An Al-10Ni-8Y (at.%) alloy was atomized by Ar gas and the morphology, microstructure, thermal stability, phase composition and microhardness of the as-atomized powder were investigated. Most of the powders are spherical in shape, but the surface morphology was different for powder of different size. The cross-section microstructure of powder with size below 15mm in diameter showed no detailed feature, indicating existence of amorphous phase or nanocrystalline structure. The as-atomized powder showed four distinct exothermic peaks when heated at 296, 340, 366 and 456 8C. The glass transition temperature Tg, crystallization temperature Tx, and the temperature interval of the supercooled liquid region DTx (ZTxKTg) were detected to be about 266, 288 and 22 8C. The Al82Ni10Y8 alloy powder exhibits a high Vickers hardness of 230.6, and shows great potential for structural application.