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Birthday · June 21, 2017

A Sundial that Shows Solstice

June 21, 2017

Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.

A Sundial that Shows Solstice

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APOD published June 21, 2017. Credit: Jean-Marc Mari. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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A Sundial that Shows Solstice

Original APOD · June 21, 2017

What day is it? If the day -- and time -- are right, this sundial will tell you: SOLSTICE. Only then will our Sun be located just right for sunlight to stream through openings and spell out the term for the longest and shortest days of the year. But this will happen today (and again in December). The sundial was constructed by Jean Salins in 1980 and is situated at the Ecole Sup�rieure des Mines de Paris in Valbonne Sophia Antipolis of south-eastern France. On two other days of the year, watchers of this sundial might get to see it produce another word: EQUINOXE.

Image credit: Jean-Marc Mari

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