NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as M51. In this image, the spiral arms have been digitally modified to unwind them using logarithms. The ordinary spiral arms form a logarithmic spiral which can be unwound digitally giving the ams a straight line appearance.

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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.

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In today's image, we see two images of the corona of the Sun stretched out so they can be easily compared to one another. On the top is an image from the solar eclipse of 2023 and on the bottom an image from the solar eclipse of 2017. We can see that the Sun was far more active in 2023 as compared to 2017.

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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 comet Pons-Brooks at it was seen on March 30. The comet is approaching its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on April 21. In addition, it could be visible during the day to those who happen to be located on the path of the total solar eclipse which occurs next Monday (April 8) across parts of North America.

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 remnant left behind by a star which was observed to explode back in the year 1181. This appears to be an unusual type of nebula classified as a Type Iax which occurs when two white dwarf stars merge together and explode.

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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 corona of our Sun. This is the atmosphere of the Sun and is normally invisible because of the brightness of the Sun itself. However, during an eclipse, our Moon passes in front of our Sun and blocks out its light. This allows the corona to be seen.

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 Event Horizon Telescope which allows astronomers to image the regions around the central black holes of galaxies including the one at the center of our Milky Way. Here we see it in polarized light which gives us a better understanding of the strong magnetic fields in the region.

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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 total eclipse of the Sun observed from an airplane in 2021. Sometimes the eclipses occur at points on Earth that are not easy accessible and this is one way such an eclipse can be observed. Another total solar eclipse will be visible from much of eastern North America in just over a week on April 8.

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 page of astronomy lecture notes dating back to 1490. The upper diagrams show the explanation of the occurrence of eclipses under the Ptolemaic model of the universe. At the bottom are a model of the geocentric universe, and a calendar to calculated the date of Easter Sunday in the Julian Calendar.

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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 one of the four large moons of Jupiter, known as Europa. This is the smallest of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, but actually has more water than the entire Earth. The Europa Clipper, scheduled to launch in October is planned to orbit the moon and study it in more detail - especially to try to find if life could exist in the oceans below the icy surface.

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 globular star cluster known as Omega Centauri. Globular star clusters exist in the spherical halo of our galaxy. Omega Centauri has an unusual combination of stellar populations leading astronomers to consider that it may be the core of a small galaxy which merged with the Milky Way in the past.

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.