Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2023 May 9 [2]A sunset sky over Sicily is shown with, from top to bottom, a pink atmospheric band, a blue atmospheric band containing the Moon, a band with land containing buildings, and a band of water reflecting the pink and blue atmospheric bands. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Shadows of Earth Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Marcella Giulia Pace Explanation: Can you find two Earth shadows in today's image? It's a bit tricky. To find the first shadow, observe that the top part of the [4]atmosphere appears pink and the lower part appears blue. This is because the top half is exposed to [5]direct sunlight, while the lower part is not. The purple [6]area in between is known as the [7]Belt of Venus, even though Venus can only appear on the other side of the sky, near the [8]Sun. The [9]blue color of the lower atmosphere is caused by the Earth blocking sunlight, creating Earth shadow number 1. Now, where is the second Earth shadow? Take a [10]look at the Moon. Do you notice [11]something unusual about the lower left part? That area appears unusually dark because it is in the [12]shadow of the Earth, creating Earth shadow number 2. To be precise, the [13]Moon was captured during a [14]lunar eclipse. This carefully timed image was taken in [15]Sampieri, [16]Sicily, [17]Italy, in July 2018. Tomorrow's picture: desert galaxy __________________________________________________________________ [18]< | [19]Archive | [20]Submissions | [21]Index | [22]Search | [23]Calendar | [24]RSS | [25]Education | [26]About APOD | [27]Discuss | [28]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell ([32]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [33]Specific rights apply. [34]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC, [38]NASA Science Activation & [39]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/ColorsShadows_Pace_1280.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/marcella_giulia_pace/ 4. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220727.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100404.html 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_of_Venus 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191011.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220612.html 11. https://www.intermountainpet.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/Dogs-tilting-their-heads.jpg 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211201.html 13. https://moon.nasa.gov/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180802.html 15. https://youtu.be/yt3cXQbrvi8 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230508.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 27. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230509 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230510.html 29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 39. http://www.mtu.edu/