NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day
To find and view past APODs, tap here: t.me/apodQA/3 NASA's APOD presence in Telegram: πapod.nasa.gov Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Show moreπ Analytical overview of Telegram channel NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day
Channel NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (@apod_telegram) in the English language segment is an active participant. Currently, the community unites 34 813 subscribers, ranking 409 in the Facts category and 1 011 in the USA region.
π Audience metrics and dynamics
Since its creation on Π½Π΅Π²ΡΠ΄ΠΎΠΌΠΎ, the project has demonstrated rapid growth, gathering an audience of 34 813 subscribers.
According to the latest data from 23 July, 2026, the channel demonstrates stable activity. Although there has been a change in the number of participants by 26 over the last 30 days and by 8 over the last 24 hours, overall reach remains high.
- Verification status: Verified (Officially confirmed by Telegram)
- Engagement rate (ER): The average audience engagement rate is 15.16%. Within the first 24 hours after publication, content typically collects 6.99% reactions from the total number of subscribers.
- Post reach: On average, each post receives 5 277 views. Within the first day, a publication typically gains 2 432 views.
- Reactions and interaction: The audience actively supports content: the average number of reactions per post is 56.
- Thematic interests: Content is focused on key topics such as copyright, orion, jupiter, dust, nasa.
π Description and content policy
The author describes the resource as a platform for expressing subjective opinions:
βTo find and view past APODs, tap here:
t.me/apodQA/3
NASA's APOD presence in Telegram:
πapod.nasa.gov
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astron...β
Thanks to the high frequency of updates (latest data received on 24 July, 2026), the channel maintains relevance and a high level of publication reach. Analytics show that the audience actively interacts with content, making it an important point of influence in the Facts category.
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| 01 July | +22 |
| 2 | 2026 July 24
RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: David Cowland
In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is identified with part of the southern constellation Centaurus on modern star charts. In fact, the new star was reported to be visible to the naked-eye for months before it faded from view, and is now thought to be the earliest recorded supernova. In this 21st century telescopic image, the wispy outlines of a faint emission nebula recognized as the remnant of that historical stellar explosion can be traced against a starry background. The ragged but roughly circular extent of the nebula, cataloged as RCW 86, represents interstellar gas ionized by the supernova's still expanding shock wave. Space-based images indicate an abundance of the element iron in RCW 86 and the absence of a neutron star or pulsar within the remnant, suggesting that the original supernova was Type Ia. Unlike the core collapse supernova explosion of a massive star, a Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear detonation on a white dwarf star that has accreted material from its companion in a binary star system. Near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and larger than the full moon on the sky this supernova remnant is too faint to be seen by eye though. RCW 86 is some 8,000 light-years distant and around 100 light-years across.
πDiscuss πHD | 2 073 |
| 3 | Tomorrow's picture: 185 AD | 2 185 |
| 4 | 2026 July 23
The Large Magellanic Cloud
Image Credit & Copyright: Monica Mesa
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
Have you ever seen another galaxy with your own eyes? The featured image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the closest neighbors of our Milky Way. If you are anywhere south of latitude 20Β° N (but the further south, the better), you can see it with the unaided eye if you go to a dark sky location, away from big cities and light pollution. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 163,000 light-years away, and a member of our Local Group of galaxies. Despite being small, with a total mass approximately equivalent to 10% - 20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the LMC is very actively forming stars. This is likely due in part to the gravitational push and pull of tides caused by the Milky Way on the LMC. Some astronomers have predicted that it will collide with the Milky Way in in about 2 billion years.
πDiscuss πHD | 3 034 |
| 5 | Tomorrow's picture:Β a friendly neighborhood galaxy | 2 800 |
| 6 | Why do the Corona Australis Cloud and the Chandelier Cluster appear close together in today's image? | 2 913 |
| 7 | 2026 July 22
The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and the Chandelier Cluster
Image Credit: DES/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (UAA/NOIRLab), R. Colombari & M. Zamani (NOIRLab)
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)
The Southern Crown (Corona Australis) dazzles with young and ancient celestial jewels. The Corona Australis Cloud is a collage of reflection and emission nebulae on the left of todayβs image. At 430 light years away, this cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth. It contains gas cool enough (-260 Celsius or -440 Fahrenheit) to collapse into protostars. Recently formed stars paint blue hues across the cloud as their light reflects off surrounding material. The waltz of the R Coronae Australis binary system stirs up the nebula NGC 6729. The younger of the pair ionizes nearby gas with its ultraviolet light, causing it to glow. The Chandelier Cluster (NGC 6723) dangles from the top right, but is actually tens of thousands of light years farther away than its apparent star-forming neighbor. While NGC 6723 experienced multiple periods of star formation creating slightly younger stars, the chandelier twinkles with stars almost as old as the universe.
πDiscuss πHD/Annotated | 3 444 |
| 8 | π Opinion Poll | 3 203 |
| 9 | 2026 July 21
Turtle Rock on Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas Thomopoulos
Is this a fossilized turtle on Mars? No. Although resembling a large Earth tortoise, this is a layered rock outcrop on Mars that is estimated to span about 15 meters, making it much larger than turtles on Earth. NASAβs robotic Curiosity rover came across this unusual mound, dubbed Miraflores, last month during its 4922nd Martian day exploring Mars. The small butte may survive because it was somehow more resistant to erosion than surrounding rock. More recent wind has now covered its top with orange Martian sand. Below the top shell, many layers of stratified rock are visible, possibly indicating a long history of intermittent wind-blown sand being deposited and then hardened by ground water. Similar wind-eroded layered landforms, such as yardangs in the Qaidam Desert of China, exist here on Earth. Curiosity and its companion rover Perseverance continue to investigate the ancient history of Mars as well as searching for signs of primeval life.
πDiscuss πHD | 3 590 |
| 10 | Which type of complex carbon molecules were detected in the Statue of Liberty Nebula and may have played an important role in the early Solar System? | 3 430 |
| 11 | Tomorrow's picture: not a turtle π’ | 3 332 |
| 12 | 2026 July 20
NGC 3576: The Statue of Liberty Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Logan Carpenter
What's happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. The complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57, and besides the iconic monument, to some looks like a flying superhero or a weeping angel. This re-assigned color image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars. A detailed study of NGC 3576, also known as NGC 3582 and NGC 3584, uncovered at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation, and the clear presence of the complex carbon molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are thought to be created in the cooling gas of star forming regions, and their development in the Sun's formation nebula five billion years ago may have been an important step in the development of life on Earth.
πDiscuss πHD | 4 103 |
| 13 | Tomorrow's picture: flying star statue | 3 722 |
| 14 | Why couldn't scientists simply collect the same solar wind samples on Earth? | 4 157 |
| 15 | 2026 July 19
Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert
Image Credit: USAF 388th Range Sqd., Genesis Mission, NASA
A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah desert after being tracked by radar and chased by helicopters. The year was 2004, and no space aliens were involved. The saucer, pictured here, was the Genesis sample return capsule, part of a human-made robot Genesis spaceship launched in 2001 by NASA itself to study the Sun. The unexpectedly hard landing at over 300 kilometers per hour occurred because the parachutes did not open as planned. The Genesis mission had been orbiting the Sun collecting solar wind particles that are usually deflected away by Earth's magnetic field. Despite the crash landing, many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze. Genesis-related discoveries included new details about the composition of the Sun and how the abundance of some types of elements differ across the Solar System. These results have provided intriguing clues into details of how the Sun and planets formed billions of years ago.
πDiscuss πHD | 4 480 |
| 16 | Tomorrow's picture:Β it came from space | 4 042 |
| 17 | 2026 July 18
Shadow and Rainbow
Image Credit & License: Dave Loschiavo
At sunset, an alignment of rainbow and mountain shadow was captured in this remarkable snapshot. The stunning view was recorded from a fire lookout on Smith Peak in the Plumas National Forest near Portola, California on July 13. Still, near sunset it's no accident that the majestic mountain shadow seems to point to the center of the graceful rainbow arc. Due to perspective and the long line of sight the mountain shadow naturally forms a tapering triangular shape, its apex positioned at the point opposite the Sun on the horizon. Following thunderstorms across the region, the rainbow arcs across the early evening sky, with its colorful and characteristic 42 degree arc formed as sunlight is refracted and reflected by the atmospheric water droplets. The geometric center of a rainbow arc lies at the antisolar point. And in this scene from the golden hour on planet Earth, that's also oposite the setting Sun along the distant horizon.
πDiscuss πHD | 5 221 |
| 18 | Tomorrow's picture:Β the antisolar horizon | 4 085 |
| 19 | Why might Tempel 2's dust trail appear narrower and brighter around July 20? | 4 755 |
| 20 | 2026 July 17
The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2
Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett
Comet 10P/Tempel 2 orbits the Sun once every 5.4 years. Currently visible in binoculars or small telescopes toward the constellation Capricornus, the periodic comet is captured in this sharp telescopic image from July 11 sporting a bright nuclear region and pretty greenish coma. Remarkably, a thin dust trail, not a typical dust tail, is also seen extending both east and west of the Tempel 2 nucleus. Unlike a comet dust tail, which tends to temporarily fan out in a direction away from the Sun, this dust trail is due to the residual dust shed during many past orbits along this ancient periodic comet's orbital plane. In fact, Tempel 2's dust trail may get a little narrower and brighter from our perspective as Earth crosses through the comet's orbital plane on July 20. Comet 10P/Tempel 2 will reach a perihelion on August 2, and make its closest approach to Earth on August 3.
πDiscuss πHD | 4 966 |
