Image of the Day Archives
For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.
Happy New Year from Space!
Monday, January 1, 2018: Astronaut Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) celebrated the New Year of 2018 with this photo of a sunrise from the International Space Station on his Twitter. - Tariq Malik
A Spiral in Space
Tuesday , January 2, 2018: Like a wheel within a wheel, this dazzling barred spiral galaxy (called NGC 1398) is sculpted by ribbons of dust and gas in this view captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert. The galazy is 65 million light-years away in the constellation The Furnace (Fornax). - Tariq Malik
Happy New Year from the International Space Station!
Wednesday, January 3, 2018: An international crew of three NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one Japanese astronaut celebrate the new year at the International Space Station by sharing a meal in their festive (and matching) Expedition 54 t-shirts. — Hanneke Weitering
Boeing's Heat Shield Put to the Test
Thursday, January 4, 2018: A heat shield for Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner space capsule undergoes qualification testing at the company's Huntington Beach Facility in California. The spacecraft will be used to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. — Hanneke Weitering
Mesmerizing Clouds of Saturn
Friday, January 5, 2018: Brilliant hues of blue and gold are smeared across Saturn's cloud tops in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using near-infrared data that the spacecraft collected just before it passed through Saturn's ring plane in December of 2012. — Hanneke Weitering
The Sun in 2017
Monday, January 8, 2018: A series of 365 images from the European Space Agency's Proba-2 satellite shows what the sun looked like every day in 2017, including a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21. The Sun’s 11-year activity cycle continued towards a minimum this year, a period when the number of bright active regions decreased while dark coronal holes became larger and more prominent. — Hanneke Weitering
John Young on the Moon
Tuesday, January 9, 2018: The late NASA astronaut John Young takes a walk on the moon in this photo taken during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Behind him are the Apollo lunar module and lunar rover. Young passed away on Friday (Jan. 5) at the age of 87. He was NASA's longest serving astronaut, having flown on the Gemini and space shuttle missions as well as two Apollo lunar missions. — Hanneke Weitering
Under a Super Moon
Wednesday, January 9, 2018: The first full moon of 2018, a supermoon, rises over Cerres Amazones in Chile's Atacama Desert - the future home of the European Extremely Large Telescope overseen by the European Southern Observatory. - on Jan. 1, 2018. — Tariq Malik
A New Dawn
Thursday, January 11, 2018: The sun rises over Earth in this stunning photo from the International Space Station captured by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov from orbit 250 miles above Earth. "A view of the sunrise from the ISS is a perfect start to a new day," said Shkaplerov, who posts images from space on Twitter. You can follow him here: @Anton_Astrey. - Tariq Malik
Zuma Sky Spiral
Friday, January 12, 2018: Dutch pilot Peter Horstink snapped this stunning photo over Khartoum, Sudan 2 hours and 15 minutes after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the secret Zuma mission into space on Jan. 7, 2018. Horstink was just one of many observers who saw the dazzling sky spiral from the Falcon 9 upper stage following the launch. Read our full story here! - Tariq Malik
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