June 8, 2017
Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.
Firefall by Moonlight
Birthday · June 8, 2017
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 June 8, 2017. Credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
On certain dates in February, an elusive firefall can be spotted at sunset in Yosemite National Park, when the weather cooperates and the direction to the setting Sun is just right. Often photographed from vantage points below, at the right moment the park's seasonal Horsetail Fall is isolated in the shadows of the steep walls of El Capitan. Then, still illuminated with rays of sunlight reflected by the angled rockface directly behind the flow, the waterfall briefly takes on a dramatic, fiery appearance. The Horsetail firefall is more rarely photographed at moonset under a starry night sky, though. Even more elusive by moonlight, the firefall effect can also be seen when skies are clear and a bright Moon sets at the right direction along the western horizon. Skies were clear and stars were shining for this well-planned photograph of the Horsetail firefall lit by a gibbous Moon setting in the early morning hours of May 9.
Image credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo