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Birthday · September 26, 2004

Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth

September 26, 2004

The story of your birthday began billions of years before calendars existed, in furnaces of light and clouds of dust.

Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth

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APOD published September 26, 2004. Credit: CNES. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth

Original APOD · September 26, 2004

Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space station, which was deorbited in a controlled re-entry in 2001.

Image credit: CNES

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