May 18, 1996
The Moon has changed phase thousands of times since the beginning of the cosmos, but only once did it shine on the night you arrived.
The Sun Today
Birthday · May 18, 1996
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published May 18, 1996. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Our Sun shows a different face every day. The above picture was taken on May 15, but a similar picture of the Sun actually taken today can be found here. The above picture was taken in red light and so is shown in red. The bright spots to the right of center are active regions known as plages. Currently, the Sun is showing very few active regions or sunspots, and is considered to be in a solar minimum. Solar activity will pick up over the next six years until a "solar maximum" is reached. The Sun goes through this cycle of maxima and minima every 11 years. Sol, our Sun, is hundreds of times more massive than all the planets in the Solar System combined. However, the Sun itself contains only a small amount of the total angular momentum of the Solar System.