Shows / NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
These podcasts are my discussion of NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. These are brief (3-5 minute) audio summaries of the picture posted on NASA's Picture of the Day website: APOD. Video versions of these are available on YouTube. I use these as the introduction to each of my introductory astronomy classes. Students will be able to access them here to review what was discussed in class. I appreciate any comments or suggestions which can be sent to: wagnerastronomy@gmail.com.
Episodes
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 28 - The Sky Turns Above Paranal
In today's image, we see star trails in the sky over AT3, one of the auxiliary telescopes of the parasol Observatory in Chile. My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 27 - Colorful Aurora over Icelandic Waterfall
In today's image, we see a colorful aurora as imaged over Iceland back in 2024. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.This…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 26 - JWST Images the Lion's Head Nebula
In today's image, we see the planetary nebula known as the Lion's Head Nebula as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. My podcasts are available in video…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 25 - Earth's Shadow Visualized with Lunar Eclipses
In today's image, we see the Earth's shadow as visualized by putting together of images of lunar eclipses that have occurred over the past 22 years. My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 24 - Comet 220P in Outburst
In today's image, we see Comet 220P/McNaught which has now brightened enough to be visible in binoculars due to a couple of recent outbursts. My podcasts are…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 23 - Cassini Approaches Saturn
In today's image, we see a video that has been put together using still images from the Cassini spacecraft on its approach to Saturn back on 2004. My podcasts…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 22 - Mostly Perseids
In today's image, we see an all-sky, all-night image put together from images from multiple cameras monitoring the Perseid meteors from the shower the night of…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 21 - Time-Lapse of the Star S301 Orbiting the Black Hole in the Center of the Galaxy
In today's image, we see an animation of the very central region of the Galaxy shown the black hole - Sagittarius A* and the star known as S301 which orbits…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 20 - The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Cepheus
In today's image, we see the star forming region known as the Elephant's Trunk Nebula located in the constellation of Cepheus.My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 19 - The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor
In today's image, an object passing in front of the nearly totally eclipsed Sun. It was thought that this might be a meteor from the Perseus meteor sow…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 18 - Perseids from Perseus
In today's image, we see some of the meteors from the meteor shower a few days ago. The meteors are bits of the material from comet Swift-Tuttle which are left…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 17 - A Golden Corona Eclipse
In today's image, we see an image of the solar eclipse from Aug 12. In Spain, the eclipse occurred near sunset, making the Sun appear redder in the sky, giving…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 16 - Milky Way over Yellowstone
In today's image, we see the Milky Way as seen over a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 15 - Bright Perseids from Sweden
In today's image, we see several bright Perseids from the recent Perseid meteor shower as imaged over Sweden. My podcasts are available in video form through…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 14 - Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland
In today's image, we see an image of the total solar eclipse from August 12 as imaged from Greenland. This shows the diamond ring effect which occurs at the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 13 - Total Solar Eclipse over Spain
In today's image, we see an image of the total solar eclipse of August 12 as seen over Spain yesterday.My podcasts are available in video form through this…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 12 - Perseids over a Little Planet
In today's image, we see a 360 degree panorama centered on Earth with around a hundred perseid meteors from the shower in 2024. This year's meteor shower peaks…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 11 - Six Moons of Saturn
In today's image, we see Saturn and six of its moons as imaged just about a week ago. The moon, Titan to the lower right, is one of the seven large moons of…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 10 - Three Galaxy Pairs
In today's image, we see three pairs of galaxies in the Centaurus Galaxy Cluster. The lower of the three pairs are currently interacting. The upper two pairs…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 09 - Contemplating the Sun
In today's image, we see an image from a solar eclipse back in 2012. Some of the eclipse watchers appear in silhouette against the face of the Sun. We have…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 08 - A Messier Moment for Tempel 2
In today's image, we see the comet Tempel 2 and the globular star cluster M30 in the same field of view. Even though they are relatively close together in the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 07 - Rubin's COSMOS Field
In today's image, we see the COSMOS field which is being regularly studied by the Vera C Rubin Telescope in Chile. This is a region relatively empty of stars…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 06 - New Sharpest Image of the Sun Uncovers Instability
In today's image, we see the new sharpest image ever obtained of the Sun. This shows some of the results of what is known as Kelvin-Helmholtz Instabilities…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 05 - Spokes on Saturn's B Ring
In today's image, we see a timelapse showing spokes (possibly shadows) on the B ring of Saturn. These have been studied by the Voyager 2 and Cassini spacecraft…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 04 - Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula
In today's image, we see a JWST image of the Helix Nebula showing cometary knots - objects a bit larger than our solar system, but the mass of Earth.My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 03 - Vaporizing Meteor Photobombs the Lacerta Nebula
In today's image, we see an image of the Lacerta Nebula. While the image was being taken, a meteor happened to cross through the field of view of the telescope…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 02 - A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia
In today's image, we see what is sometimes known as a fire rainbow as images back in 2021. This is actually a type of ice halo known as a circumhorizontal…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 August 01 - Buck Moon and Belt of Venus
In today's image, we see the full Buck Moon rising off in the east while the Sun set behind the photographer in the west. In two weeks, the Moon will be new…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 31 - NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
In today's image, we see a dark nebula stretching across the image, known as the Dark Doodad. We also see the globular cluster known as NGC 4372.My podcasts…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 30 - Red Sun Through Wildfire Smoke
In today's image, we see a very red Sun as seen through the smoke of the Canadian wildfires imaged earlier this month. My podcasts are available in video form…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 29 - Psyche Receives Gravity Assist from Mars
In today's image, we see a timelapse video showing Mars as seen by the Psyche spacecraft in May of this year. Psyche used Mars' gravity to change direction and…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 28 - Barnard's Loop over Twin Volcanoes
In today's image, we see the constellation of Orion and Barnard's Loop over the twin volcanoes of Parinacota and Pomerape as seen from Bolivia.My podcasts are…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 27 - NGC 7635: A Galaxy Cluster Forms
In today's image, we see NGC 7635 also known as the Bubble Nebula. This is a bubble of gases being pushed away by a hot, young star.My podcasts are available…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 26 - Simulation TNG50: A Galaxy Cluster Forms
In today's image, we see the TNG50 simulation showing the formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters in the universe.My podcasts are available in video form…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 25 - Serenity and Tranquility
In today's image, we see two of the Maria on the face of the moon. The Sea of Serenity on the left and the Sea of Tranquility on the right. My podcasts are…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 24 - RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
In today's image, we see the supernova remnant known as RCW 86. This was recorded by Chinese astronomers back in the year 185 and the material seen represents…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 23 - The Large Magellanic Cloud
In today's image, we see one of the nearest galaxies to our Milky Way - the dwarf regular galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. My podcasts are available…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 22 - The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and the Chandelier Cluster
In today's image, we see part of the Corona Australis star forming region as well as the more distant Chandelier Cluster. My podcasts are available in video…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 21 - Turtle Rock on Mars
In today's image, we see Turtle Rock on Mars which can resemble a tortoise from Earth although much larger. This is a rock formation on Mars similar to some…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 20 - NGC 3576: The Statue of Liberty Nebula
In today's image, we see the star forming region known as the Statue of Liberty Nebula. Within this region, the gas and dust are shaped by massive stars.My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 19 - Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert
In today's image, we see a spacecraft that crash landed in the desert of Utah. It is not an alien craft, but one that was launched from Earth known as Genesis…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 18 - Shadow and Rainbow
In today's image, we see a shadow cast by the mountain as we look off to the east as the Sun sets behind the photographer in this image. We also see a rainbow…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 17 - The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2
In today's image, we see Comet Tempel 2 and its dust trail. The dust trail is different from the dust tail that we often see. The trail is material that has…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 16 - NGC 300: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars and Gas
In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy NGC 300. This is imaged in light emitted by sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen which helps to emphasize the gas could and…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 15 - Red Sprites in the Tatacoa Desert
In today's image, we see red sprite lightning on the Tatacoa Desert. Red Sprites are an unusual type of lightning which is different than the typical cloud to…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 14 - Double Lobed Asteroid Torifune
In today's image, we see the asteroid 98943 Torifune as recently imaged by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft. This craft previously visited the asteroid Ryugu and is…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 13 - Auroras from Space
In today's image, we see the auroral activity in a time-lapse as taken from the International Space Station a couple of weeks ago.My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 12 - Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star Streams
In today's image, we see the elliptical galaxy known as NGC 474. This deep image shows the wheels and star stream in the halo of the galaxy which could be due…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 11 - Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
In today's image, we see star cloud in the constellation of Satittarius. These are seen through a gap in the dust in the direction of the center of the galaxy…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 10 - Western Moon, Eastern Sea
In today's image, we see the western limb of our Moon and off on the edge is the easter sea or Mare Orientale.My podcasts are available in video form through…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 09 - The Red Glow of the Cosmic Bat Nebula
In today's image, we see the Cosmic Bat Nebula ice is a dark nebula - a star forming region which may resemble a bat flying in space. The red glow is the glow…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 08 - Swift Boost Mission
In today's image, we see an animation of the Swift Boost Mission to attempt to boost an astronomical satellite into a higher orbit, extending its life.My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 07 - NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
In today's image, we see a star forming region in the constellation of Ara. The patterns are formed by gas and dust in space with the patterns shaped and…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 06 - Dueling Bands over the Atacama Desert
In today's image, we see two bands of light in the sky. To the left is the Milky Way - our galaxy as we see it from within. To the right is the zodiacal light…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 05 - Saturn's Iapetus: Painted Moon
In today's image, we see an image taken by the Cassini spacecraft back in 2007 of the moon of Saturn known as Iapetus. This is a very unusual moon in that one…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 04 - Pathfinder on Mars
In today's image, we see the landing image from the Mars pathfinder from 29 years ago today. On top is the Sojourner Rover which was the first rover to explore…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 03 - Three Galaxies in Pavo
In today's image, we see three interacting galaxies in the constellation of Pavo. The galaxies are in the process of colliding and merging into a single larger…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 02 - Sibling Supernova Remnants
In today's image, we see two supernova remnants close together in the sky. Recent studies have suggested that these two stars were once part of a binary star…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 July 01 - The Cotton Candy Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
In today's image, we see the star forming region around Rho Ophiuchi including various types of nebulae. These include: emission nebulae, reflection nebulae…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2026 June 30 - Unusually Smooth Sections of Asteroid Itokawa
In today's image, we see the asteroid Itokawa as imaged by the Hayabusa spacecraft back in 2005. This was one of the early sample return missions, returning…