March 18, 2011
Your life began on a planet that never stops moving under a sky that never stops changing.
Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset
Birthday · March 18, 2011
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APOD published March 18, 2011. Credit: Göran Strand. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
When warm sunset hues begin to fade, two celestial beacons now shine in the evening twilight, Mercury and Jupiter. Wandering away from the Sun in planet Earth's sky, Mercury will offer good views this month as spring approaches in the northern hemisphere where the ecliptic plane makes a steep angle with the western horizon. But Jupiter will continue sinking lower in the sky after sunset. In fact, the normally elusive Mercury shines well above Jupiter and the orange sunset glow in this serene sky. Captured earlier this week from the island of of Frösön in northern Sweden, the scene looks across Lake Storsjön toward the village of Hallen and distant mountains. Of course, even better views of Mercury can be had by the MESSENGER spacecraft, now orbiting the Solar System's innermost planet!
Image credit: Göran Strand