Image of the Day Archives
For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.
Moon and the Space Station
Monday, January 2, 2017: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped this photo of the first-quarter moon lurking behind the solar arrays at the International Space Station on Dec. 6, 2016. "We mostly look at earth but sometimes we also look up into space! Humans haven't been to the Moon for a long time, but that is set to change soon," Pesquet tweeted. — Hanneke Weitering
Pandora's Close-Up
Tuesday, January 3, 2017: Meet Saturn's moon Pandora! This photo of the little moon is the most detailed to date. NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Saturn, took to photo on Dec. 18, 2016 from a distance of 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers). — Hanneke Weitering
Happy New Year from Space!
Wednesday, January 4, 2017: Happy New Year from the International Space Station! Although the orbiting lab operates on Universal Time, Expedition 50 crewmembers celebrated the New Year at midnight in three different time zones, each corresponding to their homes in the United States, Russia and France. — Hanneke Weitering
Happy 125th Aurora-versary!
Thursday, January 5, 2017: On this day in 1892, German physicist Martin Brendel took the first-ever photo of the northern lights in black and white. To celebrate 125 years of auroral photography, we're sharing this stunning, colored photo of the light show that was taken from the International Space Station in January 2016. — Hanneke Weitering
Astronauts Prep Spacesuits for Spacewalk
Friday, January 6, 2017: Astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough pose for a photo with EVA suits inside the airlock at the International Space Station. The photo was taken on Dec. 30 after a spacesuit "fit-check" for today's spacewalk. — Hanneke Weitering
Galaxy IC 3639
Monday, January 9, 2017: This spiral galaxy, named IC 3639, has a glowing active nucleus that contains a supermassive black hole that is hidden by gas and dust. Astronomers combined data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory to create this image. — Hanneke Weitering
Map of Dione
Tuesday, January 10, 2017: Meet Dione, one of Saturn's many moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft took the images that make up this color mosaic during its first 10 years of exploring Saturn and its moons. The dark patch on the left side of the image may have been created by radiation from Saturn's magnetosphere. — Hanneke Weitering
Spiral Galaxies Collide
Wednesday, January 11, 2017: This strangely shaped space blob was once two spiral galaxies that got a little too close for comfort. Now the two have merged into one ultraluminous infrared galaxy, destroying almost any semblance of their original spiral shapes with the force of gravity. Astronomers named it IRAS 14348-1447 after the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, where it was discovered. The Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys took this image. — Hanneke Weitering
Full Wolf Moon
Thursday, January 12, 2017: January's full moon, also known as the wolf moon, rises over Glastonbury, England on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The moon was at its fullest this morning at 6:34 a.m. EST (1134 GMT). — Hanneke Weitering
Pesquet's First Spacewalk
Friday, January 13, 2017: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency is performing his first spacewalk today. Here he is seen working outside the International Space Station with the Earth beneath his feet. — Hanneke Weitering
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