July 2, 2016
The Moon has changed phase thousands of times since the beginning of the cosmos, but only once did it shine on the night you arrived.
Firefly Trails and the Summer Milky Way
Birthday · July 2, 2016
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published July 2, 2016. Credit: Malcolm Park. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
A camera fixed low to a tripod on a northern summer's eve captured the series of images used in this serene, southern Ontario skyscape. The lakeside view frames our fair galaxy above calm water and the night's quintessential luminous apparitions. But the trails of light are neither satellite glint, nor meteor flash, nor auroral glow. In the wide-field composite constructed with four consecutive 15 second exposures, a pulsing firefly enters at the right, first wandering toward the camera, then left and back toward the lake, the central Milky Way rising in the background.
Image credit: Malcolm Park