APOD

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 17 March 2026 **NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy** Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, D. Calzetti, LEGUS, Team, R. Chandar Explanation: If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe containing billions of stars and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Dolphinfish (Dorado), NGC 1566 presents a gorgeous face-on view. Classified as a grand design spiral, NGC 1566 shows two prominent and graceful spiral arms that are traced by bright blue star clusters, red emission nebulas, and dark cosmic dust lanes. Numerous Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC 1566 have been taken to study star formation, supernovas, and the spiral's unusually active center. NGC 1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of the closest and brightest Seyfert galaxies, likely housing a central supermassive black hole wreaking havoc on surrounding stars and gas. #APOD #NGC1566 #SpanishDancerGalaxy #spiralgalaxy #granddesign #Dorado https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260316.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 16 March 2026 **Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent** Image Credit: Robert Fedez Explanation: To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula -- near an equinox. Then, during the late afternoon if the sky is clear, the pyramid's own shadows create triangles that merge into the famous illusion of a slithering viper. Also known as the Temple of Kukulkan, 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, the structure can be used as a calendar and is noted for astronomical alignments. The featured composite image was captured in 2019 with Jupiter and Saturn straddling the diagonal central band of our Milky Way galaxy. In a few days another equinox will occur -- not only at Temple of Kukulcán, but all over planet Earth. #APOD #Equinox #MayanAstronomy #Kukulkan #ElCastillo #AstronomicalAlignment https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260315.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 15 March 2026 **A Year for K2-315b** Image Credit: Not provided Explanation: Want to visit a planet that has 3.14 days in a year? Then plan a trip to K2-315b, an earth-sized planet orbiting around a cool, red, M dwarf star about once every 3.14 days. The exoplanet's discovery, based on publicly available data from the planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope's extended K2 mission, was announced in 2020. K2-315b's measured orbital period in days is nearly equal to the extremely popular irrational number Pi. That puts the exoplanet so close to its parent star that its surface is likely very warm, baking-hot in fact. And this Pi planet is over 185 light-years away. So instead of trying to arrange for an interstellar vacation to K2-315b, there may be easier and more comfortable ways for you to celebrate Pi day on planet Earth. #APOD #K2 #exoplanet #exoplanets #planetaryscience #K2mission https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260314.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 14 March 2026 **Toolondo Totality Trails** Image Credit: Jason Perry Explanation: In this composited night skyscape, stacked exposures trace graceful star trails above Lake Toolondo, Victoria, Australia, planet Earth. Captured while the lunar eclipse of March 3 was in progress, the exposures used were made during the hour-long total eclipse phase. So faint star trails are easily visible along with the trail of the reddened Moon in the eclipse-darkened skies above the lake and trees. Of course, the apparent motion of Moon and stars revealed in the timelapse composite reflect the Earth's daily rotation around its axis. Dramatically punctuating the Moon's trail as totality ended, a single, separate telephoto image of the totally eclipsed Moon was scaled and blended into the scene. #APOD #ToolondoEclipse #LunarEclipse #StarTrails #NightSky #Australia https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260313.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 12 March 2026 **CG 4: The Globule and the Galaxy** Image Credit: William Vrbasso, Cecilia Chirenti, NASA, GSFC, CRESST II Explanation: Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting galaxy? Thankfully, that is not the case. The red “monster” shown in the featured image is Cometary Globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in the Constellation Puppis. CG 4 is a molecular cloud, where hydrogen becomes cold enough to form molecules that can be brought together by gravity to create stars. The shape of CG 4 resembles that of a comet, but its head is 1.5 light-year in diameter and its tail is 8 light-years long; for comparison, the distance from the Earth to the sun is only 8 light-minutes. Astronomers believe that the tail of a cometary globule could have been shaped by a nearby supernova explosion or by irradiation from hot, massive stars. Indeed, CG 4 and other nearby globules point away from the Vela Supernova Remnant, at the center of the Gum Nebula. The edge-on spiral galaxy, ESO 257-19, is more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely safe from the “monster”. #APOD #CG4 #Globule #Galaxy #CosmicMonster #InterstellarMedium https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260311.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 11 March 2026 **Sky Glows over Paranal Observatory** Image Credit: Julien Looten Explanation: Are lasers from giant telescopes being used to defend the Earth? No. Lasers shot from telescopes are now commonly used to help increase the accuracy of astronomical observations. In some directions, Earth atmosphere-induced fluctuations in starlight can indicate how the air mass over a telescope is changing, but in other directions, no bright star exists. In these directions, astronomers can create an artificial star with a laser. Subsequent observations of the artificial laser guide star can reveal information so detailed about the changing blurring effects of the Earth's atmosphere that much of it can be removed by rapidly flexing a telescope's mirror. Such adaptive optics techniques allow high-resolution ground-based observations of real stars, planets, and nebulas. Pictured here, telescopes at Paranal Observatory in Chile study a colorful sky filled with green airglow and the Magellanic Clouds on the left, red airglow on the right, and the majestic central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arching across the center. #APOD #ParanalObservatory #LaserGuideStar #AdaptiveOptics #Telescope #Astronomy https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260310.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 10 March 2026 **The Cranium Nebula from the Webb Telescope** Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale, STScI Explanation: What's going on inside the head of this nebula? Dubbed the Exposed Cranium Nebula for its similarity to the human brain, what created the nebula remains a mystery. One thought is that the Cranium Nebula, also known as PMR 1, is a planetary nebula surrounding a white dwarf star. In this mode, the outer atmosphere was expelled when the original Sun-like star ran out of central nuclear fuel and contracted. A competing thought is that the central star is much more massive, possibly a Wolf-Rayet star, that is ejecting gas and dust via turbulent stellar winds. Adding to the intrigue is the dark vertical central division and the thin outer gaseous shell. The featured image was taken by the Webb Space Telescope in mid- infrared light, while a second image, included as a rollover, is in near-infrared. Future observations may reveal if this brainy system will quietly just fade from view or, many years from now, suddenly erupt in a powerful supernova. #APOD #CraniumNebula #WebbTelescope #jwst #DeepSpace #InterstellarGas https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260309.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 09 March 2026 **The Aurora Tree** Image Credit: Alyn Wallace Explanation: Yes, but can your tree do this? Pictured is a visual coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow of a distant aurora. The beauty of the aurora -- combined with how it seemed to mimic a tree right nearby -- mesmerized the photographer to such a degree that he momentarily forgot to take pictures. When viewed at the right angle, it seemed that this tree had aurora for leaves. Fortunately, before the aurora morphed into a different overall shape, he came to his senses and captured the awe-inspiring momentary coincidence. Typically triggered by solar explosions, aurora are caused by high energy electrons impacting the Earth's atmosphere around 150 kilometers up. The unusual Earth-sky collaboration was witnessed in March of 2017 in Iceland. #APOD #AuroraTree #Aurora #NorthernLights #SolarStorm #Space https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260308.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 08 March 2026 **Two Eclipses of Saros 133** Image Credit: Tunc Tezel, TWAN, Petr Horalek, Institute of Physics in Opava, NOIRLab Explanation: Centered on maximum eclipse, these two total lunar eclipse sequences look almost identical. Yet the one shown on top is composed of images recorded in February 2008, while at the bottom is the recent March 2026 total eclipse of the Moon. Why are they so similar? Because these two total lunar eclipses are from the same Saros cycle. The Saros cycle was discovered historically from observations of the Moon's orbit. With a period of 18 years, 11 and 1/3 days, the cycle predicts when the Sun, Earth, and Moon all return to the same relative geometry for a lunar (or solar) eclipse. Eclipses separated by one Saros period belong to the same numbered Saros series, in this case Saros 133. So expect the next lunar eclipse in Saros 133 to be a repeat of this year's March 3 eclipse. You can watch the next Saros 133 total lunar eclipse on March 13, 2044. #APOD #lunarEclipse #Saros133 #TotalLunarEclipse #MoonEvent #CelestialEvent https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260307.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 06 March 2026 **The Astrosphere of HD 61005** Image Credit: NASA, CXC, Johns Hopkins Univ., NASA, ESA, STIS, NSF, NoirLab, CTIO, DECaPS2, NASA, CXC, Cecilia Chirenti, NASA, GSFC, CRESST II Explanation: Do young stars blow bubbles? The larger view shows a stellar field observed with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, and the inset highlights HD 61005, a star like our Sun, only 120 light-years away. Much younger than the Sun, at just about 100 million years old, it blows a fast and dense stellar wind that pushes out the cooler dust and gas that surrounds it, forming a bubble called an astrosphere. The star-blown bubble was detected with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and it has a diameter roughly 200 times the Earth-Sun distance. Our Sun has a bubble too, called the heliosphere, which protects the planets from cosmic radiation. Also shown in the inset is debris left behind from star formation, observed by Hubble. The debris appears as wings, giving the star its nickname: the Moth. #APOD #HD61005 #Astrosphere #YoungStars #StellarWind #StellarWindBubbles https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260306.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 05 March 2026 **Total Lunar Eclipse over Tsé Bit'a'í** Image Credit: Satoru Murata, Keighley Rockcliffe, NASA, GSFC, CRESST II Explanation: Earlier this week, Earth’s shadow swept across the full Moon in the year’s only total lunar eclipse. This stunning sequence combines images showing the Moon’s path across the night sky. Each lunar image captures our planet’s shadow gradually engulfing the Moon, culminating in its red glow. Sunlight scatters and refracts as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere toward the Moon. Shorter wavelength light (blue and green) scatters more efficiently, leaving red, orange, and yellow hues to paint the lunar surface. Tsé Bit'a'í (”rock with wings”, also known as Shiprock), located in Navajo Nation, provides a powerful volcanic foreground central to this photo and to stories of Navajo origin, adventure, and heroism. As the first full moon of the lunar new year, this eclipse held significance across cultures. Visible from East Asia to North America, this eclipse united observers across great distances, a cosmic reminder that we share the same sky. #APOD #TotalLunarEclipse #TséBit #Shiprock #Moon #EarthShadow https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260305.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 04 March 2026 **Shapley 1: An Annular Planetary Nebula** Image Credit: Peter Bresseler, Keighley Rockcliffe, NASA, GSFC, UMBC, CSST, CRESST II Explanation: What’s looking back at you isn’t a cosmic eye, but Shapley 1, a beautifully symmetric planetary nebula. Shapley 1, also known as the Fine Ring Nebula or PLN 329+2.1, bejewels the southern sky constellation of the Carpenter's Square (Norma). The nebula is the result of a star near the mass of our Sun running out of fuel and shedding its outer layers. Glowing oxygen from those expelled layers makes up the circular halo. The bright central point is actually a binary: a white dwarf, the remaining stellar core after the outer layers are expelled into space, and another star, orbiting each other every 2.9 days. Shapley 1’s annular shape is due to our top-down view of the system and provides insight into the influence of central stars on planetary nebula structures. #APOD #Shapley1 #PlanetaryNebula #AnnularNebula #FineRingNebula #PNL329 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260304.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 03 March 2026 **The Dusty Surroundings of Orion and the Pleiades** Image Credit: Ignacio Fernández Explanation: How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a deep image filled with filaments of normally faint dust and gas. This image contains the Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Orion Nebula, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Witch Head Nebula, Eridanus Loop, and the California Nebula. To find their real locations, here is an annotated image version. The reason this task might be difficult is similar to the reason it is initially hard to identify familiar constellations in a very dark sky: the tapestry of our night sky has an extremely deep hidden complexity. The featured composite reveals some of this complexity in a 16 hours of sky exposure in dark skies over Granada, Spain. #APOD #Orion #Pleiades #Dust #Nebula #Stargazing https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260302.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 01 March 2026 **Lunar Occultation of Mercury** Image Credit: Fabrizio Melandri Explanation: Fans of the western sky after sunset have lately enjoyed this month's remarkable array of bright planets. Witnessed from some locations, on February 18 planet Mercury even appeared to slide behind the Moon, an event known as a lunar occultation. These two snapshots, taken in early evening skies show before and after telescopic views of the rare disappearance of innermost planet behind young Moon. The top panel finds bright Mercury just visible at the northern (right) edge of the earthshine-illuminated lunar disk. In the bottom panel the bright planet has emerged in darker skies beyond the Moon's sunlit crescent. As seen south of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, planet Earth, this lunar occultation of Mercury lasted only about 3 minutes (video). But you can still check out a parade of planets tonight. #APOD #lunaroccultation #mercury #Moon #celestialevent #astronomy https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260228.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 28 February 2026 **Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula** Image Credit: Katelyn Beecroft Explanation: Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught in this alluring telescopic field of view. Floating in the interstellar sea, the nebula is anchored right and left by two bright stars, Mu and Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the celestial twins. The Jellyfish Nebula itself is right of center, seen as a brighter arcing ridge of emission with dangling tentacles. In fact, this cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded. Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth over 30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astrophysical waters the Crab Nebula supernova remnant, the Jellyfish Nebula is known to harbor a neutron star, the ultradense remnant of the collapsed stellar core. An emission nebula cataloged as Sharpless 249 fills the field at the upper left. The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away. At that distance, this image would be about 300 light-years across. #APOD #Sharpless249 #JellyfishNebula #SupernovaRemnant #IC443 #NeutronStar https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260227.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 27 February 2026 **Webb and Hubble: IC 5332** Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, PHANGS-JWST and PHANGS-HST, Cecilia Chirenti, NASA, GSFC, CRESST II Explanation: What does the universe look like through infrared goggles? Our eyes can only see visible light, but astronomers want to see more. Today’s APOD shows spiral galaxy IC 5332 as seen by two NASA telescopes: Webb in mid-infrared and Hubble in ultraviolet and visible light. To toggle between the two space-based views just slide your cursor over the image (or follow this link). The Hubble image highlights the spiral arms of the galaxy separated by dark regions, whereas the Webb image reveals a finer, more tangled structure. Interstellar dust scatters and absorbs light from the stars in the galaxy, causing the dark dust lanes in the Hubble image, and then emits heat in infrared light, so dust glows in this Webb image. The Mid-InfraRed Instrument on Webb needs to operate at a chilling temperature of -266ºC (or - 447ºF), otherwise it would detect infrared radiation from the telescope itself. Combining these observations, astronomers connect the “small scale” of gas and stars to the truly large scale of galactic structure and evolution. #APOD #Hubble #JamesWebb #Infrared #InfraredAstronomy #DeepSpace https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260226.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 26 February 2026 **The Egg Nebula from the Hubble Telescope** Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, B. Balick, U. Washington Explanation: Ever wonder what it would look like to crack open the Sun? The Egg Nebula, a dying Sun-like star, can unscramble this question. Pictured is a combination of several visible and infrared images of the nebula (also known as RAFGL 2688 or CRL 2688) taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The star has shed its outer layers, and a bright, hot core (or "yolk") now illuminates the milky "egg white" shells of gas and dust surrounding the center. The central lobes and rings are structures of gas and dust recently ejected into space, with the dust being dense enough to block our view of the stellar core. Light beams emanate from that blocked core, escaping through holes carved in the older ejected material by newer, faster jets expelled from the star’s poles. Astronomers are still trying to figure out what causes the disks, lobes, and jets during this short (only a few thousand years!) phase of the star’s evolution, making this an egg-cellent image to study! #APOD #EggNebula #HubbleSpaceTelescope #Nebula #Space #Astronomy https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260225.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 25 February 2026 **Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House** Image Credit: Prasun Agrawal Explanation: Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. If you have a telescope, planets Uranus and Neptune can also be seen. In order up from the horizon, the lineup this week will be Venus (the brightest), Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter (second brightest). It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this early evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all around the globe. The planets will appear to be nearly in a line because they all orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane: the ecliptic. The featured image shows a similar planet parade that occurred in 2022, captured over the Sydney Opera House in southern Australia. Although visible all week, the planets will be most easily seen together this weekend. #APOD #PlanetParade #Sydney #Mercury #Venus #Saturn https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260224.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 24 February 2026 **Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster** Image Credit: Kamil Fiedosiuk Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very evident. The featured 18-hour exposure, taken from Bory Tucholskie, Poland covers a sky area several times the size of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the observer's eyesight. #APOD #Pleiades #SevenSisters #StarCluster #OpenCluster #Stargazing https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260223.html

**Astronomy Picture of the Day** 23 February 2026 **Shadow of a Martian Robot** Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Mars Exploration Rover Mission Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human? Then you might be the Opportunity rover exploring Mars. Opportunity explored the Red Planet from 2004 to 2018, finding evidence of ancient water, and sending breathtaking images across the inner Solar System. Pictured here in 2004, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into Endurance Crater and sees its own shadow. Two wheels are visible on the lower left and right, while the floor and walls of the unusual crater are visible in the background. Caught in a dust storm in 2018, Opportunity stopped responding, and NASA stopped trying to contact it in 2019 and declared the ground-breaking mission, originally planned for only 92 days, complete. #APOD #Mars #MarsRover #MartianShadow #MarsSurface #SpaceExploration https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260222.html