Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Equal Night


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#70357 by @ 21.03.2005 00:00 - nach oben -
The Equal Night


Explanation:
Today,
the
Sun crosses
the celestial equator heading north,
marking the Vernal Equinox -- the first day of spring in
the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the
south.

Equinox means equal night and with the Sun
on the celestial equator,
Earthlings
will experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

For those
in the Northern Hemisphere, the days
will continue to grow longer with
the Sun marching higher
in the sky as summer approaches.

A few weeks after the northern Autumnal
Equinox of 1994,
the Crew of the Shuttle Endeavor recorded this image of
the
Sun poised
above the Earth's limb.

Glare illuminates Endeavor's
vertical tail (pointing toward the Earth) along with
radar equipment in
the payload bay.

The space shuttle
is expected to return to flight later this year with the launch of
STS-114.




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