Image of the Day Archives
For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.
Soyuz View of the International Space Station
Thursday, November 1, 2018: When three Expedition 56 crewmembers left the International Space Station in their Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft last month, they captured this gorgeous view of the orbiting lab on their way home. NASA astronauts Andrew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev flew around of the space station to take pictures before returning to Earth. The trio spent 197 days in space. — Hanneke Weitering
Dawn's Last Look at Ceres
Friday, November 2, 2018: This is one of the last photos that NASA's Dawn spacecraft took at the dwarf planet Ceres before its mission came to an end. NASA announced yesterday (Nov. 1) that Dawn has run out of fuel after a fruitful 11-year mission to the asteroid belt. This view of Ceres shows Ahuna Mons, the largest mountain on Ceres, seen from an altitude of 2,220 miles (3,570 kilometers). — Hanneke Weitering
Stellar Reflections
Monday, November 5, 2018: A reflection of the Milky Way glitters in the reflective dish of the retired Swedish-ESO Submillimeter Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert. Glowing directly above the telescope in this image is the constellation Orion the Hunter, along with the bright stars Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon. To the left of the dish is Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy. (To identify more celestial objects in this image, see an annotated version here.) — Hanneke Weitering
So Long, Service Module!
Tuesday, November 6, 2018: A service module for NASA's Orion spacecraft boards an Antonov cargo plane in Bremen, Germany to begin its journey to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will arrive today. The European-built component will provide power and propulsion to the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to start launching crews into space in 2023. — Hanneke Weitering
Peekaboo, Io See You!
Wednesday, November 7, 2018: Jupiter's moon Io peeks out from behind the planet's horizon in this image from the JunoCam instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Justin Cowart processed the image using raw data Juno acquired during its 16th close flyby of the giant gas planet on Oct. 28. At the time, Juno was about 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops. — Hanneke Weitering
A 'Kounotori' Departs the Space Station
Thursday, November 8, 2018: The Canadarm2 robotic arm outside the International Space Station released a Japanese cargo spacecraft above the Pacific Ocean yesterday (Nov. 7). Designed to be disposable, the HTV-7 spacecraft was loaded with trash before astronauts sent it into Earth's atmosphere, where it will safely burn up upon reentry. — Hanneke Weitering
A Jovian Dolphin
Friday, November 9, 2018: Do you see the dolphin in Jupiter's atmosphere? A new image from NASA's Juno spacecraft shows a dolphin-shaped feature "swimming" through Jupiter's cloud bands. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using data collected by the spacecraft's JunoCam instrument during a close flyby of Jupiter on Oct. 29. — Hanneke Weitering
NASA Honors Veterans
Monday, November 12, 2018:An American flag floats in the 7-window Cupola that serves as a sort of observation deck on the International Space Station, an appropriate image to mark Veterans Day. NASA chief Jim Bridenstine celebrates U.S. military veterans this week in a special video message. Many NASA astronauts began their work with the agency as military pilots or officers. — Tariq Malik
'Glory' Seen from Space
Tuesday, November 13, 2018: A rainbow shaped like a bull's eye shines down on a blanket of clouds in this view from the International Space Station. Known as a glory, this phenomenon is most often seen from airplanes. "Our shadow is (theoretically) right in the middle of the rainbow," European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst tweeted, "but we don't have a core shadow due to our altitude." — Hanneke Weitering
A Partial Eclipse in Space
Wednesday, November 14, 2018: Earth's moon photobombs the sun in this view from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, a spacecraft that continuously stares at the sun from its geosynchronous orbit. During this lunar transit on Nov. 7, the moon blocked about 44 percent of the sun. The eclipse wasn't visible from Earth. — Hanneke Weitering
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