Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2007 March 23
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Touran Sunrise
Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi

Explanation: Clouds covered the eastern horizon on Monday, when the Sun rose over the expansive Touran Wildlife Reserve in northeastern Iran. Of course, on that day the Moon rose with the Sun, creating a widely enjoyed partial solar eclipse. Along with a mountainous horizon, the cloud cover lent a dramatic aspect to this eclipse sunrise and made it possible for astronomer Babak Tafreshi to record these telephoto images without using a filter. Advancing north in planet Earth's sky, the Sun itself was also approaching the equinox, the astronomical marker for the first day of northern hemisphere spring and the beginning of Norouz, the Persian New Year.

Tomorrow's picture: twilight show


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