June 21, 2011
Every year, the Earth returns to the same point in its orbit where it was when you were born.
Eclipsed Moonlight
Birthday · June 21, 2011
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APOD published June 21, 2011. Credit: Javier Algarra. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
A celestial prelude to today's solstice, the June 15 total lunar eclipse was one of the longest in recent years. It was also one of the darkest, but not completely dark. Even during totality, a somber, red lunar disk could be seen in the starry night sky, reflecting reddened light falling on to its surface. Seen from a lunar perspective, the ruddy illumination is from all the sunsets and sunrises around the edges of a silhouetted Earth. In this sharp portrait of the eclipsed Moon from Granada, Spain, the Moon's edge reflects a bluish tinge as well as it emerges from Earth's umbral shadow. The bluer light is still filtered through Earth's atmosphere, but originates in rays of sunlight passing through layers high in the upper stratosphere. That light is colored by ozone that absorbs red light and transmits bluer hues.
Image credit: Javier Algarra