Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

provided by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

and Michigan Technological University (MTU). According to the website, "Each day a different image or photograph of our

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...

is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

." The photograph does not necessarily correspond to a celestial event on the exact day that it is displayed, and images are sometimes repeated. However, the pictures and descriptions often relate to current events in astronomy and space exploration. The text has several hyperlinks to more pictures and websites for more information. The images are either

visible spectrum The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called ''visible light'' or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wa ...

photographs, images taken at non-visible

wavelengths In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...

and displayed in

false color False color (or pseudo color) refers to a group of color rendering methods used to display images in color which were recorded in the visible or non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A false-color image is an image that depicts ...

, video footage, animations, artist's conceptions, or

micrograph A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscope or similar device to show a magnified image of an object. This is opposed to a macrograph or photomacrograph, an image which is also taken on a m ...

s that relate to space or cosmology. Past images are stored in the APOD Archive, with the first image appearing on June 16, 1995. This initiative has received support from NASA, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, and MTU. The images are sometimes authored by people or organizations outside NASA, and therefore APOD images are often

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

ed, unlike many other NASA image galleries. When the APOD website was created, it received a total of 14 page views on its first day. , the APOD website has received over a billion image views throughout its lifetime. APOD is also translated into 21 languages daily. APOD was presented at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in 1996. Its practice of using hypertext was analyzed in a paper in 2000. It received a ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'' Sci/Tech Web Award in 2001. In 2002, the website was featured in an interview with Nemiroff on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

''Saturday Morning News''. In 2003, the two authors published a book titled ''The Universe: 365 Days'' from Harry N. Abrams, which is a collection of the best images from APOD as a hardcover "coffee table" style book. APOD was the Featured Collection in the November 2004 issue of '' D-Lib Magazine''. During the

United States federal government shutdown of 2013 From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim ...

, APOD continued its service on mirror sites. Dr. Robert J. Nemiroff and Dr. Jerry T. Bonnell were awarded the 2015 Klumpke-Roberts Award by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific "for outstanding contributions to public understanding and appreciation of astronomy" for their work on APOD. The site was awarded the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

's 2022 Astronomy Outreach Prize.

Pictures

File:The Earth seen from Apollo 17.jpg, Welcome to Planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

(March 25, 2007; July 13, 2010) File:Opportunity's shadow sol 180 (PIA06739).jpg, Shadow of a

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

(August 3, 2004; February 4, 2007; June 29, 2008; May 8, 2011; March 29, 2015; February 17, 2019) File:Mammatus clouds regina sk june 2012.JPG, Mammatus Clouds over

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

(October 23, 2012; October 18, 2015) File:Eagle nebula pillars.jpg, M16: Pillars of Star Creation (November 6, 1995; January 19, 1997; April 12, 1998; May 2, 1999; September 24, 2000; November 25, 2001; October 26, 2003; April 24, 2005; February 18, 2007; March 28, 2010; July 22, 2012; April 24, 2016) File:Mars Valles Marineris.jpeg,

Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for '' Mariner Valleys'', named after the ''Mariner 9'' Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than long, wide and ...

: The Grand Canyon of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

(July 16, 1995; July 20, 1995; June 27, 1997; August 27, 2002; August 24, 2003; July 30, 2006; March 27, 2011; May 11, 2014; May 29, 2016) File:Roll-cloud.JPG, A Roll Cloud over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

(January 5, 2010; June 2, 2013; June 12, 2016) File:Cat's Eye Nebula.jpg, The Cat's Eye Nebula (June 28, 1995; July 4, 1996; August 2, 1997; November 1, 1998; October 31, 1999; March 24, 2002; November 12, 2006; December 27, 2009; August 26, 2012; July 3, 2016) File:Trifid Nebula.jpg, Infrared Trifid (January 13, 2005; July 7, 2007; July 25, 2015; December 31, 2016) File:Zeta Oph Runaway Star.jpg, Zeta Oph: Runaway Star (December 29, 2012; July 5, 2015; April 8, 2017) File:3C75 in Radio+Xray.jpg, Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75 (April 12, 2006; November 9, 2008; March 14, 2010; September 28, 2014; October 22, 2017) File:Fairy of Eagle Nebula.jpg, The Fairy of

Eagle Nebula The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745–46. Both the "Eagle" ...

(April 25, 2005; December 9, 2007; August 21, 2011; September 29, 2013; December 2, 2018) File:Bumper8 launch-GPN-2000-000613.jpg, The First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral (October 22, 2001; June 4, 2006; October 1, 2008; July 19, 2015; October 1, 2018) File:Nucleosynthesis_periodic_table.svg, The Origin of Elements, sourced from

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...

(August 9, 2020; October 17, 2017; January 25, 2016)

References

External links

* {{official website, http://apod.nasa.gov/
APOD Archive

– includes a list of mirror websites
Astronomy Picture of the Day RSS Feed
– Official RSS feed

* ttp://observatorio.info Observatorio– Spanish official translation, with web2.0 features
Starship Asterisk*
– APOD and General Astronomy Discussion Forum
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
– Official Facebook Page
Astronomy Picture of the Day App
– Official iOS mirror
APOD email service

List of APOD Mirrors and Social Sites
NASA online Astronomy education works American science websites Internet properties established in 1995