NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the command module from the Apollo 17 mission from December of 1972 against the background of our Moon. The was the final mission to land humans on the Moon. We are continuing exploration of our Moon and plans are to have a group os astronauts travel around the Moon and back as early as September of 2025.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see a deep image of the region around Orion. The prominent stars in Orion are there, but not as prominent as we are used to because of all of the gas/dust that is visible in the deep image.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see the star cluster known by its catalog designation of IC 348. Many young clusters like this are hidden by dust and not well studied in visible light. The James Webb Space Telescope which also observes in the infrared gives us a look into this young cluster, including the many brown dwarf stars forming here.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see an aurora over Iceland which may be seen to resemble a dragon in the sky. The aurora are caused by charged particles from our Sun which excite oxygen atoms in Earth's upper atmosphere and cause them to glow. The more active the Sun, the stronger and more prominent the aurora will be.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see a circle around the Sun in the form of a 22 degrees halo caused by ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere. The planet Earth also circles the Sun, but in an elliptical orbit which causes its distance to change slightly over the year. A bit over a week ago, Earth was at its closest to the Sun, what we call perihelion.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see the thin crescent moon in the morning sky. This was the last day before the moon reached the new phases and started its cycle of phases over again. While we cannot see them in this image, Mercury and Venus would also go through a cycle of phases as seen from Earth.



My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see a number of meteors from the Quadrantid meteor shower. A meteor shower is named from the constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate. In this case, it is the obsolete constellation of Quadrans Muralis which is no longer one of the constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see a star forming region in the constellation of Cepheus. In this area, we see many different types of nebulae including red emission nebulae, blue reflection nebulae, and dark dusty nebulae.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see the nebula known as Thor's Helmet for its distinctive appearance. This is the nebula around a young Wolf-Rayet star. These are extremely hot and massive stars which expel material out into space. They are also stars that are expected to become supernovae at some point in the future.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In today's image, we see multiple images of Venus as taken a few years ago. We can see the cycle of phases that Venus goes through just like our own Moon. The difference is that Venus will change size as its orbit takes it closer to and farther from us in our own orbit.

My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

I welcome comments and suggestions about these podcasts. I can be reached here: [email protected]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.