November 16, 2000
In the time it took you to read this, the Earth moved another thousand miles through space. You are not standing still. You never have been.
A Daytime Fireball in 1944
Birthday · November 16, 2000
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published November 16, 2000. Credit: Norman Appleton. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
While stationed in central Africa in December 1944, Norman Appleton witnessed a meteor so bright he remembered it his entire life. Right before his eyes a tremendous smoking fireball streaked across the daytime sky. Years later, as an accomplished member of the Guild of Aviation Artists, he recorded his memories in the above painting. Tonight and tomorrow mark the peak of this year's Leonid meteor shower. Although any individual observer is unlikely to see a fireball as spectacular as this one, observers in dark locations might witness as many as hundreds of transient streaks of light emanating from the constellation of Leo across a morning moonlit sky.
Image credit: Norman Appleton