September 25, 2002
You are a way for the cosmos to know itself, Carl Sagan once said. On your birthday, the cosmos got to know itself a little better.
Jupiter, Moons and Bees
Birthday · September 25, 2002
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published September 25, 2002. Credit: Russell Croman. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Rising before the Sun on September 4, Jupiter and an old cresent Moon gathered in the dim constellation of Cancer. Watching from a hillside near Austin, Texas, planet Earth, astrophotographer Russell Croman recorded this view of their passing as clouds gracefully dimmed the brilliant moonlight. Earthshine illuminates the lunar night side and on close inspection, bright Jupiter at the lower right appears tightly flanked by its own four large Galilean moons. Next to Jupiter lies a loose swarm of stars just below the clouds. The stars are the brighter members of the nearby star cluster M44, popularly known as the Beehive cluster. Croman's remarkable digital image has been processed only slightly to improve the visibility of the earthshine region and Jupiter's moons.
Image credit: Russell Croman