NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Public

Can't Join? @apod_telegram

0

34.8k Members

Updated: May 12, 2026 at 4:43 AM

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

To find and view past APODs, tap here: t.me/apodQA/3 NASA's APOD presence in Telegram: 🌐apod.nasa.gov Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Follow @apod_telegram to stay updated with the latest apods and nasas trends and news

Ranking

Global Ranking

#456

+2

Language Ranking

#45

+1

Category Ranking

#23

-1

Participant Growth (Last 10 Days)

Total: 34.8K

24h growth: +0 0%

Loading posts...

Rating

Login required

Loading reviews...

Loading recommended channels...

Latest Posts

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

Tomorrow's picture: spiralling into a supernova

4,200

56

0

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260506.html

The Retrograde Dance of Saturn and Neptune
Image Credit & Copyright: https://twanight.org/profile/tunc-tezel/ ( https://twanight.org/)
Text: https://kerockcliffe.com/ ( https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

What does it mean for https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/ and https://science.nasa.gov/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 , meaning they appeared to move backward in the sky. https://youtu.be/1nVSzzYCAYk?si=I-42YO6rHQZ9CuNV&t=124 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. https://vimeo.com/1177973763 corresponding to today’s image shows Saturn and Neptune’s months-long dance across the northern night sky. Saturn stepped from https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/pisces/ into https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/aquarius/ and back again while Neptune remained in Pisces. This is the closest Saturn and Neptune have been in the sky since their last https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-a-conjunction/ in 1989.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260506 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/saturn_neptune_retrograde.jpg

Video Thumbnail

4,810

93

0

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

🎥 Video

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260504.html

Superplumes Inside Earth
Image Credit & https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en: https://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/directory/dr-sanne-cottaar via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LLSVP.gif

Why are there huge, unusual masses inside the Earth? No one is sure. By noting how earthquakes https://pnsn.org/education/seismology/earthquake-waves through https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/'s interior, humanity has discovered two https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/gd/2022/09/07/llsvps-mysteries-in-the-deep-mantle/ that appear to have unusual temperatures and/or chemical compositions. One hypothesis holds that the https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/cretaceous/superplume.html are sunken debris left over from the Earth-shattering collision that https://science.nasa.gov/moon/formation/ about 4.5 billion years ago. A competing hypothesis is that they are graveyards for old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics that slowly https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://i.redd.it/bp1czz6s0tx51.jpg each other over the past few billion years. No matter their origin, the superplumes are thought to affect volcanism, possibly creating, for example, island chains such as . Also known as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_low-shear-velocity_provinces (LLSVPs), Earth's superplumes are visualized in the https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LLSVP.gif.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260504

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260505.html

Orion over Mount Teide
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.instagram.com/krakow_astrophotography/

Orion is rarely seen like this. To achieve this , you need a camera capable of taking such https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-exposure_photography that in the night sky become revealed. Iconic nebulas that appear include the , the , and . For contrast, it also helps to have a https://science.nasa.gov/science-org-term/eo-topics-natural-events-volcanoes/ on the foreground, in this case the https://youtu.be/aVtyMNpCkWY on https://youtu.be/gi-V3xD7oII on the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain. But if you want your https://therealtenerife.com/posts/how-many-months-of-the-year-can-you-find-snow-on-mount-teide/d, you also need good timing -- because that only happens, typically, for a few days each year. Good timing also includes https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cat-waiting-window-69.jpg for https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/orion-constellation/ to appear just , which occurred late last year after sunset. The https://www.instagram.com/p/DXU1jyUCKfl/ is the result of a series of images taken consecutively with the same camera from the same location.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260505 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/OrionTeide_Rosadzinski_4247.jpg

Video Thumbnail

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260503.html

Trifid Pillars and Jets
Image Credit: https://www.nasa.gov/, https://www.esa.int/, https://www.stsci.edu/; Processing: https://jdepasquale.com/ ( https://www.stsci.edu/)

Dust pillars are like . They survive because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are slowly being https://youtu.be/ChEHQUMEkXw?t=20 by a hostile environment. Visible in the https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-dazzles-with-young-stars-in-trifid-nebula/ by the https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/ is the end of a huge gas and dust pillar in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula (M20), punctuated by a smaller pillar pointing up and an unusual pointing to the upper left. Many of the bright dots are https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-highlights/exploring-the-birth-of-stars/. A star near the small pillar's end is slowly being stripped of its by radiation from a tremendously brighter https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/ situated off the top of the image. The https://youtu.be/QFwfV2A1ZgY nearly a https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html and would not be visible without external illumination. As gas and evaporate from the pillars, the hidden https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ce/fb/c2/cefbc2fb4ca5022aa7f0d5b77d426c50.jpg source of this will likely be uncovered, possibly over the next 20,000 years.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260503 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/TrifidPillar_Hubble_4074.jpg

Video Thumbnail

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260501.html

Markarian's Chain
Image Credit & https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply: https://www.youtube.com/chucksastrophotography

Near the heart of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgo_Cluster, a string of galaxies known as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markarian's_Chain stretches across this telescopic field of view. Anchored in the frame at bottom right by prominent lenticular galaxies, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_84 (bottom) and , 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 . An estimated 50 million light-years distant, the itself is the nearest http://www.astr.ua.edu/white/mug/cluster/clusters.html. With up to about 2,000 member galaxies, it has a noticeable gravitational influence on our own https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group. Within the Virgo Cluster at least seven galaxies in Markarian's Chain http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983AN....304...69L, while others may appear to be part of the chain by chance.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260501 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/M84andM86.png

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260502.html

Seeing Titan
Image Credit: VIMS Team, https://lpl.arizona.edu/missions/cassini, https://www.univ-nantes.fr/, https://www.esa.int/, https://www.nasa.gov/

Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, the surface of https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/titan/facts/, 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 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 moon so far. In false color, https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21923 a consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/ orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view. https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly mission to Titan's surface is due to launch no earlier than July, 2028.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260502 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/PIA21923_fig1SeeingTitan2400.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260430.html

Waves on Titan
Video Credit: https://ugschneck.com/
Text: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.chirenti ( https://www.nasa.gov/ https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

Have you ever thought about surfing on an alien world? We can now expand the search for the https://www.popsci.com/environment/whats-the-formula-for-the-perfect-wave/ from Earth to the rest of the Solar System, and https://cdn.stocksnap.io/img-thumbs/960w/surfboard-beach_7A561BC965.jpg. Scientists have developed a new model for simulating https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/wavesinocean.htmlon https://news.mit.edu/2026/waves-hit-different-on-other-planets-0416. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/titan/ is one of the 274 confirmed of https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/ to date, and the only object in the solar system (besides Earth) known to have liquid lakes and seas on its surface. The https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kECVsTTetM&t=2s shows a https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025JE009490 of waves on Earth (right) and on Titan (left), under the same conditions (the scale marker is in meters). A light breeze would create taller, slower-moving waves on Titan than on Earth, because the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakes_and_rivers_of_Titan there are filled with light liquid https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/titans-surface-organics-surpass-oil-reserves-on-earth/, and because of Titan's low gravity and higher atmospheric pressure. In a couple of years, https://www.nasa.gov/ expects to launch the https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dragonfly/ mission, which will travel for 6 years and send a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotorcraft to explore Titan and study its https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/the-habitability-of-titan-and-its-ocean/.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260430

Video Thumbnail

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260428.html

CG 30: Cometary Globules
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.astromgs.com/

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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_Navis. Composed of interstellar gas and https://science.nasa.gov/universe/dust-in-the-stellar-wind-a-cosmological-primer/, the grouping of light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ distant. Energetic https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves/ from nearby hot stars and ionized their bright rims. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0502285 stream away from the which may have influenced their swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain are likely https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUCOEePIcAAht9h.jpg to form low mass stars whose formation will ultimately cause the . In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (upper right in the group) sports a small reddish glow inside its head, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990MNRAS.242..419S/abstract of energetic jets from a https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/ in the early stages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_formation.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260428 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/CG30Globules_Salamme_2772.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 11, 2026, 08:17 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260429.html

The Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.facebook.com/giovanni.tumino.58/
Text: https://kerockcliffe.com/ ( https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

No, Earth did not recently acquire six more moons! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Caa7mfotN/ is a combination of images following the Moon, Venus, and https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/pleiades-star-cluster-enjoys-worldwide-renown/ across a southern Sicilian sky as twilight turned to evening on April 19. From 2023 to 2029, the Pleiades' and the Moon “" each other once per month due to the Pleiades' location in https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-ecliptic-what-is-the-ecliptic/. April 2026 saw the celestial alignment of their visit with https://science.nasa.gov/venus/. About six stars in the Pleiades cluster ( https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-45/) are typically visible with the unaided eye. Due to the cluster’s visibility across the world, there are many myths and legends across cultures associated with the Pleiades. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/who-we-are/ of North America, https://nightskytourist.com/pleiades/, say that seven boys danced so enthusiastically that they lifted off into the sky. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/nasas-tess-spacecraft-triples-size-of-pleiades-star-cluster/, showing that after thousands of years of gazing upon this cluster, there is yet more to learn about the Pleiades.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260429 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/moon_venus_pleiades.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260319.html

Launch Plume: SpaceX Jellyfish
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.mseeley.net/
Text: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.bertonimarthahadlerchirenti ( https://www.nasa.gov/ https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

Even if you live with your https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXERT7uu3Y, you won’t find a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_jellyfish like this one very often. The https://www.flickr.com/photos/76093456@N04/55129715198 shows a https://www.spacex.com/ https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-9 rocket launch from https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/ in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida on March 4. The launch happened 52 minutes before https://www.weather.gov/box/sunmoon, and the https://www.nasa.gov/history/75-years-ago-first-launch-of-a-two-stage-rocket/ was high enough in the sky to catch the light of the , while the photographer was still in the dark. This combination of light and shadow, possible at https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/time/when-dawn-dusk-twilight, makes the exhaust, mostly https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/global-maps/water-vapor/ and https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/carbon-dioxide/, appear as a glowing cloud. It only looks like it's going down, as the rocket follows the on its way to https://www.nasa.gov/general/where-does-space-begin-we-asked-a-nasa-scientist-episode-43/. A related effect is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_phenomenon, which causes colorful https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/criss-crossing-contrails-80476/ sometimes https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/news/39/. But, in case you are wondering: real https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/jellyfish-and-comb-jellies were sent to space by https://www.nasa.gov/ in the 1990s as part of a https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/what-space-jellyfish-tell-us-about-interplanetary-travel/.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260319 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/jellyfish.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260318.html

Cygnus and the Solitary Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: 2025 Horacio Lander / http://astrohoracio.com/
Text: https://kerockcliffe.com/ ( https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

A lone tree stands in a quiet meadow in https://www.guadalajara.es/en/tourism/discover-guadalajara/, silhouetted against rising above like flames in the night sky. This deep night skyscape is a composite of exposures that reveals a range of brightness and color human eyes can't quite see on their own. Spanning over a thousand times the https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/sky-measurements-degrees-arc-minutes-arc-seconds/ of the full moon, https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/cygnus/ sets the sky afire with https://courses.lumenlearning.com/towson-astronomy/chapter/star-formation/ where clouds of gas and dust collapse under gravity until https://courses.ems.psu.edu/astro801/content/l5_p4.html ignites and new stars are born. These stars https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Ionization the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing it to https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/science-overview/science-explainers/spectroscopy-101-how-absorption-and-emission-spectra-work/, while tendrils of absorb some of that light and cast dark shadows across the sky. Cygnus is a trove of celestial treasures, notably the , , and nebulae, as well as , the first confirmed https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/. Cygnus continues to yield fresh science, including https://chandra.harvard.edu/deadstar/cygnus.html of the made possible by https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260318 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/cygnus_tree_crop.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260316.html

NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
Image Credit: https://esahubble.org/ & https://www.nasa.gov/, https://www.umass.edu/astronomy/about/directory/daniela-calzetti & the https://legus.stsci.edu/legus_survey.html https://legus.stsci.edu/team.html, https://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/physast/people/rupali-chandar.html

If not perfect, then this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March02/Gordon/Gordon2.html containing billions of stars and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Dolphinfish ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorado), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1566 a gorgeous . Classified as a http://burro.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr222/Galaxies/Spiral/spiral.html spiral, NGC 1566 shows two prominent and graceful spiral arms that are traced by bright , s, and dark lanes. Numerous https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/ images of https://esahubble.org/images/potw2344a/ have been taken to study https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8en5uDqw0aM, and the spiral's https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1184409133/photo/happy-dog-making-mess-with-papers-on-bed.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=HIvJz4ifaBEf3DWHBip9y7tWjdajJHbEnu3hBWlkYis= center. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019MNRAS.483L..88P/abstract makes the spiral one of the closest and brightest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert_galaxy, likely housing a central wreaking havoc on .

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260316 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/SpanishDancer_Hubble_3716.jpg

Video Thumbnail

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260317.html

The Tadpoles of IC 410
Image Credit & https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply: https://www.instagram.com/nebulaphotosdotcom

https://app.astrobin.com/u/nebulaphotos?i=07is4o shows off the central regions of otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410, captured under backyard skies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okEPUA_k2xQ in a Hubble color palette, the image combines visible broadband and narrowband data with data from the near-infrared. Below and right of center are two remarkable inhabitants of the interstellar pond of gas and dust. the Tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5632 galactic cluster of stars. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the cluster stars energize the glowing gas. But the cosmic tadpoles themselves are composed of denser cooler gas and dust. Around 10 light-years long they are likely sites of ongoing https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-highlights/exploring-the-birth-of-stars/. Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation their heads are outlined by https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/embryonic-stars-emerge-from-interstellar-eggs/ while their tails trail away from the cluster's central young stars. lies some 10,000 light-years away, toward the .

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260317 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/APOD_Sub_Tadpoles_NicoCarver.jpg

Video Thumbnail

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260314.html

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

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. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020AJ....160..172N/abstract, based on publicly available data from the planet-hunting https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler/ extended K2 mission, was announced in 2020. K2-315b's measured orbital period in days is nearly equal to the https://science.nasa.gov/learning-resources/10-ways-to-celebrate-pi-day-with-nasa-on-march-14/#hds-sidebar-nav-9 popular https://apod.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_dig.html number Pi. That https://science.nasa.gov/resource/orbits-and-keplers-laws/ the exoplanet so close to its parent star that its surface is likely very warm, https://news.mit.edu/2020/earth-sized-pi-planet-0921. And this Pi planet is over 185 light-years away. So instead of trying to arrange for an https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/immersive/exoplanet-travel-bureau/ to K2-315b, there may be easier and more comfortable ways for you to celebrate https://earthsky.org/human-world/pi-day-nasa-pi-day-challenge/.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260314 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/MIT-Pi-Planet-01-PRESS.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260315.html

Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.instagram.com/robert_fedez/

To see the feathered serpent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvv9EnBuem4 the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Castillo,_Chichen_Itza -- in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucatán_Peninsula -- near an . Then, during the late afternoon if the sky is clear, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pyramid-kukulcan-chichen-itza's own https://youtu.be/Zvv9EnBuem4 that merge into the famous illusion of a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl. Also known as the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza, the impressive step-pyramid stands 30 meters tall and 55 meters wide at the base. Built up as a series of square terraces by the pre-Columbian civilization between the 9th and 12th century, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcAZkHjUS6s can be used as a calendar and is noted for https://annex.exploratorium.edu/ancientobs/chichen/HTML/alignments.html. The https://www.instagram.com/p/DKs2JmFPxF6/ was captured in 2019 with straddling the diagonal central band of our https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/our-milky-way-galaxy-how-big-is-space/. In a few days another https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox will occur -- not only at Temple of Kukulcán, but all https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260315 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/MayanMilkyWay_Fernandez_1600.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

📷 Photo

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260313.html

Toolondo Totality Trails
Image Credit & https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply: https://www.pdogastrophotography.com/about-the-photographer
In this composited night skyscape, stacked exposures trace graceful star trails above Lake Toolondo, Victoria, Australia, planet Earth. Captured while the l https://science.nasa.gov/moon/eclipses/ of March 3 was https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5604, the exposures used were made during the hour-long . So faint star trails are easily visible along with the trail of the reddened Moon in the above the lake and trees. Of course, the apparent motion of Moon and stars revealed in the timelapse composite the Earth's daily rotation . 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.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260313 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/Jason_Perry_Totality_Trail_Lake_Toolondo_Australia1600.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://youtu.be/3jsn1829OPw

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260312.html

A Near-Full Rotation of Uranus
Video Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, P. Tiranti, H. Melin, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Text: https://kerockcliffe.com/ ( https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_maps_Uranus_s_mysterious_upper_atmosphere we are witnessing outer planet https://science.nasa.gov/uranus/ take center stage and https://tenor.com/kkzN22NnPWc.gif. Uranus is one of the Solar System’s strangest planets, and spinning like a https://tinyurl.com/rotisserie-chicken. The featured video is composed of over 1000 https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/science-overview/science-explainers/spectroscopy-101-types-of-spectra-and-spectroscopy/ taken over 15 hours of continuous viewing by https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/nirspec/ while Uranus rotates. The data captures the behavior of Uranus’s https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/planetary-ionosphere: the ionized layer of a planet’s atmosphere that strongly interacts with https://astrobites.org/2020/12/11/a-tour-of-solar-system-magnetospheres/. The aurora’s rosy glow traces the complex interplay between https://www.planetary.org/space-images/the-magnetic-fields-of-uranus-and-neptune. Clouds can be seen as bright spots traveling across the ice giant. The blue-to-red colors represent low-to-high altitudes, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119304into how energy is distributed throughout the planet’s atmosphere. In the image on the left, everything is framed by . This is the most detailed look into the atmosphere of Uranus achieved yet!

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260312 🎞 https://youtu.be/3jsn1829OPw

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260311.html

CG 4: The Globule and the Galaxy
Image Credit & https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply: https://www.stellaraustralis.com/
Text: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.bertonimarthahadlerchirenti ( https://www.nasa.gov/ https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/, https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti, https://cresst2.umd.edu/)

Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting galaxy? Thankfully, that is not the case. The red “monster” shown in the https://www.instagram.com/p/DVM1o0MkyDe/ is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CG_4, 1,300 light-years away in the https://earthsky.org/constellations/puppis-the-stern-argo-navis/. CG 4 is a https://www.britannica.com/science/molecular-cloud, where https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/h/hydrogen.html becomes cold enough to form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule that can be brought together by gravity to https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/#birth. The shape of CG 4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia that of a https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/11/Structure_of_a_comet, but its head is https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/what-is-a-light-year/ in diameter and its tail is 8 light-years long; for comparison, the distance from the Earth to the sun is only https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/education/about-the-sun/how-far-away-sun. Astronomers https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2412/ 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 https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1503/ from the , at the center of the . The edge-on https://science.nasa.gov/universe/galaxies/types/, ESO 257-19, is more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely safe from the “ https://plus.unsplash.com/premium_photo-1720922579207-251b22182659”.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260311 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/cg4.jpg

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mar 30, 2026, 09:48 PM

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260310.html

Sky Glows over Paranal Observatory
Image Credit & Copyright: https://www.flickr.com/photos/julienlooten/

Are lasers from giant telescopes being used to defend the Earth? No. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser shot are now commonly used to help increase the accuracy of astronomical observations. In some directions, Earth atmosphere-induced in starlight can indicate how the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_mass_(astronomy) over a https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/telescopes/ is changing, but in other directions, no bright star exists. In these directions, astronomers can create an https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/astronomers-are-creating-fake-stars-on-purpose-and-the-reason-is-surprisingly-practical/articleshow/129141647.cms with a https://science.howstuffworks.com/laser.htm. Subsequent observations of the artificial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guide_star can reveal information so detailed about the changing blurring effects of the https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-atmosphere/earths-atmosphere-a-multi-layered-cake/that much of it https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://external-preview.redd.it/4r6uFaV1OY5PZpRyaQyEUG3NEdyytuDsuzFlzSQb2Mg.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ed840ba0c7af96a0994daec2d97b4a507a08712f by rapidly flexing a telescope's mirror. Such https://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/adaptiveOptics/AOPrimer.html techniques allow high-resolution ground-based observations of , , and https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2025a/. https://www.flickr.com/photos/julienlooten/55107654448/in/pool-apods/, telescopes at https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_LwlwJWZN0&t=115s in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile study a colorful sky filled with green https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12963 and the on the left, red https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12963 on the right, and the majestic central band of our https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14935/ Galaxy across the center.

🔗 https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260310 🎞 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/TeleSkyLasers_Looten_3000.jpg

Showing 20 of 20 posts

No more posts