NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the planetary nebula known as the Helix Nebula and also known by the catalog designation of NGC 7293. This is the end state of a star much like our own Sun. When it runs out of fuel, the core collapses down to form a white dwarf star about the size of Earth and the outer layers expand, eventually becoming detached and giving rise to the nebula we see here today.

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 portion of the Eagle Nebula known as M16. This is one of the pillars of star formation as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. In this region, new stars are in the process of formation, which will eventually eat away and disperse the remaining dust.

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 Pleiades - this is an example of an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus and it one of the more prominent stars clusters visible to the naked eye.

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 image from the Powers of 10 video from 1977. The video starts with a picnic scene and then zooms outbid factors of 10 to the edge of the universe. It will them zoom back in to the microscopic universe. The video can be accessed here: Powers of 10.

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 Mars as it approaches opposition in less than a week now. When a planet is at opposition, it is opposite to the Sun in the sky and will be at its closest and brightest as seen from Earth. The two images make a stereo pair - it you look between them and cross your eyes, the images will merge in to a single 3D image of Mars.

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

This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You 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 pair of galaxies in the process of merging to become a single, larger galaxy in this image from the James Webb Space Telescope. Mergers are how we find galaxies to have evolved from the smaller galaxies to the larger spiral and elliptical galaxies we see today.

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 Artemis 1 mission, showing the Orion spacecraft as it reached its furthest distance from our Moon a couple of days ago. The craft will now pass our Moon again as it returns to Earth for its splashdown scheduled fro December 11.

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 several different types of nebulae associated with star forming regions. We see the emission nebulae where gs is energized by the UV light from hot stars. We see reflection nebulae where light is scattered off of dust grains around a star and we see dark nebulae where the dust is dense enough to become opaque and block out the light from behind.

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 Gum Nebula, an example of a supernova remnant. It is actually a difficult one to see wince it is the closest supernova remnant to Earth and spans about 40 degrees in the sky. This means, you need an extremely wide field in order to be able to image this remnant.

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 some of the Leonid meteors from earlier this month as they pass through some of the constellations of the winter sky. Prominent at the center of the image is Orion, but we also see parts of Gemini and Taurus.

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.