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Birthday · February 8, 2018

Bow Tie Moon and Star Trails

February 8, 2018

On this day, the universe repeated one of its rarest tricks: it arranged dust, light, memory, and possibility into a person no equation...

Bow Tie Moon and Star Trails

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APOD published February 8, 2018. Credit: Haitong Yu. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Bow Tie Moon and Star Trails

Original APOD · February 8, 2018

On January 31, a leisurely lunar eclipse was enjoyed from all over the night side of planet Earth, the first of three consecutive total eclipses of the Moon. This dramatic time-lapse image followed the celestial performance for over three hours in a combined series of exposures from Hebei Province in Northern China. Fixed to a tripod, the camera records the Full Moon sliding through a clear night sky. Too bright just before and after the eclipse, the Moon's bow tie-shaped trail grows narrow and red during the darker total eclipse phase that lasted an hour and 16 minutes. In the distant background are the colorful trails of stars in concentric arcs above and below the celestial equator.

Image credit: Haitong Yu

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