January 21, 2002
The story of your birthday began billions of years before calendars existed, in furnaces of light and clouds of dust.
Volcano and Aurora in Iceland
Birthday · January 21, 2002
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.
Date & occasion only
Change the year
APOD published January 21, 2002. Credit: Sigurdur H. Stefnisson. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt. In Iceland in 1991, the volcano Hekla erupted at the same time that auroras were visible overhead. Hekla, one of the most famous volcanoes in the world, has erupted at least 20 times over the past millennium, sometimes causing great destruction. The last eruption occurred only two years ago but caused only minor damage. The green auroral band occurred fortuitously about 100 kilometers above the erupting lava. Is Earth the Solar System's only planet with both auroras and volcanos?
Image credit: Sigurdur H. Stefnisson