July 9, 2008
The constellations may be old, but the person celebrating beneath them is gloriously new by cosmic standards.
Planets and Fire by Moonlight
Birthday · July 9, 2008
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published July 9, 2008. Credit: Dmitrii Zagorodnov. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
On July 5th, wandering planets, bright stars, and a young crescent Moon graced western skies after sunset. Arrayed along the solar system's ecliptic plane, the three celestial beacons forming this skyscape's eye-catching line-up with the Moon are Saturn (upper left), then Mars, and finally Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo. Of course planet Earth itself lies in the foreground, a scene dominated by the city lights of Santa Barbara, California. The smoky haze hanging over the city is from threatening wild fires still burning along the hill at the right. On Thursday evening, Saturn and Mars can be seen in a much closer pairing or conjunction, separated by only about 3/4 degree on the sky.
Image credit: Dmitrii Zagorodnov