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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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

The Eclipse Tree

Explanation: If you look closely at the shadow of this tree, you will see something quite unusual: it is composed of hundreds of images of a partially eclipsed Sun . Early today , trees across North America will be casting similar shadows as a partial eclipse of the Sun takes place. In a partial eclipse , the Moon does not cover the entire Sun . The above effect is created by small spaces between leaves and branches acting as pinhole lenses . Looking at shadows involving eclipse light is relatively safe - looking directly at the Sun , even during an eclipse, is dangerous and proper precautions should be taken. The above picture was taken in 1994 on the campus of Northwestern University .

Date December 25, 2000
Credit Credit & Copyright: E. Israel
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.