NASA Image of the Day | Neptune Square
25 Years of NASA Student Launch
Students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst team carry their high-powered rocket toward the launch pad at NASA’s 2025 Student Launch launch day competition in Toney, Alabama, on April 4, 2025.
NASA Astronaut Anne McClain Works on Space Station
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station's main solar arrays during a spacewalk to upgrade the orbital outpost's power generation system and relocate a communications antenna.
A Glimpse of a Meatball
The NASA "meatball" logo mounted on the south side of the Flight Research Building at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, as seen through foliage.
SPHEREx Starts Scanning Entire Sky
NASA's SPHEREx mission is observing the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, or wavelengths of light not visible to the human eye. This image shows a section of sky in one wavelength (3.29 microns), revealing a cloud of dust made of a molecule similar to soot or smoke.
Hubble Images a Peculiar Spiral
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a peculiar spiral galaxy called Arp 184 or NGC 1961.
Back to Earth
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is pictured backing away from the International Space Station shortly after undocking from the Rassvet module on April 19, 2025. The Soyuz crew ship would parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan about three hours later returning NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner back to Earth after a 220-day space research mission.
Adding Dimension to Cassiopeia A
Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. It spans approximately 10 light-years.
Saxophone in Space
Astronaut Ronald E. McNair, STS-41B mission specialist, used some of his off-duty time aboard the space shuttle Challenger to play his saxophone.
Hubble Spots a Squid in the Whale
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy Messier 77, also known as the Squid Galaxy.
Seeing the Cygnus Loop in a New Way
The Cygnus Loop (also known as the Veil Nebula) is a supernova remnant, the remains of the explosive death of a massive star.
Hubble Visits Glittering Cluster, Capturing Its Ultraviolet Light
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular cluster Messier 72 (M72).
All Hands for Artemis III
A NASA spacesuit glove designed for use during spacewalks on the International Space Station is prepared for thermal vacuum testing inside a one-of-a-kind chamber called CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Nov. 1, 2023.
NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Images Asteroid Donaldjohanson
The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.
Sunshine on Earth
The sun's glint beams off a partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean just after sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above on March 5, 2025.
Fuzzy Rings of a Dying Star
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken the most detailed image of planetary nebula NGC 1514 to date thanks to its unique mid-infrared observations. Webb shows its rings as intricate clumps of dust. It’s also easier to see holes punched through the bright pink central region.
Hubble Spies Cosmic Pillar in Eagle Nebula
This towering structure of billowing gas and dark, obscuring dust might only be a small portion of the Eagle Nebula, but it is no less majestic in appearance for it. 9.5 light-years tall and 7000 light-years distant from Earth, this dusty sculpture is refreshed with the use of new processing techniques.
Space Shuttle Discovery Lifts Off
The space shuttle Discovery launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, heading through Atlantic skies toward its 51-D mission. The seven-member crew lifted off at 8:59 a.m. ET, April 12, 1985.
Scrub Jay at the Vehicle Assembly Building
A scrub jay perches on a branch near the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2020.
Testing NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe)
On March 18, 2025, NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for thermal vacuum testing at the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF), which simulates the harsh conditions of space.
Sculpted by Luminous Stars
This new image showcases the dazzling young star cluster NGC 346. Although both the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope have released images of NGC 346 previously, this image includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.