# Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

A daily astronomy image or video with a short explanation by a professional astronomer, with a full archive back to 1995 and a JSON API.

- Category: Space and astronomy · by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell, hosted by NASA
- Website: https://science.nasa.gov/apod/
- Live data: no
- Checked on the official pages: 2026-10-23

## API

- Official API: yes, docs https://api.nasa.gov/
- Key needed: no
- Price: Free; limits: api.nasa.gov defaults: 1,000 requests per hour per key; DEMO_KEY 30 requests per IP per hour and 50 per IP per day
- Base URL: https://science.nasa.gov/wp-json/wp/v2/apod-basic/
- Formats: json, rss

Example request:

```
https://science.nasa.gov/wp-json/wp/v2/apod-basic/?per_page=5
```

## Data and license

- License: mixed: NASA images public domain; other images copyrighted by the credited owner (https://science.nasa.gov/apod/apod-about/); covers each image follows its own credit line; NASA-made images are public domain
- Commercial use with conditions
- Credit: not stated
- Embedding unclear
- Quote (commercial): "Some of the images are copyrighted and to use these pictures publicly or commercially one must write to the owners for permission." (https://science.nasa.gov/apod/apod-about/)
- Quote (license): "NASA images are in the public domain, official guidelines for their use can be found here . For images credited to other owners/institutions, please contact them directly for copyright and permissions questions. Neither NASA nor APOD can grant permission to use copyrighted images." (https://science.nasa.gov/apod/apod-about/)

## Rules for an agent

- Use the new endpoint https://science.nasa.gov/wp-json/wp/v2/apod-basic/ (WordPress REST: page/per_page pagination, works without a key); the legacy api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod goes offline on 1 Dec 2026. Read the 'copyright' field before reusing an image.
- Always show the image credit/copyright from the entry; only NASA-made images are public domain
- For copyrighted images, link to the APOD page instead of re-hosting, unless the owner grants permission
- Migrate off https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod before 1 December 2026

## Build ideas on AgentGid

- [Space photo wallpapers from NASA's archive](https://agentgid.com/resources/ideas/space-photo-wallpaper/agent.md)

Human page: https://agentgid.com/resources/apod/
Source: AgentGid (agentgid.com). Facts are quoted from the site's own pages; check the license page before you ship.