Image of the Day - NASA

Suggested Searches

Image of the Day

The magnificent central bar of NGC 2217 (also known as AM 0619-271) shines bright in the constellation of Canis Major...
A bright, white galactic core shines near the center of the image with a faint bar of stars extending from it, diagonally to the right. Faint, hazy spiral arms encircle the core, with several distant stars and bright blue foreground stars with diffraction spikes scattered throughout the image, all against black space.
Artists used paintbrushes and airbrushes to recreate the lunar surface on each of the four models comprising the LOLA simulator....
In this black-and-white photo, a man in a white shirt and dark tie uses an airbrush to paint on a large model that looks like the surface of the Moon. A crater is in the foreground, emphasizing the large size of the Moon model.
Rivers swelled in southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan in April 2024 following heavy rain and rapid snowmelt. This image shows...
An enhanced color image of Orenburg, Russia when the Ural River water levels peaked. Vegetation is a deep red, while water is blue green.
In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers took a snapshot of the...
Taking up most of the image, is a multi-colored nebula in shades of blue, pink, yellow, orange, purple, and white. It appears as two translucent orbs attached by a white band.
Behold one of the more detailed images of Earth. This Blue Marble Earth montage—created from photographs taken by the Visible/Infrared...
North America is visible in this image of Earth. Clouds swirl all over the globe, and much of Earth's water is visible.
This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) of star-forming region NGC 604 shows how stellar winds...
At the center of the image is a nebula on the black background of space. The nebula is comprised of clumpy, red, filamentary clouds. At the center-right of the red clouds is a large cavernous bubble, and at the center of the bubble there is an opaque blueish glow with speckles of stars. At the edges of the bubble, the dust is white. There are several other smaller cavernous bubbles at the top of the nebula, including two tiny cavities at the top center of the image. There are thousands of stars that fill the surrounding area outside the nebula, most of them are yellow or white. At 11 o’clock and 6 o’clock there are extremely bright stars with 8 diffraction spikes. There are also some smaller, red stars and a few disk-shaped galaxies scattered across the image.
The ocean holds about 97 percent of Earth's water and covers 70 percent of our planet's surface. According to the...
This 2024 Earth Day poster is an ocean themed vertical 15x30 illustration created from NASA satellite cloud imagery overlaid on ocean data. The white cloud imagery wraps around shapes, defining three whales and a school of fish. Swirly cloud patterns, called Von Kármán Vortices, create the feeling of movement in the composition. The focal point is a cyclone in the upper third of the poster. At the center flies the recently launched PACE satellite. The ocean imagery – composed of blues, aquas, and greens – is filled with subtle color changes and undulating patterns created by churning sediment, organic matter and phytoplankton.
NASA Engineer Cindy Fuentes Rosal waves goodbye to a Black Brant IX sounding rocket launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility...
Cindy Fuentes Rosal, wearing a light-blue jacket with the words "Rocket Scientist" in white on the back, faces away from the camera with her hand in the air. In the background is a sounding rocket launching from a launch pad with a thick white trail of smoke underneath.
A team of engineers lifts the mast into place atop of NASA’s VIPER robotic Moon rover in a clean room...
Four engineers in white lab coats, yellow hard hats, and blue gloves and shoe covers surround a metal rover. Two engineers stand on stepladders as they fit a mast with attached instruments onto the rover.
This spectacular image showing the Moon’s shadow on Earth’s surface was acquired during a 20-second period starting at 2:59 p.m....
Black and white image of Earth with swirling white clouds and a dark shadow over North America from the Moon eclipsing the Sun.
The new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981. That is when the first Space Shuttle mission (STS-1)...
The first space shuttle takes off from a launch pad. White clouds billow upward, obscuring the rightmost third of the image. Bright flames pour out from the rockets; in contrast, the rest of the image is dim.
A total solar eclipse is seen in Dallas, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. A total solar eclipse swept across...
The Moon totally obscures the Sun in this image. The Moon is a black circle and light from the Sun surrounds the Moon's border.
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, left, Frank Rubio, Warren Hoburg, and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, right, pose for...
Four men wearing red, rectangular eclipse glasses and blue jumpsuits look up at the Sun. They are on the rooftop of a building. The U.S. Capitol dome is visible behind them.
“… I've just seen such tremendous things happen since I've been part of the Astrobiology Program, and that's why I'm...
A woman with shoulder-length flowing brown hair smiles gently at the camera. She is wearing earrings, a gold necklace, and a white blouse with blue patterned spots. The blue sky, green trees and grass, and a building are blurred but visible behind her.
What looks like highways going through a metropolitan area are actually a series of glaciers carving their way through the...
A view of mountains from the International Space Station. There are lines in various shades of gray that look like highways - these are paths carved by glaciers moving through the mountain range. Several peaks around the lines are untouched. A few clouds dot the sky at middle left and bottom left.
The primary structure of the Gateway space station's HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module is one step closer to launch...
A large circular structure stands in a facility. The camera looks straight through the structure. At this angle, the interior looks like concentric circles.
Safety is important, no matter where you're viewing the eclipse. NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station show off their...
Five NASA astronauts, three women and two men, pose for a photo together while wearing eclipse glasses. The eclipse glasses are rectangular and have two dark lenses.
“One of my cornerstone pinnacles [is], ‘Show up to work [and] life with integrity and intent.’ So, accomplish your goals...
Meghan Everett, wearing dark dress pants and a light-colored blouse with buttons and a ruffled collar, smiles at the camera as she sits at the edge of one of the International Space Station modules inside the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The edges of the module mockup are blue, with a yellow and black striped warning strip present on the step where Meghan is sitting. Blue handrails are present on both sides of the module mockup, and a wide variety of labels are visible on all of the module mockup surfaces within.
An Atlas-Centaur launched at 5:22 p.m. EST on March 27, 1969, to send Mariner 7 on its way to Mars....
A black-and-white photo of the Mariner 7 launch. An Atlas-Centaur rocket takes off, flames pouring out underneath it and smoke billowing off to the left. The words "United States" are written on the rocket. A few wispy clouds are visible in the sky.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a special message when it launches in October 2024 and heads toward Jupiter's moon...
A triangle-shaped metal plate with rounded edges against a black background. The silver-colored plate has waveforms, visual representation of sound waves, radiating out from a circular symbol toward the edges of the plate.
Two full-scale development model rovers that are part of NASA's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) technology demonstration drive in...
Two small rovers in a sandy yard. The rover in the back has solar panels fitted to it and white wheels. The one in the front has orange wheels and no solar panels.
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows LEDA 42160, a galaxy about 52 million light-years from Earth in the constellation...
A distorted dwarf galaxy, obscured by dust and by bright outbursts caused by star formation, floats roughly in the center. Tendrils of gas stretch up from the plane of the galaxy. A few distant galaxies are visible in the background around it, many as little spirals, and also including a prominent elliptical galaxy. A bright star hangs above the galaxy in the foreground, marked by cross-shaped diffraction spikes. The galaxy appears in shades of white and blue, while the distant galaxies are spots of orange.
A fast boat is seen at sunrise after the landing of SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft a few hours earlier in...
The sky and water take up equal parts of this image. At the horizon, the Sun colors the sky orange, with its light reflecting off a few distant clouds. A fast boat in the distance cuts a line across the water as it moves from left to right. The boat and the person aboard are in silhouette.
"I've come a long way from thinking, 'Well, I did this whole dissertation on geysers, what it would take for...
A woman that's standing in the woods wearing a red blouse and red suit jacket smiles widely at the camera.
Gemini VI astronauts Thomas P. Stafford (left), pilot, and Walter M. Schirra Jr., command pilot, are shown during suiting up...
Two male astronauts, Thomas P. Stafford (left) and Walter M. Schirra Jr., look directly into the camera. They are wearing white spacesuits with multiple patches including their names, mission, NASA, and the American flag. Behind them is a deep blue backdrop.
This majestic image of the dazzling green lights of the aurora borealis was captured on March 17, 2015, around 5:30...
The green lights of an aurora dramatically explode outward against the backdrop of the night sky peppered with fluffy white clouds and pinprick stars. A hint of red is also visible in the center of the light. Pine trees cast in shadow are seen below.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen holds a small pie that is festively decorated in commemoration of...
Stephen Bowen, wearing a green t-shirt and glasses, poses with a small latticed pie with a pi symbol outlined in green atop the lattice. Part of the International Space Station is visible behind him.
Immediately after splashdown, a recovery helicopter from the USS Guadalcanal hovers over the Apollo 9 spacecraft. Still inside the Command...
A recovery helicopter with "Navy" and "54" stenciled on it hovers above the water, the wind from its blades creating rings of circles below. Directly below the helicopter is an orange and white parachute. At bottom right is the Apollo 9 command module, where the astronauts await recovery.
Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, both NASA astronauts, are pictured inside the International Space...
Two astronauts, Jasmin Moghbeli (left) and Loral O’Hara in the cupola of the International Space Station. The cupola has several windows; in the top round window, we can see Earth. The astronauts wear black t-shirts and smile at the camera. Moghbeli holds a copy of First Woman, NASA's official graphic novel about a fictional astronaut who is the first woman to explore the Moon.
The Moon is seen passing in front of the Sun at the point of the maximum of the partial solar...
In the darkness of the sky, the Sun appears as a thin crescent of orange gold. The Moon blocks most of it from view.
This image shows two types of sand dunes on Mars. The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their...
An aerial view of the reddish-brown surface of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Barchan dunes (circular dunes) appear here like oval divots in the ground. Linear dunes also appear.
Excellent view of the docked Apollo 9 command and service modules (CSM) and lunar module (LM), with Earth in the...
Earth is a deep blue backdrop to this photo of astronaut David Scott and the command module and lunar module of the Apollo 9 mission. The joined modules are a metallic silver. He stands in the open hatch of the command module while wearing a white spacesuit. A metallic visor tops his red helmet.
NASA newest class of astronauts, selected in 2021, graduate during a ceremony on March 5, 2024, at the at the...
The latest astronaut candidate graduates, a group of men and women of different races and ethnicities, greet the audience (not pictured). The candidates all wear blue jumpsuits with patches on them. Behind them is a black and gold graphic of a star streaking upwards. The background has white dots on it that resemble distant stars.
In honor of Women’s History Month 2024 and those who paved the way for them, hundreds of female staff –...
A large group of women gathered for a photo on the street in front of the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility building.
This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1841, which is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud...
A cluster of stars. Most of the stars are very small and uniform in size, and they are notably bluish and cluster more densely together toward the center of the image. Some appear larger in the foreground. The stars give away to a dark background at the corners of the image.
Following a launch on Feb. 15, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander touched down in the Moon’s south polar region on Feb....
This image from the lander’s narrow-field-of-view camera was retrieved on Feb. 27. It shows spacecraft hardware in the foreground, and the gaping maw of a 2-billion-year-old lunar crater beyond. It’s approximately 500 meters to the near lip of the crater, and another 500 meters to its far side. Inky black space extends above the horizon.
"Anyone you see on the streets, their color or background doesn't matter; we all come into this world the same...
Charles Gatebe, wearing a blue checkered dress shirt, looks at the camera against a background of blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and green grass.
A female (left) and a male roseate spoonbill get together near the tall grasses at the edge of a pond...
Two roseate spoonbills stand at the edge of a pond. The birds are pink, with distinctive long, spoon-shaped bills and thin legs. The male (right) has a bright slash of red coloring above its wing. The water is gray and bordered by reed-like plants.
Members of NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the USS...
Teams work to secure a test version of NASA's Orion spacecraft on its stand inside a ship's well deck. The well deck has water in it. Straps extend from the spacecraft up to the balconies on either side, where people stand.
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features IC 3476, a dwarf galaxy that lies about 54 million light-years from Earth...
A dwarf spiral galaxy. The center is not particularly bright and is covered by some dust, while the outer disk and halo wrap around as if swirling in water. Across the face of the galaxy, an arc of brightly glowing spots marks areas where new stars are forming. The galaxy is surrounded by tiny, distant galaxies on a dark background.