March 25, 1999
The cosmos has been expanding since the beginning of time, making room for galaxies, for stars, for planets — and ultimately, for you.
March of the Planets
Birthday · March 25, 1999
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published March 25, 1999. Credit: Rick Scott. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This March stargazers have been treated to eye-catching formations of bright planets in western evening skies. On March 3rd, looking toward a beautiful sunset from a beach on the Hawaiian isle of Maui, photographer Rick Scott recorded this fleeting, four-planet "hockey stick" array. Mercury, closest to the horizon and immersed in fading sunlight, is easily visible between silhouetted clouds. To the left and up in the deepening blue is Jupiter with a brilliant Venus above and Saturn shining in the darkened sky near the top of the image. The planets are seen to lie close to the ecliptic - the apparent path of the sun - which is nearly perpendicular to the horizon for Hawaiian latitudes at this time of year.
Image credit: Rick Scott