[{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/AuroraFireworksstormRoiLevi.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/AuroraFireworksstormRoiLevi.jpg","title":"Auroral Corona","explanation":"Cycle 25 solar maximum made 2025 a great year for aurora borealis (or aurora australis) on planet Earth. And the high level of solar activity should extend into 2026. So, while you're celebrating the arrival of the new year, check out this spectacular auroral display that erupted in starry night skies over Kirkjufell, Iceland. The awesome auroral corona, energetic curtains of light streaming from directly overhead, was witnessed during a strong geomagnetic storm triggered by intense solar activity near the March 2025 equinox. This boreal skyscape captures the evocative display in a 21 frame panoramic mosaic.","copyright":"Roi Levi","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-01","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-1-auroral-corona/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/NanosailD2_reprocessed1a.png","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/NanosailD2_reprocessed1a.png","title":"NanoSail-D2","explanation":"In 2011, on January 20, NASA's NanoSail-D2 unfurled a very thin and very reflective 10 square meter sail becoming the first solar sail spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Often considered the stuff of science fiction, sailing through space was suggested 400 years ago by astronomer Johannes Kepler, who had observed comet tails blown by the solar wind. But modern solar sail spacecraft designs, like NanoSail-D2, Japan's interplanetary spacecraft IKAROS, or the Planetary Society's Lightsail A, rely on the small but continuous pressure from sunlight itself for thrust. Glinting in the sunlight as it circled planet Earth, NanoSail-D2's solar sail was periodically bright and visible to the eye. These remarkably detailed images were captured by manually tracking the orbiting solar sail spacecraft with a small telescope.","copyright":"Ralf Vandebergh","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-02","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-2-nanosail-d2/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/moonwalk1.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/moonwalk1.jpg","title":"Full Moonlight","explanation":"The Full Moon is the brightest lunar phase, and tonight you can stand in the light of the first Full Moon of 2026. In fact, the Moon's full phase occurs on January 3 at 10:03 UTC, while only about 7 hours later planet Earth reaches its 2026 perihelion, the closest point in its elliptical orbit around the Sun, at 17:16 UTC. January's Full Moon was also not far from its own perigee, or closest approach to planet Earth. For this lunation the Moon's perigee was on January 1 at 21:44 UTC. You can also spot planet Jupiter, near its brightest for 2026 and close on the sky to the Full Moon tonight. But while you're out skygazing don't forget to look for rare, bright fireballs from the Quadrantid meteor shower.","copyright":"Zhengjie Wu and Jeff Dai (TWAN)","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-03","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-3-full-moonlight/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/qso2237_wiyn_1024.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/qso2237_wiyn_1024.jpg","title":"The Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens","explanation":"Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in this image. The central cloverleaf is rather light emitted from a background quasar. The gravitational field of the visible foreground galaxy breaks light from this distant quasar into four distinct images. The quasar must be properly aligned behind the center of a massive galaxy for a mirage like this to be evident. The general effect is known as gravitational lensing, and this specific case is known as the Einstein Cross. Stranger still, the images of the Einstein Cross vary in relative brightness, enhanced occasionally by the additional gravitational microlensing effect of specific stars in the foreground galaxy.","copyright":"Image Credit & License: NSF, NOIRLab, AURA, WIYN; Processing: J. Rhoads (Arizona State U.) et al.","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-04","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-4-the-einstein-cross-gravitational-lens/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/RedRectangle_HubbleSchmidt_1080.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/RedRectangle_HubbleSchmidt_1080.jpg","title":"The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble","explanation":"How was the unusual Red Rectangle nebula created? At the nebula's center is an aging binary star system that surely powers the nebula but does not, as yet, explain its colors. The unusual shape of the Red Rectangle is likely due to a thick dust torus which pinches the otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touching cone shapes. Because we view the torus edge-on, the boundary edges of the cone shape s seem to form an X. The distinct rungs suggest the outflow occurs in fits and starts. The unusual colors of the nebula are less well understood, however, and speculation holds that they are partly provided by hydrocarbon molecules that may actually be building blocks for organic life. The Red Rectangle nebula lies about 2,300 light years away towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The nebula is shown here in great detail as a reprocessed image from Hubble Space Telescope. In a few million years, as one of the central stars becomes further depleted of nuclear fuel, the Red Rectangle nebula will likely bloom into a planetary nebula.","copyright":"NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-05","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-5-the-red-rectangle-nebula-from-hubble/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/JupiterClouds_JunoThomopoulos_2048.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/JupiterClouds_JunoThomopoulos_2048.jpg","title":"Jupiter's Clouds in High Definition from Juno","explanation":"How complex is Jupiter? NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is finding the Jovian giant to be more complicated than expected. Jupiter's magnetic field has been discovered to be much different from our Earth's simple dipole field, showing several poles embedded in a complicated network more convoluted in the north than the south. Further, Juno's radio measurements show that Jupiter's atmosphere shows structure well below the upper cloud deck -- even hundreds of kilometers deep. Jupiter 's newfound complexity is evident also in southern clouds, as shown in the texture and color enhanced featured image taken last month. There, planet-circling zones and belts that dominate near the equator decay into a complex miasma of continent-sized storm swirls. Juno continues in its looping elliptical orbit, swooping near the huge planet every month and exploring a slightly different sector each time around.","copyright":"NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas Thomopoulos","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-06","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-6-jupiters-clouds-in-high-definition-from-juno/"},{"media_type":"image","url":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/Simeis147_Ferritti_4112.jpg","hdurl":"https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/cds/apod/apod/2026/january/Simeis147_Ferritti_4112.jpg","title":"Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant","explanation":"Its popular nickname is the Spaghetti Nebula. Officially cataloged as Simeis 147 and Sharpless 2-240, it is easy to get lost following the looping and twisting filaments of this intricate supernova remnant. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. That's about 150 light-year s at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this powerful stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left behind a pulsar, a fast-spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the original star's core. The featured image was captured last month from Forca Canapine, Italy. Portal Universe:","copyright":"Saverio Ferretti","editor":null,"date":"2026-01-07","article_url":"https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-january-7-simeis-147-the-spaghetti-nebula-supernova-remnant/"}]