Astronomy Picture of the Day · September 2026

APOD, September 2026

30 entries from September 2026: 28 images and 2 videos. 17 carry a copyright notice from the credited creator.

The Moon is seen in front of clouds but with part of its lower left being unusually dark. On the upper right, a foreground airplane appears flying into the disk of the Moon. September 1, 2026

A Plane Lunar Eclipse

Paulo FerreiraSolar Eclipses and Culture September 2, 2026 · Copyrighted

Solar Eclipses and Culture

Javier CastroA sunset view of the solar eclipse, framed behind a stork standing on one leg in her nest.Włodzimierz Bubak September 3, 2026 · Copyrighted

The Eclipse and the Stork

Włodzimierz BubakTwo spiral galaxies colliding. September 4, 2026

Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola

Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)A solar eclipse as viewed by a pilot from an aircraft cockpit. September 5, 2026

Chasing the Moon's Shadow

NASAThe picture shows Pluto in enhanced colors and high resolution and seen by the passing New Horizons spacecraft in 2015. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. September 6, 2026

Pluto in Enhanced Color

NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.A busy starfield is dominated by red and blue glowing gas and dark filamentary dust. The nebula appears to some to have the shape of a pelican. September 7, 2026 · Copyrighted

The Pelican Nebula in Gas, Dust, and Stars

Mark KillionA dark field has a bright circular disk near the center. Around the center of this disk are bands. One of the bands appear particularly geometric and appears to have 10 sides. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. September 8, 2026

Hubble: Decagon Around Saturn's South Pole

NASA, ESA, STScI, HST; A. Sánchez-Lavega (UPV), A. Simon (NASA-GSFC), M. Wong (UC Berkeley); Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)Video September 9, 2026 · Video

Witness XZ Andromedae Wink

Ogetay Kayali (MTU, Starfront Observatories)LDN 1295: The Giraffe Nebula September 10, 2026 · Copyrighted

LDN 1295: The Giraffe Nebula

Alessandro MergaA spiral galaxy is shown in front of a dark field of stars. September 11, 2026 · Copyrighted

M83: The Southern Pinwheel

Aldo ZanettiApollo 11: Catching Some Sun September 12, 2026

Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun

Image Credit: Apollo 11 , NASA (Image scanned by Kipp Teague)Video September 13, 2026 · Video · Copyrighted

Comet NEOWISE Rising Over the Adriatic Sea

Paolo GirottiA table with each entry being a separate element. The entries depict where each element comes from (i.e., the big bang, stellar deaths, etc). September 14, 2026

Where Your Elements Came From

NASA GSFC‘s SVSA blue sky has a light cloud crossing the middle of the image. Two crescent objects are visible through the cloud, a large faint crescent in the center and a brighter crescent above it. September 15, 2026 · Copyrighted

A Daytime Eclipse: Moon Occults Venus

Arnaud MariatHubble and JWST image of M64. A massive spiral galaxy glows with a yellow core, surrounded by arms full of orange-brown dust and pink and blue patches of star formation. Framed by a haze of dark dust, the galaxy shines against black space d September 16, 2026

Webb's View of M64

NASA, CSA, ESA, F. Belfiore (ESO), J. Lee (STScI), A. Leroy (OSU), and D. Thilker (JHU); Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University)A colorful nebula resembles an open treasure chest on a field of stars September 17, 2026

A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Reiter; Acknowledgement: M. H. ÖzsaraçImage of a face-on spiral galaxy. September 18, 2026 · Copyrighted

Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy

George ChatzifrantzisTwo people are seated looking up at the night sky. September 19, 2026 · Copyrighted

A Zodiacal Night

Neelam and Ajay Talwar (TWAN)Multiple images of the Sun trace out an analemma curve in the daytime sky above the Callanish stones. September 20, 2026 · Copyrighted

Analemma over the Callanish Stones

Giuseppe PetriccaA starfield is shown against a patchy red-glowing background. Two irregular brown trails occur, the lower of which culminates in a bright pink and white region. September 21, 2026 · Copyrighted

Cocoon Nebula Wide Field

Piotr CzerskiAn image of the Sun is shown with several dark silhouettes superposed. On the upper right is an airplane, on the right is the International Space Station, and across the Sun are several sunspots. September 22, 2026 · Copyrighted

Chance Triple Alignment: Plane, Space Station, Sun

Petr Horalek / Inst. Physics OpavaAn image of the lunar surface with a large depression at the center surrounded by raised ridges that slope down back to the surface. September 23, 2026

A New Lunar Crater: McGetchin

NASA/GSFC/Intuitive MachinesThe Ghosts of Five Supernovas September 24, 2026

The Ghosts of Five Supernovas

Stephane Vetter, Yann SaintyA dense globular cluster of stars. September 25, 2026 · Copyrighted

Globular Cluster Omega Centauri

Javier O. Cadenas ParraA large, segmented telescope mirror is seen against the night sky along with the Milky Way and a bright meteor. September 26, 2026 · Copyrighted

Mirrored Meteor and Milky Way

Jeff Dai (TWAN)Before image of the Andromeda galaxy with streaks marring the field of view. September 27, 2026 · Copyrighted

Andromeda Before Photoshop

Kees SchererA single color covers the image: that similar to a latte cup of coffee. It is noted in text that apod.nasa.gov is moving to science.nasa.gov/apod. September 28, 2026

Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe

Karl Glazebrook & Ivan Baldry (JHU)A starfield has a bright pink swirling nebula in it. The top part of the nebula shows much detail, while the bottom part is mostly open. September 29, 2026 · Copyrighted

Sh2-188: The Shrimp Nebula

Pawel PiechnikA spiral galaxy viewed face-on with an extended spiral arm. September 30, 2026 · Copyrighted

Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries

Robert Eder

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