October 14, 2023
Somewhere in the sky tonight, a star is being born in a cloud of gas and dust, beginning a journey that will last billions of years.
Circular Sun Halo
Birthday · October 14, 2023
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APOD published October 14, 2023. Credit: Vincenzo Mirabella. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Want to see a ring around the Sun? It's easy to do in daytime skies around the world. Created by randomly oriented ice crystals in thin high cirrus clouds, circular 22 degree halos are visible much more often than rainbows. This one was captured by smart phone photography on May 29, 2021 near Rome, Italy. Carefully blocking the Sun, for example with a finger tip, is usually all that it takes to reveal the common bright halo ring. The halo's characteristic angular radius is about equal to the span of your hand, thumb to little finger, at the end of your outstretched arm. Want to see a ring of fire eclipse? That's harder. The spectacular annular phase of today's (October 14) solar eclipse, known as a ring of fire, is briefly visible only when standing along the Moon's narrow shadow track that passes over limited parts of North, Central, and South America. The solar eclipse is partial though, when seen from broader regions throughout the Americas. Album growing: Selected eclipse images sent in to APOD
Image credit: Vincenzo Mirabella