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 January 31

Artemis I: Flight Day 13
Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28, 2022) of the Artemis 1
mission, the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth.
At over 430,000 kilometers from Earth, its distant retrograde orbit
also puts Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same
field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large
natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the
spacecraft's perspective. On flight day 26 (December 11, 2022), the
uncrewed spacecraft splashed down on its home world concluding the
historic Artemis I mission. The Artemis II mission, carrying 4
astronauts around the moon and back again, will launch no earlier than
February 8.

Tomorrow's picture: happy face
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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 February 1
Several craters are visible on a tan surface. The largest crater, on
the right, has internal markings that make it look like a winking face
with a smile. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars
Image Credit: NASA, MGS, MSSS

Explanation: Mars has put on a happy face. The Martian crater Galle is
famous because it has internal markings that make it look like a face
that is both smiling and winking. These markings were originally
discovered in the 1970s in pictures taken by the Viking Orbiter. The
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft that orbited Mars from 1996 to
2006 captured the featured picture. Happy Face Crater and its iconic
features were formed by chance billions of years ago when a city-sized
asteroid slammed into the Martian surface. All rocky planets and moons
in our Solar System show impact craters, with the highest number of
craters found on Earth's Moon and the planet Mercury. Earth and Venus
would show the most, though, were it not for weather and erosion.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: fast gas
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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 February 2
A complex nebula is shown that is mostly blue and red on the left half
and mostly brown on the right. Several bright stars are visible, and
many filaments run through, in particular on brown dust filamnents on
the image right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Orion: The Running Man Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert G. Lyons (Robservatory)

Explanation: What part of Orion is this? Just north of the famous Orion
Nebula is a picturesque star forming region in Orion's Sword that
contains a lot of intricate dust -- some of which appears blue because
it reflects the light of bright embedded stars. The region's popular
name is the Running Man Nebula because, looked at from the right, part
of the brown dust appears to be running legs. Cataloged as Sharpless
279, the reflection nebula is not only part of the constellation of
Orion, but part of the greater Orion molecular cloud complex. Light
from the Running Man's bright stars, including 42 Orionis, the bright
star closest to the featured image center, is slowly destroying and
reshaping the surrounding dust, which will likely be completely gone in
about 10 million years. The nebula spans about 15 light years and lies
about 1,500 light years away.

Jigsaw Nebula: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: spider webb
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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 February 3
A dense starfield surrounds a blue and red nebula that stretches from
the lower left to the upper right. The outer parts of the nebula are
blue and filamentary, while the innermost part is red and bright.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Red Spider Planetary Nebula from Webb
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (RIT)

Explanation: Oh what a tangled web a planetary nebula can weave. The
Red Spider Planetary Nebula shows the complex structure that can result
when a normal star ejects its outer gases and becomes a white dwarf
star. Officially tagged NGC 6537, this two-lobed symmetric planetary
nebula houses one of the hottest white dwarfs ever observed, probably
as part of a binary star system. Internal winds flowing out from the
central stars, have been measured in excess of 1,000 kilometers per
second. These winds expand the nebula, flow along the nebula's walls,
and cause waves of hot gas and dust to collide. Atoms caught in these
colliding shocks radiate light shown in the featured false-color
infrared picture by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Red Spider
Nebula lies toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). Its
distance is not well known but has been estimated by some to be about
4,000 light-years.

Tomorrow's picture: ringing galaxy
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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 February 4
A spiral galaxy is shown that seems to have rings in place of spiral
arms. The outer ring is blue and filled with stars, while the inner
ring is more red. The center has a vertical bar. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern

Explanation: Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy
have three? To begin, a ring that's near NGC 1512's center -- and so
hard to see here -- is the nuclear ring which glows brightly with
recently formed stars. Next out is a ring of stars and dust appearing
both red and blue, called, counter-intuitively, the inner ring. This
inner ring connects ends of a diffuse central bar of stars that runs
horizontally across the galaxy. Farthest out in this wide field image
is a ragged structure that might be considered an outer ring. This
outer ring appears spiral-like and is dotted with clusters of bright
blue stars. All these ring structures are thought to be affected by NGC
1512's own gravitational asymmetries in a drawn-out process called
secular evolution. The featured image was captured last month from a
telescope at Deep Sky Chile in Chile.

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 February 5

NGC 1275 in the Perseus Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Michal Wierzbinski, Hellas-Sky

Explanation: Active galaxy NGC 1275 is the central, dominant member of
the large and relatively nearby Perseus Cluster of Galaxies.
Wild-looking at visible wavelengths, the active galaxy is also a
prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission. NGC 1275 accretes
matter as entire galaxies fall into it, ultimately feeding a
supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core. Narrowband image data
used in this sharp telescopic image highlights the resulting galactic
debris and filaments of glowing gas, some up to 20,000 light-years
long. The filaments persist in NGC 1275, even though the turmoil of
galactic collisions should destroy them. What keeps the filaments
together? Observations indicate that the structures, pushed out from
the galaxy's center by the black hole's activity, are held together by
magnetic fields. Also known as Perseus A, NGC 1275 itself spans over
100,000 light years and lies about 230 million light years away.

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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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 February 6

Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; D. Milisavljevic (Purdue
University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University
of Gent)

Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular
lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces
ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few
million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is
blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin
anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of
this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova
explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in
planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light
11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb
Space Telescope shows the still-hot filaments and knots in the
supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding
blast wave is about 20 light-years across. A series of light echoes
from the massive star's cataclysmic explosion are also identified in
Webb's detailed images of the surrounding interstellar medium.

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.
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 February 7

Crescent Enceladus
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of
tantalizing inner moon Enceladus poses in this Cassini spacecraft
image. North is up in the dramatic scene captured during November 2016
as Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward direction about
130,000 kilometers from the moon's bright crescent. In fact, the
distant world reflects over 90 percent of the sunlight it receives,
giving its surface about the same reflectivity as fresh snow. A mere
500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a surprisingly active moon.
Data and images collected during Cassini's flybys have revealed water
vapor and ice grains spewing from south polar geysers and evidence of
an ocean of liquid water hidden beneath the moon's icy crust.

Tomorrow's picture: Sun spotted
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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 February 8
Most of the Sun is pictured peeking over a hill. On the surface of the
Sun are several sunspots including a very large sunspot region toward
the center-right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Active Sunspot Region 4366 Crosses the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Korona

Explanation: An unusually active sunspot region is now crossing the
Sun. The region, labelled AR 4366, is much larger than the Earth and
has produced several powerful solar flares over the past ten days. In
the featured image, the region is marked by large and dark sunspots
toward the upper right of the Sun's disk. The image captured the Sun
over a hill in Zacatecas, Mexico, 5 days ago. AR 4366 has become a
candidate for the most active solar region in this entire 11-year solar
cycle. Active solar regions are frequently associated with increased
auroral activity on the Earth. Now reaching the edge, AR 4366 will
begin facing away from the Earth during the coming week. It is not
known, though, if the active region will survive long enough to
reappear in about two weeks' time, as the Sun rotates.

Tomorrow's picture: groovy Miranda
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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 February 9
An unusual gray body looks like a more jaggged version of the Earth's
moon, but close up. Craters and stripes run across much of the surface.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Miranda Revisited
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Voyager 2; Processing & License: Flickr:
zelario12; Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: What is Miranda really like? Visually, old images from
NASA's Voyager 2 have been recently combined and remastered to result
in the featured image of Uranus's 500-kilometer-wide moon. In the late
1980s, Voyager 2 flew by Uranus, coming close to the cratered,
fractured, and unusually grooved moon -- named after a character from
ShakespeareCÇÖs The Tempest. Scientifically, planetary scientists are
using old data and clear images to theorize anew about what shaped
Miranda's severe surface features. A leading hypothesis is that
Miranda, beneath its icy surface, may have once hosted an expansive
liquid water ocean which may be slowly freezing. Thanks to the legacy
of Voyager 2, Miranda has joined the ranks of Europa, Titan, and other
icy moons in the search for water, and, possibly, microbial life, in
our Solar System.

Jigsaw Moon: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: swirling sky
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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 February 10
A person with the arms raised stands atop of a rock peak covered in
snow. Snow covered mountains are all around. Green aurora swirl
overhead and reflect off the snow. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

In Green Company: Aurora over Norway
Image Credit & Copyright: Max Rive

Explanation: Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those
instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the
third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only
cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display. Arms went
high in the air, patience and experience paid off, and the creative
featured image was captured as a composite from three separate
exposures. The setting is a summit of the Austnesfjorden (a fjord)
close to the town of Svolvear on the Lofoten islands in northern
Norway. The year was 2014. This year, our Sun is just passing solar
maximum, the peak in its 11-year surface activity cycle. As expected,
some spectacular auroras have recently resulted.

Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: sun spotted
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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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* 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 February 11
An image of the Sun is surrounded by 12 smaller Sun images. Each
surrounding image has some spots on it, but the large central image has
the most dark spots. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

A Year of Sunspots
Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: +Penol +Panli & U-fur
-#kizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: How many sunspots can you see? The central image shows the
many sunspots that occurred in 2025, month by month around the circle,
and all together in the grand central image. Each sunspot is
magnetically cooled and so appears dark -- and can last from days to
months. Although the featured images originated from NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory, sunspots can be easily seen with a small
telescope or binoculars equipped with a solar filter. Very large
sunspot groups like recent AR 4366 can even be seen with eclipse
glasses. Sunspots are still counted by eye, but the total number is not
considered exact because they frequently change and break up. Last
year, 2025, coincided with a solar maximum, the period of most intense
magnetic activity during its 11-year solar cycle. Our Sun remains
unpredictable in many ways, including when it ejects solar flares that
will impact the Earth, and how active the next solar cycle will be.

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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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 February 12

The Bay of Rainbows
Image Credit & Copyright: Olaf Filzinger

Explanation: Dark, smooth regions that cover the Moon's familiar face
are called by Latin names for oceans and seas. That naming convention
is historical, though it may seem a little ironic to denizens of the
space age who recognize the Moon as a mostly dry and airless world, and
the smooth, dark areas as lava-flooded impact basins. For example, this
telescopic lunar vista, looks over the expanse of the northwestern Mare
Imbrium, or Sea of Rains and into the Sinus Iridum, the Bay of
Rainbows. Ringed by the Jura Mountains (montes), the bay is about 250
kilometers across. Seen after local sunrise, the mountains form part of
the Sinus Iridum impact crater wall. Their rugged sunlit arc is bounded
at the top by Cape (promontorium) Laplace reaching nearly 3,000 meters
above the bay's surface. At the bottom of the arc is Cape Heraclides,
depicted by Giovanni Cassini in his 1679 telescope-based drawings
mapping the moon as a moon maiden seen in profile with long, flowing
hair.

Tomorrow's picture: friends of Andromeda
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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 February 13

NGC 147 and NGC 185
Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

Explanation: Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by
side in this deep telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged
satellite galaxies of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5
million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one
degree across a pretty field of view toward the constellation
Cassiopeia, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at
Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this
frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32
and M110, are seen much closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185
have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally
stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy
Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a
gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of
small satellite galaxies.

Tomorrow's picture: floral arrangement
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 14

Roses are Red
Image Credit & Copyright: Raffaele Calcagno
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: Roses are red, nebulas are too, and this Valentine's gift
is a stunning view! Pictured is a loving look at the Rosette Nebula
(NGC 2237): a cosmic bloom of bright young stars sitting atop a stem of
glowing hot gas. The roseCÇÖs blue-white speckles are among the most
luminous stars in the galaxy, with some burning millions of times
brighter than the Sun. Their stellar winds sculpt the famed rose shape
by pushing gas and dust away from the center. Though only a few million
years old, these massive stars are already nearing the end of their
lives, while dimmer stars embedded in the nebula will burn for billions
of years to come. The vibrant red hue comes from hydrogen gas, ionized
by the ultraviolet light from the young stars. The roseCÇÖs blue-white
center is color-mapped to indicate the presence of similarly ionized
oxygen. The Rosette Nebula reminds us of the beauty and transformation
woven into the fabric of the universe.

Tomorrow's picture: flying free
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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 February 15
An astronaut is seen hovering over the Earth. In the top part of the
image, the astronaut is seen against the darkness of space. In the
lower part of the image, the Earth is bright blue with white clouds.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

To Fly Free in Space
Image Credit: NASA, STS-41B

Explanation: What would it be like to fly free in space? About 100
meters from the cargo bay of a space shuttle, Bruce McCandless II was
living the dream -- floating farther out than anyone had ever been
before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut
McCandless, pictured, was floating free in space. During Space Shuttle
mission 41-B in 1984, McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert
Stewart were the first to experience such an "untethered space walk".
The MMU worked by shooting jets of nitrogen and was used to help deploy
and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is
heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in
orbit. The MMU was later replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion
unit.

Tomorrow's picture: unexplained shocks
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 16
A star field shows colorful pill-shaped nebula extending from the
bottom left toward the upper right. Colors include, from the outside
in, red, green, and blue. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Unexplained Shocks Around a White Dwarf Star
Image Credit: ESO, K. I+ékiewicz & S. Scaringi et al.;
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: How is RXJ0528+2838 creating such shock waves? A recently
discovered white dwarf star, the farther left of the two largest white
spots, RXJ0528+2838, was found 730 light-years away from Earth. Most
stars, when done fusing nuclei in their cores for energy, become red
giant stars, the cores of which live on as faint dense white dwarfs
that slowly cool down for the rest of time. White dwarfs are so dense
that the only thing that stops them from collapsing further is quantum
mechanics. In about 5 billion years, our Sun will become a white dwarf,
too. The featured image, obtained with the European Southern
ObservatoryCÇÖs Very Large Telescope, shows unexplained bow shocks around
RXJ0528+2838, similar to the bow wave of water around a fast-moving
ship. Astronomers donCÇÖt yet know what is powering these shocks, which
have existed for at least 1,000 years. The red, green and blue colors
represent trace amounts of glowing hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen gas.

Open Science: Browse 3,900+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
Library
Tomorrow's picture: passing comet
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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 February 17
A star field shows a bright comet with its head on the lower left and
tails extending toward the upper right. A background galaxy is visible
on the far right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Tails of Comet Wierzcho+ø
Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ J. Chamb+|;
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Some comets are regular guests of our solar neighborhood;
others come by only once, never to return. We wonCÇÖt have another chance
to see Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzcho+ø), which is currently making its way
through the inner Solar System. The hyperbolic orbit of this comet
indicates that it will likely become an interstellar traveler. Comet
Wierzcho+ø is today near its closest approach to the Earth, passing
roughly the same distance from the Earth as is the Sun. The featured
30-minute exposure was taken last week in Chile and shows a 5-degree
long ion tail as well as three shorter dust tails. The green hue of the
coma comes from the breakdown of dicarbon molecules by sunlight, but
that process does not last long enough to also tinge the tails. On the
far right lies a spiral galaxy far in the distance: NGC 300.

Tomorrow's picture: cradle alpha
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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 February 18
A starfield is shown filled with red glowing gas. On the right is a
blue-glowing complex nebula, while on the left there is a long
encircling arc of red gas. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Orion's Cradle
Image Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski

Explanation: Cradled in red-glowing hydrogen gas, stars are being born
in Orion. These stellar nurseries lie at the edge of the giant Orion
molecular cloud complex, some 1,500 light-years away. This detailed
view spans about 12 degrees across the center of the well-known
constellation, with the Great Orion Nebula, the closest large
star-forming region, visible toward the lower right. The deep mosaic
also includes, near the top center, the Flame Nebula and the Horsehead
Nebula. Image data acquired with a hydrogen-alpha filter adds other
remarkable features to this wide-angle cosmic vista: pervasive tendrils
of energized atomic hydrogen gas and portions of the surrounding
Barnard's Loop. While the Orion Nebula and many stars in Orion are easy
to see with the unaided eye, emission from the extensive interstellar
gas is faint and much harder to record, even in telescopic views of the
nebula-rich complex.

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

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

2026 February 19

IC 2574: Coddington's Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Dane Vetter

Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory,
flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful,
symmetric spiral arms. But small, irregular galaxies form stars too. In
fact, dwarf galaxy IC 2574 shows clear evidence of intense star forming
activity in its telltale reddish regions of glowing hydrogen gas. Just
as in spiral galaxies, the turbulent star-forming regions in IC 2574
are churned by stellar winds and supernova explosions spewing material
into the galaxy's interstellar medium and triggering further star
formation. A mere 12 million light-years distant, IC 2574 is part of
the M81 group of galaxies, seen toward the northern constellation Ursa
Major. Also known as Coddington's Nebula, the faint but intriguing
island universe is about 50,000 light-years across, discovered by
American astronomer Edwin Coddington in 1898.

Tomorrow's picture: in the dark
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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 February 20
A starfield with a light, orange-tinged background has a dark nebula
that looks like a flying ghost visible near the middle. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

B93: A Dark Interstellar Ghost
Image Credit & Copyright: Christian Bertincourt; Text: Keighley
Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: "A ghost in the Milky WayCǪCÇØ says Christian Bertincourt,
the astrophotographer behind this striking image of Barnard 93 (B93).
The 93rd entry in BarnardCÇÖs Catalogue of Dark Nebulae, B93 lies within
the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (Messier 24), where its darkness
stands in stark contrast to bright stars and gas in the background. In
some ways, B93 is really like a ghost, because it contains gas and dust
that was dispersed by the deaths of stars, like supernovas. B93 appears
as a dark void not because it is empty, but because its dust blocks the
light emitted by more distant stars and glowing gas. Like other dark
nebulas, some gas from B93, if dense and massive enough, will
eventually gravitationally condense to form new stars. If so, then once
these stars ignite, B93 will transform from a dark ghost into a
brilliant cradle of newborn stars.

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 February 21

Twilight with Moon and Planets
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: Only two days after the February New Moon's annular
eclipse of the Sun, a slender lunar crescent poses near the western
horizon in this wintry twilight skyscape. Its nightside faintly
illuminated by earthshine, the young Moon is joined by three bright
planets in the mostly clear, early evening skies above the village of
Kirazli, Turkiye. Inner planet Venus appears closest to the horizon.
Near the beginning of its 2026 performance as planet Earth's evening
star, brilliant Venus is seen through the warm sunset glare near
picture center. Straight above Venus, innermost planet Mercury is easy
to spot as it stands remarkably high above the horizon even as the
twilight sky is growing dark. Outer planet Saturn, most distant of the
naked-eye planets, is found just left of the Moon's sunlit crescent.

Tomorrow's picture: robots on Mars
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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 February 22
A black and white image shows an unusual landscape with a bright ridge
across the top and texture like small sand dunes. The shadow of
something unusual dominates the image center. Wheels are visible at the
bottom of the image. near the middle. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

Shadow of a Martian Robot
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Mars Exploration Rover Mission

Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human?
Then you might be the Opportunity rover exploring Mars. Opportunity
explored the Red Planet from 2004 to 2018, finding evidence of ancient
water, and sending breathtaking images across the inner Solar System.
Pictured here in 2004, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into
Endurance Crater and sees its own shadow. Two wheels are visible on the
lower left and right, while the floor and walls of the unusual crater
are visible in the background. Caught in a dust storm in 2018,
Opportunity stopped responding, and NASA stopped trying to contact it
in 2019 and declared the ground-breaking mission, originally planned
for only 92 days, complete.

Tomorrow's picture: dust blue
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 23
A cluster of blue stars is seen against a starfield of brown and clumpy
dust. The stars illuminate some of the nearby dust which causes the
dust to glow blue. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Kamil Fiedosiuk

Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you
have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this.
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of
the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a
light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though,
the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very
evident. The featured 18-hour exposure, taken from Bory Tucholskie,
Poland covers a sky area several times the size of the full moon. Also
known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light
years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common
legend with a modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded
since the cluster was named, leaving only six of the sister stars
visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of Pleiades stars
visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the
darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the observer's
eyesight.

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

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 February 24
The featured image shows four planets lined up behind the Sydney Opera
House in Australia. The image was taken one morning in April 2022, just
before sunrise. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House
Image Credit & Copyright: Prasun Agrawal

Explanation: Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just
after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn,
and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. If
you have a telescope, planets Uranus and Neptune can also be seen. In
order up from the horizon, the lineup this week will be Venus (the
brightest), Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter (second
brightest). It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this
early evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all
around the globe. The planets will appear to be nearly in a line
because they all orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane: the ecliptic.
The featured image shows a similar planet parade that occurred in 2022,
captured over the Sydney Opera House in southern Australia. Although
visible all week, the planets will be most easily seen together this
weekend.

Tomorrow's picture: space egg
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 25
A starfield is shown with an unusual orange object in the center.
Surrounding this object are blue rings and four thick jets. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

The Egg Nebula from the Hubble Telescope
Image Credit & Copyright: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Balick (U. Washington)

Explanation: Ever wonder what it would look like to crack open the Sun?
The Egg Nebula, a dying Sun-like star, can unscramble this question.
Pictured is a combination of several visible and infrared images of the
nebula (also known as RAFGL 2688 or CRL 2688) taken with the Hubble
Space Telescope. The star has shed its outer layers, and a bright, hot
core (or "yolk") now illuminates the milky "egg white" shells of gas
and dust surrounding the center. The central lobes and rings are
structures of gas and dust recently ejected into space, with the dust
being dense enough to block our view of the stellar core. Light beams
emanate from that blocked core, escaping through holes carved in the
older ejected material by newer, faster jets expelled from the starCÇÖs
poles. Astronomers are still trying to figure out what causes the
disks, lobes, and jets during this short (only a few thousand years!)
phase of the starCÇÖs evolution, making this an egg-cellent image to
study!

Tomorrow's picture: spiral webb
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 26

Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST and
PHANGS-HST Teams
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: What does the universe look like through infrared goggles?
Our eyes can only see visible light, but astronomers want to see more.
TodayCÇÖs APOD shows spiral galaxy IC 5332 as seen by two NASA
telescopes: Webb in mid-infrared and Hubble in ultraviolet and visible
light. To toggle between the two space-based views just slide your
cursor over the image (or follow this link). The Hubble image
highlights the spiral arms of the galaxy separated by dark regions,
whereas the Webb image reveals a finer, more tangled structure.
Interstellar dust scatters and absorbs light from the stars in the
galaxy, causing the dark dust lanes in the Hubble image, and then emits
heat in infrared light, so dust glows in this Webb image. The
Mid-InfraRed Instrument on Webb needs to operate at a chilling
temperature of -266+|C (or - 447+|F), otherwise it would detect infrared
radiation from the telescope itself. Combining these observations,
astronomers connect the CÇ£small scaleCÇØ of gas and stars to the truly
large scale of galactic structure and evolution.

Tomorrow's picture: invertebrates in 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 February 27

Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Katelyn Beecroft

Explanation: Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught
in this alluring telescopic field of view. Floating in the interstellar
sea, the nebula is anchored right and left by two bright stars, Mu and
Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the celestial twins. The Jellyfish Nebula
itself is right of center, seen as a brighter arcing ridge of emission
with dangling tentacles. In fact, this cosmic jellyfish is part of
bubble-shaped supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from
a massive star that exploded. Light from the explosion first reached
planet Earth over 30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astrophysical
waters the Crab Nebula supernova remnant, the Jellyfish Nebula is known
to harbor a neutron star, the ultradense remnant of the collapsed
stellar core. An emission nebula cataloged as Sharpless 249 fills the
field at the upper left. The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000
light-years away. At that distance, this image would be about 300
light-years across.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

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 February 28

Lunar Occultation of Mercury
Image Credit & Copyright: Fabrizio Melandri

Explanation: Fans of the western sky after sunset have lately enjoyed
this month's remarkable array of bright planets. Witnessed from some
locations, on February 18 planet Mercury even appeared to slide behind
the Moon, an event known as a lunar occultation. These two snapshots,
taken in early evening skies show before and after telescopic views of
the rare disappearance of innermost planet behind young Moon. The top
panel finds bright Mercury just visible at the northern (right) edge of
the earthshine-illuminated lunar disk. In the bottom panel the bright
planet has emerged in darker skies beyond the Moon's sunlit crescent.
As seen south of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, planet Earth, this lunar
occultation of Mercury lasted only about 3 minutes (video). But you can
still check out a parade of planets tonight.

March 3: Total Lunar Eclipse
Tomorrow's picture: moon 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 March 1

The Moon During a Total Lunar Eclipse
Video Credit: Wang Letian & Zhang Jiajie

Explanation: How does the Moon's appearance change during a total lunar
eclipse? The featured time-lapse video was digitally processed to keep
the Moon bright and centered during the 5-hour eclipse of 2018 January
31. At first the full moon is visible because only a full moon can
undergo a lunar eclipse. Stars move by in the background because the
Moon orbits the Earth during the eclipse. The circular shadow of the
Earth is then seen moving across the Moon. The light blue hue of the
shadow's edge is related to why Earth's sky is blue, while the deep red
hue of the shadow's center is related to why the Sun appears red when
near the horizon. Tomorrow night, people living in Eastern Asia,
Australia, and much of North America may get to see a Total Blood Moon
Lunar Eclipse. Here the term blood refers to the (likely) red color of
a fully eclipsed Moon.

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: Orion's dust
__________________________________________________________________

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 March 2
The featured image shows a dusty starfield with intricate dust
filaments all over. Red, blue, and brown nebulas will the field. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Dusty Surroundings of Orion and the Pleiades
Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Fern+índez

Explanation: How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can
you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here
is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a
deep image filled with filaments of normally faint dust and gas. This
image contains the Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Orion Nebula,
Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Witch Head Nebula, Eridanus Loop, and the
California Nebula. To find their real locations, here is an annotated
image version. The reason this task might be difficult is similar to
the reason it is initially hard to identify familiar constellations in
a very dark sky: the tapestry of our night sky has an extremely deep
hidden complexity. The featured composite reveals some of this
complexity in a 16 hours of sky exposure in dark skies over Granada,
Spain.

Tonight: Total Lunar Eclipse
Tomorrow's picture: over Mars
__________________________________________________________________

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 March 3

Flying over the North Pole of Mars
Video Credit: ESA, Mars Express, VMC; Processing & License: Simeon
Schmau+f

Explanation: If you could fly over the North Pole of Mars, what would
you see? Images from ESACÇÖs Mars Express mission in 2019 were compiled
into the featured video which shows just such a trip. First you see
below you a landscape tinted orange by rusted iron in the fine soil,
with some land appearing darker due to exposed rock. Soon the northern
polar cap comes into view, mostly white because of its reflective
frozen water. Surrounding the polar cap is the North Polar Basin, a
layered depression covered with dust and sand. The frames in the
featured video were captured during northern Martian Spring when the
carbon-dioxide ice is evaporating, leaving the underlying water-ice in
the cap. Mars Express continues to study the Martian surface and look
for clues about the Red Planet's ancient climate and potential for
life.

Tomorrow's picture: Space Eye
__________________________________________________________________

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 March 4
A starfield is shown with a large circular blue ring in the center. In
the ring's center is a bright blue spot. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

Shapley 1: An Annular Planetary Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Peter Bresseler; Text: Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: WhatCÇÖs looking back at you isnCÇÖt a cosmic eye, but Shapley
1, a beautifully symmetric planetary nebula. Shapley 1, also known as
the Fine Ring Nebula or PLN 329+2.1, bejewels the southern sky
constellation of the Carpenter's Square (Norma). The nebula is the
result of a star near the mass of our Sun running out of fuel and
shedding its outer layers. Glowing oxygen from those expelled layers
makes up the circular halo. The bright central point is actually a
binary: a white dwarf, the remaining stellar core after the outer
layers are expelled into space, and another star, orbiting each other
every 2.9 days. Shapley 1CÇÖs annular shape is due to our top-down view
of the system and provides insight into the influence of central stars
on planetary nebula structures.

Tomorrow's picture: sun bubbling
__________________________________________________________________

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 March 5
A desert landscape with a large volcanic land feature jutting out in
the center. Above is a series of eclipse phases of the moon traveling
from the top left downward toward the peak of the central volcanic
landmark. The phases show the moon transitioning from a white full moon
to a dark moon and into a red moon once it connects with the landmark
in the image. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
resolution version available.

Total Lunar Eclipse over Ts+¬ Bit'a'+¡
Image Credit & Copyright: Satoru Murata; Text: Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Earlier this week, EarthCÇÖs shadow swept across the full
Moon in the yearCÇÖs only total lunar eclipse. This stunning sequence
combines images showing the MoonCÇÖs path across the night sky. Each
lunar image captures our planetCÇÖs shadow gradually engulfing the Moon,
culminating in its red glow. Sunlight scatters and refracts as it
passes through EarthCÇÖs atmosphere toward the Moon. Shorter wavelength
light (blue and green) scatters more efficiently, leaving red, orange,
and yellow hues to paint the lunar surface. Ts+¬ Bit'a'+¡ (CÇØrock with
wingsCÇØ, also known as Shiprock), located in Navajo Nation, provides a
powerful volcanic foreground central to this photo and to stories of
Navajo origin, adventure, and heroism. As the first full moon of the
lunar new year, this eclipse held significance across cultures. Visible
from East Asia to North America, this eclipse united observers across
great distances, a cosmic reminder that we share the same sky.

Tomorrow's picture: astrosphere
__________________________________________________________________

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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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 March 6

The Astrosphere of HD 61005
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA / CXC / Johns Hopkins Univ. / C.M. Lisse et
al.; Infrared: NASA / ESA / STIS; Optical: NSF / NoirLab / CTIO /
DECaPS2
Processing: NASA / CXC / SAO / N. Wolk - Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA
GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Do young stars blow bubbles? The larger view shows a
stellar field observed with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
in Chile, and the inset highlights HD 61005, a star like our Sun, only
120 light-years away. Much younger than the Sun, at just about 100
million years old, it blows a fast and dense stellar wind that pushes
out the cooler dust and gas that surrounds it, forming a bubble called
an astrosphere. The star-blown bubble was detected with the Chandra
X-ray Observatory, and it has a diameter roughly 200 times the
Earth-Sun distance. Our Sun has a bubble too, called the heliosphere,
which protects the planets from cosmic radiation. Also shown in the
inset is debris left behind from star formation, observed by Hubble.
The debris appears as wings, giving the star its nickname: the Moth.

Tomorrow's picture: Saros 133
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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 March 7

Two Eclipses of Saros 133
Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN), Petr Horalek / Institute
of Physics in Opava / KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA

Explanation: Centered on maximum eclipse, these two total lunar eclipse
sequences look almost identical. Yet the one shown on top is composed
of images recorded in February 2008, while at the bottom is the recent
March 2026 total eclipse of the Moon. Why are they so similar? Because
these two total lunar eclipses are from the same Saros cycle. The Saros
cycle was discovered historically from observations of the Moon's
orbit. With a period of 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days, the cycle predicts
when the Sun, Earth, and Moon all return to the same relative geometry
for a lunar (or solar) eclipse. Eclipses separated by one Saros period
belong to the same numbered Saros series, in this case Saros 133. So
expect the next lunar eclipse in Saros 133 to be a repeat of this
year's March 3 eclipse. You can watch the next Saros 133 total lunar
eclipse on March 13, 2044.

Growing Gallery: Total Lunar Eclipse of March 3
Tomorrow's picture: aurora arbor borealis
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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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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 March 8
A leafless tree is pictured below a starry sky. In the sky behind the
tree is an aurora glowing mostly green but with some purple. The shape
of the aurora seems to follow the branches of the tree. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

The Aurora Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: Alyn Wallace

Explanation: Yes, but can your tree do this? Pictured is a visual
coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow
of a distant aurora. The beauty of the aurora -- combined with how it
seemed to mimic a tree right nearby -- mesmerized the photographer to
such a degree that he momentarily forgot to take pictures. When viewed
at the right angle, it seemed that this tree had aurora for leaves.
Fortunately, before the aurora morphed into a different overall shape,
he came to his senses and captured the awe-inspiring momentary
coincidence. Typically triggered by solar explosions, aurora are caused
by high energy electrons impacting the Earth's atmosphere around 150
kilometers up. The unusual Earth-sky collaboration was witnessed in
March of 2017 in Iceland.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
1995)
Tomorrow's picture: big brained
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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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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 March 9
The featured image shows a starfield surrounding a nebula that
resembles the human brain. A blue outer oval has a bright nebulosity
inside. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Cranium Nebula from the Webb Telescope
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

Explanation: What's going on inside the head of this nebula? Dubbed the
Exposed Cranium Nebula for its similarity to the human brain, what
created the nebula remains a mystery. One thought is that the Cranium
Nebula, also known as PMR 1, is a planetary nebula surrounding a white
dwarf star. In this mode, the outer atmosphere was expelled when the
original Sun-like star ran out of central nuclear fuel and contracted.
A competing thought is that the central star is much more massive,
possibly a Wolf-Rayet star, that is ejecting gas and dust via turbulent
stellar winds. Adding to the intrigue is the dark vertical central
division and the thin outer gaseous shell. The featured image was taken
by the Webb Space Telescope in mid- infrared light, while a second
image, included as a rollover, is in near-infrared. Future observations
may reveal if this brainy system will quietly just fade from view or,
many years from now, suddenly erupt in a powerful supernova.

Tomorrow's picture: telescope lasers
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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 March 10
A colorful sky appears above several large telescopes. Prominent in the
sky is the band of the Milky Way Galaxy which arches across the frame.
Orange laser beams connect one of the telescopes to the sky on the
image right. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Sky Glows over Paranal Observatory
Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

Explanation: Are lasers from giant telescopes being used to defend the
Earth? No. Lasers shot from telescopes are now commonly used to help
increase the accuracy of astronomical observations. In some directions,
Earth atmosphere-induced fluctuations in starlight can indicate how the
air mass over a telescope is changing, but in other directions, no
bright star exists. In these directions, astronomers can create an
artificial star with a laser. Subsequent observations of the artificial
laser guide star can reveal information so detailed about the changing
blurring effects of the Earth's atmosphere that much of it can be
removed by rapidly flexing a telescope's mirror. Such adaptive optics
techniques allow high-resolution ground-based observations of real
stars, planets, and nebulas. Pictured here, telescopes at Paranal
Observatory in Chile study a colorful sky filled with green airglow and
the Magellanic Clouds on the left, red airglow on the right, and the
majestic central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arching across the
center.

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 March 11
A cometary globule extends in front of a field of stars, showing what
seems like an open mouth towards a distant galaxy in the background.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

CG 4: The Globule and the Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: William Vrbasso
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting
galaxy? Thankfully, that is not the case. The red CÇ£monsterCÇØ shown in
the featured image is Cometary Globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in
the Constellation Puppis. CG 4 is a molecular cloud, where hydrogen
becomes cold enough to form molecules that can be brought together by
gravity to create stars. The shape of CG 4 resembles that of a comet,
but its head is 1.5 light-year in diameter and its tail is 8
light-years long; for comparison, the distance from the Earth to the
sun is only 8 light-minutes. Astronomers believe that the tail of a
cometary globule could have been shaped by a nearby supernova explosion
or by irradiation from hot, massive stars. Indeed, CG 4 and other
nearby globules point away from the Vela Supernova Remnant, at the
center of the Gum Nebula. The edge-on spiral galaxy, ESO 257-19, is
more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely
safe from the CÇ£monsterCÇØ.

Tomorrow's picture: Uranus
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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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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 March 12

A Near-Full Rotation of Uranus
Video Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, P. Tiranti, H. Melin, M.
Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: For the first time we are witnessing outer planet Uranus
take center stage and pirouette. Uranus is one of the Solar System s
strangest planets, laying on its side and spinning like a rotisserie
chicken. The featured video is composed of over 1000 spectra taken over
15 hours of continuous viewing by JWST's NIRSpec instrument while
Uranus rotates. The data captures the behavior of Uranus s ionosphere:
the ionized layer of a planet s atmosphere that strongly interacts with
the planet's magnetic field. The aurora s rosy glow traces the complex
interplay between Uranus's misaligned rotation and magnetic axes.
Clouds can be seen as bright spots traveling across the ice giant. The
blue-to-red colors represent low-to-high altitudes, showing a brand new
three-dimensional view into how energy is distributed throughout the
planet s atmosphere. In the image on the left, everything is framed by
the rings of Uranus. This is the most detailed look into the atmosphere
of Uranus achieved yet!

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: happy trails
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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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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 March 13

Toolondo Totality Trails
Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Perry

Explanation: In this composited night skyscape, stacked exposures trace
graceful star trails above Lake Toolondo, Victoria, Australia, planet
Earth. Captured while the lunar eclipse of March 3 was in progress, the
exposures used were made during the hour-long total eclipse phase. So
faint star trails are easily visible along with the trail of the
reddened Moon in the eclipse-darkened skies above the lake and trees.
Of course, the apparent motion of Moon and stars revealed in the
timelapse composite reflect the Earth's daily rotation around its axis.
Dramatically punctuating the Moon's trail as totality ended, a single,
separate telephoto image of the totally eclipsed Moon was scaled and
blended into the scene.

Growing Gallery: Total Lunar Eclipse of March 3
Tomorrow's picture: prospective pi planet
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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 March 14

A Year for K2-315b
Artist's Illustration Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, Christine
Daniloff, MIT

Explanation: Want to visit a planet that has 3.14 days in a year? Then
plan a trip to K2-315b, an earth-sized planet orbiting around a cool,
red, M dwarf star about once every 3.14 days. The exoplanet's
discovery, based on publicly available data from the planet-hunting
Kepler Space Telescope's extended K2 mission, was announced in 2020.
K2-315b's measured orbital period in days is nearly equal to the
extremely popular irrational number Pi. That puts the exoplanet so
close to its parent star that its surface is likely very warm,
baking-hot in fact. And this Pi planet is over 185 light-years away. So
instead of trying to arrange for an interstellar vacation to K2-315b,
there may be easier and more comfortable ways for you to celebrate Pi
day on planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: equinox at the pyramid
__________________________________________________________________

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)