Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 April 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 April 9

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

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

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 10

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

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

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

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

2026 April 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: starburst and superwind
__________________________________________________________________

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 17

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: just dust
__________________________________________________________________

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 18

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: starry-eyed
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 22

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

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

Celebrate: Earth Day
Tomorrow's picture: placeholder
__________________________________________________________________

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: young moon and sister stars
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 24

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 April 25

The Persistence of Sunlight
Image Credit & Copyright: Lorenzo Busilacchi

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

Tomorrow's picture: mystic mountain monster
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: lost comet
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: cometary mountains
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: Waves on Titan
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

2026 May 1

Markarian's Chain
Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

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

Tomorrow's picture: seeing Titan
__________________________________________________________________

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

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 May 2

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: going interstellar
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 May 4

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: orionic volcano
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 May 9

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Growing Gallery: Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026
Tomorrow's picture: Canary moonset
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 May 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 May 13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 May 16

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 May 18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2026 May 22

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: 2nd place
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

2026 May 23

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: moving Sun dark
__________________________________________________________________

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

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

2026 May 24

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

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

Tomorrow's picture: space globs
__________________________________________________________________

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