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
2025 March 05 - Seven Sisters versus California
In today's image, we see the Pleiades star cluster and the surrounding reflection nebula on the right side, the California Nebula, an emission nebula on the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 March 04 - A Quadruple Alignment over Italy
In today's image, we see our Moon in the sky, heavily distorted as it is low in the sky, its light passing through more of Earth's atmosphere.My podcasts are…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 March 03 - Blue Ghost on the Moon
In today's image, we see the Blue Ghost lander on the Moon. The landing occurred yesterday and is the first commercial landing on our Moon, bringing various…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 March 02 - The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in Light and Sound
In today's image, we see the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, an image taken over 20 years ago when Hubble was pointed at a relatively blank area of the sky. The image…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 March 01 - Blue Ghost to the Moon
In today's image, we see the Blue Ghost craft of the Moon. The Blue Ghost is scheduled to touch down tomorrow (March 2) to explore a part of the Mare Crisium…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 28 - Athena to the Moon
In today's image, we see the Athena craft as it leaves Earth heading to our Moon. It is scheduled to land on the Moon on March 6 and explore the region around…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 27 - Open Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158
In today's image, we see two one star clusters which appear close in the sky but are actually at very different distances and ages. My podcasts are available…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 26 - Einstein Ring Around Nearby Galaxy Center
In today's image, we see a recently released photo from the Euclid Telescope, showing a complete Einstein Ring around the center of a nearby elliptical…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 25 - M41: The Little Beehive Star Cluster
In today's image, we see the cluster known as the Little Beehive. This is an open cluster of star, possible much like the one our Sun was born in billions of…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 24 - Light Pillar over Erupting Mount Etna
In today's image, we see a light pillar in the sky about the erupting Mount Etna in Italy.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 23 - Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
In today's image, we see an image of Saturn including its north polar hexagon as imaged in the infrared from the Cassini spacecraft.My podcasts are available…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 22 - Rima Hyginus
In today's image, we see the lunar feature known as Rima Hyginus, This is a rare feature, which is a volcanic crater as compare to the more common impact…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 21 - Hubble's Andromeda Galaxy Mosaic
In today's image, we see a number of images of the Andromeda Galaxy taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over more than a decade. These have been stitched…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 20 - Messier 87
In today's image, we see the giant elliptical galaxy known as Messier 87. This is the dominant spiral galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. We can also see…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 19 - HH 30: A Star System with Planets Now Forming
In today's image, we see the Herbig-Haro object which is a young star, just forming. We can see evidence of a planetary system forming around it as well. My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 18 - Thor's Helmet versus the Seagull
In today's image, we see a couple of emission nebulae located in the constellation of Canis Major.My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 17 - SpaceX Rocket Launch over California
In today's image, we see the trail from a SpaceX rocket as it carries a group of Starling satellites into low Earth orbit. We can also see the planet Venus at…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 16 - Perijove 11: Passing Jupiter
In today's image, we see a video clip showing observations of the planet Jupiter as the Juno spacecraft passes in close to the clouds back in 2018.My podcasts…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 15 - Parhelia at Abisko
In today's image, we see the Sun off over the horizon, with the sun dogs on either side. These sun dogs, or parhelia, are caused by the presence of hexagonal…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 14 - A Cosmic Rose: NGC 2237 in Monoceros
In today's image, we see a cosmic rose in space. A young cluster of stars forming at the center of the nebula and their energy causing the rest of the material…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 13 - Reflections on VdB 31
In today's image, we see the reflection nebula known as VdB 31. The reflection nebula is caused by the scattering of light off of dust grains around a hot…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 12 - Asteroid Bennu Holds the Building Blocks of Life
In today's image, we see a video showing the asteroid Bennu as it rotates out in space. A sample of this was returned to Earth and has been found to contain…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 11 - The Spider and the Fly
In today's image, we see two nebulae in a star forming region which are whimsically known as the Spider Nebula and the Fly Nebula.My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 10 - An Auroral Hummingbird over Norway
In today's image, we see a pattern of lights in the sky known as an aurora. These are caused by particles from solar storms interacting with atoms in Earth's…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 09 - Milky Way over Australian Pinnacles
In today's image, we see the pinnacles in Australia in the foreground and the Milky Way and Zodiacal Light in the sky above. You can also note the crescent…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 08 - A Conjunction of Crescents
In today's image, we see two crescents in the evening sky. We see our Moon, just a few days after the new moon phase and we see the planet Venus which can also…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 07 - LEDA 1313424: The Bullseye Galaxy
In today's image, we see the galaxy known as the bullseye galaxy. The ripples in the galaxy, likely formed when another galaxy passed through this galaxy close…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 06 - IC 2574: Coddington's Nebula
In today's image, we see the dwarf galaxy known as Coddington's Nebula. This is a small galaxy, about half the size of our Milky Way. It has similarities in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 05 - Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
In today's image, we see the come known as G3 ATLAS in a timelapse video as it sets behind a hill in Chile.My podcasts are available in video form through this…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 04 - Anticrepuscular Rays: A Rainbow Fan over Spain
In today's image, we see a rainbow as well as anticrepuscular rays which are rays from the Sun that appear to converge at the point on the sky opposite to the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 03 - Wolf-Rayet star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
In today's image, we see the Wolf-Rayet star numbered 124. This is a very massive star, expelling material outward in massive stellar winds. The process…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 02 - Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
In today's image, we see the comet known as G3 ATLAS as seen last month. We see multiple images which show the disintegration of the nucleus of the comet.My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 February 01 - Nacreous Clouds over Sweden
In today's image, we see a specific type of high altitude cloud, known as nacreous clouds as seen over Sweden a few weeks ago. My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 31 - The Variable Nebula NGC 2261
In today's image, we see an example a a variable nebula which changes brightness and appearance in timescales of just a few weeks. My podcasts are available in…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 30 - Hydrogen Clouds of M33
In today's image, we see an image of M33, also known as the Triangulum Galaxy, which is one of the three large spiral galaxies in our Local Group of galaxies…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 29 - Dust Shells Around WR 140 from Webb
In today's image, we see a series of rings around a Wolf-Rayet star. They appear be be expelled every eight years, which may be related to the orbital period…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 28 - Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
In today's image, we see the comet known as G3 ATLAS. The nucleus of the comet appear to have broken apart, but the comet remains visible to observers in the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 27 - Pleiades over Half Dome
In today's image, we see the Pleiades star cluster as imaged over half Dome in Yosemite National Park. My podcasts are available in video form through this…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 26 - The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS
In today's image, we see the prominent tails of the comet known as G3 ATLAS which is currently visible just after sunset for those living in the southern…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 25 - Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud
In today's image, we see a portion of the Perseus Molecular Cloud. Here we see the dust in the region as well as a reflection nebula, Herbig-Haro object and…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 24 - Comet G3 ATLAS: A Tail and a Telescope
In today's image, we see comet ATLAS as seen a few days ago with a prominent tail. The nucleus appears to be disintegrating from its close approach to the Sun…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 23 - NGC 7814: Little Sombrero
In today's image, we see the galaxy known as the Little Sombrero for its appearance and resemblance to the Sombrero Galaxy. This is a spiral galaxy, like our…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 22 - The North America Nebula
In today's image, we see the North America Nebula where the outline resembles the eastern coast of North America. This is an example of an emission nebula in a…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 21 - Comet ATLAS over Brasilia
In today's image, we see comet ATLAS in the sky over Brasilia. As the comet moves away from the Sun, it will be visible in the southern hemisphere before it…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 20 - Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun
In today's image, we see comet ATLAS as Imaged by the SOHO spacecraft studying the Sun. The comet just made its closest approach to the Sun and is currently…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 19 - Titan Touchdown: Huygens Descent Video
In today's image, we see the descent video from the Huygens lander from 2005 which is became the first craft to land on an object in the outer solar system. In…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 18 - Full Moon, Full Mars
In today's image, we see the full moon as the planet Mars passed behind it in what is known as an occultation.My podcasts are available in video form through…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 17 - Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
In today's image, we see the supernova remnant known as Cassiopeia A. This is the remnant of a massive star that would have been seen to explode as viewed from…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 16 - M83: The Southern Pinwheel
In today's image, we see the spiral galaxy known as M83 or the Southern Pinwheel. My podcasts are available in video form through this YouTube Channel.This…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 15 - Wolf Moon Engulfs Mars
In today's image, we see the January full moon, known as the Wolf Moon which has just passed directly in front of Mars in what is called an occultation. My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 14 - North Star: Polaris and Surrounding Dust
In today's image, we see the North Star, also known as Polaris which is the star which happens to be located close to the North Celestial Pole on the sky. The…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 13 - Comet ATLAS Before Sunrise
In today's image, we see comet ATLAs as seen before sunrise recently. While currently rather bright, it is also hidden by the glare of the Sun. We shall see…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 12 - Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
In today's image, we see Mimas, one of the moons of Saturn. The large crater, named Herschel likely came close to destroying the moon during its impact. My…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 11 - Sky Full of Planets
In today's image, we see a panoramic view of the sky, showing 6 of the planets visible. The only planet not in the image would be Mercury. These planets will…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 10 - Young Stars, Dark Nebulae
In today's image, we see a region in the constellation of Taurus where young stars are in the process of formation. The dark nebulae contain protostars. In the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 09 - Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
In today's image, we see Arp 273, a pair of peculiar galaxies. These galaxies are being distorted by the gravitational interaction with one another, giving…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 08 - Supernova Remnants Big and Small
In today's image, we see two supernova remnants. The two remnants pictured are about the same size, but only appear different because they are at different…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 07 - A New Year's Aurora and SAR Arc
In today's image, we see an image of the sky showing an aurora to the left and a SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc to the right.My podcasts are available in video…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 06 - Colliding Spiral Galaxies from Webb and Hubble
In today's image, we see two spiral galaxies in the process of colliding. The image shows data from both the Hubble Space Telescope (visible light) and the…
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 05 - Rocket Launch as Seen from the International Space Station
In today's image, we see a video showing the launch of a rocket in 2018. The clip shows the rocket from above as recorded by astronauts on the International…