Astronomy Picture of the Day

Image of the Day - NASA

APOD: Parker: Sounds of the Solar Wind (2020 Jan 21) Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe; Processing: Avi Solomon https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200121.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgzGET6owYk Repost with active video Explanation: What does the solar wind sound like? A wind of fast moving particles blows out from our Sun, and although space transmits sound poorly, particle impact and variable-field data from NASA's near-Sun Parker Solar Probe is being transla

Villarrica Volcano Against the Sky (APOD: 2024 Jul 17) Video Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Muñoz; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego) https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240717.html Explanation: When Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, swings his blacksmith's hammer, the sky is lit on fire. A recent eruption of Chile's Villarrica volcano shows the delicate interplay between this fire -- actually glowing steam and ash from melted rock -- and the light from distant stars in our Milky Way galaxy and the Mage

A Solar Eruption from SDO (APOD: 2026 Jan 13) Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA, Helioviewer; Processing & Text: Ogetay Kayali (MTU) https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260113.html Explanation: What just leapt from the Sun? A towering structure of solar plasma suddenly rose from the Sun's surface and unfurled into space -- a structure so large that many Earths would easily fit within it-- marking the onset of a dramatic Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The event was captured in striking detail in late 2024 by N

The Moon During a Total Lunar Eclipse (APOD: 2026 Mar 01) Video Credit: Wang Letian & Zhang Jiajie https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260301.html 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 orbit