August 11, 1996
Light takes eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. It took the universe 13.8 billion years to make you.
The Snake Nebula in Ophiuchus
Birthday · August 11, 1996
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APOD published August 11, 1996. Credit: B. Wallis and R. Provin. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What slithers there? The dark curly lanes visible in part of the constellation Ophiuchus belong to the Snake Nebula. The Snake Nebula is a series of dark absorption clouds. Interstellar dust grains - composed predominantly of carbon - absorb visible starlight and reradiate much of it in the infrared. Infrared is a band of light so red humans can't see it. This absorption causes stars in the background to be blocked from our view - and hence the appearance of noticeable voids on the sky.
Image credit: B. Wallis and R. Provin