June 30, 2026
The universe is brighter with you in it. Happy birthday.
Birthday · June 30, 2026
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
Free PNG · 1080 × 1350 · No account needed
Image rights and credit requirements apply when sharing or reusing imagery.
Choose an image from another year
Your celebration date stays the same. Each image keeps its actual publication date.
Date & occasion, no name
Change the year
Selected image source ↗ APOD published June 30, 2026. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Behind the original result
Unusually Smooth Sections of Asteroid Itokawa
Original APOD · June 30, 2026 ↗Read the original APOD for the astronomer’s explanation and full image credits. Its text is preserved in the archive as published.
Read the archived explanation
Why are parts of this asteroid's surface so smooth? The answer seems likely to do with the dynamics of an asteroid that is a loose pile of rubble rather than a solid rock. The unusual asteroid Itokawa was visited by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa in 2005 which imaged and documented its unusual structure and mysterious lack of craters. Analyses of the border regions between smooth and rugged sections indicate that jostling of the asteroid might be creating segregation between large and small rocks near the surface, like the Brazil nut effect. The robotic Hayabusa actually touched down on one of the smooth patches, dubbed the MUSES Sea, and collected soil samples. These samples were returned to Earth and are not only giving clues to the ancient history of this unusual asteroid, but also about the early years of our entire Solar System. Computer simulations show that 500-meter asteroid Itokawa may impact the Earth within the next few million years. Rocking Space: Today is Asteroid Day
Explore June 30 in other years · 32 APOD entries, 1995–2026
Updated · APOD entries through