Date Top Pick Title Comment(s) ___________________________________________________________________ Jan 01 The Largest Rock Known Picked for text Jan 02 Mercury: A Cratered Inferno Jan 03 Orion's Horsehead Nebula Malin wide angle Jan 04 Galaxies Cluster Toward the Great Attractor Jan 05 Earth's Richat Structure Jan 06 M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula Jan 07 The Mysterious Cone Nebula Beats out Ring with good text Jan 08 Thackeray's Globules Jan 09 Blue Flash Beats out Saturnian Aurora Jan 10 Brown Sun Bubbling Beats Venus Molton Surface w/text Jan 11 The Rosette Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur Jan 12 The Wind on Mars Stressing diversity Jan 13 Lunokhod 1: Moon Robot Good text! Jan 14 M57: The Ring Nebula Replaces bad candidates Jan 15 The Sun Also Rises Jan 16 Trapezium: Teardrops in My Skies Jan 17 NGC 1818: A Young Globular Cluster Jan 18 Saturn, Rings, and Two MoonsBeats MyCn18 Jan 19 Telescope with Lightning Beats early Eagle Eggs Jan 20 Callisto Full Face Beats Venus Arachnoids Jan 21 Our Dusty Universe Beats Mira; Volcano & Aurora Jan 22 Neutron Bounce Quantized in Earth Gravity Beats Betelgeuse Jan 23 Saturnian Aurora Beats Message from Earth Jan 24 Eskimo Nebula from Hubble Beats HDF, Venus Landing, Enceladus Jan 25 A Lunar Eclipse in Three Exposures Beats Falling Stardust Jan 26 Venus' Once Molten Surface Replaces mediocre candidates Jan 27 Earth Rise Beats Spiral in Centaurus Jan 28 CMB Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe Jan 29 An Airplane in Front of the Sun Jan 30 Moonrise Over Seattle Beats Milky Way in Infrared Jan 31 Welcome to the Planet Earth Feb 01 Abell 2218: ... cluster lensbeats jupiter's brain out Feb 02 All-Sky Panorama picture Feb 03 Colorful Clouds Of Carina beats m100 Feb 04 Jupiter's Brain replaces mediocre pics Feb 05 The Ant Nebula beats jupiter giant storms Feb 06 Sombrero Galaxy from VLT Feb 07 coronal hole beats m103 open cluster Feb 08 Happy Birthday Jules Verne verne's birthday. swapped in. Feb 09 The Deep Field alt - sn1987a star field Feb 10 Aurora Astern good stuff Feb 11 Reflection Neb. M78 beats space walz, sputnick Feb 12 Pluto Not Yet Explored artist concept/text Feb 13 Great Orion Neb (Gendler) wow. beats 7,000 stars and milkyway Feb 14 Rosette Neb (Gendler) beats "dark sky bright sun" for date Feb 15 Lord of the Rings wow. Feb 16 Cosmic IR Background replaces mediocre pics Feb 17 A Wind From the Sun clear choice Feb 18 A Radio Vista of Cygnus good radio image! Feb 19 Shuttle Plume Shadow beats Czech Fireball Feb 20 Astro I in Orbit mediocre text Feb 21 Sonic Boom include "bow shock" in text? Feb 22 Gamma Ray Sky gro heritage? beats LMC, Saturn Occult Feb 23 Saturn at the Lunar Limb Saturn Occultation here? Feb 24 Lyman Alpha Forest weird. good text (beat IR Horsehead?) Feb 25 Crescent Europa beat High Energy Fleet ... Feb 26 Sungrazer beat garradd all-sky, mars sanddunes Feb 27 Pleiades Star Cluster beat Witchhead Neb. (save for oct31?) Feb 28 ESO 184-G82: SupernovaGrb include graphic box? Feb 29 Julius Caesar Leap day? centurial year 2000 Mar 01 Galaxy Dwingeloo 1 Emerges Should be updated text Mar 02 Rumors of a Strange UniverseMight need image of SN1999D, updated text Mar 03 The Regolith of Asteroid Eros Beats Apollo 12 Visits Surveyor 3 Mar 04 Ganymede Mosaic Mar 05 The Pipe Dark Nebula Beats Earth in True Color Mar 06 Hubble Floats Free Beats M27: The Dumbbell Nebula Mar 07 Apollo 12 Visits Surveyor 3 Replaces mediocre candidates Mar 08 Columbia Dawn Mar 09 Yogi Rock on Mars Beats COBE Hotspots Mar 10 A Southern Sky View Beats Cracks and Ridges on Europa Mar 11 Cracks and Ridges on Europa Replaces mediocre candidates Mar 12 Supernova 199D and UU Beats Rho Ophiuchi, Atete Corona Mar 13 Atete Corona on Venus Replacement Mar 14 A GRB 000301C Symphony Good text Mar 15 HAsteroids in the Distance Good text Mar 17 Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Beats Ice Fishing, NGC 2244 Mar 18 Interstellar Dust-Bunnies Beats Wind from the Sun Mar 19 Breaking Distant Light Beat Pluto in True Color Mar 20 Antares and Rho Ophiuchi Replacement Mar 21 Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2903 Mar 22 A Spherule from Outer Space Mar 23 A Chamaeleon Sky Mar 24 The Cat's Eye Nebula Mar 25 An Unusual Globule in IC 1396 Beats Crab from VLT Mar 26 The Crab Nebula from VLT Replacement Mar 27 NGC 2244: A Star Cluster Replacement Mar 28 The Coma Cluster of GalaxiesBeats M20: The Trifid Nebula Mar 29 Fullerenes as Miniature Good text Mar 30 An Anomalous SETI Signal Good text; beats Venus Unveiled, Equinox+1 Mar 31 The Mysterious Rings 1987A Apr 01 Green Cheese Moon april fools day ... Apr 02 Dark Sky Bright Sun picked up from Feb. Apr 03 Radio Sky all sky at 408 MHz Apr 04 Superwind Cigar Galaxy beats out merc astronauts Apr 05 M87 Black Hole beats out X-ray pleiades Apr 06 Supernova Star Field sub'd Apr 07 The Eskimo Nebula beats other hubbles + "real mars face" Apr 08 Compton Observatory the really great obs. (beats surv3+apollo12) Apr 09 Snake Nebula serpentine! Apr 10 M51 Whirlpool Galaxy wow. beats canary's sky Apr 11 Canaries Sky replace mediocre images Apr 12 Stars From Eagle's EGGs the one Apr 13 Galaxy is not A Comet M31+Ikeya-Zhang Apr 14 Return to Cydonia real face on mars (better pic avail?) Apr 15 7,000 Stars and Milky Way sub for mediocre pics Apr 16 Millions of Stars in OmegaCen beats upsilon and (lynette cook art) Apr 17 Blue Marble 2000 big blue one + moon Apr 18 Europa Ice Line ok? Apr 19 Old Moon in New Moon's Arms text Apr 20 Io: Moon Over Jupiter good one Apr 21 Center of Centaurus A oh yes Apr 22 Where is Upsilon Andromedae?credit marcy/butler in text Apr 23 The Newly Expanded ISS change title? beats cluster bends Apr 24 The Trifid Nebula from AAO also liked barsoom text/frothy milky way Apr 25 Southern Cross in Mauna Loa aloha Apr 26 NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New WDbeats out horsehead noao view Apr 27 Horsehead Rides Again use noao horsehead view +other text? Apr 28 Venus' Molten Surface replace mediocre stuff Apr 29 NGC 2266: Old Cluster in ...beats out dewey vdh Apr 30 The Holographic Principle > 10^65 bits May 01 In the Center Omega Nebula May 02 Arp 188 Tadpole's Tidal TailNew HST ACS picture May 03 Cone Nebula Close-Up Beats Giant Cluster Bends, Breaks May 04 Equinox + 1 Replacement May 05 A Solar System Portrait Beats Aurora at Midnight, M7 May 06 NGC 4676: When Mice Collide Beats 01 Pleiades May 07 Hundred-K Terrain on Venus Beats Hot Stars, UV Venus May 08 Spinning Black Hole Beat Sunspot Loops May 09 The M7 Open Star Cluster Replacement beats ISS Robot Arm May 10 Apollo 15's Home on the MoonBeats Skylab Over Earth May 11 Giant Cluster Bends, Breaks Replacement May 12 Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO510-13 May 13 White Rock Fingers on Mars Beats Crater Copernicus, OT Redshift May 14 A Cerro Tololo Sky Beats N44C Nebular Mystery May 15 A Halo Around the Moon Beats TRACE and the Active Sun May 16 N44C: A Nebular Mystery Replacement beats U. Filled with Hydrogen May 17 The Far Infrared Sky May 18 The Near Infrared Sky Beats NGC 6369: A Donut Shaped Nebula May 19 The Horsehead Nebula Beats Nearby Leo I May 20 Sagittarius Star Cloud Beats Sungrazer May 21 Sungrazer Replacement May 22 Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232 Beats Center of Centarus A May 23 Center of Centaurus A Replacement Beats Orange Soil on Moon May 24 Pleiades, Planets, Hot Plasma May 25 Saturn the Giant Topical May 26 Alpha Centauri: Closest Star May 27 The Pleiades Star Cluster Replacement May 28 Close-up of the Face on MarsRoot beer May 29 Working in Space May 30 Very Large Array Turns Twenty Generalize 20 May 31 Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars Beats Astronaut at Work Jun 01 Mir Dreams replace mediocre stuff Jun 02 The Pulsar Powered Crab cosmic crustacean Jun 03 GRB Symphony text (image so-so) Jun 04 Hour Glass Nebula (beats ngc3603, comet Soho+neb) Jun 05 Heart of the Crab Jun 06 Eruption on Io Jun 07 Hubble Deep Field beats starbirth in trifid Jun 08 Active ... X class flares solar x-ray pic with notsogood text Jun 09 Lunar Rover beats hst "telling spiral" Jun 10 H, He, and the Stars of M10 Jun 11 How to Make Planets Jun 12 Bubbling Galaxy beats Venus just passing by Jun 13 Carina Neb in IR (2mass image) beats vela by Malin Jun 14 Venus, Just Passing By replaces mediocre stuff ... Jun 15 Messiers and Mars Jun 16 Neutron Star Earth first APOD (apod b'day,deceit of images?) Jun 17 Colorful Clouds of Carina (too much carina?) Jun 18 Jewel Box of Stars southern stuff Jun 19 Crescent Neptune slightly neptune (beats good morn mars) Jun 20 Total Eclipse of Active Sun ... will this text work? Jun 21 Solstice Celebration beats out sn1987a rings Jun 22 Gullies of Mars water or what? Jun 23 Cygnus Loop how many jeff hesters? Jun 24 Eight Burst Nebula beats out Venus Rift Val Jun 25 Jupiter's Colorful Clouds replaced image.beats strange gal,GRB host Jun 26 HSunflower Galaxy (m63) beats cobe dipole, ahu hoku, mars facts Jun 28 Cat's Eye Neb pat harrington's greatest hit Jun 29 Ida and Dactyl asteroid and moon ... Jun 30 Vintage Gamma-rays beats "stars of M10" Jul 01 Spiral Galaxy NGC 7742 Beats Ultraviolet Earth from the Moon Jul 02 Aurora at Midnight Replacement Jul 03 Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Beats Pelican Nebula Ionization Front Jul 04 Ultraviolet Earth from Moon Replacement Jul 05 The Gal Center Across Infrared Beats Apollo 15's Home on the Moon Jul 06 A Jet from Galaxy M87 Jul 07 M8: The Lagoon Nebula Better M8 in August Jul 08 The Galactic Center InfraredBeats USA at Night Jul 09 Hubble Deep Field Beats Hale-Bopp Crowd Pleaser Jul 10 Sudbury Indicates Nonstandard Other Sudbury might be better Jul 11 A Total Eclipse Over Africa Jul 12 Asteroid Gaspra's Best Face Beats NGC 1850 Jul 13 Vela Supernova Remnant Optical Beat Moon Hotel Jul 14 At Work on Mars Jul 15 Io in True Color Jul 16 Pelican Nebula Ion Front Replacement Jul 17 Carina Nebula Three Colors Beats Lightning, Hyakutake, Message Earth Jul 18 Jupiter from Voyager Jul 19 NGC 3372: Great Nebula Carina Jul 20 At the Edge of the Helix Beats Grand C of Mars, Solar M Arcade Jul 21 Nearby Spiral M33 Jul 22 A Presidential Panorama Mars Jul 23 Atlantis to Orbit Jul 24 Red Spider Planetary Nebula Beats M51, Infrared Saturn Jul 25 Why Stars Twinkle Beats Cygnus Loop. Use single frame. Jul 26 Noctilucent Clouds Beats Antares Jul 27 Antares Replacement Jul 28 A Daytime Fireball in 1944 Beats Impact on Jupiter Jul 29 Impact on Jupiter Replacement Jul 30 A Blue Moon Beats Eagle Castle, R136 Breaks Out Jul 31 CL1358+62: New Farthest Object R136 is very good and should find a home. Aug 01 String of Pearls beats "ring plane crossing" ? Aug 02 Galaxy Dwingeloo beats jupiter's rings Aug 03 Warped Spiral Aug 04 Jupiter Swallows SL9 beats LMC by NOAO Aug 05 Orbiting Iceberg beats geysers on triton ... Aug 06 Hale-Bopp from Indian Cove Aug 07 A Flock of Stars sub'd Aug 08 NGC 1365 Barred Spiral sub'd Aug 09 Solar Filament lifts off text? Aug 10 Tycho and Copernicus ray craters! Aug 11 Mystery in Gamma Rays et al. Aug 12 Perseid Meteor Aug 13 Doomed Star Eta Car beats out "dust" Aug 14 Mars Rocks Sojourner Rolls ... the beat ... Aug 15 The Solar Spectrum oooooooohhhh Aug 16 Cen A, Active Galaxy centaurus a in x-rays (cxc) Aug 17 The 47 UMa System worlds of a distant sun ... Aug 18 Phobos Doomed Moon Aug 19 Mercury Cratered Inferno Aug 20 Lagoon Nebula in Three Colors Aug 21 Galaxies Away Aug 22 Twistin by the Lagoon Aug 23 Dark Spots on Neptune sub'd Aug 24 Microlensing Caustics Aug 25 Bubbling Cauldron of NGC 3079 Aug 26 Brown Dwarfs of Orions Trapezium (alt- perseid aurora) Aug 27 Prometheus Plume (alt A Fleeting Eclipse) Aug 28 The Helix Nebula From CFHT (alt - x-ray pleiades) Aug 29 The Regolith of Asteroid Eros Aug 30 Eclipsed Earth (from Mir) Aug 31 Full Throttle Deep Space 1 Sep 01 1999 JM8: A Rock Too Close Sep 02 Hot Gas and Dark Matter Newer exists, beats Deimos Sep 03 Star Cluster R136 Bursts OutBeats '96 Pleiades Sep 04 2dF Sees Waves of Galaxies Sep 05 CFHT Star Trails Sep 06 HCG 87: Small Group GalaxiesBeats Largest Impact Crater Sep 07 Moon AND Sun Beats Spirograph Nebula Sep 08 Spirograph Nebula Replacement Sep 09 A Green Flash from the Sun Sep 10 Gal Cen Flicker Black Hole Beats WDs Cool, Europa Rafts Sep 11 Spiral Galaxy NGC 3310 Beats Proplyds Sep 12 Slightly Above Mars Pathfinder Beats Zodiacal Light, M83 Sep 13 Southwest Mercury Sep 14 Dust Hip-Deep on Phobos Beats MyCn18 Sep 15 The Big Corona Too similar to Moon AND Sun, Beats O Mons Sep 16 Jupiters Rings Revealed Beats Sun Erupts Sep 17 Southwest Andromeda Beats GRB Fireball Persists Sep 18 Zodiacal Light False Dawn Replacement Sep 19 Europa: Ridges and Rafts Replacement Sep 20 Hurricane Fran's Approach Sep 21 The Quintuplet Star Cluster Sep 22 Standing on the Moon Might be better placed in July Sep 23 Equinox Eruptive Prominence Beats Barnard 68 Sep 24 Molecular Cloud Barnard 68 Eagle Eggs in November, please Sep 25 Twistin' By The Lagoon Beats Highs and Lows of Earth Sep 26 Comet Borrelly's Nucleus Beats Lonely NS, Total Lunar Eclipse Sep 27 A Venus Landing Beats Our Galaxy in Stars, Gas, and Dust Sep 28 Our Galaxy in Stars, Gas, Dust Replacement Sep 29 A Lonely Neutron Star Replacement Sep 30 Half Dome Rock on Mars Beats Spiral 1232, Massive Stars 30 Dor Oct 01 Welcome to Planet Earth sub'd Oct 02 Moons of Earth sub'd Oct 03 Europa's Surface sub'd Oct 04 The Perfect Spiral perfect Oct 05 Sunspot Up Close Oct 06 Hen 1357: A New Born Nebula Oct 07 A Galaxy Cluster Lens Oct 08 A Yukon Aurora (alt richat structure, far side moon) Oct 09 Not A Comet Oct 10 Triton: Neptune's Largest Moon date of triton discovery by herschel Oct 11 VDB 142 in Cepheus Oct 12 The Water Vapor Channel high res version? Oct 13 A Flock of Stars sub'd Oct 14 Far Side of the Moon sub'd Oct 15 Phobos over Mars quirky? Oct 16 Dust and Gas/ R Cor Australis Oct 17 Mist in Mariner Valley Oct 18 NGC 3606 Active Star Cluster Oct 19 X-ray Stars and Winds Rosette chandra x-ray image ... Oct 20 IR Uranus (don't laugh) alt-Surveyor Slides Oct 21 Sombrero Gal VLT alt follow sunspots, titan's surface Oct 22 Iridium 52: Not a Meteor Oct 23 Pluto: New Horizons sub'd Oct 24 Sun Also Rises high res version? Oct 25 Hubble's Variable Neb sub'd Oct 26 Map of Eros Oct 27 Elements in Aftermath chandra x-ray image ... Oct 28 Rafting for Solar Neutrinos update text ... Oct 29 Io Full Face high res updated version? Oct 30 Witch Head Nebula sub'd Oct 31 Ghost Head Nebula alt - witch head nebula! Nov 01 Total Lunar Eclipse Replacement Nov 02 PG 1115+080 Ghost Lensing Past Beats WD Cool, Galaxy Collision NGC 6745 Nov 03 A Galaxy Collision in NGC 6745 Replacement Nov 04 Leonids from Leo Beats Apollo 12: Self-Portrait Nov 05 Natural Saturn Cassini Cruise Nov 06 Heaven on Earth Beats Magnetic Carpet Of The Sun Nov 07 Sun Pillar in Red and VioletBeats Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant Nov 08 Gum Nebula Supernova RemnantReplacement Beats Simulating the Universe Nov 09 Spiral Galaxies in Collision Nov 10 NGC 3132: Eight Burst NebulaBeat Lunar Duct Tape, Dark Io Volcano Nov 11 The First Lunar Observatory Beats Aurora Above Nov 12 The Lyman Alpha Forest Beats 1998 Leonid Fireball Nov 13 Disorder in Stephan's Quintet Beats Seven Jets from Comet Hale-Bopp Nov 14 M31: The Andromeda Galaxy Beats Yardangs, Aurora in Orion Nov 15 Recycling Columbia Beats Deimos Nov 16 A RADARSAT Map of Antarctica Nov 17 Catching Falling Stardust Nov 18 In the Center of the Trapezium Beats Close Up of Bubble Nebula Nov 19 Diffraction Spikes Beats Our Dusty Universe Nov 20 A Leonids Star Field Beats Europa Full Face Nov 21 Fire on Earth Beats Galactic Ring of NGC 6782 Nov 22 Orion Nebula in Hydrogen Beats Fireball, Smoke Trail, Meteor Storm Nov 23 Leonids Above Torre Beats Triton Nov 24 Saturn's Moon Tethys Nov 25 M16: Stars from Eagle's EGGsBeat the Comet and the Galaxy Nov 26 Our Dusty Universe Replacement Nov 27 Earth at Night Beats Ancient Layered Rocks on Mars Nov 28 Shadow at the Lunar South Pole Nov 29 Galactic Ring of NGC 6782 Replacement beats Leonids from Orbit Nov 30 Europa Full Face Dec 01 Neptune's Great Dark Spot alt - frosty crater on mars Dec 02 Rumors of a Strange Universelatest vers. text mods?alt-leonidfireball Dec 03 Rhea: Saturn's ... Dec 04 AE Aurigae Flaming Star Dec 05 Layered Mars revise text? alt - Sky Filled w/Leonids Dec 06 Southern Pinwheel M83 Dec 07 Pipe Nebula sub'd Dec 08 Mediteranean Leonid 2001 Dec 09 Apollo 17 Lunarscape ... Dec 10 The Antennae Galaxies sub'd HST view ... Dec 11 Reflecting Merope Dec 12 Driving to the Sun ... alt Milky Way thru Summer Triangle Dec 13 South Pole of Mars Dec 14 NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula Dec 15 Plains and Ridges on Europa Dec 16 3-D Mars North Pole Dec 17 M2-9 Wings of a Butterfly Dec 18 Irregular Galaxy Sextans A alt Sky Full of Hydrogen,Neb in Pink/blue Dec 19 Cartwheel of Fortune alt Close up of Aurora on Jup Dec 20 Hot Stars in the Trifid Neb. Dec 21 Summer at the South Pole dec. solstice text? Dec 22 Frosty Crater on Mars sub'd Dec 23 Saturn Aurora Dec 24 30 Doradus Across the Spectrum ... christmas tree nebula? Dec 25 Earth Rise due to orbital motion! text? Dec 26 West Of The Great Red Spot Dec 27 Saturn Nebula Dec 28 Moon Mare y Montes Dec 29 Milky Way in Infrared cobe ... Dec 30 Trifid Pillars and Jets Dec 31 APOD Astronomer and Geographer apologies to vermeer + text? Jan 01 A Year of Dark Cosmology change text ...