of the
COSMOS field and how the sky changes over time.

Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 8

A Messier Moment for Tempel 2
Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Explanation: Which of these is not a comet? You guessed it - the one on
the right is a globular star cluster. The diffuse greenish coma of
periodic comet 10P/Tempel 2 is at left in the frame. In fact the
globular star cluster is Messier 30, also known as M30, or the 30th
entry in astronomer Charles Messier's catalog of things which are not
comets. The well-known 18th century astronomer kept a list of objects
he observed, now his famous Messier Catalogue of Nebulae and Star
Clusters, which did not move from night to night against the background
stars and so were not the comets he was hunting for. So the famous
comet hunter would get the correct answer too, even though his
telescope would show both 10P/Tempel 2 and distant star cluster as
similar looking faint and fuzzy objects in his field of view. Recorded
on July 29, this modern telescopic image captures periodic comet Tempel
2 as it briefly swept close on the sky to M30. While the periodic
comet's faint, narrow, orbital dust trail seems to pierce the globular
star cluster, Tempel 2 was a mere 3.5 light-minutes away. Messier 30 is
some 28,000 light-years distant.

Tomorrow's picture: contemplating the Sun
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 9
A light disk is visible on the lower left but the rest of the disk is
eclipsed by a darker disk of the same apparent size. At the bottom of
the image are the silhouettes of several people. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Contemplating the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert

Explanation: Have you contemplated your home star recently? Featured
here, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the Moon is also seen
eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the eclipse below. This
spectacular menagerie of silhouettes was taken in 2012 from the Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park
rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested
gatherers. Also, faintly visible on the Sun's disk, just to the lower
right of the dark Moon's disk, is a group of sunspots. A new solar
eclipse will occur this week and give many people in northern North
America, Europe, and northwestern Africa a new chance to contemplate a
partially eclipsed Sun. A thin swath of Earth from Greenland to
Portugal will further experience a total solar eclipse. An open
question is whether any meteors from the peaking Perseids will be
visible during totality.

Tomorrow's picture: paired galaxies
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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NASA Science Activation
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 10
A dark starfield shows three pairs of galaxies. One pair near the top,
one near the middle, and one near the bottom. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Three Galaxy Pairs
Image Credit & Copyright: Rafael Sampaio

Explanation: Each of these pairs of galaxies is different. The two
galaxies at the top are likely not interacting, at least presently.
However, the top galaxy with the blue stripe, NGC 4650A, is a polar
ring galaxy and may be the result of a past galaxy collision. The two
galaxies in the middle of the featured image appear like they could be
interacting gravitationally -- but their relative speeds make this
unlikely. Of these two, the larger galaxy, NGC 4650, is a spiral galaxy
with a bright bar of stars across its center. The two galaxies at the
bottom are actively interacting. Possibly in a billion years or so, NGC
4622A and NGC 4622B will merge and become one single galaxy. All of
these galaxies are likely members of the larger Centaurus Galaxy
Cluster.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 11

Six Moons of Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Trentini

Explanation: How many moons does Saturn have? While the total will
likely continue to grow, as of June 2026 the ringed gas giant had 293
confirmed moons. That's easily more than any other planet of the Solar
System, including ruling gas giant Jupiter with a mere 115 confirmed
moons. Most of Saturn's known moons are small, irregular satellites.
Many are only few kilometers to a fraction of a kilometer across and
grouped in tilted outer orbits. Six of its largest satellites can be
seen here, though, in this sharp telescopic Saturnian family portrait
taken on August 5. Larger than Earth's Moon and even slightly larger
than inner planet Mercury, Titan, with a diameter of 5,150 kilometers,
is at lower right. You can also spot icy major moons Mimas, Tethys,
Enceladus, Dione, and Rhea in the frame. Saturn's first known natural
satellite, Titan was discovered in 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christiaan
Huygens. During the space age Voyager and Cassini discoveries have
added to the swelling ranks of Saturnian moons.

NASA Stream: August 12 Total Solar Eclipse.
Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
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NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 12
The ground is shown in a little planet perspective, surrounded by the
sky with a diffuse glow. The Milky Way is visible in the sky, as well
as some nebulae in red and over a hundred meteors. Most of them appear
to come from the same point.

Perseids Over a little Planet
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Rosadzi+äski
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: It looks like a view from the Little Prince's planet. The
featured image is a throwback to the 2024 Perseid meteor shower,
surrounded in this projection by the Bieszczady Mountains in Poland.
Visible in the sky is the arch of the Milky Way, along with several
nebulas in red and over a hundred meteors pointing to the radiant. The
Perseids are easily visible and quite popular in the Northern
Hemisphere summer. (Watching meteor showers in the winter is less
convenient for a good reason). This year they are expected to offer an
even more dazzling spectacle than usual, because the peak coincides
with a new moon. The 2026 Perseid meteor shower will peak tonight with
as many as 50-100 meteors per hour, when the Earth's path crosses
through debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Typically, the best
times for seeing the meteors are between midnight and pre-dawn. You
won't need binoculars to see the meteors, but a lawn chair and a dark
sky location help.

There is total solar eclipse happening today! See here if you are in
the path of totality.
Tomorrow's picture: What's next?
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 13
The Moon covers the Sun in the middle of the sky above an ornate
church. A ring of bright whisps from the Sun's corona surrounds the
Moon. In front of the church is a river that shows ripples across the
eclipse's reflection. Some people are boating in the river.

Total Solar Eclipse Over Spain
Image Credit & Copyright: Ruiyu Zhang
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: On August 12th, 2026, the Moon totally eclipsed the Sun
and cast its shadow across Siberia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and
Portugal. TodayCÇÖs image features two total solar eclipses viewed from
Zaragoza, Spain, one over the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the
Pillar and the other reflecting in the Ebro River. For a few moments,
Spain saw its first major total solar eclipse since 1905. Those
witnessing totality may experience a chill in the air, the quieting of
birds, the confused chirps of insects, and the shared awe of many. ItCÇÖs
the coronaCÇÖs time to shine as the SunCÇÖs bright disk is blocked by the
Moon. Among other reasons to study eclipses, they help scientists
understand why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the SunCÇÖs
surface. Enthusiastic citizens can contribute to these studies by
recording how wildlife responds, imaging the corona, and monitoring air
temperature and clouds.

More spectacular eclipse images: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12
Tomorrow's picture: a mystery
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 14

Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland
Image Credit & Copyright: Aditya Madhavan

Explanation: On August 12, the Moon's shadow reached out to touch our
fair planet. Beginning in the Arctic Ocean, it swept along a narrow
track that led the dark lunar umbra across parts of Greenland, Iceland,
the Atlantic, Portugal, and northern Spain. And for a moment, denizens
of Earth who found themselves with clear skies under the shadow of the
Moon could witness a total solar eclipse. After dodging the weather by
sea and making a landing along Rype Fjord on the Greenland east coast
(at 71.07055N, 27.71252W), this hard-won snapshot was captured at
17:33:26 UTC. That's near the initial reach of clearing skies along the
path of totality, so the image is likely one of the first unobstructed
views of the totally eclipsed Sun. Through a break in the clouds, the
stunning photo also records one of this eclipse's transient diamond
rings and the magnificent solar corona emerging near the moment
totality began.

More spectacular eclipse images: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12
Tomorrow's picture: perhaps a Perseid
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 August 15

Bright Perseids from Sweden
Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hed+¬n (Clear Skies, TWAN)

Explanation: Known for its bright and fast meteors, the annual Perseid
Meteor Shower comes to planet Earth's skies from a radiant in the
heroic constellation Perseus. The popular northern summer celestial
spectacle is created as grains of dust cast off along the orbit of
periodic comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle vaporize in Earth's dense atmosphere,
tracing brief, but beautiful streaks through the night. Taken near the
shower's peak of activity on August 12, this composite image recorded
two bright perseid meteors and one meteor's watery reflection from a
location near the coastal village of Grisslehamn, Sweden. Almost as
bright as Altair, brightest star on the scene, the meteors appear along
with the faint, diffuse background of the Milky Way. This year, the
shower's peak activity coincided with a New Moon, so perseid meteor
flashes were undiminished by bright moonlight. And for many
skywatchers, this night of bright perseid meteors followed their
viewing of the silhouette of the New Moon in a much anticipated solar
eclipse.

Growing Gallery: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12
Tomorrow's picture: Milky Way over Yellowstone
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)