                        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.

                                2026 August 9
    A light disk is visible on the lower left but the rest of the disk is
    eclipsed by a darker disk of the same apparent size. At the bottom of
       the image are the silhouettes of several people. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                            Contemplating the Sun
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert

   Explanation: Have you contemplated your home star recently? Featured
   here, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the Moon is also seen
   eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the eclipse below. This
   spectacular menagerie of silhouettes was taken in 2012 from the Glen
   Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park
   rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested
   gatherers. Also, faintly visible on the Sun's disk, just to the lower
   right of the dark Moon's disk, is a group of sunspots. A new solar
   eclipse will occur this week and give many people in northern North
   America, Europe, and northwestern Africa a new chance to contemplate a
   partially eclipsed Sun. A thin swath of Earth from Greenland to
   Portugal will further experience a total solar eclipse. An open
   question is whether any meteors from the peaking Perseids will be
   visible during totality.

                     Tomorrow's picture: paired galaxies
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

